This course will concentrate on the first systematic interactions between Western and Chinese sciences in the early period of globalization. Different to other parts of the world, China had its own substantial developments in the field of useful and reliable knowledge about nature and therefore constituted special challenges for the endeavor of the Jesuit China Mission to introduce Renaissance science into the Ming and Qing empires from the mid-sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. In this interdisciplinary course the different historical phases and characteristics of these encounters will be highlighted. We will apply historical, anthropological and social science methods and theories and will ask larger questions about the interplay and hybridization of foreign and indigenous concepts and how they relate to larger political, social, economic and cultural trends and changes in China and the West.

1. Students will be able to explain the major frameworks, contexts and issues related to the history of early scientific encounters between China and the West. 2. Students will be able to develop skills of reading comprehension, identify key language, vocabulary and techniques in history. 3. Students will be able to explain and evaluate the key points made in historical writing. 4. Students will be able to develop writing skills and analyze a historical source using appropriate vocabulary and terminology. 5. Students will be able to develop the ability to share ideas clearly and persuade others of their opinion.