[Andrew Frank]

I am so grateful for the incredibly thoughtful, rich, and intelligent design of the “East Asia Since the 1800s” seminar! In the course of a few months, I feel that I have breezed through decades of history, differentiations between cultures in the East, and have developed a greater understanding of how to teach Asia from a truly Asia-centric perspective. As I stated on the very first day of the program, I longed to use my experience at the seminar as a starting-off point to teach my students how to think of themselves as “global citizens” and that is exactly what I intend to do! Since I am an English teacher, I intend to begin introducing East Asian topics into my classroom through the use of “comparative texts” (both literature and informational texts). One of the most fascinating approaches I have found to teaching about Asian culture was through both the lectures of Professor Jennifer Jung-Kim and Professor Bill Tsutsui. What I found so impressive was the way they used an analysis of social life in Korea and pop culture in Japan, respectively, as ways to begin conversations about the history & culture of East Asia.

I think the way I will begin my teaching is through the use of the “historical encounter” role play activity that Professor Dube practiced with us during one of our first few sessions of the seminar! I believe I will start with a “role play” activity that asks students to research the differences between North Korean and South Korean ideologies at the start of the civil war. I will then transition into having students read articles that provide personal accounts of Korean experiences (such as Kim’s “Lost Names” or Park’s “When My Name Was Keoko”). Since there is an array of film about Korea (esp. in the North), I would then ask students to analyze how American involvement in the Korean War may have led to the current governmental state. I might finally conclude my lesson about Korea through looking at Korea through a cultural lens, by analyzing the popularity of K-Pop & why the strong cultural capital of SK may in fact be connected to the political/social history of the country. While this would just be one set of lessons, I believe teaching Asia through these frameworks may be a strong way to increase student interest and enhance classroom engagement. I am so grateful to the USC US-China Institute for this experience and helping my students learn about Asia from a truly Asian perspective! My students will now be one step closer to becoming global citizens of the 21^st century.

[Andrew Frank]

Cynthia, I'm so happy you shared this article! I actually think it's a fascinating piece of visual journalism, as it so clearly emphasizes the extreme military intervention in Hong Kong. I think it's a fascinating comparison to the optional article we were asked to read about "one country, two systems" in relation to Taiwan. Although I know the relationship between the mainland & Taiwan/Hong Kong are extremely different, I am still curious about why there is such an extreme hostility between the mainland & HK, while President Xi Jiping seems so incredibly peaceful/positive in his relations to Taiwan. Is this simply because protests & political activism against the Chinese government are nonexistent in Taiwan? I must say it is hard to believe that "the social system and way of life of Taiwan will be fully respected" as President Xi said, if Hong Kong has not received the freedoms they were offered. Only time will tell if the situation with Taiwan is truly vastly different from that of Hong Kong's...

[Andrew Frank]

Kurt, this article was also one of my favorite of the required readings, as it seemed to demonstrate on a personal level just how much communism has an impact on growing up. One of the most interesting lines to me is "Freedom is not always liberating for people who grew up in a stable socialist society" (Chang 1). Looking at Bella's schedule, it is hard not to feel sympathy for a young girl who seems to be constantly focused on "progressing" to become the most well-rounded citizen possible. What would be a great exercise for American high school students would be to compare Bella's school & extracurricular schedule to their own...I would let students know that both U.S. & Chinese society rank high school students as some of its most stressed-out individuals - why is this so, when both have such vastly different schedules/lives? 

[Andrew Frank]

I was blown away to discover the giant impact youth played in progressing Mao's Cultural Revolution! The fact that schools & universities were literally closed, in order that students may work as Red Guards was a complete shock to me. Although it may be an unfair or unfortunate comparison, it is hard to not call to mind the Hitler Youth as well, knowing that Chinese youth in the 60s found great joy in "purging China of objects and habits that...reflect[ed] fuedal or bourgeois influences." Reading the article from the Red Guard newspaper, it is hard to not feel inspired as well, hearing the call to "rebel!" What is fascinating to me is hearing that part of this "rebellion" included proposing getting rid of "poisonous things in barber shops, tailer shops, and book-lending shops" (451). I am curious of how these students came to take such an active part in their government and it would be fascinating for students to brainstorm in a lesson how & why they think they would get so actively involved in political action. What would the U.S. government need to do to bring about such activism from people their age?

[Andrew Frank]

Kurt, I appreciate your thoughtfulness and candor in response to analyzing the events that occured at Tiananmen Square! I too feel very ignorant about the exact reasoning behind the protests, but (maybe it is just the optimist in me) I also feel that the protests did have some positive impact on bettering the practices of the Communist Party. Perhaps the "Hundred Flowers Movement" was some indication that the Party hoped to be more open to listening to what the citizens themselves felt about how their country was run... (Even though this did backfire a bit, as it led to the Anti-Right Movement, leading to many individuals sent to forced labor camps.) What is fascinating to me is how liberalism and intense conservativism worked side-by-side in the country, as epitomized by something like the PRC Marriage Law in 1950. Although lawful divorce was provided for, the fact that 80,000 women were killed in the process of trying to earn this right reveals that the country has always struggled with mixed ideologies & social practices. I think this would be a very intriguing question for students to grapple with: in what ways was China more progressive than America in the 1950s? 

[Andrew Frank]

I think a fun idea for an interactive classroom activity would be to have students frame the Mao & Lenin relationship in terms of a "boxing match" and have them create a short video where they can demonstrate their understanding of the split between China & Russia. (Students could perhaps play commentators watching a match and give commentary on what is happening with each "punch" between the two dictators!) The students could chart the history of relations to this present day, including the complexities that popped up post-Stalin's death. By asking students questions like, Why did China feel that Russia "went soft" after Stalin's death? and Why did Mao move factories from the Northeast to the South, farther away from Russia?, students could come to their own understandings about the relation between these two global powerhouses. By layering in information for students little by little, students can act as Mao and attempt to think back on why decisions were made to strengthen Chinese security. (I would look forward to showing my students pictures of all the many tunnels under the cities!) 

[Andrew Frank]

One of my favorite features of the final lecture by Professor Dube was discovering the logic behind the Great Leap Forward, as well as all the incredibly smart (albeit manipulative) methods that Mao used to "win over" Chinese citizens once the People's Republic was established. For example, the creation of multiple political parties was an incredibly thoughtful move by Mao, as it allowed individuals to maintain the illusion of choice (when in reality, all the political parties were required to actually support the Communist Party's ideologies). The Land Reform Law also demonstrated Mao's ability to recognize the importance of the poorer members of the Chinese agrarian communities, as well as his ability to gain the capital that is produced from the agriculture economy in the countryside. By framing the struggle for production as a "war" with his "Great Leap Forward," he also was able to maintain stronger control of his citizens, while enhancing socialization within communities through the erasure of private property. It would be fascinating for students to experience a "role play" as Chinese citizens experiencing these changes, then have students write/discuss how each experience would make them feel...

[Andrew Frank]

The following article I discovered today while skimming through BBC News. I find the topic of technology incredibly fascinating, so I found an article about the China Communist Party's manipulation of technology a perfect combination between my own interest & our seminar! Why I find an article like this relevant to my China curriculum is because it presents a complex (rather than one-sided) view of the Chinese government. My goal as an instructor is to present students with as complex & unbiased of a view as possible of the East. This article both presents the pros & cons of China's plan to use face ID: for instance, a "true identity" must be required to post online (since 2017), which positively prevents "catfishing" and "meddling" - like the kind America has experienced. Alternatively, as researcher Jeffrey Ding at Oxford explains, this may be just a way to "keep tabs" on citizens and maintain more data. I would love to have my students read the article and attempt to make an informed decision for themselves!

 

 

“China due to introduce face scans for mobile users” by BBC News Team

Published in BBC NEWS on 1 December 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50587098

People in China are now required to have their faces scanned when registering new mobile phone services, as the authorities seek to verify the identities of the country's hundreds of millions of internet users.

The regulation, announced in September, was due to come into effect on Sunday.

The government says it wants to "protect the legitimate rights and interest of citizens in cyberspace".

China already uses facial recognition technology to survey its population.

It is a world leader in such technologies, but their intensifying use across the country in recent years has sparked debate.

What are the new rules?

When signing up for new mobile or mobile data contracts, people are already required to show their national identification card (as required in many countries) and have their photos taken.

But now, they will also have their faces scanned in order to verify that they are a genuine match for the ID provided.

China has for years been trying to enforce rules to ensure that everyone using the internet does so under their "real-name" identities.

In 2017, for example, new rules required internet platforms to verify a user's true identity before letting them post online content.

The new regulation for telecom operators was framed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as a way to "strengthen" this system and ensure that the government can identify all mobile phone users. Most Chinese internet users access the web via their phones.

• Xinjiang police 'monitor citizens by app'
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Jeffrey Ding, a researcher on Chinese artificial intelligence at Oxford University, said that one of China's motivations for getting rid of anonymous phone numbers and internet accounts was to boost cyber-security and reduce internet fraud.

But another likely motivation, he said, was to better track the population: "It's connected to a very centralised push to try to keep tabs on everyone, or that's at least the ambition."

Are people worried?

When the regulations were announced in September, the Chinese media did not make a big deal of it.

But online, hundreds of social media users voiced concerns about the increasing amount of data being held on them.

"People are being more and more strictly monitored," one user of the Sina Weibo microblogging website said. "What are they [the government] afraid of?"

Many others complained that China had already seen too many data breaches. "Before, thieves knew what your name was, in the future they'll know what you'll look like," said one user, receiving more than 1,000 likes. Another criticised the policy, saying: "This is being implemented without the consent of the public."

Another said they often received scam calls from people who knew their name and address, and asked: "Will they be able to tell what I look like now?"

But others were less cynical, saying that the move was simply in line with "technological progress".

China already extensively censors and polices the web, removing and blocking content it does not want its citizens to see and talk about.

How widespread is facial recognition in China?

China is often described as a surveillance state - in 2017 it had 170 million CCTV cameras in place across the country with the goal of installing an estimated 400 million new ones by 2020.

The country is also setting up a "social credit" system to keep score of the conduct and public interactions of all its citizens in one database.

The aim is that by 2020, everyone in China will be enrolled in a vast national database that compiles fiscal and government information to give a "ranking" for each citizen.

Facial recognition plays a key role in the surveillance system and it has been lauded as a way of catching fugitives. Last year, media noted that police were able to pick a fugitive out of a crowd of 60,000 at a concert using the technology.

In the western region of Xinjiang, where up to a million Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities have been detained for what the authorities call "re-education", surveillance cameras use facial recognition to specifically track Uighurs, based on their appearance, the New York Times reported earlier this year.

• China's hidden camps
• China sets up huge 'social credit' system
• Smart cameras catch man in 60,000 crowd

But facial recognition is increasingly becoming a part of daily life and commercial transactions in China. It's used more and more, for example, to pay in shops and supermarkets.

However there has been some blow-back. Earlier this year, a university professor sued a wildlife park for making facial recognition mandatory for visitors - sparking a wider debate about the state's mass collection of data on its citizens.

In September, the Chinese government said it planned to "curb and regulate" the use of facial recognition technology in schools after reports a university was trialling using it to monitor the attendance and behaviour of students.

Mr Ding said it was clear that there is increasing backlash against China's widespread adoption of facial recognition technology.

Such criticism used to focus on fears of data theft, hacking and abuses by commercial companies, he said. However, increasingly, citizens seem willing to criticise how the Chinese government might exploit such data to track the population.

[Andrew Frank]

At the wonderful suggestion of my fellow teacher, Lizette, I also visited the SuihoEn Japanese Garden in Van Nuys, which is conveniently located less than 10 minutes from my place! What I found so incredible about the garden was the way it was designed to make the visitor feel as though they have left the city altogether and been transported to a truly zen space. I discovered through research upon visiting that every aspect of the garden is purposeful and designed with a spiritual meaning (i.e. the mound in the Dry Garden represents a tortoise, which in term represents the idea of perpetuity). Knowing that the garden was also designed in the 1700s/1800s feudal style indicates to me that the garden could be an excellent field trip spot to work in cooperation with teaching Japanese history. If students were able to choose one element (i.e. the waterfalls, lanterns, bridge, etc.), they could then visit the garden to identify the history of this element in Japanese architecture and even write a Japanese-form poem based on the element during their visit.

[Andrew Frank]

I had an absolutely wonderful afternoon in Pasadena at the USC Pacific Asia Museum! Though small, I found the museum full of incredibly interesting pieces that surveyed a vast array of Asian countries (in both East Asia & otherwise). What I perhaps found most intriguing during my visit was seeing the work of Kusakabe Kimbei, a Japanese photographer popular in the late 1800s in the Honmachi district. What was fascinating about his photographs was how his work personified the clash between classic Japanese tradition & Western influence, as his photographs were created specifically for Americans/Westerners that visited Japan. As the placard next to the “(Geisha) Teaching Songs” photograph explained, the inauthenticity itself is what is perhaps most fascinating – the “geishas” themselves were simply recreations of traditional scenes that Western tourists wanted to see. It would be highly beneficial to pair these photographs with lessons for students about Western influence on Japanese culture and ask students to analyze how this art may symbolize a greater theme about U.S.-Japan relations over the history of the Asia’s development.

[Andrew Frank]

Cynthia, I love your emphasis on the importance of etiquette rules in business dealings in Asia and especially how you connect it to the importance of working as a teacher with parents of Asian origin. Parent-teacher conferences are already incredibly complex, in attempting to understand the unique behavioral norms with which each parent operates, and this can become even more fraught if cultural misunderstandings occur between the teacher & parent (i.e. if a teacher misunderstood the silence of Japanese parents). I believe this may be an incredibly smart way to frame the "relevance" of learning about Asia in the classroom: to aid students in truly succeeding in not only working with Asian business partners in the global marketplace, but in simply relating more to individuals of Asian descent in a world that is connected on an international level through social media & the internet. I think a fascinating lesson would be to split the class in two parts, then give each students slips with contrasting "cultural customs" and attempt to take part in some role-play business dealing. Having students witness first-hand how misunderstanding cultures can lead to failed "business" would be an extremely powerful lesson for a young person! By then following up this role-play activity with students researching Japanese communication styles would also make this an overall powerful experience to help students become more deeply engaged with understanding the necessity of learning about Asia from an Asian-centric (rather than Western) perspective.

[Andrew Frank]

One of the greatest misconceptions I discovered I possessed, upon reading the selection from Zen Spaces and Neon Places, is that I disassociated the beauty of Japanese architecture from Eastern spiritual traditions. Growing up Roman Catholic and attending parochial school my whole life, I learned from a young age about the mentality behind the creation of Catholic cathedrals (i.e. the high ceilings meant to "humble" churchgoers and encourage a feeling of "awe" in believers). I had absolutely no idea that a building like the Ise Jingu existed, and - through the rebuilding process every 20 years - a long spiritual tradition is continued in China that is directly connected to the architecture itself. I, like the uninformed Westerner I am, also was shocked to learn that this shrine is not just one building, but a total of 60 structures connected by a pilgrimage path! I know it may seem obvious and apparent, but reading this selection revealed to me just how much spiritual tradition is rooted in the building itself and even the idea of the "twenty year cycle." (I think it's fascinating that the twenty year cycle "commemorates this rhythm" of the day/night, sun/moon, seasons, and harvest season as well.) I think a stellar lesson would be to present the Ise Shrine to students and have them attempt to "decipher" the deeper meanings of the building from their limited Western perspective. By then having students use cooperative learning (or even a "Jigsaw activity") to discover the history of these spiritual traditions, students may discover first-hand how history, culture, spirituality, and ideology all combine in the creation of Japanese architecture.

[Andrew Frank]

One of the features of Professor Jung-Kim's lecture that I found most fascinating was the explanation of the procession of Presidents at the beginning of South Korea's "road to democratization." I think it would be fascinating to have students compare a list of the South Korean Presidents to a list of America's own Presidents and have students compare/contrast the styles of presidencies. Also, having students evaluate Syngman Rhee would be fascinating, by asking students to perform their own research on his mysterious misdeeds (the 1956 execution of his opponent, the ballot-stuffing in his VP election, etc.) Also it might be interesting to have students analyze how the student revolutions in April 1960 & 1980 had an impact on the SK government and have high school students identify what student protests in the United States have had a similar profound effect. Even having students analyze the value of SK's yearly candelight vigil (that started back in the term of Myung-bak) would be a learning activity that required critical thinking. Asking questions to stimulate student thinking might be: "Are there any annual vigils that occur in the U.S.? What might America be able to learn from the culture of South Korean civil resistance?" I think the more students compare/contrast their own culture to another's, the more students may begin thinking of themselves as global citizens...

[Andrew Frank]

Haena, I cannot lie - I am extremely jealous that you got the chance to take a full course with Professor Jung Kim! I appreciate your optimism toward the idea of reunification for a country that has suffered greatly (as you mentioned, re: the North Korean food shortages) from their division. What I do question is if the current state of affairs has made North Korea even more hestitate to reunite though, for as the Professor mentioned, the countries no longer possess the Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation and the Sunshine Policy was costly for South Korea. Also, it seems the very nature of Juche and North Korean economic "self-reliance" make it difficult for North Korea to adapt into a new capitalist economy. The U.S. does not seem to be helping the situation currently either, for as the Professor mentioned, President Moon was absent for the DMZ Summit meeting this past June with President Trump. With the Kim family so desparately wanting to keep their regime survival, their nuclear weapons, and their economic self-sufficiency, will the divided Korea really be able to unite any time soon? 

[Andrew Frank]

Cynthia, I totally agree! I am a fan of any presenter that uses Choco-Pies as an incentive! I too was very surprised that the Soviets granted the North Koreans so much autonomy and both the Soviets & Americans spent so much time cracking down on suspected "sympathizers" of captialism/communism, respectively. The map that Dr. Jung Kim used I also found very enlightening in explaining the constant shifting of power and how "destined" the war was, with all the factors at play. I think an effective lesson would be having students work to debate who truly was "to blame" for the Korean War (the U.S. for dividing Korea? the USSR for advancing socialism? Korea itself for not forming a coalition government in 1948?). It would help students break their illusion of America constantly being a "benevolent" force in global relations, by revealing America's great instances of ignorance. (A powerful example would be sharing how the U.S. slaughtered a ton of Korean civilians, simply because they couldn't distinguish between North & South Koreans.)

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