Final essay - please post here

[Anonymous]

Something new that I learned about East Asia is all the interesting facts about Korea that I felt were stereotypical things about the North and the South that are actually true, but then again there were a few new facts that definitely changed my previous thinking.

In terms of stereotypical knowledge, I have heard that there are many ways that North Korea was set back from the South. I was under the impression that the economy in North Korea is far behind in comparison to the South, and didn’t know if that was really true or false. I was shocked to know that this was actually very much true about the economic differences. Also, one image that really stands out in my mind that surprised me greatly was the satellite image of North Korea next to South Korea and how much more industry there is in the South was completely surprising to me. Another funny fact about the size of North Koreans bring so small in stature by several inches in comparison to South Koreans was something that I was actually surprised at being true. I think that there is a general feeling of what you here about North Korea as being just American propaganda, but then there are all these facts that point to the reality of many things that I felt were misconceptions.
Something that I really enjoyed learning about from the guest speaker on Korea was the 10 or 11 facts that you “need to know” about Korea. I thought there were so many things that built on what I already knew, but the social hierarchy of older women was something I found to be really interesting. I did not know that older women are the more outspoken of the family and often control the finances. I thought that this was really funny, but also made sense of many of the Korean films that I have been watching lately and was so confused by their mismatched social hierarchy.

The way that I intend on using this information in my own teaching is to probably start with a similar but alternative presentation on the top 10 things you need to know about Korea. I think that was something that was really informative and also enjoyable to watch and learn. I will probably continue with a lesson on the Kingdoms of Korea for the AP World History course, but incorporate some of the new things that I learned about the originality that Koreans have in their own cultural and religious practices rather than just assuming that all influences have come from China. I may have to bring in a primary source for this, as most textbooks support the idea that everything the Koreans did was just taken from Chinese culture, and neglect to mention what Korea was known for.
edited by slemburg on 5/21/2015

[Anonymous]

Being part of the East Asia from Origins to 1800 seminar has given me the opportunity to slow down from a busy day to focus on relearning the material. As a 6th grade teacher, I am required to teach a unit on China. However, I’m a little embarrassed to say that prior to this seminar; I only knew or remembered the content that I was required to teach the students. The unit is made up of six chapters. We begin the unit by introducing students to the geographical regions. Then they briefly cover Shang dynasty, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties. Each dynasty, but Zhou is covered in their own chapter of the book. Zhou is included with all philosophies are covered in a single chapter. The Silk Road completes unit and finishes the school year. In 6th grade, we only cover the surface. As much as I would love to go in depth on many topics, the high amount of content and short time frame do not allow it. I try to incorporate cooperative learning activities/strategies, research projects, and technology usage into my lessons to create a higher interest in the topic.

As part of this seminar group, not only have I been able to relearn the material, I have been able to reconstruct and enhance my lessons and activities on China. One of the things I find myself doing is throwing bits and pieces of knowledge into a lesson even though it is not found in the text. It raises an interest and students have researched it online or gone to the library. I have increased vocabulary practice such as correct pronunciation and repetition of certain words. Another form in which I have incorporated the teachings from the seminar is that I introduced the lessons or activities posted in the forum to my students. Not only did I think that it would be educational, but it would be fun. After posting the links in the forum, I provided my students with links to practice their vocabulary skills, character writing, and cultural knowledge. I also showed them the video, “The Three Monks”, and we conducted partner and group discussions. They really enjoyed extending the activities beyond the textbook.

This seminar has enhanced my teaching skills and increased my knowledge of East Asia. It made me more aware that there is a lot that I had forgotten or didn’t know, thus opening my curiosity. It is difficult to pinpoint the topics that I enjoyed the most as I gained a great deal of knowledge. I loved everything, but some of my favorites include learning about powerful women, Kenmu code, Edo period (I would love to visit the castles), Japanese gardens, Zheng He, all the dynasties, and emperors. All the material provided and discussions were and/or will be helpful in enhancing my lessons. Thank you. I will definitely be signing up for the next seminar.
edited by malvarenga on 5/30/2015

[Anonymous]

As a middle school teacher I am so happy to have the experience that the U.S.C. China Institute offered me. I have been teaching for 12 years now and need professional development course to keep my mind refreshed. This seminar has been both a challenge and a joy. First of all, I did not know anything about Chinese history. I did know a few basic Chinese geography and a few ancient facts. I began the class with the mindset of what can I learn that will help me teach my students better. Well, this seminar began in March when I was just finished up a unit on Asia. This unit included China, Japan, and Korean history. The entire unit was about 40 pages in the textbook and very limited in the area of pictures and charts.
So, what did I do? I had the students read the textbook, copy a few maps and then create a children’s book about China. Each student was required to share their books with the class during a presentation in front of the class. I enjoyed the experience but still felt as though many elements were missing from my lessons. Then I signed up for this course. Now, 12 sessions later, I feel so much better about teaching World History next year because I am more knowledgeable about Asia. I have a whole new set of resources and colleagues to reach out to for help in teaching about Asia, especially China.

So what resources do I have? Well, I have a book about a ship that sank in the South China Sea in the 1870’s. Although, I have not read it yet, I plan to read it over the summer and share its content with my 7th and 8th graders next year. The fact that it talks about Abraham Lincoln is great because that connects to U.S. history, which is what I am used to teaching. I also have a forum where I can share my ideas and borrow from others. The forum is an amazing place to learn because everything comes from people who have the same passion for learning as I do. I also have over 30 pages of handwritten notes that I took during lecture. My goal is to type them and save them on one of my computers to refer back to.
The most useful notes I took were from guest speakers. The best part of having guest speakers is listening to professors who have a broad perspective and expertise in a specific area. I especially appreciate the guest speakers since I want to be a professor when I grow up. Now, I have information to get me started on the next chapter in my career.
Thanks so much USC China Institute, your program is amazing!
edited by ljimerson on 6/2/2015
edited by ljimerson on 6/2/2015

[Anonymous]

I became interested in this class because teaching history is not exactly my profession but my hobby.i am really disappointed how many students say they hate history which I find fascinating..Finding out how people lived , how they thought ,what was important to them has always fascinated me .Somewhere between outlines,standards and AP exams we forgot how to make history interesting.Maybe the Eurocentric view does not appeal to students of other ethnicities in this changing world.
I discovered that China was for a long time a center of culture as important as Rome was to the western world .Ideas radiated from China to other Asian countries, were adapted to their local realities and eventually developed into new original forms and societies.I learned that ,far from being docile followers and emulators of China, Korea and Japan developed their own culture and social order. I discovered the Heian period literature, the poetry, the diarists and the wonderful Tale of Genji. I read for the first time fragments from Sei Shonagon,s Pillow book and I realized that we did not invent refinement.
What I learned? I learned a lot about the geography of Asia, about its history,about the circulation of ideas between countries.I saw a new face of China, not the one I saw twenty-five years ago.
How i am going to apply what I learned in class ? I will have a better understanding of my students background, of their way of life and of their priorities.
How this class is going to help me with my school trips? i will try to open my students to new destinations, new cultures and new ideas.

I would like to thank the China Institute for this great class.It was instructional and entertaining at the same time . In would not hesitate to recommend it to other teachers and I cannot wait for the next one.
edited by scarjan on 6/3/2015
edited by scarjan on 6/3/2015

[Anonymous]

Juana Evink
When I first heard about the East Asia seminar I was thrilled, because I always wanted to learn more about Asian cultures. I was excited to learn about East Asia and been able to take what I learned back to my students next year. Prior to taking the seminar my knowledge about China and Japan was decent, but Korea’s was limited. After, this amazing experience I can honestly say that I learned a lot about China, Japan and Korea from professor Dube and guest speakers. When I taught a unit on China and Japan, I’m embarrassed to say that I had limited understanding about these 3 cultures, but now I feel confident about it. Also, I have access to primary and secondary sources that I will be able to use when planning and teaching about Asian civilizations.
It was refreshing to be a student instead of a teacher for 3 hours. After a long day at work, been able to talk, interact and share with other colleagues about East Asia. I have always been fascinated about China, and their many different dynasties. Also, about Confucius and his ideas about education, how the past should be revere and his ideas about family relations and the meritocracy system. One thing that I was shocked to find out was Robert Wells‘s book “Voices from the South China Sea.” I had never heard about the worst China emigrant disaster in history and was surprised that it relates to the Civil War’s hero Abraham Lincoln who approved the building of the 4 ships. I will like to assign my future students a book report on this book, because I believe they will benefit from learning about it.
I learned about the meaning behind the Japanese gardens in America and how they were not a big deal in Japan. Also, that today the Japanese are coming to America about the Samurai was fascinating, I truly enjoyed watching the Twilight Samurai movie. Also, I learned about Korea, their geography, culture and history.
The 2 months of the seminar were extremely educative, beneficial, and interesting. I will gladly participate in another one. Also, I will definitely use what I learned and the resources available to me from participating in this seminar, with my future students in hope to inspire them to learn more about East Asia.
edited by jevink on 6/7/2015

[Anonymous]

I thoroughly enjoyed every session of this seminar. Even though the drive to class on Monday evenings was challenging, the learning that took place more than made up for it. The education gleaned from this seminar has helped me to become more confident in this topic which could not possibly be covered by any robust teacher's training program. Due to the breadth and depth of material coverage of this seminar, I was able to synthesize several important units critical to the middle school social studies.

For 8th grade curriculum, I was able to create a curriculum on the influence of the Chinese immigrants to California during the Gold Rush. I will discuss the push and pull factor of the Chinese immigration and how waves of Chinese immigration transformed major coastal California cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. In the same vein, I can segue this curriculum to the high school level by discussing how the Chinese immigration was met by strong xenophobia created by nativists for fear of losing jobs. Due to this heightened Sino-phobia, California tried to pass laws that curtailed oriental immigration which would lead the way for the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Acts of 1882. In my research of this topic, I have found valuable primary sources that students will use to compose their documents-based essay.

Even though my focus was on 8th grade, I also made good use of the other topics which fit more properly to the 6th-7th grade social studies standards. One of the most important topics for these grade levels was religion. I will make good use of the religious texts that were handed out to us and ask students to do compare Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism using the primary sources. Likewise I want to illustrate thoroughly the transmission of Buddhism from India all the way to Japan and how Buddhism takes different forms in each country. For this lesson, I want students to do research on the giant Buddha statues found in each country to show how they are similar and different in the host countries.

Equally important to religion is the topic on the Chinese dynasties. My understanding of this topic was very fragmented (just like how the textbooks taught). Now I can provide a narrative of the transition of each dynasty for my students and hopefully provide some cohesion for this topic. I think as a teacher I am not just transmitting superficial rote-learning facts to students, I am also passing on my own understanding of these facts. It is this understanding that will help students to make sense of these facts and enjoy these facts.

[Anonymous]

This class was a fantastic introduction into the history of China, Japan, and Korea. Following and during each session, I was delighted to learn something new about each country. Considering I had little knowledge on the history of East Asia prior to taking the course, I truly felt like a student in my own class learning material they, too, had little knowledge about.

As the class progressed, I constantly reflected on how I could incorporate East Asian history into the 5th grade curriculum. The 5th grade California History standards focus primarily on the founding of the United States as well as its’ current geography. Among some of the many topics I can incorporate, I believe that I can constantly compare aspects of the history of China, Japan, and Korea with the development of the United States as well its geography in comparison to California’s. When discussing the development of the American government, it will also be interesting to examine the dynasties of China and their influences on the formation of the country’s beliefs.

Another possible topic to include would be the Silk Road and the introduction of beliefs, goods, and cultures across the countries. Immigration is a significant topic in the formation of America. Students will be able to see how this concept is prevalent across countries they no little about. I initially thought it would be difficult to incorporate East Asian history into the 5th grade curriculum at the start of the course, but I have realized there are a multitude of topics and ways I can integrate the course content.

I will provide students with primary and secondary (modified if need be) sources that will expose students to ideas and beliefs according to the topic discussed. I will also utilize the many web resources discussed in the class and found by fellow participants in the class during my lessons. Considering we discussed many styles of art in the class, I would also like to provide art lessons that examine art pieces and have students create their own work that is related to the chosen artwork.

I believe that the introduction of East Asian history into my class will develop students’ global perspectives. Many of my students come from Latin American backgrounds and have not been exposed to many Asian cultures. By incorporating unfamiliar cultures into lessons and comparing them to students’ own cultures, students will hopefully develop an understanding of cultural competency. It is my intention to develop my students into global citizens and to become more culturally aware as they interact in the real world.
edited by iramos on 6/12/2015

[Anonymous]

As a veteran of the USC East Asia Program I can truly say that this has been one of the best seminars that I have had the pleasure to participate in! The organization and configuration of each session, in addition to the substantive comments from fellow educators, made this difficult topic easier to understand.

However, I wish that Professor Jennifer Kim had more time to delve into Korean history (i.e., another session); and although I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation about Japanese gardens, it was not comprehensive enough given the richness of Japanese history. Perhaps two sessions each for both Korean history and Japanese history would complement what was a very thorough introduction to Chinese history.

The weekly East Asia seminars provide a wealth of information about various topics of interest in east Asia. In the near future, I hope to hear more speakers address China's Muslim population, China's growing influence in Africa and South America, as well as its tenuous relationship with India. The visual and text resources will help me to introduce and develop information from textbooks which are lacking in their comprehensive coverage of Asia. I will definitely use the debate from the first few classes to engage students about Chinese government and civics.

This, as well as previous seminars, have helped me to converse with many of my Asian students, as well as others who have an insatiable knowledge for learning about Asia and the world. Having said that, this East Asia seminar was "heavy" on Chinese history, which is relevant to world events at home and abroad.

Finally, Professor Dube's approach to presenting early Chinese history on this occasion, in all of its salacious glory, will result in a lot of recidivism, that is, eager educators "biting at the bit" to register for subsequent seminars and educational study tours to Asia and beyond.
edited by cwatson on 6/16/2015
edited by cwatson on 6/16/2015
edited by cwatson on 6/16/2015
edited by cwatson on 6/21/2015

[Anonymous]

It seems to me that the doorway to Asia has just opened for me and I cannot wrap my mind around finality quite yet. I get the feeling there is much more ahead on this journey of discovery. East Asia is a huge part of the world, hugely important in the global economy and so diverse yet somehow similar in some respects.
I have just scratched the surface of learning, there is much more opportunity in my future quest through Asian studies.

I enjoyed every part of this program which was professionally challenging, structured well with a blend of current information and history, balanced with media examples, guest speakers, and the common goal of educators working and learning together unified the process.
I would highly recommend the seminar to other interested educators (from any subject background because as a studio art instructor I was not unacceptable to the historical inclination of the program). The dedication of some of my fellow educators who drove hundreds of miles to attend this seminar after instructing students all day encouraged and motivated me to be a part of this great group. This also speaks volumes towards the outreach intention of this program and it's foundation to provide a cultural bridge between people. I look forward to the next class and to becoming an alumni and possible traveler.

I have become inspired by the East Asian Studies course to continue my personal learning with intention to share with my art students next school year. I have purchased "Chineasy" and I'm slowly learning Mandarin Chinese symbols and characters. I have registered for a free summer seminar about "China and the Forbidden City", at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Lastly, my traditional summer art class will be a Literati Ink class taught by master artist Seung-Yeon Oh from Seoul, Korea and I am very excited to try my hand at Asian brush work.

[Anonymous]

0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Katherine Venturoso
Final Essay Spring
East Asia Seminar
June 22, 2015

Amazing Adventures in East Asia

This year has been one of my top three most challenging years of teaching. I have collected knives and bullets and my colleague collected a pellet gun. Needless to say this class has been allowed me to break through the fog and give me a breath of fresh air of creativity and new learning. I took a deep breath and was happy to integrate into my daily routine my new acquired knowledge weekly.

As a fifth grade teacher at a fine arts school, but not an art teacher, I have been able to use the period art works presented in my class. I have integrated Haiku with my art work for the Cherry Blossom festival as well as the history behind it as we study US history. This semester I taught my students a few Chinese symbols and Chinese watercolor. We have a literature piece about Chinese immigrants and now I have a deeper understanding of the language in the story. It always annoyed my students when the characters called each other “First Sister” “Second Sister” etc. Now I can explain more about the cultural connotations of the story. Next year I will be doing ceramics in my class and I think I will do a unit on comparing the Song and Tang dynasty although I am limited with supplies.

In social studies, we cover the expansion of the railroads and the use of immigrants to build the railways. I now have some ideas of additional pictures and stories to tell of the ships used to bring them here and the hardships they faced.

I am very fond of gardening and the context of the Japanese and Chinese gardens in Southern California was very enlightening. We are possibly going to start a garden at my school and I now have some more ideas to consider. My visit to the USC museum was very enlightening and I was able to explain a few things to my mom who came with me.

Finally, I believe that teachers need to be constantly challenged to learn new content instead of the usual drivel we get at professional development seminars. Every class allowed me to see East Asian culture in a new way and how it affects the way I teach. I now have a more expansive repertoire to help my students to connect the dots and in a more creative integrated way. Thank you for all the background material and the fascinating speakers that came to visit the our class. Thank you for the opportunity to attend your classes.

[Anonymous]

Katherine Venturoso
Final Essay Spring
East Asia Seminar
June 22, 2015

Amazing Adventures in East Asia

This year has been one of my top three most challenging years of teaching. I have collected knives and bullets and my colleague collected a pellet gun. Needless to say this class has been allowed me to break through the fog and give me a breath of fresh air of creativity and new learning. I took a deep breath and was happy to integrate into my daily routine my new acquired knowledge weekly.

As a fifth grade teacher at a fine arts school, but not an art teacher, I have been able to use the period art works presented in my class. I have integrated Haiku with my art work for the Cherry Blossom festival as well as the history behind it as we study US history. This semester I taught my students a few Chinese symbols and Chinese watercolor. We have a literature piece about Chinese immigrants and now I have a deeper understanding of the language in the story. It always annoyed my students when the characters called each other “First Sister” “Second Sister” etc. Now I can explain more about the cultural connotations of the story. Next year I will be doing ceramics in my class and I think I will do a unit on comparing the Song and Tang dynasty although I am limited with supplies.

In social studies, we cover the expansion of the railroads and the use of immigrants to build the railways. I now have some ideas of additional pictures and stories to tell of the ships used to bring them here and the hardships they faced.

I am very fond of gardening and the context of the Japanese and Chinese gardens in Southern California was very enlightening. We are possibly going to start a garden at my school and I now have some more ideas to consider. My visit to the USC museum was very enlightening and I was able to explain a few things to my mom who came with me.

Finally, I believe that teachers need to be constantly challenged to learn new content instead of the usual drivel we get at professional development seminars. Every class allowed me to see East Asian culture in a new way and how it affects the way I teach. I now have a more expansive repertoire to help my students to connect the dots and in a more creative integrated way. Thank you for all the background material and the fascinating speakers that came to visit the our class. Thank you for the opportunity to attend your classes.

[Anonymous]

Final Essay
East Asia is so vast and rich with history, but unknown to most of the world. It is a shame that the American people lack common knowledge about Asia. I include myself in this group because I too lacked historical knowledge about East Asia. I did not know how ignorant I was about the history of China, Japan and Korea or the East Asia region. I am very glad I participated in this institute. I was able to acquire lots of history from East Asia. Now I can share this knowledge with my students in my school. I know for a fact that I did not learn any Asian history when I went through school here in Los Angeles. I know that my students get very little Asian history in in middle school. The curriculum is so limited that if we as teachers do not prepare a good lesson plan to expand and supplement what we are give by the district adopted textbooks our students will continue to be omniscient about other historical and cultural event from other relevant parts of the world, especially East Asia.
I truly enjoyed attending lecture each time I went. Even though sometimes I was very tired of the long days at school. Just knowing how interesting class was going to be, made it worth my while. Professor Dube made the lectures extremely interesting. His vast knowledge and passion in the subject matter is amazing. His passion and knowledge on the history, the culture, the people and the regions was so inspiring to me personally. This institute has made me want to continue to study East Asia in the future.
China was and always will be a great nation, a super nation. China now is a super power nation competing with all other leading nations economically, technological innovations and labor. China cannot be beat in population. The advancements that china had in its origin were great. China had a civilization that knew how to governed the empire by developing dynasties and emperors. The invention of weapons and armies helped to create a vast empire. In its period of isolation, China stayed behind in technological advancements, but China has made up and gone beyond since China open itself to the world.
This course has made me want to travel to each of the countries we studied. I already had my favorite country, Japan, but now I have a larger interest to know more about Korea north and south, and China. I hope to one day have the necessary assets to do an East Asia tour. I always watched Japanese documentaries, travel and cultural shows from Japan, etc. Now I have included the other countries so I can learn more about them too.
The experience that the course has given me was great and enjoyable. It was a great class to attend. Knowing that the class was not for a letter grade made it more relaxing and enjoyable for the love of learning not getting the grade. What I liked most was that we the teachers were there to learn the material. We were there out of our own will to learn something new or to add to. That made it more interesting for me, because I was there to concentrate in learning and not to worry whether I got an A in the class. Professor Dube, thank you so much for selecting me as a participant in the institute. Please know that I learn so much from your lectures and from your guests. Many thanks to Catherine for all that she does to make our time at the institute so pleasurable. She does so much for us the teachers. Thank you very much! Hoping to continue to be part of future institutes.
edited by ebonilla on 6/27/2015

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Anonymous]

I am unable to start a new topic so I am posting here. This activity is make-up for a missed class.
I went to see “Astro Boy and the God of Comics”, a multi-media performance by the Sacred Fools Theatre Company about the life and career of Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka starting creating comics, or manga, in Japan during World War Two. During this time, comics were considered anti-establishment and their creators were deemed subversive. Considering his underground beginnings it is ironic that Tezuka went on to create a pop culture icon with Astro Boy, pioneer an animation industry that we refer to today as anime, and earn the title of “god of comics”. Simply Google search “god of comics” if you have any doubts.
Tezuka has an interesting family history- his great-great-grandfather and great-grand father were medical doctors in who ran an anti-smallpox vaccination clinic in Edo during the 19th century. Their efforts were very forward thinking considering their clinic was founded before the arrival of Commodore Perry. Osama Tezuka was born in 1928 into a highly militarized Japan and in just a few years the Sino-Japanese War began. During World War Two Tezuka had firsthand experience of fire bombings in Osaka. The stories of his ancestors and war experience were later turned in comic/manga stories. Themes of war, peace, and humanity recur frequently throughout Tezuka’s output and the theatrical performance showcased in particular a story in which Astro Boy travels back in time to protect Vietnamese villagers from American bombing.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

[Anonymous]

Ramon Martinez
East Asia from Origins to 1800
Spring 2015
Final Essay

The East Asia from Origins to 1800 Seminar has provided me with a deep appreciation for the countries studied. As an educator, I feel it is very important that we strive to learn as much as possible about the ever changing world in which we live in. This seminar not only met, but exceeded my expectations in learning and appreciating about the history, culture, religion, economics and political systems of China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Vietnam. As we continue to move further into the 21st century, it is important that as educators we inform and engage students in learning about East Asia.
I have to admit that my understanding about China was quite limited. It wasn’t until Professor Dube began to discuss China’s Major Philosophical Traditions that I finally began to understand the Chinese culture. I wish we could have spent more time on Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism and Legalism. Unfortunately, there was so much material to cover that it would have made this impossible. However, I really appreciated the “Hundred Schools Debate” because it provided participants to study various schools of thought and tackle important issues. This definitely could have been stretched out over another session. However, once again, there was so much to cover. Learning about the Warring States period, late imperial China, Mongolian invasions, Marco Polo, Ming Dynasty and taking us to the Kangxi Emperor was quite an expedition. I truly thank Mr. Dube for guiding us through this educational journey.
The presentations on Korea and Japan were also very helpful. Although, I was aware of the many differences that exist between South Korea and North Korea, I was surprised to learn about the level of economic output of these two neighbors. I was surprised when I saw the power point slides that showed the images taken from the sky that highlighted energy use and activity. It was quite surprising. Learning about the history of Japan and its current challenges of an aging population was also enlightening.
I really appreciated the invited authors and lecturers that really supplemented our seminar experience. Mr. Wells experience relating to the South China Sea was excellent. Ms. Chan and Ms. Zee “Young Scholars Program” further brought to life the four daily rituals from the Song Dynasty. Dr. Kim’s presentation on Korea was great. I found her lecture and slide presentation to be eye-opening. Dr. Brown’s presentation on seasonality which led into Japanese Gardens was indeed engaging.
This Seminar far exceeded my expectations. I plan on sharing the information gained with all students that I work with. As we move forward, it is vital that we, as educators share and engage students into further learning about Asia. I thank Mr. Dube for giving me the opportunity to participate in this seminar. I also hope that I can continue to be a part of future learning opportunities about Asia. Thank you for your knowledge, dedication and commitment to us.
I would also like to thank Ms. Catherine Gao for communicating, coordinating and making our experience pleasant on Monday evenings and Saturday mornings for all of us.

[Anonymous]

Nallely Arteaga 15.00 I am still having difficulties creating new posts so I am using this thread to post.
I visited the USC Pacific Asia Museum today. The museum is housed in a 1920s building rich in Chinese ornamentation. Until 1969 the Building housed the Pasadena Museum of Art and in 1971 it became the Pacific Asia Museum. The building is a registered historical landmark.
The museum houses collections of art ranging from India to Indonesia and organizes special exhibitions. There was a special exhibit of Japanese Literati paintings, all landscapes. The term “literati” refers to the culture of the scholar-gentleman. The landscapes were for the most part on painted on scrolls and if a human was depicted we would see a man dwarfed by his natural surroundings. Often a poem was written in the empty spaces of the painting.
There was a room devoted to Korean art. Not only were connections to Chinese and Japanese art visible, there was also Shamanistic images as well, including a depiction of the god of property, Daegam.
There was a painting that referenced Daoist philosophy with a large depiction of the character for longevity- Shou. From what I understand another interpretation of this character could be “immortality”. Paintings that reflect a harmony in nature can also be seen as representing Daoism.
There are many manifestations of Buddhism at the museum, including a stunningly well preserved Japanese wooden Buddha from the 13th Century. The museum provides lots of helpful Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

[Author]

Posts