Menu
close
Alma OchoaI’m not one for watching movies but your reviews have really peaked my interest. This is definitely a movie that I will take the time to watch. It sounds like this movie is a great way to learn about Chinese culture and their perspectives and the value they place on work ethic. I think it’s important to compare and contrast different cultures’ views and perspectives. I totally agree with Jiaxing we have all been conditioned on what to expect. Depending on what those experiences have been determines our views of others, how we think about them and how we treat them. I personally don’t think that ones’ expectations are right or wrong. Again it goes back to what we have been conditioned to expect. In the end I think it all has to do with what one personally values and want ones to accomplish. That really should determine our actions. People always have a reason for doing what they do. Some may not be able to verbalize it but there is always a reason behind ones actions. I think it would be great for students to discuss those differences as well as think about the pros and cons of being a workaholic and being too casual about ones job. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and great ideas.
Alma OchoaRebecca, wow, that is something that would not have occurred to me to think about, “how technology is being used to control and suppress the Uiyurs,” that is until recently. Currently with this global pandemic and the implementation of contact tracers and phone apps to trace people it’s crazy to think about. On one side, I can see and rationalize the thinking behind its benefits but when does it cross the line of losing ones’ rights and invasion of privacy? I find your inquiry to be very thought provoking.
Alma OchoaBrigid, like you since this lecture I have done more research and the more I look into it the more heartbreak it is and the more disillusioned I am in humanity. Since then I have learned that people in these reeducation camps are being used for organ harvesting (link shared below for anyone interested), which I can’t even wrap my head around. I do understand people being afraid or uncertain of people who have different views and belief systems, however, I find the treatment to be extreme and would even go as far as saying it is torcher. I recall in the East Asia Origins to 1800, Spring 2020 Seminar, professor Nunisa Kurban, as a Uyghur sharing her firsthand account experience and that of her family and losing all communication with them. It is truly heartbreak not knowing what happened and not knowing whether or not she will ever see them again. I can’t even imagine the agony. So YES totally agree with you, where are their human rights?!?
Alma OchoaRay, I wonder if there are other symbols that actually originated having a positive origin and now we attach and have a negative connotation and perception to them. Like Professor Dube mentioned the Swastika became a negative symbol after the Nazi's hijacked it. As a math teacher I am not much of a historian and don't know too much about symbols and their meaning but it would be interesting to learn about how the meaning of symbols change over time. It would be an interesting discussion of how and why meanings change and how we can learn from those changes.
Alma OchoaJessica, I agree with you. I think a gender roll discussion would be interesting. I really like your idea on having students examine religious figures they may be familiar with and list their attributes and see how and if their gender impacts their perceptions of them. Really neat idea, thank you for sharing.
Alma OchoaTom, I agree with you. I like the idea of examining the schools, the time periods and the area. As a math teacher I’m always trying to come up with ideas I can tie into math so that the numbers students work with have some mean to them. Examining these topics gives me an idea of tying it into a graphing math lesson. It would be interesting to see the relationship over time. Having students do research to see the data on population within each school, period and area and then graphing that data to see if there is a decline or increase within each category as well as see what the relationship is within each: is it continuous or a discrete relationship.
Alma OchoaThe USC Seminar Crossing Boundaries in East Asia, Summer 2020 was not only enjoyable but very eye opening. It was extremely interesting learning about soft-power. More often than not we think we have the power of choice when the reality is that we are conditioned and manipulated into liking and doing certain things through propaganda. It makes me think that as a society we should demand more from the government to make sure that voices are not silenced and information is not censored and is more readily available.
I also really enjoyed learning about Asian religions. As a Christian, I especially liked noticing the similarities between Buddhism and Christianity. I had briefly learned about Buddhism in my undergrad education but had never looked at it side by side with Christianity. For example Buddhism has monks and nuns and Christianity has priest or pastors and nuns and they both take a vow of poverty.
On another note, I am a big advocate for human rights and after learning for the first time about what is happening with the Uyghur population after taking USC Spring 2020 – East Asia Origins to 1800, last semester, I have done more research on the topic. Now taking this course I have learned even more about their situation, the concentration camps as well as about their organ harvesting in the camps. I think that it is extremely important to shed light on this unjust and inhumane practice. It is so hard to comprehend how anyone can try to justify this. I think the more people know about this issue the more we can help end this and as a teacher I have the opportunity to share this information with my students.
On a lighter note I really enjoyed going over the K-Pop culture with Professor Jennifer Jung-Kim from UCLA. I don’t watch much TV but do know about some of the programs that we have airing here the U.S. so it was really cool that Kora has the same type of programs. If I weren’t a math teacher and maybe taught English or History and could do more cultural comparison assignments it would be cool to compare and contrast American vs. Asian television programs.
Overall this was a great course and experience. As a high school math teacher studying any topic that is not math related is out of my comfort zone. I feel extremely inadequate when discussing anything that is not numbers or in this case anything to do with Asia as it is not an area of expertise and a topic I have little knowledge of. However, I am learning more which I find interesting and exciting.
Thank you Professor Dube and Catherine for everything : )
Alma OchoaRebecca, I so agree with you that funding really does show what people value. People do invest in what is most important to them. I may be totally off but in my opinion from what I’ve observed pre-covid it seems that the Americans valued sports an film as most important as that seems to be where most spend thier money on.
Alma OchoaCheryl, totally agree with your statement music is a way to engage students. I’ve always thought music is universal and the one thing that can bring people together. One can listen to music from different countries and even without know the meaning of the words music can move and evoke emotions. I love music : )
Alma OchoaThank you so much professor Melvin and Cai, your lectures were fascinating and very informative. I am a math teacher so most of this info is new and the little that is not is vaguely familiar. It is fascinating to learn that listening to Classical was crime. I find it perplexing that such things were at one point considered a crime. I always want to know why that is. What is the threat that the government sees in allowing people to listen to this music? Is it the fear of losing their culture and roots? It is difficult for me to understand reasons for considering such a thing as listening to a specific type of music to be a crime. However, it’s amazing that it went from being a crime to listen to classical music to being something that is now prestigious where 18,000 students apply to study to become professional musicians and is not only widely studied now but very much supported as well as governmentally funded.
Professor Melvin or Cai, my question may sound ignorant because I am not very familiar with music but do musicians still compose classical type music and therefore the reason for your statement that China may be the one to save classical music? Do they have the majority of people who study and compose this type of genre?
Thank you again for your time : )
Alma OchoaCristina, I am with you; I really don’t understand why they are being separated into camps. What exactly is it that they are being re-educated? During today’s class I didn’t find the answers the discussion on this topic satisfying. I also, find it horrible that women are being sterilized. I will be doing more research on the topic but I don’t think I will ever fully understand or accept the forced segregation of groups of people as well as their forced labor.
Alma OchoaYes, Joseph, I totally agree with Ray, thank you for asking that question. I had no idea about the history behind the swastika. Also, thank you professor Dube for the article with more info regarding that.
Alma OchoaRebecca, I definitely agree with you that food is something that everyone can come together over to discuss. It would be interesting for students to discuss about some of their favorite treats and see where they think they originate from and then have them do research to see if they are actually correct because I can tell you I was pleasently surprised to learn that Chamoy has Chinese roots.
Alma OchoaAlexis, I think it’s a great idea to ask students "What's a motivation to cross boundaries?" I think it’s important to get them to think about why people move as well as help them to think about the opportunities that are out there. In the community where I teach many of them have never traveled outside the boundaries of their city whether they were born there or after moving there. As a math teacher I would like to pose this same question to my high school students and ask them how many of them where born there, how many of then moved there and possibly have them do a poll of students with in the school asking the same and then asking them to take a poll on some of the reasons why people crossed boundaries and moved. Then have them put that data into different types of graphs and see what the top reasons people move are.
Alma OchoaIf one is brought up with certain customs such as women being expected to be submissive to men or where women are not allowed to be very independent or women are not free to voice their views and or feel as if they are being held back and or ignored and then move to a country where they were treated and can do the opposite it is not difficult to understand why marriages would not hold up after Reading chapter 6, "Some marriages hold together, Many fall apart" from Chinese Students Encounter America by Qian Ning. However, in all fairness I think that all marriages face issues when moving to a different country whether at the same time together or separately and then reuniting in a new country. Marriage is not easy by any means. It takes constant work. Difficulties whether they be financial, familial, environmental or work related they all take a toll on any marriage. People are constantly changing and evolving due to their daily interactions with the world. With that said it really is up to the couple to decide whether they are willing to work together to make a marriage work and form a family. If a person believes love is all you need, I’m sorry to tell you that you will not have a successful marriage. According to the online noun definition of ‘love’ it means ‘an intense feeling of deep affection’ and the verb definition of it is to ‘feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone).’ Having been married for over 25 years I can tell you that feelings constantly changing often by the minute. A successful marriage takes work by both involved and it takes a daily choice and commitment to make the relationship work.
However, in response to the questions posed, from the reading it appears that women coming from China were much more successful in adjusting to American culture. After coming the U.S. they seem to have more freedom and independence then they did in China. However, the opportunities for Chinese males was not the same. During that time period jobs that Chinese men wanted were not readily available and they seem to have a problem working in the service industry and preferred to be supported by a women than to accept a job that in my opinion seemed below them.
As far as being able to obtain a marriage green card that was an equal opportunity for both Chinese men and women. It was more of a business transaction that either could actually take out an ad for. In my opinion I believe this still occurs not only in the Chinese culture but true of other nationalities. I’ve often heard of mail order brides and such and I actually know of a former employer to have done this. Although this is something I find foreign I can understand and see many reasons as to why people would choose to do this. The good thing about this is that both parties involved know the exact terms of their agreement.
