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AnonymousThe demographic crisis consists of many factors. To begin with, families are having less children because women are deciding to pursue an education and focus on their careers. Whereas before a women's job was to take care of the household and the children. Now, woman are not wanting to get married at an early age or choosing NOT to get married at all. Men who desire to continue with the "traditional" family way of life are seeking for spouses outside their country through mail order brides. The crisis also consists of the fact that much of the population is older now and the work population is shrinking whereas it is creating a financial burden to the country. For example, in Japan (where life expectancy is longer than other countries) there is a crisis in taking care of their older population. Companies are adjusting to the smaller young age work force by replacing physical human labor with robots. It is evident that many changes will occur in these societies, and I am curious in learning what will be the outcome in the long term.
AnonymousChico Harlan’s July 14, 2014 article, “ Bride school: Where South Korea’s mail-order wives learn their trade” and Amber Wang’s “ Foreign bride’ from Cambodia to make history in Taiwan vote” (7 Jan 2016) can apply directly – and immediately—to a current synthesis unit based on Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God where students need to write a synthesis essay based on the following questions: In an essay that synthesizes at least FIVE of the sources for support, take a position that explains to what extent the roles, responsibilities, and expectations for women have changed in the last 150 years? In this synthesis, students are asked to find three of their own sources to supplement the list of sources provided by myself. The students are able to select from the readings that include: an excerpt from Mary Wollstencraft’s The Vindication of the Rights of Women, Stephen Jay Gould’s “Women’s Brains,” Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s “The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.” Students, in their search are required to find any print media sources, geared towards current literature and Harlan’s article, with the descriptions of Vietnamese brides’ roles in South Korean marriages, and Wang’s article, depicting the changing expectations of women, would be invaluable perspectives for students to analyze when synthesizing their view of women.
edited by crhude on 2/8/2016
AnonymousFor what grade level/subject do you intend to use this lesson? @crhude
edited by cmccarty on 2/9/2016
AnonymousMany things stood out to me as I read this article, mainly the hierarchies that exist along the lines of ethnicity and nationality. It seems that perhaps these hierarchies are defined by the economic power of each country, but I also wonder what other things have helped to position east Asian countries as more dominant than southeast Asian countries. I am interested to discover deeply entrenched these dynamics are by looking more closely at the philosophy and history of Asia prior to 1800. In learning that foreigners account for 3% of South Korea’s population, I wondered how they are perceived in South Korea. The article also mentioned there are support centers for multicultural families, and I was interested to know what services these centers might offer.
edited by nramon on 2/15/2016
AnonymousAs I read this article and how Li-chan turned into an immigrant activist I immediately thought about the immigrant activists here in the United States. Her thoughts on her newfound identity as Taiwanese also reminded me of the way many young immigrants here in the United States identify as American due to their upbringing in here in the United States. I would like to look further into this topic and possibly use this article in my class because I think its highly relevant to the lives of my students. Just like Li-chan my students and their relatives are immigrants and they also go through the process of adopting different identities as they migrate. This is a crucial topic to bring up in class because it would help my students expand their scope of consciousness. Very often, students don’t get the opportunity to think outside of their bubble and of the things they see, but bringing up this article could serve as a learning opportunity for them to see issues in immigration as universal.
edited by nramon on 2/15/2016
AnonymousIs it possible to get the articles for sessions 3 and 4 sooner rather than later so we have ample time to prepare and read for the next class period?
AnonymousArriving to a country that has little or nothing of one’s culture is not a great experience. Learning about Lin Li-chan success is an inspiring story that I definitely will share with my students. They need to know, that determination is the drive that can make a big difference in anyone’s life. As an immigrant myself and as a foreign language teacher, I know how difficult it is to learn another language. Using her example, I hope to motivate students to learn a second language. Another interesting aspect of this story is learning about how she was sold to her husband. For most teenaged girls here in this part of the world, getting married with being in love is simply unheard of. Many girls in my class will be shocked to learn about the case of this young lady who was sold to her husband, who didn’t even spoke the same language.As a read this story, I did experience many different emotions,I am glad that this story has a positive note. In is great to see that despite all her disadvantages, she has succeed and more importantly now she in the politics arena where she can make a difference and help other young women in similar circumstances than her own.
edited by edelafuente on 2/21/2016
AnonymousSince our 1st session and readings I've had in mind how labor practices are changing. Companies have been replacing human labor with robots and computers for quite some time now. When calling any company we are greeted by computers. When shopping we have the option check out and pay for our merchandise by computer. We receive telemarking calls from computers. The Google car is another example. Will this technology replace bus drivers or other modes of transportation?
edited by cgao on 3/2/2016
AnonymousAs I read this article, it came to my mind a short story written by Enrique Anderson Imbert that I read many years ago. Anderson wrote a short story about technology, at the time I read his story I didn’t think I would live long enough to see it happening and now is coming to past. The technologies being developed are welcomed by the aging generation of Japan who needs it now. How is going to affect the rest of the world? Is going to benefit us or is going to have a negative impact to society as a whole? I am not sure how this robots will impact the life of future generations around the globe.
edited by edelafuente on 6/14/2016
AnonymousI find the correlation of marriage and low numbers in birth rate, within China, Korea and Japan interesting, each area and region is struggling with a growing birthrate for vastly different reasons, but the one commonality seems to be that the younger woman are seeing things, such as career, social lives and developing ones own sense of self are equally as important as family, taking care of the previous generation and men.
Within such a patriarchal society, this ideal of female independence isn't accepted or encouraged, it is putting men of marrying age in a poor position having to look for wives in other countries, or being life long bachelors. But in China, where the numbers became skewed because of the one child rule and the views of male children over female children, this rule put China's now of age male residents in situations where women of marrying age are unavailable to them, because they are waiting, they have far more options and are more selective.
I think it is an all around unfortunate system that I will continue to watch as the policies and rules change.
AnonymousAs I am reading your comment, it came to my mind that sometime in future we will have robots in the classrooms as well. Those machines will be used to replace us almost everywhere. Have you heard about the new technologies that is already been used in some colleges here in the USA? And yeah, do not be surprised when you see our new way of transportation; it is in the making, soon we all see it. It is just amazing!
edited by edelafuente on 6/14/2016
clay dubeHi Folks,
I'm looking forward to meeting everyone on the first day of the year of the monkey. We'll be discussing the course requirements, etc., but we'll also be looking at the geography and demography of East Asia. For each session, you are required to post your thoughts about one or more of the readings or about the ideas discussed during the session. Please complete your post within 24 hours of each session.
For session 1:
1-asia-demographic-crisis-20150822-econ.pdf
2-harlan-2014-vietnamese-bride-school-south-korea.pdf
3-choe-2015-south-korean-labor-leader-surrenders.pdf
4-reynolds-2015-abe-demographic-crisis.pdf
5-nohara-2015-japan-rise-of-machines.pdf
6-wang-2016-cambodian-taiwan-legislator.pdf
7-cfr-2016-china-environmental-crisis.pdf
Questions to consider while reading:
1. What is the demographic crisis? Too many people?
2. How are societies dealing with the population shift?
3. What are the implications for these societies long term? Is it the same for China as it is for the Koreas, Taiwan, and Japan?
Core reading for the debate in session #2:
dube-chinese-philosophy.pdf
edited by cgao on 2/19/2016
edited by cgao on 2/22/2016
AnonymousI always love when I have the opportunity to include current event articles in the classroom, and this week's readings definitely lend itself to this. Population growth is always a hot topic to discuss, and the article "Europe shows how Asia’s demographic crisis might correct itself" is a great way to discuss this idea in the classroom. This article makes an interesting connection to Europe's past population trends, and this would be a great article to have as a supplement when discussion ancient population trends in Europe as well. I found the following line interesting as well, "By some estimates, by 2070 in some Asian countries there will be 160 men seeking a wife for every 100 women seeking a husband. Men will have to compete much harder if they want to attract a mate, and that surely means doing more housework. (Those who insist on old-fashioned gender roles will doom themselves to bachelorhood.)" These numbers are quite astonishing, and I am wondering if trends will change, or if males will keep the same values as have existed for hundreds of years. My wondering is, what will make these men really be willing to change their ways? Will they? Will their need to be a mass message or appeal to men to have them change their ways?