[Brigid Schmidt]

Hello! I am Brigid and this year I am teaching 6th grade English and 7th grade Reading Intervention in Brentwood, CA. We have been teaching virtually since March. Because of this, I was able to take some classes and even some seminars over the summer. Our school encourages teacher collaborations and cross-curricular lessons, so this class helps provide beneficial resources for my students. 

Prior to covid I enjoyed traveling, spending time with family, going to the theater, movies, and sporting events. During covid, I have been doing more art and crafting, as well finding more time for running, hiking, and going to the beach because I am not driving nearly as much. However, I feel I am on the computer much more, planning, grading a lot, and answering many emails. We also have quite a few Zoom meetings we have to attend. One thing that works for me is to take movement breaks and even do them with my students. 

[Brigid Schmidt]

With this being the second class I have participated in from the China Institute, I was excited to be in one of Professor Dube's class again. While my first course was mostly about Ancient Asia, this course dealt with Asia in a more modern sense and I really enjoyed it. I am grateful for the opportunity to take this course over the summer and devote my time to the readings and learning from the guest speakers. As always, Professor Dube offers a depth of knowledge of the material and constantly leaves me wanting to know more. Each of the lectures provided topics that I can blend into my middle school English classes: Korean novels, informational text about any of these topics to provide reading comprehension practice, research opportunities, compare and contrast ideas, and beautiful music to open my classes with or to play during independent work. Because of this course, I was able to add many songs to my classroom play list and even used one of the classical pieces during our class mindfulness activity last week. That lecture really stood out to me and touched my love of music. 

Prior to this class, I did not have much of an understanding about the Uyghyr people or China's re-education camps. I have been watching more and reading up on this and trying to talk to others to bring about awareness. Maybe I can bridge this topic when I talk about human rights with my students. 

Thank you to Catherine for the many extra materials and resources she posted for us to continue our own research of the topics and take to our classrooms. I am grateful to be able to learn for about Asia to relate it to my students and what they are studying. I consider myself a life-long learner and know that I am becoming a stronger teacher for participating in this class. I look forward to another one! 

[Brigid Schmidt]

I have heard of this film and have been thinking abut watching it. After reading your review, I will! As an English teacher, I am always trying to help my students express emotions through their writing and story telling. We talk a lot about the differences in cultures and there might be clips from this film that could help the students see other perspectives. Maybe they could compare and contrast how their family interacts with how the family in film relates to one another? 

[Brigid Schmidt]

Thanks for sharing this website. I have been looking it over for some historical references for my classes. It even has Social Studies lessons for students, which super helpful! I bookemarked this website for future references as my students get into this topic.

However, I have also been using if for information on the two Korea's in general. I have been watching "Crash Landing on You" and sometimes am confused when they talk about certain places or references. Skimming through this website has been helpful. 

[Brigid Schmidt]

For the past few weeks (ever since this lecture) I have been searching Youtube for some Chinese style classical music. I did not realize how much I would like it. Like Cheryl, I now find it soothing to relax or decompress to. I found myself listening to the beautiful orchestras while writing my lesson plans and grading student work. It even inspired me to write poetry about it. I played two of them for my students during our mindfulness reflection time last week and they seemed to really reflect while listening. Thanks to Sheila and Jindong for opening my ears to such beautiful compostions.

[Brigid Schmidt]

Tonchev's article points out that the pandemic has exposed weaknesses and risks of global interconnectedness which will obviously affect China's BRI. He states that "The outbreak has brought Chinese labor supplies and equipment imports along BRI routes down to a trickle." This is undoubedtly scary for the future of the BRI, but Tonchev thinks it will be short-term and that projects will pick up. While I agree with Mike and Maria when they say countries will probably you back to "normal" as some point, I do wonder if this is a larger push to buy local and products made closer to home. Will there be more skeptism from other countries as the pandemic lessens? I think this is a big possibility. 

[Brigid Schmidt]

I agree with you, Alma. I still have so many questions about these camps and I listened to a few lectures on them. In reading more about this, I saw that "Chinese authorities may have detained hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million, Uyghurs, Kazaks, Kyrgyz, and other ethnic Turkic Muslims, and Christians as well." I decided to watch the BBC video Catherine shared during class. I was surprised that journalists were even allowed in there with recording equipment and to interview people. They said that China wants the world to think they are not prisoners, but students being guided away from extremism. Even still, many people are being sent to these high security facilities that look like prisons. When a young man was asked if he was a prisoner, he said no and that he was there because he had "weak awareness of the law and was influenced by extremism and terrorism." However, a different woman interviewed said if you speak out, you will be sent to a worse place. She said when she was there, her legs were cuffed for a few days and a baton struck her. One of the "teachers" kept insisting that it was not a prison because you could paint there! He said they learn painting, Mandarin, singing, and skills. They study Chinese communism there and have no idea how long they will be there. I have a hard time understanding how this is happening in modern society. It is really heartbreaking. Where are their human rights?

[Brigid Schmidt]

Reading the article written by Sheila Melvin and Jindong Cai, The Sound of New Music Is Often Chinese...brought about a new perspective for me on Chinese orchestras and symphonies, as well as their traditions. They talked about the Central Conservatory having been barren for 10 years due to a Cultural Revolution, only to finally open its doors again in 1977. At the time, 18,000 applicants from musicians all over China poured in. However, they only ended up being able to take 200! As a singer and actor I understand competition, but that is intense! It was interesting to hear that though there are well known composers from this class, they were better known in the US and Europe, and rarely heard in China. Chinese composers music was not often played in China and this continued for years. In the early 2000's, more young Chinese composers were choosing to stay in China and become recognized. Contemporary music in China was changing in that in did not only look outside China (to Western and Soviet influences) for guidance and started looking to Chinese roots and traditions for inspiration. This opened up more opportunities in China. The article is written in 2001, so I'd be curious to hear more about the changes even since the article.

[Brigid Schmidt]

Professor Dube shared the article about Hamilton (reaction to the musical release on Disney+) and it was an interesting read. As a musical theater major, I was really interested in seeing it. My husband loves history, so we went to the live performance 2 years ago. It was interesting to see my family and friends this summer joining the Hamilton craze after watching it many times on Disney+. The article talks about how Disney+ is not available in China, but it still got many people thinking about who tells their story. Lin Manuel purposely cast actors of all different races to show that America is a country of immigrants. The actors who play the Founding Fathers do not resemble them, but these choices played a major role in the popularity of the show. It also shows that history can be fun and comical and not always serious. Indeed issues of race are at the forefront of our current society here in the US, but what I didn't realize were the issues of race in China. The article states that Chinese regulators reactions to Hamilton probably would not be positive because of the changes in the founding father's skin colors. They relate it to "The Founding of a Republic" because it was praised and criticized for its nuanced takes on figures typically in black and white. However, it has not been since 2003 possibly because that and of its not so heroic depiction of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen. So it doesn't seem a Chinese version of Hamilton is likely to happen any soon. I am interested in learning a bit more about racial issues in China and more about theater there. 

[Brigid Schmidt]

When I think of Buddhism, I often think of China or India. I am fascinated reading the origins of Buddhism because I know a lot about the spread of Christianity, but not as much about the spread of Buddhism. The Silk Road (part of our 6th grade standards) was a major east-west trade route that linked Persia to China. My students study this (in History-I teach English) and I am embarrassed that this year I have been actively trying to learn more about it. The Silk Road enabled Central Asians to actively export Buddhism into China. Prior to this, China already had strong traditions/beliefs in Confucism and Daoism. So it is easy to see why some people resisted Buddhism at first. On the other hand, there were some similarities in that Daoists value harmony and nature and Confucian values of human perfecting and social harmony. These ideas correlate to Buddhist teachings and seemed to be a way for Buddhism to grow in China.

With the emergence of the 3 kingdoms of Ancient Korea, there were diplomatic and cultural contacts that increased, allowing Buddhism to make its way to the Korean peninsula. Buddhism in Korea has influences from China, but it is different. During the Silla period, 5 Buddhist school emerged and 3 of them derived from Chinese schools, yet 2 were unique to Korea. Japan also adopted Buddhism with Chinese influences but has 6 schools of Japanese Buddhism. They also use 4 types of meditation practices to foster inner purity of one’s Buddha-nature. What I wasn’t too familiar with was the Japanese occupation of Korea in 1910. This control also had an impact on Korean Buddhism. I am interested to read more about this and what the relations are like currently. After reading these articles and listening to the lectures, I do have a better understanding of how I can relate this to my students in English class. Comparing and Contrasting Buddhism in each of the 3 countries would be an interesting group activity. Additionally, I think it would help my students better understand the Silk Road and how religion spread through Asia and the world.

[Brigid Schmidt]

Natalie, thanks for sharing your story. It is so interesting to me that your family incorporated Buddhist practices in their lives at the same time being avid Catholics. As a Catholic myself, I am starting to find this not as unique or rare as I once thought. Both religions have monks that meditate or pray and this is practiced by the followers. The time for meditation and prayer is what reaches me most often. My mind needs that time to reflect and detatach from outside technologies and stressors. I often have my students meditate or do mindfulness breathing for a similar reason. Perhaps this is an example of crossing boundaries I didn't even realize I was doing. 

[Brigid Schmidt]

Maria, this course seems like it will be very useful for 6th/7th grade history standards and teaching them. While I teach 6th/7th grade English, we often do cross-curricular projects. At first I felt so unsure about helping teach history standards I wasn't familiar with, however, I am feeling more confident after this course. Your idea of having groups of students research each countries' different schools is a wonderful way for the students to see the connections to each other and how they branched off on their own. Comparing/Contrasting is part of our ELA standards so this is a great way to incorporate that. Thanks for the ideas. Now to tweak them to virtual! 

[Brigid Schmidt]

After reading the Hallyu article out of The University of Michigan, it got me thinking about the Korean food and products I purchase. Even prior to visiting Korea, I enjoyed Korean food. That interest only grew after being in the country. The article talked about how K-pop is a big part of this influence, but I actually have never listened to K-pop. The tables showed how this then gets people interested in Korean cosmetics. Like Rebecca mentioned above, I knew about Korean beauty. I am not too big into makeup or expensive facial products. However, I do love facemasks. I grabbed a stack of my facemasks and sure enough, made in Korea! There is even a Korean flag symbol and Korean writing on the product. I also use a muscle cream for aches and pains after a tough workout and surprisingly that says made in South Korea. These are some of my favorite products and I had not even realized that I was using Korean products. I noticed the main character in Crash Landing On You getting really excited to have her South Korean soaps and skin care products when she was stuck in North Korea. So while I may not be listening to Korean music and only just started watching a Korean TV show, I was already using Korean products by choice on my own. 

[Brigid Schmidt]

The lectures by Sheila Melvin and Jindong Cai were fascinating. I have always loved music and am actually taking a class about the importance of music in the classroom also. I knew that there were influences of different cultures with the Silk Road, but I never really thought of western music being of interest in China. It is crazy to think that the symphony was performing 2 weeks ago. I long for the time when we can go listen to a live symphony or orchestra again. (I am thankful I went in February to the Disney Concert Hall before Covid closed things here.) Throughout history, we hear about missionaries in different areas of the world, but not always welcomed or wanted. It was interesting to learn that emperors would write to the Pope to send more missionaries to teach western music and math. The history of the Shanghai Symphony and Conservatory was quite interesting as well. I always think of China as such a powerful country, it surprised that China was looking toward western music to improve the people of China culturally and that they looked to other countries for influences. The interest in studying classical music in Shanghai is also something I didn't realize, but I have seen many classical musicans who come from China. I enjoyed listening to the clips of the Shanghai Symphony. I love the beauty of the blend of styles and instruments. Is there a lot of pressure from the government on young musicians in China? Do you think there will be more pressure on the musicians now that their opera houses and symphonies and orchestras are performing again? 

[Brigid Schmidt]

Hi Jessica, 

Thanks for sharing the article above. I didn’t know too much about Chinese Jews prior to Dr. Gladney’s lectures. However, I do touch on the Silk Road history with my students and we discuss the sharing of ideas, beliefs, and goods along the Silk Road. The article would be great to share with my students. I think it would be beneficial to hear from someone they can relate to rather than all their information being from the textbook. Thanks!

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