Hi Folks,

The readings attached below are optional. Two of them will be useful as background information for you (Carr and Qian). The others are shorter primary sources (5 pages) that you may wish to use with your students. As a part of your 20 required forum posts, you could choose to read these materials and post your reactions and questions to them below. Please also brainstorm on how you might incorporate such ideas or materials into your courses.

Dennis Carr -- This is a big file, because of the many included color illustrations.
"Introduction: Asia and the New World"

What is the evidence offered to support Carr's argument that the new world was where Asia and Europe met? Is it surprising to learn of globalization in the 16th-18th centuries? What was the impact of the flow of goods and ideas?

Huang Yanpei, 1915
"Investigation of American Education"

What differences between China and the United States most impress Huang? What are the positive consequences of American education?

Li Gongpu, 1928
"Presidential Election"

Li is a scholarship student in Oregon and was fascinated by the election. In 1928, the Republicans won their third straight presidential election. Writing for a Chinese audience, how did Li explain Herbert Hoover's victory? What does he have to say about campaign costs?

Liu Binyan, 1982
"America: Spacious Yet Confining"

Liu Binyan was one of China's most famous writers and this piece appeared in the official mouthpiece of China's Communist Party. His prominence is an indication of how open China was 1979-1989. In what ways does the smaller population and different housing styles impress Liu? Why does he devote space to talking about dogs and squirrels? What does he say about American attitudes toward children?

Qian Ning, 1996
"Some marriages hold together, Many fall apart"

Qian Ning was the son of China's foreign minister (Qian Qichen) when he came to America to study journalism in Michigan in 1989. He stayed until 1995. His book, 留学美国 (Studying in America) was published in 1996 and was a bestseller. The English version was published in 2002. In the 1980s and 1990s, most Chinese who came to American universities were graduate students and many were already married.

Why is it that coming to America puts such a strain on married Chinese? In what ways were the experiences of Chinese men and Chinese women in America different? How did the green cards issued by the US after the suppression of the 1989 protests create opportunities for some?

George Bao, 2015
"Surviving on $39 a Month"

George Bao is now a Californian. He came to the US in the 1980s and earned a journalism degree at USC. Here he explains how little he and other Xinhua (China's state news agency) journalists got by with tiny salaries. His salary was boosted to $150/month after a couple of years. I taught in China at about the same time. My salary started at $75, but climbed to $250 as the government loosened price controls. Like Bao, my housing and medical care was provided, but I needed to pay for my own food. My wife's salary in her Chinese work unit in 1982 was about $28/month.

Dennis Carr's introduction was a fascinating read that underscores the fact that complex webs of globalization is not a novel development. Particularly interesting was that it was not simply an exchange of goods taking place in the Americas in 16th-18th century but also the integration of ideas and processes of manufacturing. What emerged was a hybrid between European, Asian, New World, and indigenous artistry and craftmanship that reflected not only cultural patterns but also geographical realities (e.g. the (non)-availability of clay and textile materials).

The Our Lady of Guadalupe altar could provide a beneficial case study for student exploration. In my classes, we already examine how certain artwork and religious practices in the region blended indigenous and European cultural patterns (E.g. Catholicism and indigenous beliefs/stories). See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOclF9eP5uM&list=PLTVH-FssvrMmYYlnwloCwoJ3enMAqCRdp&index=9&t=0s

https://play.acast.com/s/dansnowshistoryhit/thefalloftheaztecs-500yearsonwithcarolinedoddspennock

The inclusion of this Asian element would further enhance and complicate student thinking about the emergence of societies in the Americas. An effective way to do this could be to read excerpts from the text and work through some of the different images of art and crafts provided.

Students could also identify different forms of globalization that are witnessed in the region (e.g. exchange of goods, immersion of ideas, Mexico City and Kyoto portrayal as world class cities....)

"Surviving on $39 a Month" would be a great, short read to help students understand how quickly the Chinese economy and standard of living changed.  For both China and South Korea, I think the incredibly rapid pace of economic advancement is a concept that is hard for students to comprehend 1st) how it can happen that quickly, #2) what impact that pace has on the people and government - both positively and negatively.  

I could see having them read it, give a one-word reponse with discussion, then have half the class evaluate the pros and cons, and the other have evaluate the causes & effects, then discuss.

This article demonstrates that people from different backgrounds can come together and enjoy each others cultures. As you read the article you read about how Mexico was trading with Asia. The evidence that demonstrates that Asia and Europe met in the new world was trade. Whereas before you may have known that Europe wanted to find Asia for their spices you can read about how they traded for other things besides spices like porcelain, silk, textiles, etc. A trading route was created from Asia to the Manila to Acapulco (Galeon de Manila). People in the Americas were influenced by the Chinese with many things. Artistis in the Americas were blending the demands from Asia with their culture from the colonies. 

This article would be great to read in 8th grade history because we learn about trade in the New World (America) and the Old World (Europe). Trading can characterized gloablly by bringing Asia into the picture. Students can see that cross cultural exchange was happening early on and its not something that has just started.  

The images from the article can also been shown and analyze. Students will be able to see how people dressed and some of my students may be surprised to know that Mexicans had folding screens that were made to imitate Japanese screens.

Many of us including our students think with our stomachs.  Foods and food history is such as great way to get student engaged in the study of history.  I loved the video about Chamoy in addition to the articles on the Japanese influence on Peruvian cuisine. World History tends to be so abstract and distant for students, but food is a tangible way to bring history alive for students.  From there you can jump out into then looking at the impact of Chinese trade routes on Mexican artwork, textiles and handicrafts.  This way students can begin to trace the spread of ideas from one place to the next and see how they inspired new traditions and the marriage of ideas into something new and powerful.

I read Huang Yanpei's comparison of the American and Chinese education systems from 1915. Huang was one of the “China's pioneers in educational modernization, he went on to lead the vocational education movement, founding the China Vocational Education Society and various vocational schools.”  It is intrigued to see that many of the differences are still the same today.  For example, he mentioned that Chinese students have to take lots of difficult classes to the point that ”the course load is too heavy for their mental powers to handle” while American students “ take only 4 a year”.  More than a hundred years later, even though the Chinese education system has changed a lot, but each time I went back to China, I found that students who are college-bound are under more and more stress and longer studying time. In the last two years of high school, while preparing for Gao Kao, the college entrance exam, many students go to school 6 days a week, even more than when I was in high school in the 90s. That’s why more and more Chinese students seeking to go abroad to study, not only in college but even in middle school or high school.  

I also like the video “Chinese woman becomes mariachi singer in Mexico” which shares the story of a Chinese woman who went to Mexico at a young age and learned Spanish by singing mariachi songs both in Spanish and Mandarin.  This became her passion and she is performing in the streets and is very well received.  Her Mexican music producer is hoping that she can revive this art form in Mexico and even spread it to China. 

Both of these are very relevant to my Chinese learning students.  I want to show them how students coming to the US to study are just like them, struggling to learn the most basics of a new language.  And by learning the language and culture, they can become the ambassador of a culture and bridge the culture differences.

Qian's:CH. 6 Some Marriages Hold Together, Many Fall Apart

This reading is about what happened when Chinese men and Chinese women came to North America. Marriages suffered coming to America because the environment was different from China. Many marriages ended because of the husbands inability to offer financial stability to their wives. If women came to America and were more successful than the men they were not able to adapt to the new situation. Chinese women were able to adapt to the new environment and new way of life. Life in America was much different then in their patriarchal China. In the other hand men had to adapt to losing the status they ahd in China. If they couldn't find a good paying job they also lost self-confidence. 

In this article, crossing boundaries comes from the Chinese women. The article talks about how women had to learn to be women because their life in China was different. Chinese women become indpendent both of their lives and financially. They didn't have to depend on the men. They could survive on thier own.  

This article can be used to demonstrate how women's role in history have changed. The more progressive and independent the countries become the more rights women receive. Women lives change from being very depedent on their fathers, brothers, husbands, etc to them becoming independet and self-reliant.