Self-introductions

[Derek Coveart]

Hello Everyone, 

I have spent a number of years living in China and am currently in the U.S. trying to return to China with my family. My wife and I own a small education company in Guizhou, China and I often teach students Chinese history, etc. in English. I am looking forward to this seminar.  

[clay dube]

Ping, thanks for mentioning science fiction. It's not really my realm, but Liu Cixin's works have become hugely popular. The Three Body Problem won the 2015 Hugo Award, an international honor. The film version of one of his short stories, The Wandering Earth, became a megahit in China and is available on Netflix. A colleague of mine highlights differences between the film and story versions. Netflix is also making a series based on The Three Body Problem. It's likely that many students will be introduced to and interested in Liu's work.

In 2015, our students interviewed Ken Liu, the author-translator who brought The Three Body Problem to English audiences. You can read that here: https://china.usc.edu/qa-ken-liu-translator-three-body-problem 

Four years later, Liu Cixin told the New York Times that he encourages readers who have a choice to read Ken Liu's translation rather than  his Chinese original: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/magazine/ken-liu-three-body-problem-chinese-science-fiction.html

[Ray Clark]

Greetings, 

I teach World History, US History & AP US history in Los Angeles.  I have been fortunate to grow up as an Afro-Latino in Western Europe  & have visited many parts of the world, but unfortunately have not yet been to mainland China, only places such as Macao & Hong Kong, that were once colonies, and a couple of short trips to contested areas , such as Taiwan.  I am looking forward to learning more, especially since I think that China will become the dominant world power in the near future.

[Tara Ann Carter]

Hi folks! My name is Tara Ann Carter. I travelled to China and Taiwan with Clay and the ever-lovely Catherine Cao in 2018. Since our intial meeting a few years ago I've kept tabs on the US-China Insitute and their offerings and was thrilled to have another opportunity to learn with Clay again this year. My biggest takeaway from our study tour was the vast and complex nature of Chinese history and culture leading me to sieze every opportunity for professional development on East Asia. I happily joined this course as I have recently moved to California and find this is the perfect opportunity to smile with old friends, establish a new network and talk China with some really clever teachers. I am currently subsitute teaching in Orange County while the state bureacracy is processing my permanent certificate. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Hello Everyone, 

My name is Jonthan Alami and I am the History Department Chair and 7th grade World History teacher at a charter school in Pacoima, CA. While the focus of my course is world history in the middle ages, I am excited to learn more about contemporary China and apply it to my classroom.  Preparing our students to be global citizens is heavily emphasized at our school!

[Xiaozhen Li]

Hi everyone, my name is Xiaozhen Li. I teach Mandarin at a high school in Pinole, California. I taught Mandarin I to AP for six years at a private high school before. Now, I am starting to build a new Mandarin program at an IB public high school. We have Mandarin I and II this year. It will be going to IB Mandarin in the next two years. China is developing so fast. As a Chinese native myself living in the U.S. for over 10 years still don't know many things about contemporary China. I am very looking forward to this course. 

[Hector Alejandro]

Hi Everyone,

I teach World History and U.S. History and would like to incorporate some more lessons about current global affairs.  Ideally I would link past U.S.-China relations to the what is happening today in U.S. policy.

[Mossy Kennedy]

I am looking forward to this course.  Already, I have been impressed with the quality and insight of what has been presented.  While most of the other teachers in the course come from Social Studies, I am coming from Language Arts.  The connection to AP English Literature has not made itself apparent yet, but I am seeing many possibilities for my Expository Reading and Writing Course.  It is a CSUComposition course that centers itself in controversial issues and argument.  The social issues encountered in the course should provide a rich source of topics to draw from.

[Gisela Gaona]

I do have a couple of questions that I hope to get the answers to over the course of this seminar. 

1. When and how did China allow privatization of businesses to occur?
2. What if anything is China doing to encourage the birth rate of Chinese citizens?
3. In any realm of possibility, will China to allow Hong Kong to be free and independent?
4. What exactly are the long-term plans of what China is doing in Africa?
5. What did China do to Jack Ma when he was "missing"?
6. Is China lying about keeping US users Tik Tok data in databases that located outside of China?
7. I've read that while the COVID-19 pandemic severely hurt the American economy, the Chinese economy was not as severely impacted. What did the Chinese government do to absorb the hit the pandemic caused? Is it possible China is lying about their continued economic stability as a political ploy?
8. In general, I'd like to know more about the Chinese middle class. (average household income, purchasing power, accessibility to enter the middle class)

 

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