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Carissa SadlierThis was my first seminar through the USC US-China Institute and I absolutely loved it! I am so glad I persevered and signed up to take this weeklong class on East Asian Visual Culture.The education I have received the past week at USC with Professor Dube and colleagues has been outstanding. My understanding of the cultural history and traditions of East Asian countries has been greatly broaden. This week has opened up so many new ideas and avenues with which to deepen my 5thgrade students learning. Not only have I gained a new perspective for these countries, but I’ve also found a renewed inspiration to teach my students about this dynamic part of the world.
I intend to use the lessons I learned this week to support my teaching of Ancient China, Japan and Korea through to the modern times in these countries. My teaching will occur over the next 4 years, as I will continue with the same students I currently have.
China - I have created a lesson plan using their Zodiac and also calligraphy. I plan to read more about ancient China to be able to teach the students and give them a base on which to grow. In older grades we will look at Mao and communism through the lens of the posters presented in class.
Korea – After giving a broad over-view of ancient Korea, I plan on teaching my students about the Korean language and doing a craft with mulberry paper. This connects to our third grade learning, 2 years ago, about fibers. In an older grade I plan to bring K-pop and touch on Korea’s modern culture.
Japan – After teaching students about ancient Japan, we will learn Haiku, how to make paper, traditional dress and try our hand at ikebana. We will also learn about Buddhism and Shinto. In older grades we will look at the different classes of Japanese people. In 8thgrade we will be looking at Japan’s role in WWII.
What a bonus to also have other teacher’s lessons to inspire and take away with me. Many appreciations to the USC East Asia Studies team for a wonderful week of learning.
Carissa SadlierWorkers, peasants, soldiers reading from the little red book, smiles and jubilation. In the background is a bridge that looks as if it was just completed. I would say that the people are celebrating China's strong economics through the creation of this architecture, which is doubly important as it serves as a symbol for the growth of transportation.
Carissa Sadlier“The old men were shaken as by an earthquake when they learned that a modern Union Depot with expansive grounds was going to dislodge them from their long-established habitations,” Garding Lui, 1948
It was shocking to learn that Chinatown was razed and moved to make way for Union Station. This was a destruction of Chinese life and also many Mexicans that also called this area home. I’ve learned a lot about Chinese Americans coming to California through San Francisco during the Gold Rush, but know very little about Chinese Americans in Southern California.
I didn’t know about the 2nd biggest festival in China, the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival. The festival is on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese calendar when the moon is believed to be the biggest and fullest and is the festival of family reunion and peace. The festival is traced back to the Zhou Dynasty when they observed that the moon was connected with the seasons and agriculture. This would be a fun festival for the children to celebrate by making lanterns, eating moon cakes and learning dances.
I’m still learning about the Chinese Lunar calendar. The idea that you have a birthday and a lunar birthday and you look at the lunar calendar before choosing important activities. This also plays into the Chinese Zodiac as someone born in January would still be under the Zodiac symbol of the standard calendar’s previous year.
Carissa Sadlier(Post add: I'm in the back, middle, behind Jane, in the blue shirt with sunglasses)
I really enjoyed the Korean Cultural Center. Our guide was highly knowledgeable and I was fascinated to learn so much about how fast this incredible culture has grown and about its past. One of the topics I found most exciting was the Korean language.
The Korean language was founded in 1446 by Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty. The language was originally adopted from Chinese characters and though it worked for the nobles it was difficult for the average citizen to learn. Because the people could not be understood well enough with the language there was a large population that was illiterate.
Originally Sejong created the alphabet using 28 letters for the alphabet but not only 24 characters are used. The language is called Hangul and is easy to learn because the letters reflect the actual sounds made with the speaking organs. At present there are 14 consonants and 10 vowels.
Because the why, purpose and creator of the writing system is known and its originality and scientific qualities, the language was recognized by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on its Memory of the World Heritage.
Hangul would be an easy, fun way to bring the culture of Korea into the classroom.
Carissa SadlierI really appreciated Professor Dube’s lecture and discussion today in regards to soft power. It is easy to understand hard power – military might/force, but soft power is another dragon altogether. Previously, though soft power is a new term, when I would think of soft power I would have the image of nobles that had the ear of the king in Tudor England. These nobles were able to influence the king to do their own bidding by influencing and persuading him. After today's lecture I have a much deeper understanding of how soft power is being used in the world, that it doesn’t use force, but cooperation, attraction and persuasion.
Carissa SadlierLast year I taught my students (I have had the same 27 students since 1st grade) how to write a haiku for our Haiku Festival (Ukiah backward) and we also visited our small, Native American museum where Tom Killion had a woodblock print exhibit of California. This year in my 5th grade I want to take the previous learning of haiku and woodblock printmaking and connect it in with our study of the botanical world, looking at woodblock prints of Japan’s seasonal flowers.
SEASONAL FLOWERS
SPRING – LILLIES
SUMMER – LOTUS
FALL – CHRYSANTHEMUMS
WINTER – PLUM/CHERRY BLOSSOMS
Carissa SadlierRight away, through Professor Coat’s lecture, I imagined several simple lesson plans that could be elaborated on:
1. Telling a Japanese story – and then having children make puppets (ningyo joruri) and putting on a puppet show for the kindergarten
2. Break children up into groups and they learn about the different styles of theater (could do this with family of artists too)
a. Look at the actor – what is he trying to portray
b. Make your own handbill
3. Look at different Japanese wood prints - Ukiyo-e.org and/or artists and then create our own woodblock print
4. Mons
a. Talk about family and think about what things your family likes and does – journal- discuss in a group
b. Look at different Mons – discuss what the meaning might be
c. Create your own Mon for your family
Carissa SadlierThe TEA-NCTA at the University of Colorado has online book groups and online seminars for teachers. I did an online children's book study, to use in the classroom, and then we had a webinar with the author. I don't know if Catherine Ishida runs the program, but that is who I worked with and she was fantastic! This year they had an online seminar looking at Chinese History through its Dynasties. The program was easy to navigate and also I believe the time/units count for NCTA if you want to do the travel program.
Carissa SadlierThis poster shows vignettes of a mother with her one child. Taking her to the museum, exercising, dancing etc...The woman in the front is holding a bottle of pills and maybe a prescription. She also has an apron on and a hair net. She doesn't seem to be working with food, maybe in a doctors office or hospital. The pills could be vitamins for pregnancy or birth control pill to help parent only have one child.
Carissa SadlierIt is challenging to look at many of these and not be able to read the language and yet so wonderful to be able to look at these and try to gain clues from the images. In the upper part of the image, it looks like the man sitting down is ill. In the lower it looks like he is coming to the government to get help for his issue, along with many other citizens, and will receive it. What isn't clear to me is the gun, knife and note. Perhaps in the upper photo he knows of someone that has done something against the Republic and is torn whether to turn them in or not and below he is confessing?
Carissa Sadlier
I appreciated the discussion in class about using the term soft power when speaking of other countries, but in America we pretend it isn’t happening. Thinking about Asia, film had a role to play in educating the people to support the state, but in America this is happening in an underhanded way as well through the media. I understood this to be happening but didn’t think I had been influenced until I saw the film Black Panther. I rarely go to theater, and less go to see a superhero type film, but my children insisted I go. I was highly surprised at the feelings and thoughts that were coming up for me as I was watching it. I realized that I have a sort of brainwashing from watching American media. Though we look at the soft power and the coercion of people in other countries, here it is happening so blatantly.
Carissa SadlierI found Kendall Brown’s lecture dynamic and riveting. A light bulb went off when he used the term curating and with social media these days we are all curators. I can see an upper grades lesson on digital literacy that involves visiting a museum and talking with a curator and ending with a lecture about how we are all curators in the digital age through social media.
The theme that keeps speaking to me this week is the idea of having blinders or ignoring inappropriate behavior throughout history. When Professor Brown talked about the hidden agenda within the idea of Deco Nationalism, I found another layer of the “blinders” idea. Where other countries look back at their history and ignore it, in America we are watching this happen daily with the current administration.
As a teacher, I know that it is a learned human condition to not think of mistakes you made or call attention to them, but without doing so the child doesn’t learn deeply. When we make mistakes and recognize it, synapses fire and deeper learning occur. It is as if governments and countries are still in the pre-school era of knowledge and behavior and will never learn till they take responsibility for past behaviors. How can you move forward when that big pile you’ve swept under the rug is now a giant obstacle in front of you?
Carissa SadlierDonna,
Have you been to the WWII museum in New Orleans? I've heard that the Gilder Lehrman PD surrounding this is fantastic. It would be interesting to see if they address any of these topics or what might be left out of the American narrative.
Carissa SadlierHow fun are the Benshis!! Perhaps they are the precursor to the first performance artists. How easy it would be for them to influence people. I love the idea of thinking about the Benshi in everyday society - I would venture to say that we as teachers are also modern-day Benshi's.
A fun assignment for film students could be, after analyzing a clip of a Japanese film, having them narrate it to the class.
Carissa SadlierI really appreciated what Professor Yazar had to say about most contemporary cinema. Watching the clips of Japanese cinema I felt my body and mind in a more relaxed state. I was able to take time to look at each frame, take in the beauty and think about the director’s visual voice. In modern cinema everything is so rapid. My connection to the characters is shallow and though it is thrilling I also feel chaotic and sporadic but even more, I realize what it must be like to have ADHD as I come out feeling like I have a jumping monkey in my body. In modern American cinema there isn’t the time for a breath or for close viewing to see something the director might want to highlight. I love the metaphor of Japanese cinema being like tofu, there is the frame and then the chef or director creates the dish or scene by layering the sauce/background/actors on top.
