Final Essay

[Frederic Vial]

The USC China/US Summit series seminar is a close interactive study and/or experience that delves into the historical and contemporary significance of gender roles and their generational evolutions as they specifically relate to the political, economic, social and spiritual/religious timelines of Chinese, Korean and Japanese cultures and/or civilizations.  The opportunity to participate and learn from the guest lecture speakers was invaluable to my curricula as a 7^th grade World History teacher.  My reflection on how best to integrate what I learned into my teaching practice, specifically when covering China, Korea and Japan, will offer my students the opportunity to benefit further as they examine these civilizations during the Middle Ages.

               Much of what I enjoyed discussing and contemplating throughout the week’s seminar involved interpreting and/or understanding the scope of what brought the current modern circumstances that are revealed in contemporary China, Korea and Japan.  The different paths taken by each with the influence of cultural diffusion from, specifically the West, is of particular interest to me.  Although most of this personal interest is not pertinent to the curricula I teach and, therefore, not directly relative to my students, it nevertheless offers me a newfound perspective on how to approach teaching the past as a vehicle for relating to the present we find ourselves from the global standpoint. 

            From Day 1 of the seminar, Professor Yan established the concept of how patriarchal hierarchy in China was established and offered a clear origin for what would become traditional female roles in both the family and society as a whole.  The understanding of how the family unit was comprised in terms of its hierarchy explains how certain social structures were established early on in Chinese civilization, which offers a glimpse of how China later would influence, by extension, Korea and Japan, both directly and indirectly.  Professor Yan discussed Ban Zhao, a female historian, writer & politician, known for writing Lessons For Women – essentially a proposed female code for a virtuous life.  The explanation of female devotion and self-sacrifice as essential traits for how women were to live their lives clearly suggests that women participated in the fostering of the attitude that women were naturally inferior to men.  The guidelines and/or codes that were taught by women to women (i.e. humility, harmony with in-laws, singlemindedness, marriage, obedience etc.) were, undoubtedly, influenced by Confucius with respect to the general moralization of certain inequalities paralleling the lines of gender and generation. 

            This particular lecture helped set the tone for the sequential lecturers that would present.  In my mind, this seed of normalizing gender and generation inequalities would have reverberating effects throughout the East Asian arena, extending itself to socio-economic and political influences, that would ultimately culminate in communist ideology as a vehicle for breaking out of certain stagnated traditions.  Professor Yan’s own personal life experience documents much of this evolution.  The notion of helping the poor or downtrodden in the name of communism is one that I experienced by watching the documentary film, Jeronimo.  The failed deliverance of certain promises preys on the poor and downtrodden, ultimately weaponized to take freedom as opposed to making good on the freedom it promises.  And, although, for my students this historical context and perspective would be difficult to comprehend, the opportunity to see its evolutionary aspects is something of value for them to study and learn.  Comparing the social structure changes, specific to the evolution and progress of women within the confines of these social structures, is of tremendous value when examining the notion of progress in its entirety. 

            The opportunity to study Chinese, Korean and Japanese civilizations through the lens of gender progress and effective change was fascinating.  How this progress was affected based on a civilizations’ attitudes with respect to political ideology was equally fascinating.  I, sincerely, appreciated the opportunity to reflect on these topics. 

 

 

[Marcos Rico]

This was a wonderful summer Gender and Generation seminar at USC, It was an awesome week of learning. Originally when I signed up for this summer seminar I was planning to teach 4th grade in Fall. My plans where to go deeper on teaching about East Asia to my students and explore the relationships among East Asian countries and the USA, focusing on California. Due to some unexpected changes in our school staffing, I was moved to 1st grade to teach Spanish in a two way program. I was not thrilled about teaching a new grade that I had never taught nor having to move classrooms, but there was a need in my school and I have the proper skills and credentials.

I will be able to expose my 1st graders to different holidays and celebrations around the world, focusing on East Asia and Mexico, and how these countries are connected to the our community in San Diego, California. But thanks to some of the things that I learned during our summer seminar I will try to approach it from how children experience these holidays and celebration and also how it is different for each gender. As you might already know most 1st graders are not reading independently yet, which means that I will have the oportunity to do a lot of read alouds with my little ones. The challenge that I am facing, is finding finding texts about East Asia in Spanish. 

One of the strategies that I learned this summer with Professor Kerim Yasar, about showing a video in short clips and having a class conversation about it, is working really well with 1st graders due to their short attention span. I am not showing full lenght movies, but rather some short videos about proper behaviors  and information about holidays such as Labor Day, etc. It has worked well enough to engage them in conversations, and practice their target language.

 

 

[Gerlinde Goschi]

First, I would like to thank Dr. Dube, Catherine, and the professors for a very informative and thought provoking course. I really enjoyed learning about the history of East Asia from a gender perspective.  It was a very interesting view, a lens I have not looked through before. One of the most impactful lectures for me personally was Professor Yasar’s from USC and his analysis of Yasujiro Ozu’s film, Late Spring.  Ozu is very effective in emphasizing the happenings that are not at all obvious while leaving much to the imagination.  Prof. Yasar mentions the unique cinematographic style of Ozu with a suggestion for a lesson which had me pondering until now.  The powerful scenes in the movie would present a great lesson for today’s middle and/or high school students as watching them requires a lot of patience.  I believe the challenges these students would be faced with (black and white, slow, subtitles, weird acting) will be beneficial for this age group to overcome today.  I will incorporate this into my curriculum.

 

Prof. Yunxiang Yan’s presentation fascinated me mainly because his explanation of the relationship of this course and the movie Crazy, Rich Asians.  The clever title instantly became very clear to me.  As part of the zuoren, it is important to be sensitive to someone else’s needs and to proactively help them. As Prof. Yunxiang Yan explains women suffered from inequality in traditional Chinese familism.  In the movie, Rachel needs to win Nick’s mother’s approval. According to our presentation, Rachel loses a game of Mahjong on purpose to allow Nick’s mom to win. This is part of zuoren which Rachel understands and which Nick’s mom ultimately appreciates.  Prior to this course, I have not been aware of zuoren I reluctantly admit.

 

These two presentations helped me understand the rich history of East Asia through the lens of traditions of gender, especially through the eyes of females.  I am planning to incorporate this perspective not only into my lessons, but challenge my students into debates. I enjoyed the forum discussions and many resources my colleagues have posted and am very grateful to have made new friends and seen old ones!  I am always grateful to participate in these seminars as I leave with a wealth of new materials, ideas, and resources! Thank you!

 

[Celeste Modster]

Final Reflection

The Gender and Generation in East Asia Seminar was eye opening for me. I was able to uderstand more fully the relevance and evolution of cultural perspectives and influences as it relates to gender and generation throughout history and contemporary societies. Each session yielded information useful for weaving into lessons in my classroom across many academic disciplines. The sharing of culture through the lens of East Asian History, Literature and Arts has provided a plateform for discovery, comparison and contrast in my Art, Health and Life Skill courses. I believe that the process of sharing culture allows those engaged to better understand their own culture and to appreciate those features of cultural evolution that are both different and in common with their own.  

Using the movie Crazy RIch Asians as a springboard for analysis was a very fun and engaging choice.  It introduced gender and generational practices through a very contemporary lens. When I first saw the movie, I was entertained completely without having any idea that the  underlying subject of gender roles and generational influences were interwoven into the storyline. Watching the movie as a part of this course, illuminated the roles and relationships specific to cultural norms in East Asian history and contemporary society.   

Althought the amount of material to be covered over a short time seemed overwhelming at times, I appreciate the wealth of resources and the opportunity to glean from experts, information worth continuing to study with my students. The conversations and interactions in each session gave me content which I can easily incorporate into a lesson. The esssential questions helped me to process much of what I was learning.

I found that I was personally aligned with some of the principles taught through the various ideologies. I could relate to ideologies and practices that were taught to me by my African American family. I found that I was aligned with certain ideals because of my Catholic upbringing as well. Good WIfe, Wise Mother was the example that my mother personified in our household. The ideals of Filial obligation for example is what you do out of love and respect in my African American family.  Ban Zhao’s Ideas emerging from Confucionism and Daoism. Seven Lessons For Women and 12 Chapters On Cultivation of Virtue reminded me of the chapters of Kalial Gibran’s The Prophet. In Western culture to be virtuous is to be kind and giving, wise and true. Paralleling experiences.

Some highlights for me were the discussions of Professor Lynne Miyake Differentiated DIsourses, Spaces and Influences: The Gender of Classical Japan. I’d like to explore cultural similarities and differences using Anime and story telling. Gender Identification by content, inferrence and mood is currently an evolving discussion in our classrooms and would be interesting to discuss the similarities and differences between the East and the West. Using Robin Wang’s resources from her discussion of What Makes a (Chinese) Woman Beautiful, I would ilike to explore the meaning of beauty with my students and how the meanings either differ or resinate. It will be interesting to discover whether the idea of Filial Obligation is a thread that runs through the cultures and traditions of my students who have varying ethnic backgrounds.

Connecting through the sharing of our history and our stories is how I intend to incorporate all that I’ve learned during this Seminar, with my students. I believe it is important to contunue learning about cultural similarities and differnces without passing judgement on norms and ideologies. It is important to continue looking at how cultures influence each other and how often times cultural practices mirror each other. Learning about the origin of idologies and practices opens doors to great discovery and appreciation.

 

[Kathrin Simmons]

Hello everybody,

It was a pleasure to stay at USC and attending the seminar.  I enjoyed staying on this beautiful campus, so close to home surrounded by LA’s busy up and downs but so far away at the same time -  an island of prestigious education.

I felt very well informed in all lectures about the cultural background in the different east Asian countries and the variety of informational sources from literature, essays, books, and movies. A wide range of information that was presented by very knowledgeable people.

 

For my professional background as an Adapted Physical Education teacher I would have enjoyed, more hands on activities with the subject matter that could be easily transferred into a classroom not necessarily the gym. Afterall as a teacher you have to find engaging ways for students, learning through movement should be one essential way. I would have liked to see morning and afternoon lectures of just listening mixed with movement breaks with simple Qi Gong breathing or a couple of Thai Chi moves with a change in locations possibly as well. Also I think that breakfast and lunch should have been served in a different location then the lecturer room.  I definitely thought that the classroom activity guides in the third session by Professor  Lynne Miyake where very helpful. Some of those ideas could have been performed by us teachers, demonstrating how the content could have been translated into classroom work. Maybe a better and lasting connection could have been made for the adults and students a like.

I have studied Thai Chi, Qi Gong and Chinese philosophy and  medicine a long time ago, but would have liked to be reintroduced to some of these topics. None of the less the seminar encouraged me to study on my own and motivated me to include different Asian movement theories into my Physical Education curriculum.

Personally I was engaged and inspired by the seminar. The focus on gender and generation and discussing gender roles needs to be ongoing in all societies.  I enjoyed book and movie reviews as well as watching the documentaries on the topic. And of coursed I am inspired to travel to all of the east Asian countries.

Thank you, Catherine and Dube for inviting me to your seminar this summer!

 

 

 

[Ann Huyhn]

The Gender and Generation in East Asia seminar this summer was an eye opener. Thank you for allowing me to participate in this week of learning.  I learned so much information that even now I am still trying to sort them all in my mind. The presenters were very knowledgeable and there were a wealth of information presented.  There were many interesting films that were mentioned and I am looking forward to watching them myself. The documentary “One Child Nation” was a surprise delight because we had the opportunity to watch it before the theatrical release.  It was a very moving and compelling story about a radical policy that was enacted to control China’s fast growing population. On the other hand, I have never been into science fiction, but the films, “Wandering Earth and Folding Beijing” sounded really interesting.  I really enjoyed Professor Wang’s lecture about the ideal womanhood and what makes a woman loveable. Apparently, it is very complicated and it is not just one simple response. There were many other interesting information presented, such as the stories of Mencius’s mother, Japan’s poetry, and an in depth look at one of Ozu’s films.  For my class, I would like them to think about gender roles and how these roles have changed over time. For example, some of my students do not live with both parents so their mothers are working and providing for the household. They do not have a male figure as a role model, but a very hard-working mother who is doing everything that she can to provide for the family.  These changing perspectives of what and who is the provider in the family will provide students with a new way to view gender roles, which is different from the Confucain ideology of womanhood. I am also thinking about using generations in the classroom to see how different the students' viewpoints are from their grandparents and parents. Overall, it was a fascinating seminar that provided me with more materials to help my students understand and view the world that they lived in. There is a shared experience, regardless of where they are, whether in the United States or one of the East Asia countries.

[Donna Jamshidnejad]

While East Asia is already a topic embedded into my 10th grade World History and AP World History curriculum, women are often left out of the discussion. This seminar has inspired me not only to include more discussions, sources, and perspectives on women in my classroom, but also to create a new unit. I plan to end the year with a unit on women in world history. This unit will focus on women’s roles and legacies in different regions. We will begin with a discussion of gender, and students understand the creation of hierarchies after early humans settled into civilizations. From there, we will dive into examples from Latin America, East Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. I’ve left out the US because this topic will be covered in 11th grade. For my curriculum project, I created the learning segment on East Asia. I’ve checked out two books on women in East Asia, and am trying to learn more about women in region in order to better teach East Asian history.

 

The women in East Asia that I included in my lesson plan are: Ban Zhao, Sin Saimdang (1504-1555), Queen Sondok of Silla r. 632-647 was a queen, Qiu Jin, and He Zhen. I also plan to use He Zhen’s work in my Cold War unit because we spend around 10 days on China in the Cold War and I’ve realized that I do not use many sources from women at this time. I also will incorporate some of the propaganda focused on women, and have a lesson on feminism in Mao era China.

 

As we discussed in class, women should not be a topic we force into our lessons because they have always existed in history. It is difficult to include women’s history in any other way because it is left out of our curriculum. However, the more I study and know women’s history, the better it will find a way into my classroom.

[Sophia Kang]

This seminar utilizing the gender and generation lens in East Asia helped me to start considering the complexity of the government and media’s involvement in issues revolving this topic. To start off, the most eye opening was the “One Child Nation” documentary by Nanfu Wang. Studying this issue through a woman’s lens was vital to raising questions about freedom, independence, and social obligations such as the essential questions I am using for my lesson plans—

• To what extent do we have freedom over ourselves? How does the government control the family as an institution and use it to its advantage?
• How is propaganda used to control families? 
• In an increasingly globalizing world, how are the roles of women merging across cultures?

I have often considered this topic of gender because I am a woman myself, but I had never considered it in relationship to the economy and the fact that a population number can be controlled by an institution in the name of benefiting all. The deinstitutionalization of family in the modern society and its relationship to money and education is also a topic I hope to explore in the future.

Since the class that I teach is American Literature, the main method to incorporate what I’ve learned from this seminar is using essential questions that I’ve formulated and then taking a comparative approach to East Asian and America. I would like to use Professor Brian Bernards’ materials—Folding Beijing and Wandering Earth—to discuss climate change, especially since China is already involved in the discussion of that topic. Since declining marriage is global trend, I would like to discuss the changing family dynamics and its possible effects on the economy.

Furthermore, I would like to use the article about the Escape the Corset movement to discuss what true independence looks like for a woman, and to also compare makeover shows in each country to explore ideal standards of these countries. For example, shows like “Queen Eye” in America, “Ten Years Younger” in the UK, and “Let Me In” in Korea.

The topics of beauty, freedom and independence in today’s age versus back then is relevant to American Literature because a prominent theme in American anthology is freedom. What does freedom mean for different identities? And does achieving that desired freedom mean losing that identity?

 

[Anthony Pollard]

Interpreting Gender and Generation into the 21st Century

 

[Nelson Ta]

The seminar was a wonderful experience and provided a vast array of interesting perspectives. While I did enjoy the past classes that I attended, I enjoyed this seminar more because of the focus. It really felt like there was coordination between all of the professors to genuinely stick within the seminar's parameters. I have been brainstorming more ways to incorporate East Asia into my classroom. I tend to use plenty of graphic novels in my classes, so I thought about switching it up and using various mangas. I considered a manga called Lone Wolf and Cub which focuses on an exiled Samurai and his three-year-old son and their quest for revenge. It could be paralleled with different American westerns such as True Grit and others. Besides that, studying the rights of women around the world would genuinely be an interesting endeavor for myself and students. We could take a critical lens and see how religion and culture can contribute to patriarchy. I never considered that Confucianism was proliferating the subservience of women. I think that would be an interesting topic for students. I teach in a predominantly Latino/a community, so we often have conversations about how culture applies gender roles and restricts women to certain functions within the household. For my students, they would gravitate towards the comparison between gender roles and the changing idea of masculinity and feminity. I had a great time learning from all of the professors and I would definitely try my best to come back next semester. It was a pleasure learning from everyone!

[Joel Jimenez]

The seminar helped me to learn about historical and contemporary Korean, Chinese, and Japanese gender and generation. I was already familiar with many ideas about traditional gender and generational roles in Korea and Japan because I had lived on Saipan, where there was a melting pot of Chinese, Korean and Japanese living there and as a result, I was able to learn about East Asian culture and gender roles.  I was fortunate enough to have many conversations with friends and tourists over a span of 5 years.  However, I wasn’t familiar with these elements in Korean and Japanese culture and history. It was a good opportunity for me to learn as a person and as a teacher.

            What I found especially fascinating, was the dynamic between genders throughout different time periods in East Asia.  I especially appreciated when the professors used contemporary films/tv shows to show how gender roles and gender mentality is changing throughout Asia.  For example, whether they used the film, ‘Crazy, Rich Asians’ or the Korean Drama, ‘The Last Empress’, they exemplify how women are becoming more important in neo-familism and contemporary East Asia.  I learned a great deal from the lecture from Professor Yunxiang Yan, on Neo-Familism and the state of Contemporary China.  While there were direct gender roles established for women in the workplace, caretakers, mistresses in the imperial palace, or members of the royal court, these roles began to quickly change as communism became the norm in China under Mao Zedong.  Roles again have changed post-1990’s as policies in china change to promote fertility and having bigger families, moving from the controversial one-child policy in China.

            This is different from the roles that have emerged in Korea and Japan, where women are becoming the matriarch of the family and making their mark in popular culture, music and fasion.

 

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