Session #3 - March 4, Clay Dube

[Salbador Gonzalez]

• Your father broke a law, broke a law that he knew it existed, and its an important rule. You know he broke it, you were a witness, what should you now do?
• As a legalist that I am, I would definitely turn him in to pay for his mistake. Nobody should break a law regardless of whether they knew about it or not. One should always know the rules and pay if at any time we break one. 
•  

[Dan Thalkar]

Hi Kim,

I also overlooked this story in our initial reading. After a more careful reading, however, it's fascinating. This scene is primarily environmental and scenic. I teach in Los Angeles, and I wonder how many of my students would place a similar emphasis on nature? It would be fun to have students describe their own utopias, bring in other utopian writing, and then explore what utopian descriptions tell us about their societies and authors. 

[Kim Leng]

I agree with both of you about having students create their own version of a utopia.

What is the perfect society?  The topic of utopia is not new.  I just found this article on utopias.  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/see-towns-planned-be-utopias-180968814/. 

It will be interesting to have students come up with their own version of a utopia. What kind of economy would this town have?  What are the values and beliefs?  The Smithsonian article highlighted some utopian towns that anyone can visit.  I just read about one of the utopian towns.  Penedo, Brazil was formed when Finnish pastor, Toivo Uuskallio, and his followers went to Brazil to start a utopia there in 1929.  According to the article, it lasted until 1942.  The community lasted 13 years!  Here’s a brief excerpt about the Pededo:

"According to the community rules, everyone was vegan, no one smoked or drank, and everyone worked together on a farm with no    income. Penedo ran that way until 1942, when the residents finally realized it wasn’t sustainable to run a town with no money."

Now it’s a tourist town.

[Dennis O'Connell]

Ever since reading this piece I have dreamed of what it must be like to find some idyllic paradise.  In the case of this fisherman, by following the blossoms and fragrance of beautiful peach trees, he was able to find a cave which led to a valley of much agricultural production.  He saw fields and gardens, bamboo and mulberry groves, and neatly constructed houses.  Paradise included work, as people in colorful clothing worked the fields.  He felt a sense of peace and a lack of fear.  He also had hundreds of questions, but also the anticipation of having them answered through rich conversations.  

While the USC-China Institute is not exactly a paradise, it does share the characteristics of being a place of people working for a purpose.  There is an air of trying new things and risk taking as educators learn new information and wrestle with how to incorporate it into their classrooms.  There are rich conversations and lectures, all providing an anticipation that inquiring minds can find answers to their inquiries.  If one pauses briefly during the sessions, and concentrates the senses intently, there might even be the slight hint of the fragrance of peach blossoms!

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