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AnonymousIt was remarkable to me to think that the coverage on T-square almost didn't happen. The cameras just happened to be there at that time! Becoming an adult during the age of social media, it is difficult to think that something big would not be covered. If one is in public, there is a good chance that at any moment, several cameras can be pointed at something in an instant. The documentary was great! I would not however, show it to my students. Not the whole thing at least.
AnonymousI enjoyed this session perhaps the most out of all the sessions. Tiananmen Square was one of the few topics that we covered in this course that I felt like I already knew a lot about. I had studied it in, what I assumed prior to this session, was great detail. But while I knew a lot about the events leading up to, during, and after the incident, I did not know anything about how the event had been reported and witnessed by journalists. I think this documentary is fascinating for the way it captures not just the events, but the experience of the reporters. You rarely get to see that kind of first person account in a documentary or a news article. I think this film would be really great to use with students to teach them about perspectives and point of view. It is a great way to introduce them to first person perspective and primary sources as well as getting them to think about biases that enter into the news.
AnonymousI was really impressed by the documentary! This was for sure one of my favorite sessions, but I am really looking forward to sharing this documentary with my students and the discussions that will ensue. I teach predominantly Asian students and I have already started talking to them and asking them about the Tiananmen Square events and they all agreed that it is something that China had banned. Many had side stories about grandparents being there, or how the Chinese governments bans it's teaching. It seemed like most of my Chinese students, even those who recently migrated knew about the cover up. What was also interesting about this classroom discussion was that many of Hispanic students had no idea that China had taken such measures to cover up these events. I can't wait to continue the discussion when I get to this time period in my World History class!
AnonymousThe AP article, “China Stops Live Coverage by American Television” only reminds me how fortunate we are to have freedom of speech and of the press. Though we just covered the lengths to which the various station had to go to secure live coverage of Tinananmen Square in 1989, reading through Bernard Shaw’s account of halting coverage due to Chinese law is still shocking. We seldom realize the liberties afforded to us in the United States until it is not available elsewhere.
edited by crhude on 1/23/2016
AnonymousEvery decade or so the history textbooks "enjoyed" by our students are revised to truncate and reduce all major events into soundbites, thereby eliminating the possibility of more than one perspective, let alone prompt the idea that there are a multiplicity of perspectives associated with any historically significant event. Natural Rights get reduced to "Remember John Locke" and that's all you need to know. Sound bites and one liners replace in depth analysis and willingness to realize we know very little. Mike Chinoy and Louisa Lim helped us take our time to get started peeling back the layers that led up to the events we typically associate with Tianamen Square. We also learned the lengths to which the Chinese government is making a concerted effort to ensure that these layers do not get peeled back and that within another generation or so it will appear to all is if nothing of any concern or significance ever occurred at this historic place.
edited by niruparmar on 1/23/2016
Rob_Hugo@PortNWWhat an amazing documentary! I especially enjoyed hearing and seeing how reporters were covering the events of Tianamen Square as they unfolded. I can't imagine how exciting, but also how dangerous it was for reporters, but I'm so glad they were there to cover the event. I couldn't help wondering how the reporters were impacted by what they saw, witnessed and endured and how they're views of China were impacted by these events. It was definitely a real treat to have seen this and had the opportunity to have Mr. Chinoy with us as well to explain and share that experience!
The question I have is, so how do we use this documentary with our students?
Link to Assignment China Videos: http://china.usc.edu/assignmentchina
AnonymousFunny I was relaying the information from the film and from the lecture session to a self-described Socialist and I was accused of being an arrogant American who believes I have the last say in what is right and wrong. I doubt this person would have stood in front of any tanks.