Session 4 (10/14) - Korea Since 1800

[Tara Corral]

Hi Guadalupe, I agree that much of the Korean War is forgotten in the United States. I know that I had no knowledge of the Korean War or that their was even a Korean War prior to this class. I wonder if that's because our classes have a lot to teach or do they not care to teach the information that is sensitive or a bit uncomfortable. I think taking field trips to the "Friendship Bell" or the monument for Comfort Women in Pasadena would be a good eye opening experience for many students and to get them thinking about the world further outside our world and Europe. I also agree changing the word from sex slaves to comfort women does take away some of the seriousness that is or should be associated with the term. I would say that my first thought upon hearing the term was that it was a service preformed on their own will. I think the term should be changed. 

[Tara Corral]

Hi Guadalupe, I agree that much of the Korean War is forgotten in the United States. I know that I had no knowledge of the Korean War or that their was even a Korean War prior to this class. I wonder if that's because our classes have a lot to teach or do they not care to teach the information that is sensitive or a bit uncomfortable. I think taking field trips to the "Friendship Bell" or the monument for Comfort Women in Pasadena would be a good eye opening experience for many students and to get them thinking about the world further outside our world and Europe. I also agree changing the word from sex slaves to comfort women does take away some of the seriousness that is or should be associated with the term. I would say that my first thought upon hearing the term was that it was a service preformed on their own will. I think the term should be changed. 

[Nayeli Ruiz-Sanchez]

The story “Cranes” is a story of rural boys that grew up in the Korean War and they were torn by the 38^th parallel. The backgrounds of these boys were that one was a citizen while the other had grown up in the farm. Due to growing up in the farm he was known as a communist. Even though both boys has grown up with similar experiences and in the same area an outside event occurred that divided them both politically. It would be great to share this story with students and see how they feel about the story. It would be neat to see how students can relate to this story in a personal level as well as academic. I really like incorporating stories/poems into my lessons so this is why I would like to share this story with my students. I feel that students can then relate to characters and analyze their actions and motives for those actions.

[Zoey McKinney]

Last summer I did my final curriculum project on gender roles and beauty standards in different times and cultures (I think it's still posted here). It is so interesting to look at the differences in male and female ideals in different cultures. I used Kpop stars as one example - Kpop embraces androgyny, especially in their male stars, in a way that American pop culture does not typically. I watched some NCT music videos this week and was surprised at how much makeup they were wearing! I thought it was interesting that the article pointed out how social media allows fans to form communities and interact with celebrities more easily, so that Kpop fans can be found around the world. I'm sure high school or even middle school students have personal experienece with online fandoms, and that can be a great way to engage them in learning about Korea. 

[Zoey McKinney]

I found this story very moving, and I think it would be a great addition to the curriculum for older students. It does a wonderful job of humanizing the conflict and showing how wars can turn "brother against brother." Songsam realizes that Tokchae only stayed in the village because of his attachment to the land he farmed and the family he had there. Even though Songsam made a different choice, he can relate to this, as his father had had the same feelings about leaving. The story shows that underneath the ideological differences, the two sides have shared experiences and shared history, which is both tragic and hopeful. There is a lot to explore here, and I think this story can be an impactful and memorable lesson about the Korean War. 

[Jaclyn Wall]

Like Tara, I also agree with Brigid and Katherine's takes on Asian missionaries. I find the Korean missionaries inspiring as they allowed women to hold a place in a gender hierarchy time; however, they still had class separation issues as well making it not so different from Catholicism after all in that respect. With missionaries opening up and teaching citizens about western medicine and the like before pulling them in with the faith and spiritual side of things it brings up an interesting perspective on how they got their following in the first place. That being said, I think it would be very interesting to do a compare and contrast on early Korean Christian missionaries vs. modern day Scientology in the United States. Although they are vastly different, I feel the way they initially reach out to members is very similar by entrancing them in with a plethora of things. 

[Jaclyn Wall]

Like Brigid, I was also fascinated by the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. We had tickets to view one of the gymnastics events, alas we didn't go after the bombing occurred. When the professor was discussing the Olympic games and how Korean athletes weren't allowed to compete for their own country but instead, had to compete for Japan, my heart sank. These athletes work so hard and are so proud of where they come from but then get told they have to perform for another country? It made me think about professional athletes today who play on United States sports teams but then have the power to choose if they want to play for their home country in the Olympic games or stick with the United States. The power we have today vs. then is impactful in so many ways and I think this would be a great compare and contrast piece for my third grade students to embark on. They would be able to research Korean athletes from the past and compare them to those dual citizen athletes who perform on United States professional teams but then choose where to perform during the Olympic games. I'm already excited thinking about this project for the end of the school year before the potential 2021 games!

[Khrystle San Diego]

Thomas, the debate between the merits of advanced medicine and education would be interesting to have in the classroom. I think another addition to that activity would to assign roles to your students. For example, one group would be the missionaries while the others would be the Korean citizens. They can then provide pros and cons for medicine and knowledge in the point of views of the missionaires or the citizens. It would allow them to have a deeper understanding of each view. 

[Khrystle San Diego]

Betsy, I also found it quite interesting that there are so many people in Korea that identify as Christians as a result of the western missionaries. You bring up the point of "proselytizing." I think that the Western Missionaries did participate in proselytizing, but because it was hidden under the guise of providing care and education. Because they were so kind and welcoming to the Korean people, they were able to take that opportunity to impart their ideologies to them, resulting in a large growth of Christians in Korea. 

[Ester Yang]

Park Chung Hee's time in the office marked a significance in the South Korean history. I'd actually like to recommend a movie (It used to be on netflix but I'm not sure if it still is), The Man Standing Next. It closely summarizes the history of South Korea during Park Chung Hee's time as a president and it helped the country. 

[Ester Yang]

Thank you for sharing this article on the lawsuit against the Japanese government. It's shameful how Japan won't admit their faults and own up to their past mistakes. Their reaction is definitely outraging the Koreans because currently in South Korea, they are protesting against any Japan made products. Some companies have cut business with Japan due to this incident and Japan lost significant amounts of money. 

[Lizbeth Vazquez-Ruiz]

A way for students to study and analyze contemporary Korean cultural  is by being presented with artifacts or with photos containing these artifacts. You can place a different photograph in each station and students can rotate to each station to take notes and make observations. They can answer questions such as: Who uses these objects? Whom were they made for?  When and where would these objects be used? Does everybody use them? Why do so many of the objects have English on them? How are these object different from what you normally see or use?

[Ester Yang]

I teach 8th graders and I cannot tell you how much they love k-pop! Their zoom profile pictures are k-pop singers and if I ask a short question about him/her my students can go on and on about how amazing they are. Some students have said k-pop is the reason they have survived depression through the pandemic. I try incorporating topics they are interested in into my lesson plans and if I can somehow tie the Korean culture with science, more students will find the class fascinating. 

[Lizbeth Vazquez-Ruiz]

 

I agree with your statement, I think it's a wonderful idea to choose entertaining topics for students to research and write papers on. As long as the students are practicing  and mastering the necessary skills, it shouldn't matter what the research is on. Even if the teacher is not necessary teaching a specific culture  students should be given the option to choose any topic to write on. I remember when I was in Middle School my English teacher allowed us to choose an animal to write a research paper on. The freedom to choose my own topic motivated me to continue with the research paper.

 

[Lizbeth Vazquez-Ruiz]

Learning about slavery from around the world is an interesting topic because history books do not really discuss such topics. As a history teacher I see that my history textbook leaves out a lot of crucial details that are also very important. Sometimes history books only mentioned slavery from certain parts of the world but they exclude this information when discussing certain countries. I had no idea that Korea had a history of slavery, now I need to further my own research on this topic.

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