Final Essay

[stubing]

Please post your reflective essay here.

[Guadalupe Moreno]

East Asia is a dynamic place to teach about in my course. The different cultures, heritage, and history can bring value to the understanding for students. Many areas of the seminar can take place into my course such as the topics focusing on cultural heroes, ceramic and sculptural artworks, the SilkRoad, poetries, and many more topics. What I love about my course is that I focus on cultural artwork meaning students learn not only of the art but the cultural and historical aspect of the people who created the art. Students have the opportunity to learn of art that is purposeful in everyday life and special circumstances.

Apart from learning about different communities around the world, students of those ethnicities will be able to relate and view themselves within the classroom. Many artworks learned in art class are Euro-centric due to the “masters” being only considered of those within Europe. Incorporating different communities is relevant to the students and they can identify with the content. Most importantly they can see how those communities were valuable in history around the world. They too had influences that we still see today.

Based on these thoughts, once approach to introduce East Asian art and history would be to focus on the Silk Road and the impact it had on the artifact trading. The acknowledgment that art and technology of the time was being spread around the world is essential. This can later be connected to the Dogū clay figurines of Japan during the Jōmon period. One figurine had Inuit snow googles. It shows the different communities that traded through the silk road and how these different items help others adapt. These artifacts are valuable because they were recorded in history through the use of clay figurines. Once connecting the content at a deeper level students can then use the idea of the Japanese figurines, trade within the Silk Road, and items they personally would want others to have. What would They want to be recorded as valuable and studied upon from this time period? 

[Johnny Walker]

As we routinely cover over one thousand years of history each week about different complex civilizations of East Asia whether it be Japan, Korea, or China, I consistently return to the process of thinking about how can I simplify, yet demonstrate with complexity and profundity, the developments, traditions, and structures that both encapsulate the unique characteristics of these societies, yet also contain shared human values that my students will recognize. I appreciate the multitude of high quality resources that I can now bring to my classroom to allow for differentiated instruction, additional resources that further deepens my knowledge, and ideas that expand and synthesize my previous historical understandings. In the unit plan I created, I was able to incorporate East Asia into the effects of the Spanish colonization of the New World. I had previously kept that narrative mostly in the Western Hemisphere. As I’ve become more familiar with East Asian history, it allows me to integrate and emphasize it to its rightful place, in balance with other regions of the world rather than being subordinate to a western narrative. To be regularly exposed to such a high level of academic discourse each week was inspiring, revelatory, and a welcome breath of fresh air from the typical discussions held at a secondary school level. 
 

Examining the roles of religion, ideology, centralization of power, race and ethnicity, agricultural development, division of labor, and feminism/patriarchy are fundamental aspects of human behavior that I have too often used European models to demonstrate to my students. I feel so fortunate as a teacher and also as a person who strives to discover connection and commonality between peoples of the common behaviors, attitudes, practices, and institutions to now have East Asian examples. I feel grateful to be able to choose examples from a larger palette to introduce my students to historical concepts beyond Western Civilization in China, Japan, and Korea. 
 

I’ve really gravitated toward the big ideas presented in these classes, especially the value and effects of “opening or closing of societies”. In addition, I’ve appreciated Professor Dube’s charge that “we must guard against inevitability in teaching.” Whether we teach non chronologically, engage our students in research projects, or use simulations and debate, I really enjoy the challenge to place our students in a frame of mind that engages them in argumentation and exhorts them to invest their passions and action in politics of the past, so they can realize the importance of their own duty and responsibility for determining our future. Likewise, this course has done a remarkable job of integrating current events including religion, the Belt and Road, and environmental issues seamlessly into historical content. I’m always striving to engage my students in current events analysis throughout the year, and these resources will be vital.

 

[Melina Melgoza]

 

There are so many approaches that I thought might be interesting to incorporate into my teaching. Firstly, I think it is  key for me to center the experiences of marginalized East Asian identities, such as, women, LGTBQ+ community, Ughyur Muslims, and more. Learning about other people, cultures, and experiences is key to support our students in learning how to be respectful and accepting human beings. These types of conversations and dialogue is exactly what creates more educated citizens and more well-informed adults.  Personally, throughout the last few weeks in this course, I learned so much from the videos and texts—many of them which I want to include in my classroom. One in particular that stood out to me was, "Gender Relations in the Age of Violence." This is the first year I teach World History, prior to that I have only taught U.S. History, Ethnic Studies, Principles of American Democracy, Government, and Student Leadership and this gave me so many ideas on how to be inclusive of East Asian cultures within my other classes as well. This upcoming year, I will be teaching AP World History and some of the units include: the global tapestry, networks of exchange, land-based empires, transoceanic interconnections, revolutions, consequences of industrialization, global conflict, Cold War and decolonization, globalization, and so much more! I find that I can really include a topic around East Asian identities in each and every unit! Similarly, they can develop the necessary skills through study of East Asia, such as: developments and processes, sourcing and situation, claims and evidence in sources, contextualization, making connections, and argumentation.

 

      However, I don’t think teaching World History in necessary to embed East Asian history and concepts.  In Ethnic Studies, for example, we discuss ideas of sexism and other systems of oppression. Usually, I give some examples through American movies (sometimes Disney or sometimes non-cartoon clips), but after reading the article,"Gender Relations in the Age of Violence." it made me realize I should embed Asian history and understanding of gender relations in other courses. I would be covering East Asian history, while at the same time centering on the experiences of a community that is often at the margins.  This article gives an important perspective of how women, regardless of their social standing, get treated. I think I need to be creative and constantly reimagine and think about how to embed this new knowledge. There are many important connections to be made.  To finalize this short essay, I intend to incorporate East Asia into my teaching by focusing on the experiences and memoirs of those most often at the margins, those with marginalized identities who are often left off of history books—mainly because they don’t play a role in writing that history. 

 

 

 

Appreciations:

Thank you all for taking the time to support us in understanding a little bit more about East Asia! Greatly appreciate it.

 

Best,

Melina

[Tara Corral]

I thoroughly enjoy the material that I learn during these courses because I believe that the most of the curriculum taught in the classroom is Euro-centric and we lose the view of other countries and cultures. For me it's key that I continue to learn about other regions outside of Europe so I can provide the most diverse and multicultural lesson for my students. I am a Itinerant teacher and travel to 5 schools during each school semester, my classrooms are so different as I travel from one side of the valley to another that I would love to have lessons that reflect my students population. Thinking about students looking into past artworks, it would also be really interesting for students to look into contemporary working artists and make connections from previous works of the Past and current trends and whether that has had an effect on the new art coming out of Asia or Asian Artist. 

 

I would like to incorporate a mix of historical importance as well as some of the Folk Art of the regions we have learned about to provide students with more diversity. I think some of the things I am interested in finding ways to adapt to my curriculum are Cultural Heroes and taking that one step further and having students look at Modern Heroes. It would be an interesting experience to see who the students look up too and what kind of people are striking a cord with our younger populations and why?

 

Another aspect I would like to look more into is the women's role in art. I think there is a lot of information that isn't discussed about how women are creators and have been creating since we can remember. As a class we spent some time talking about specific figures as well as how Christianity provided multiple opportunities for women to experience a bit more of freedom or personal choice. As a Visual Art teacher I would like to learn more about women in art and maybe even have students compare European women artists to Asian Artists for a better sense of time and what was currently taking place. 

I hope to encourage my students to learn about other cultures and see art differently. We are so accustom to looking at European art and taking it as the general rule of thumb for what should be created and I want the students to see and be influenced by other people. 

[Taylor Bub]

I very much enjoyed participating in this class.  As another classmate stated above, so much of our curriculum in all courses is eurocentric.  We spend so much time focused on white colonisation and history, that we tend to see other cultures that have so much rich history pushed aside.  I want to make sure that my students, no matter what class they are in are learning about and are exposed to other cultures, specifically those of East Asia.  As a teacher in LAUSD, I look at my students and see so much diversity, but many people believe that diversity is limited to white, black and Latinx students, but we have sucha. large population of Asian students as well.  Plus, there are many parts of Asian culture that have recently made their way into American pop culture (things like anime, manga, kpop, sushi, boba, etc.).  I think it is so important for our students to learn about and understand the different aspects of Asian culture.  This class was eye opening for me in that I was able to learn so much more than I previously knew.  I am grateful for the opportunity to meet the people in this course and to have access to the many different lesson ideas on how we can incorporate what we have learned into out own classrooms.  

I was so glad to see more focus on women and their experiences throughout history in East Asia.  I think a lot of courses gloss over this or don't even mention it at all.  It is important for us as teachers to show our students, no matter what race or gender they are, that they are represented in history and in the world today.  I loved learning about Ho Nansorhon and her accomplishments, as well as how her family provided her with so much support and I want to find ways to incorporate her into what I am teaching.

Finally, I was so grateful when scrolling through the forum to see someone's post about foot binding.  I find this concept so fascinating and it gave me so many ideas on how I could incorporate this into my curriculum as a physiology teacher.  I will be using what I have learned from this course to meet with history teachers on m y campus to see how we can work together to create cross curricular projects for students to help solidify their learning and understanding of East Asian culture. 

Thank you so much for such a fun and wonderful course, I learned so many things and I am looking forward to using them in my classroom in the future.

Taylor

[Jennifer Macchiarella]

I appreciate Mr. Dube’s focus on open and closed societies.  I teach a world history course that begins with the Industrial Revolution and the documents discussed in the class will improve our “what the world looked like in the 1700s” introduction.  Looking at what causes a country to open or close – to trade, to religious missionaries, to cultural ideals – will help students draw useful comparisons across Asia and the rest of the world.  As it stands now our course is mostly Eurocentric until we get to the 20^th century.  I look forward to integrating the letter from the Chinese emperor to King George III and the information about the very successful Japanese attempts to protect their culture from European influence. Students will understand that Asia, and not Europe, was the center of production and even trade before the Industrial Revolution.

I also appreciated the approach of looking at Asia as a region, and not just as disconnected countries. While our current curriculum looks at Europe as a region, and Africa is broken up by geography, Asia tends to have “the Japan unit” or “let’s look at China.”  I appreciated gaining a better understanding of the trade, cultural, and religious interconnectedness of the region. I think this approach will also help our students “get a sense” of the world throughout history. 

My favorite and most useful part of the class was access to documents – historic records, letters, pictures of art work, and ideas of how to incorporate them into our classes. As a teacher I spend so much time developing curriculum that any word done by others is extremely helpful.  I look forward to the next course.

 

[Miguel Diaz]

My participation in “East Asia: Origins to 1800” seminar was overwhelmingly positive and enlightening. I really enjoyed Professor Dube’s insightful lectures on China. In addition, it was a nice treat to learn from all the guest presenters. I also enjoyed reading the thoughtful commentary of all the participants in the seminar. 

I plan to incorporate what I learned about East Asia into my teaching in the hopes that my students will gain a meaningful and deep perspective of the West and Far East. I hope to help my students develop a worldview that’s shape by ideas outside of their century.

I believe that students need to know more about the true history of Western civilization, starting from Ancient Greece onwards. In particular, I would like for students to learn about the schools of philosophy of ancient Greece, the pagan religions, and the scientific thought of the time. By gaining a deeper understanding of the West, I do believe that students will also appreciate the intellectual and cultural traditions of the Far East. However, this can only be accomplished with objectivity and with open eyes.

For example, the spread of Christianity in the West shares at least some parallels with the spread of Buddhism in the Far East. Another example is Aristotle in the West. There is evidence that Aristotle stifled the growth of intellectual development in the middle ages because scholars were so fixated on following his teachings that little room was left for alternatives and for leaps of imagination. A similar criticism has been made about China’s long adherence to a small number of schools of thought, like Confucianism, and later criticism concering the content of the imperial exams.

In his book, The Immense Journey, Loren Eiseley wrote that man is rooted in his particular century, and that “out of it – forward or backward – he cannot run.” I do believe that many modern people are stuck in their century. For this reason, I believe that at least some of our educational practices need to be reimagined. Only by reimagining how we teach and what we teach, will we allow for students to at least walk out of their century.

 

 

[Sean Lobberecht]

The purpose of me taking this seminar was to increase my knowledge about East Asia so I can be a better teacher for my students. I am a first year seventh grade geography and ancient civilization teacher in Waltham, Massachusetts. As a first year teacher I found this seminar to be extremely helpful. Not only did we have excellent coordinators and speakers but the sense of community amongst seminar participants was great. We all came together with the sole intention of learning more about East Asia to improve outcomes for our students and I learned a lot from everyone during our weekly sessions and after session discussions. 

 

The Massachusetts state curriculum tasks me with teaching the geography and ancient civilizations of East Asia with a majority of that curriculum focusing on China while using the spread of religion and ideas to talk about Japan and Korea. The standards for China focus mainly on religion, technological advancements, and the Shang, Zhou, and Quin dynasties. 

Luckily for me, our seminar touched on all the topics that are required to be taught under the Massachusetts frameworks. I really enjoyed how we spent some time on learning the geographies of China, Korea, and Japan before we started talking about the history. These videos will prove to be invaluable when it is time to teach this material next year. We also spent a good amount of time learning about the different religions that played a major role in the region during ancient times and still have an impact today. 

 

The Massachusetts State Frameworks for History consist of three different sets of standards, there are content standards, literacy standards, and practice standards. Due to this setup, teachers in my district are given quite a bit of leeway to extend on topics. On top  of touching basically on all the standards that I am required to teach, this seminar gave me a great amount of possibilities for extensions such as culture, other dynasties, the issue of isolationism, and the Belt and Road Initiative just to name a few. 

 

During this seminar I have thought a lot about how to teach a region like East Asia not separately based on modern day political boundaries but as a whole unit where we bounce around and show how the events in one place impact the event in another. This is obviously a lot easier said than done but I think it would lead to better outcomes for students. I feel taking this seminar not only provided me the knowledge but the resources to start putting that into play next year in some capacity. 

 

I am very grateful to our seminar coordinators Clayton Dube and Catherine Gao for not only running the show but also for putting us in touch with leaders in the field such as Morgan Ptelka and the speakers during our Saturday Sessions. I am also grateful to all of my fellow seminar participants, without you the learning would not have been as enriching or meaningful. I look forward to continuing to engage with USC’s China Institute over the coming years. To paraphrase what Professor Dube said at the beginning of the seminar,  “Understanding East Asia is key to understanding the world we live in today.”

 

[Deirdre Harris]

This was my first time taking a class through the USC China Institute,- East Asia Origins.  What a wealth of knowledge and resources Professor Dube has provided to us here so that we can now take these back to our classrooms to help not only our students, but to follow through with the Institute's goals, of educating our students through learning about other cultures, in order to understand our world, and raise "Global Citizens."  I agree with several other students here who have mentioned that the European history is what is mostly taught after our own US history first in elementary school. 

I teach 4th grade, and this was my first time delving deeply into Asian histories, cultures, philosophies, religions, Industial Booms, political ideations, Elite behaviors, Farming Techniques, and the list goes on.  From the early history provided in your first few sessions, through the information provided taking us through the 1800's, I was truly happily overwhelmed with the amount of information and resources offered here.  Trying to come up with ways to incorporate it into a 4th grade class, is not as easy perhaps as for older students, but I will make it my goal to implement many of the resources offered here.  

I found the resources of the highest quality, including the speakers, the readings, and the topics focused on.  They were relatable to what we face today and the many global challenges we all face as humans together.  I feel that this class made me a better teacher by just learning about Asian countries, through their history, culture and what their future plans are.   

Some topics that I hope to share with my students are about the Silk Road, and how the one from the past that we connect with Marco Polo, is now being created once again through the Belt Road Initiative, BRI, by China through ports, countries, and cities and how this will affect our world.  I would like to point out the differences we notice between governments as well, dealing with things such as values like human rights, and climate change  I'd like to share the various philosophies and religions that Asia started with, and to also let them know that Christianity has become very popular over there now, but in an underground sort of way, especially with women. 

I would like to share the simple idea of what a "Closed Society" vs. an "Open Society" will bring to that country, and the pros and cons of each.  Perhaps we can learn from other's mistakes by learning their histories and hopefully have our leadersnot repeat these same mistakes. 

I too would like to thank Professor Dube and Catherine Gao for providing the guidance we all needed, and making themselves available when we needed help.  I too agree that the quality of the class participants was very high, and that I learned from them as well.  I will definitely find another opportunity to join another class through the USC China Initiative very soon to continue my education, and to share this with my own students moving forward.  Thank you both so much for this wonderful course.  

 

 

[Bin He]

This is the first time I have participated in teacher training related to Chinese history and culture. In the beginning, my goal was to learn more about how to organically integrate Chinese culture with different disciplines and make cultural courses more interactive. However, in the past three months, I have gained more than that.

1. Cultural learning requires teachers to associate students' daily lives with our course content to realize that culture itself can be touched, heard, and seen, not abstract consciousness and concepts. It's the commodity price tags they can see everywhere, the increase of foreign objects in movies, or the new dishes that appear in the school cafeteria.

2. The learning of culture requires teachers to provide students with sufficient background knowledge, including geographical and temporal aspects. Specifically, culture originates from the accumulation of human beings in the long-term development process, and the geographical environment and significant historical events have a noticeable influence on it. But for American students, this is what they need to learn and understand in class to lay the foundation for them to apply this knowledge. In addition, from the aspect of self-identity, the study of cultural differences in different periods and different regions can also allow students to intuitively experience and understand some of the current social issues.

3. Cultural learning requires teachers to provide students with opportunities to use this knowledge to solve practical problems. For example, when we study the Chinese Silk Road in history, students can analyze the purpose of several Chinese foreign trade routes in the Han Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and contemporary times to better understand China’s modern Chinese diplomacy, historical origins and policy changes.

4. The learning of culture requires teachers to go out of the campus and connect various resources to their students. Especially during the epidemic, many websites, online lectures, movies, news, and experts in professional fields can be invited into the classroom to give students the opportunity to access first-hand information and at the same time generate more vital interest.

 

[Todd Rutley]

Incorporating East Asia in teaching (in 250-500 words)

Requirement: “1. Discuss how you intend to incorporate East Asia into your teaching. Possible topics you may wish to address include attitudes, approaches, and materials. 2.) Which issues or ideas raised in the seminar are of greatest relevance to your courses and your students?”

How will I incorporate? I will incorporate the lessons from this course in teaching about the historical background to contemporary Chinese politics and economics. 

Which issues or ideas raised in the seminar are of greatest relevance to my course?

1. Chinese philosophy. I enjoyed learning about the different philosophical schools of thought and particularly the importance of Legalism and Confucianism. This understanding allows me to situate Xi Jinping as a follower of Legalist traditions. I now see continuity between the strong legalist actions of Qin Shi Huang and Xi Jinping as he consolidates power in his hands and limits political discussion to a degree not seen since Mao. I also see a connection and maybe an inspiration from the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the last Han-Chinese-led Ming dynasty. I want students to understand that Xi is an exceptionally powerful national leader who should not be underestimated. Many of my conservative students think that the USA will always be #1 and that more US military spending is the answer to everything (and that the only real news is on Fox!). PRC Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Hu Xijin of the Global Times call this “cold war, zero-sum” thinking that is an obstacle to progress and harmony. I too think this hawkishness is very ignorant and dangerous and I hope that education will convince American conservatives that China’s global ambitions require an adjustment in US thinking and strategic policy actions. Building walls around our country while China builds connectivity internationally reflects the losing strategy of a failing and directionless nation.  
2. Importance of the Belt and Road Initiative. The vast economic and geographic scope of the BRI is a clear indication of China’s long-term economic and political strategy. I teach that it is an example of how China’s wealth and power is rising as its connections to Africa and the European Union expand. I teach that China builds roads and infrastructure to increase trade while the US imposes tariffs and bans on Chinese imports to reduce trade. China’s strategy is proving far more effective and should be understood by educated people.
3. Perils of political isolationism. National isolationalism has been tried and failed in Qing China, in Korea, and in Tokugawa era Japan. It also ended badly in the USSR and Eastern Europe.   The lesson from China is that it has been stronger and more respected when it maintained open economic and political connections (as under the Tribute System). For the US to slow its own relative global decline it should follow the Chinese example which starts with education on the benefits of global integration and international cooperation.
4. Steel Production as a sign of economic strength. Professor Dube noted that per capita Chinese iron production increased an estimated 600% in the 960-1280 Song dynasty. I see this an example of China’s world economic leadership in most of the period from 0 CE to roughly 1800 CE. I cite the work of Angus Maddison to explain that by the year 1000 the economy of China was about twice as large as Europe due to both higher per capita average GDP and a far larger population. China also had 9 dynasties that have lasted longer than the USA. Does Chinese civilization have long life DNA? I think it does and that its history demonstrates that it is one of the most exceptional civilizations in history.
5. China, The Middle Kingdom, is a returning world power, not a new or emerging power. I cite the words of Henry Kissinger to the effect that “China does not see itself as a rising, but a returning power . . . It does not view the prospect of a strong China exercising influence in economic, cultural, political, and military affairs as an unnatural challenge to world order—but rather as a return to a normal state of affairs.”  I think this is an important idea that American students should reflect on as they study history and participate in politics.

In conclusion, this course helped me understand the connections between pre-1800 China and modern post-1800 China. It also gave me ideas on how Xi Jinping will lead China forward towards the 2049 centenary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China under the leadership of the CCP.  I am interested in watching how China under Xi will promote the idea of a global “community with shared future for mankind” (人类命运共同体). The next 30 years will prove very decisive in world history.  As Professor Dube noted in video #1 on May 12, remember the importance of “contingency & serendipity” because history is not deterministic and many paths are possible depending on choices made or circumstances. These are choices that will be made by your students when they begin to vote, so please teach them well.

 

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[Cynthia Jackson]

• This spring has been a difficult one on top of a difficult school year, but I am glad that I could finish the Origins seminar. I first completed the Modern East Asia seminar in the fall, from which I created ten lessons for my class and implemented nine of those this year. When re-examining the standards, I knew I needed to sign up for the Origins seminar so that I could finish designing the unit and provide my students with a more accurate picture of ancient and modern East Asia. 

 

Although I’ve learned about East Asia before, I still learn something new each week. If I’m being honest, I learn a lot more than just one new thing. This seminar has taught me about China’s very different dynasties and their interactions with other cultures during each one. For the first time, as I confidently list China’s dynasties in my head, I am thinking about all the ways I learned to teach these to 7th grade students in the past two months. We could investigate archaeological evidence and secondary sources to decide if the Xia dynasty existed. We could learn about the four schools of thought and how legalism led to a unified China during the Qin. We could investigate if Marco Polo visited China during the Yuan dynasty. We could analyze literary and art samples from the culturally blooming Ming period. There are so many things I can teach my students about and I can approach from various lenses including cultural accomplishments, gender equality, religion, ethnic diversity, technological advancements, and foreign relations (including trade). I can’t wait to continue planning this unit and I’m so thankful to everyone who contributed to this seminar!

 

[Anastasia Brown]

One of the main topics that I intend to teach is China’s Belt Road Initiative, within our unit on globalization we can look at how the projects that China are developing around the world. My students would be assigned different excerpts of the readings that pertain to the different plans that are being implemented in LDC’s. As well as doing a gallery walk of the different maps and visuals that we were presented in this seminar.

There is so much that we can use and for my different classes for my World History class we will be looking at how China is treating the Uighur people, and do a comparison to how other countries have treated their minority populations and have students look at what China is doing is not different from what other powerful countries have done.

As well as splitting up the different countries as was done here in this seminar. I like that idea of looking at the specifics of how each one worked, the literature, the roles of women. I enjoyed how this was presented and all of the materials that were provided. The videos that were shared with us was full of great information that I was able to learn more or reinforce what I have learned in the past. But most important for me was the role of women in East Asia and how important they were and their contributions especially in Japan with the female authors and artists. I love showing art and having the students analyze it and see how different and beautiful it is. How it reflects the culture, the time period and events that are seen as important

Reading the different comments of each participant has given me so much in terms of their point of view and material they shared have given me so much to use with my students. The options are great!!! In our World History, Ethnic Studies class as well as geography and U.S. History there is a lot to redesign and use for my students. East Asian history is often overlooked or the focus is usually on Japan or China.  I am excited about using the materials that were presented or suggested by the others in my classes.

[Morgan Burt]

Throughout the course, I found much of the information presented to be very interesting. Professor Dube was particularly engaging while presenting material and is passionate about the content. 

I had not studied much about East Asia prior to the course, so I was presented with a lot of information that was beneficial to my understanding of it. During the first lecture, professor Dube provided geographical information, demography, and cultural information regarding East Asia which I found very helpful. One of the issues presented was the idea of clean water sources. The history of California also has had and currently has issues with water as well, so within my courses, I would like to incorporate common connections with this issue throughout the world. 

During a later lecture, philosophies were discussed. I appreciated the debate and organization of it. In my course, I would also like to engage in debates like this. It was a great way to dive deeper into daoism & to hear other philosophies as well. I also enjoyed the end responses regarding the situation about one's own father. This was a great way to look into a topic and view it from a particular perspective, whether a student agrees with this perspective or not. 

I also really enjoyed the sessions that were led by professor Pitika. This was an area that I felt that I could build on in my World History courses. Primarily Japan is taught through the lens of industrialization and World War II. Providing more background knowledge on Japan's history and society would be beneficial to students. In addition, for a more modern discussion, I would like to show the students videos about the aging population of Japan and how it is impacting their towns and greater society. 

Overall, I appreciated the course and feel like it has made me into a more accessible teacher for various topics. Thank you for your time and knowledge.

 

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