Session 10 - May 9 (Symposium on Xinjiang)

[Sandra Flores]

Hi Jessica, I like your idea of using the comics.  I read some of them myself and they are so disturbing.  The situation with the Uyghur community reminds me of the Holocaust.  As teachers we know that the Holocaust is taught in school and I believe that we should also add these concentration camps.  The comic also reminded me of the Museum of Tolerance, when you first enter you receive an ID card and that is the victim you learn about.  At the end of the tour you insert your card in a machine and it tells you their story.  Students can each be assigned a person before the lesson, then after the lesson they can go and investigate their person's life and share it with a smaller group.  

[Billie Johnson]

I truly hope that any type of action will not be too late.  It would truly be a shame to see these people with their rich culture erased from history if even it is only erased from that part of the world.  There are so many battles to fight all over the world that I do believe the "each country for themself" attitude is pervasive. I just wish there was something that can be done right now.

[Samantha Auerbach]

Just like many have mentioned above, I was very naive and unaware regarding the dire situation in Xinjiang. I'm horrified to learn about the mistreatment of the Uyghur community and people based on their religion and where they are from. We learn and hear about concentration camps and "detainment" centers and I always think that it's a thing of the (not so) distant past. How can anyone in modern times still do this and how can bystanders sit by and watch? I know it does still happen, I just have a difficult time wrapping my head around it. Hearing Dr. Kurban's testimony about her experiences was bone-chilling. It's always so different to learn about a topic, but then to hear from someone who has experienced first-hand... 

I'm glad to know that Dru, Nurnisa, and Elise are all identifying themselves as upstanders and shining their light and knowledge on such a dark situation. While this topic is not appropriate to adapt or teach in my 4th grade class, I think I can teach my students the differences in being a bystander; watching while an incident is occuring but not taking part, and being an upstander; taking a stand and standing up for what is right! 

[Samantha Auerbach]

Hi Brigid, I agree with you! I also recently took the Holocaust and Human Behavior course and I thought about the same things. Most specifically, how did so many people just sit by and watch while such horrific incidences occured. How it these terrifying events keep taking place year after year before any intervention was made. I'm glad you can relate this into your classroom and educate your students about the situation in Xinjiang. I think that's where this really starts. Educating as many people we can about the "re-education" camps not only in China, but other parts of the world as well. 

[Billie Johnson]

Hi Mario!  I don't have much wiggle room in my curriculum overall, but I enjoy research projects and presentations integrating ELA, Art, and Social Studies.  Perhaps in the end students can create a call to action as well.  Thank you for sharing this project idea and I hope you don't mind me borrowing it.

[Brigid Schmidt]

Hi Samantha! 

I thought I saw you in that class about the Holocaust with me. What a small world. I agree with you, I have a hard time understanding how those horrific events happened then and it is appalling to hear that similar treatment is continuing today. It makes me feel helpless. After listening to this talk, I started talking about Xinjiang with some friends and family and not that many knew about it or the extent. It would be my hope that the more people who know about it, a change might come about. As teachers, we are educating the future and it is our job to not only teach academics, but respect and human decency. Although this is a difficult topic to teach, perhaps having my students listen to a personal story and have a class discussion about equality and relating it to people or events throughout history could be a really moving lesson for my 8th graders. 

[Jessica Ng]

I'm kind of an armchair ethnomusicologist because of my music background and performance experience in Eastern European ensembles. Dr. Anderson's presentation on the twelve muqams was interesting because its form and instrumentation is so distinct. A lot of music genres we know that are used in communal, religious contexts involve harmony, like gospel, chorales, hymns, and Sacred Harp songs, while soloists backed by instrumentalists are most common throughout the epic muqam performance (about 24 hours total!) I once taught a 5th-grade lesson on elements of music, like timbre, harmony, rhythm, etc. using Bulgarian folk music. If I had a chance to work with older students again, it would be interesting to become more familiar with muqam and use it to teach and illustrate musical elements like melody, instrumentation, and form/structure.

[Chad Espinoza]

China is under much scrutiny these days and for good reason. However, I am really shocked—and even impressed—by China's ability to control information going in and out of such a large nation. As a teacher in a democratic nation, I probably have a naive assurance in the belief that information is a right and is something that a government cannot restrict. Of course, I know this is a lie, but I probably live as if it is true, even worse, I probably live as if it is a gaurantee. If you were to ask me what is the greatest threat a government poses to its citizens, I would say restrictions of rights, but China is proving that restricition of information is even more deadly. I think such a consequence is important for our students to be aware of and to reflect on. I think making our students of aware of such things will let them know that information is a right that can be suppressed if allowed to. 

[Chad Espinoza]

China is under much scrutiny these days and for good reason. However, I am really shocked—and even impressed—by China's ability to control information going in and out of such a large nation. As a teacher in a democratic nation, I probably have a naive assurance in the belief that information is a right and is something that a government cannot restrict. Of course, I know this is a lie, but I probably live as if it is true, even worse, I probably live as if it is a gaurantee. If you were to ask me what is the greatest threat a government poses to its citizens, I would say restrictions of rights, but China is proving that restricition of information is even more deadly. I think such a consequence is important for our students to be aware of and to reflect on. I think making our students of aware of such things will let them know that information is a right that can be suppressed if allowed to. 

[Chad Espinoza]

I found this extremely fascninating as well. Music is seemingly benign in any context, but music and politics have always gone hand-in-hand. Songs often embody the spirit and heart of a movement and a people. China first promoting the Muqam then seeking to treat it as a virus shows CCPs understanding of the power of art, especially music. Socrates feared people following movements with strong pathos, and I see that playing out here, though I highly doubt Socrates would in anyway condone the policies of the CCP. I am merely pointing out that the power of art has been well understood for thousands of years. As teachers, I think we need to make our students more aware of the power of stories. Yes, literacy instruction is crucial, but developing an articulate understanding of the power of the arts in our students will serve them very well. 

[Chad Espinoza]

Hello Jessica, I was in Kazahkstan a few summers ago. Such a great country with great people. I'm sure you noticed that everyone in Kazahkstan was extremely hospitable and seemed to value hamrony and accpetance with an integrity I have never before experienced. I think such a model needs more exposure. Before the seminar, I was moderately educated on the fates of Uyghurs in China. Because I have quite a few friends from Taiwan and Hong Kong, I have always been, at least, peripheral aware of the agressive policies of the CCP. When I was in Kazahkstan, I was very impressed by the inclusiveness of the country. I helped with a youth camp in Almaty. The people at the camp told me that by day three, everyone will seem like best friends. By day three, everyone seemed like best friends. People from very different backgrounds were holding hands and sitting close to each other. Of course, no country is perfect, but I feel like we have enough examples that harmony among different groups of people can be achieved. As teachers, we can have a direct effect in creating this outcome. 

[Chad Espinoza]

Hello Jessica, I was in Kazahkstan a few summers ago. Such a great country with great people. I'm sure you noticed that everyone in Kazahkstan was extremely hospitable and seemed to value hamrony and accpetance with an integrity I have never before experienced. I think such a model needs more exposure. Before the seminar, I was moderately educated on the fates of Uyghurs in China. Because I have quite a few friends from Taiwan and Hong Kong, I have always been, at least, peripheral aware of the agressive policies of the CCP. When I was in Kazahkstan, I was very impressed by the inclusiveness of the country. I helped with a youth camp in Almaty. The people at the camp told me that by day three, everyone will seem like best friends. By day three, everyone seemed like best friends. People from very different backgrounds were holding hands and sitting close to each other. Of course, no country is perfect, but I feel like we have enough examples that harmony among different groups of people can be achieved. As teachers, we can have a direct effect in creating this outcome. 

[Chad Espinoza]

Very good point. I think the way we usually teach about the holocaust gives the impression it was an outlier event. And while is was in many ways a superlative in its cruelty, it is sadly not the only instance of human brutality. In the classroom, I think everything we teach should connect to relevant events and experiences, because, ultimately, we want our students to apply the knowledge the gain from our classrooms. This is, of course, a very difficult tasks, but extremely rewarding, and likely the reason why most of us got into education. Teaching about the current treatment of the Uyghurs is not only important, but it may also be a moral imperative at this point. Like the saying goes, "Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it." 

I have had Uyghur food a few times before. It is so good. 

[Chad Espinoza]

You are right to ask how long this will last. It does seem like China is able to pursue such aggressive and dehumazing policies because of the economic leverage it holds over most of the world. I often think about this. History is often the story of smaller cultures being overwhelmed by larger ones. And larger societies benefitting off the abuse of smaller ones. With the abundance of information and the general understanding that such things are wrong, I hope that change can be more sooner, rather than later. We see clearly what happens when government powers wait to act. While most of us are unable to affect change in our current circumstances, we are able to use education to inspire and inform a new generation. 

[Esther Dupree]

Like you, I didn't know anything about the Uyghur human rights violations in China.  My sister and brother-in-law both lived in China and discussed the amount of oversight from the government.  She said that every neighborhood has a police department and her neighbors reported on her daily about where they went, what they ate, if they had any visitors etc.  She said she would often be asked for her passport to cross the street.  They have a culture of informing on everyone.  If they don't inform first, someone else will inform on them for not informing.  All her travels were documented and all her phone calls.

I think it would be extremely difficult to stand up to such a powerful government for citizens.  It is so sad that so few people are aware of the very blantant human rights violations amongst many people in China, including the detainment and oppression of the Uyghur people.  

This is an important topic for all Social Science teachers to cover in their classes.  There are many ways to approach it.  I would use it in teaching a Government class to compare and contrast the things that China is doing to the Uyghur people to other governments with minority populations that pose some sort of (perceived) cultural or existential threat to the majority.  I would want the students to debate on what is going to far in taking away individual rights in the name of power or safety or any other claimed reason for human rights violations.

Thank you for presenting such a personal topic and educating us on such a crucial matter.  

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