Session #2 - February 9

[Julie Wakefield]

I am not quite sure how to respond to all this information. Since I really don't have any questions, what did happen with all the great visualizes is that I was able to choose some and create some possible FRQ questions. FRQ - Free Response Question used in AP Human Geography. The questions will have either one or two stimuli so there is definitely a possibility of mix and matching the visualizes I clipped and a lot more questions to explore. 

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[clay dube]

For Johnny and others interested in early Chinese economic planning:

China Learns from the Soviet Union: The Transfer of Soviet Practices and Experiences to a Communist Ally, edited by Thomas Bernstein and Hua-yu Li

review: https://china.usc.edu/bernstein-and-li-china-learns-soviet-union-2010

interview with Tom Bernstein: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1770&context=chinabeatarchive

Bernstein talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MvACKtx1WA

[Gisela Gaona]

Hi Ryan,

While I do not teach US history, I think this would still totally work for world history. I just finished teaching the Industrial Revolution both in Britain and in the US. As an extension activity, I could potential compare and constrast the British or the American I.R. with the Chinese I.R. It is quite interesting that despite how different they may seem, once you study them you find so many comparisons. For our ELL learners, I could supplement this material with visuals. Pictures, videos, other visuals that show what the Chinese I.R. looked like. This will help have an informed opinion about China, which is something that most teachers gloss over entirely in world history.

[Gisela Gaona]

Hi Jonathan, 

I wanted to repsond to your 4th point because I find it interesting and easy to incorporate into my macro-econ classes. As the US faces as a period of de-industrialization or post-industrialization where we see cities that were once large ports or bussiness hubs decay into what we now call the rust belt, it would be interesting to have the discussion about China's future from an economical standpoint with students. I'd like to see what students will predict will happen with the massive growth the Chinese economy has incurred in a few short decades and whether or not it is destined for the same road that many other developed nations have gone down.

[Aaron Rabena]

It’s remarkable how Mao gave birth to the New China and how Deng enriched it which led to the so-called Chinese Economic Miracle. Deng realized that without incentives, people will not be motivated to work. Although one consequence of Deng’s liberal economic policy is the inequality that has arisen amongst China’s regions and provinces. It remains to be seen if China can hurdle the Middle Income Trap. 

 

[Johnny Walker]

Thank you for these resources! In reading the review, I was intrigued by the summary of Jian Zang's "The Soviet Impact on Gender Equality in China in the 1950s". While I was aware of the Soviet model which had given women the right to vote shortly after the 1917 Revolution, allowed for the right to divorce and then later, Soviet women's mobilization during WW2 (as grippingly documented in Svetlanta Alexievich's collection of oral histories "The Unwomanly Face of War"), I was unaware how it influenced the role of Chinese women following 1949. As well as naming the Soviets, "Big Brother" (hillarious with the term's naive disavowal of Orwellian connotations), would "Big Sister" also be an aptly titled role for the Soviets?

Zang writes how the top-down approach of Communism gave women the confidence that they enjoyed equal rights in their nation, and then women's focus, rather than to resist against a patriarchal state as western feminists did, was to "change traditional perceptions of women in various areas." So, the Chinese feminist movement seems more directed toward cultural rather than political barriers. I'm curious how close the women's perception of their equal legal status was reflected in legal decisions of that era. Did the Chinese communist state make decisions that reflected gender equality? Similar to the Soviet experience, while women were given greater economic and social opportunities, their presence was largely absent in any true weilding of power in the upper echelons of the Soviet apparatchik. As Russia post-communism remains a deeply patriarchal environment, I'd imagine that most of the feminist and gender-equality talk was partly propaganda or merely paying lip service to yet another unfulfilled claim of a workers' paradise.

The subordination of women seems to have had a deeply reinforced history in China (despite notable examples of empresses or female merchants). I'm curious how western feminism has influenced women in China since 1978, and if the bottom-up approach that characterizes western feminists represents a threat to "harmony" or order in a nation where the government has tightly controlled and limited women's reproductive choices for the last few generations. Furthermore, when I consider the strides taken by women as a result of Soviet influence, I can't help but think of the phrase "The Great Leap Forward" and wonder if the traditional foot-binding that was eradicated by that time period, may have been replaced by other means that reflect how modern Chinese women have been allowed to take small steps forward, but hobbled and crippled by a government and culture where men continue to dominate.

[Johnny Walker]

My students will really enjoy this article. I really like that it's linked to the China Daily. To be able to read content from the state newspaper is also fascinating, and it will prompt discussions on what the POV, Purpose, and Intended Audience are of the article. Furthermore, I appreciate how these brands expand my students' knowledge as consumers as well as potential economic and professional opportunities in a larger world. They are certainly familiar with tiktok, and I'm curious to know the extent to which the information they are sharing or the platform that Tik Tok is used by the Chinese state. I really like your idea to use the article as a research project to look a the history, standing, reach and give students an opportunity to evaluate the global supply chain that reflects these companies and also assess their competitors. 

[Jonathan Alami]

Thanks for sharing the resource of the PBS Newshour Videos about the Belt and Road Initiative. These will be great to share with students as they highlight the similarities with the ancient Silk Road, which we cover in 7th grade history. Making the connection with the historical Silk Road and China’s present day Belt and Road Initiative would definitely help students understand the relevance of learning about Chinese history as the country is looking to its past for a model to exert influence on a global stage today. I also agree that the propaganda song would be amusing for students and would make a great engagement piece at the beginning of a lesson.

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