The course covers Chinese Civilization from mythological era/Zhou dynasty to People's Republic of China (roughly from 1046 B.C.E. to present)
If you are taking this class as an easy GE, do yourself a favor: DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS UNLESS YOU ARE INTERESTED IN CHINESE HISTORY OR HAVE A STRONG FOUNDATION IN CHINESE HISTORY.
The required readings per week are usually 1 chapter from the textbook, 4 (number increases gradually) main sources from the sourcebook, and an additional PDF document (or 2~3 depends on the topic covered) that is boring and long if you are not interested in philosophy. The weekly posting on CCLE is required (based on the sourcebook/PDF readings). Discussion participation is required as well.
The midterm and final are all free response based (3 sections total). The first section is short answer, second is identification, and the last is identifying the author, title, and significance of a text/picture (only given a paragraph from the actual text).
This class, out of all my classes of fall quarter, required the largest amount of effort and time. The most crucial skill needed for this class are note taking (in class for slides and on your own for the readings), time management, and memorization (significant people, events, dynasties, and their significances).
GOOD LUCK!

I didn't read any of the main textbook and still got an A- in the class from just going to lectures (or watching them online) and studying lecture notes, which is all you really need to ace the exams. There's A LOT of assigned textbook readings too, so I just saved myself some time and didn't bother. Actually do the supplementary readings though, since the exams require you to identify and explain passages from selected primary texts, all of which are previous assigned readings. But even then, just learn the most important/significant texts and you should be fine. The exams are all free-response, short answer questions, but they're very straightforward and basically involve a lot of rote memorization and info regurgitation .

It's kind of hard to get an A on discussion postings though, depending on your TA and how they grade.

Overall, this was a pretty easy and straightforward class that was just very tedious and a lot of work. Lectures weren't too exciting, and I frequently had to rewatch them to fill in the blanks in my notes because I would either zone out in class or just miss a lot of what she was saying while taking notes on the ppt slides, which she DOES NOT post online. Otherwise, Professor Duthie is very nice and caring and is extremely passionate about the material.

take your laptop to the class so that you can type everything from the lecture slides. she doesn't give slides to students, but you must memorize everything on it. Do all the readings(4 to 5 readings but not long) and underline the part you think it's important so that you can write weekly posting. Before the midterm and final, MEMORIZE ALL your slide notes. Final is not cumulative, otherwise it would be impossible. For the text identification section of the test, since you already do the readings for each week, just go over them really quickly(the underlined part) when you prepare for the test. I'm pretty sure you'll get A- by doing all these works:)

Depending on which TA you get, grading of exams could be highly subjective. To get an A you also have to dedicate a lot of time to the readings assigned weekly, which makes the class not as an easy GE as most people said online.

While Chinese 50 is one of the easy GEs, Duthie made it relatively difficult compared to other professors for this class. There were no multiple choices (which all other professor has!) and instead she had tons of questions for definitions and free responses. Grading was highly subjective so you better hope you get an easy TA. If you are taking this class to satisfy GE requirements, just wait for other professors.

Nina Duthie is a good professor in terms of explaining the course materials. However, there are too many assigned readings every week that it makes it really difficult to keep track of all of them. You will be reading primary sources, textbooks, and pdf stories. This is the worst part. There are also discussion posts every week in regards to the readings that can be a real pain depending on what TA you get. TAs are not helpful, and attendance is mandatory. Now, the midterm/final is really tough because they are all fill-in responses, no multiple-choice (unlike the other Chinese 50 classes). You are required to write 4 short paragraphs, respond to 10 topics/ideas, and analyze 4 pictures and texts, all in 75 minutes. There is also no curve in the class, so what you get is what you get. I highly suggest no taking it with her, it's not an easy GE. It's not her, it's the format of the class that makes it tough.

LMFAO I can't believe I got a C for a GE class! I personally liked the professor but the amount of effort required for this class is kinda ridiculous.

Prof. Duthie is a very patient and kind teacher. This class is not difficult, but you need to carefully preview and review the things taught in each class. There is also discussion every week.

Prof Duthie is extremely kind and knowledgeable regarding classical Chinese, and does a really thorough job of breaking down the meanings/grammar found in our readings. Workload for class is basically just preparing translations which isn't too difficult because character definitions are all in the textbook, and she goes over all of the translations (i.e. the homework) in class.

Professor Duthie is a very well prepared, well research professor and make this class a pleasure to take. The class itself is not hard. The class surrounds around the translations that are done for every class. Participation does matter but as long as you prepare the translations for the class you will be fine. There are three exams throughout the class and all of them are based on the information covered in the chapters preceding the exam.

Overall, this class is easy and interesting to take. Professor Duthie is a pleasure to learn from.