[Cynthia Stults]

Chad, I think that your idea is exactly right. The suppression of information is the biggest threat to people. Think about how much worse the plight of the Uighurs would be if the limited information we have didn't make it out of China. The people in China need this information so they can rise up in defense of fellow citizens and in defense of human rights. Sadly, I don't know if there are enough otuside sanctions that could make China back down and change their stance on human rights. I think, in the end, it will have to come from within the citizenry who decide that they are done and want better for themselves and their country. The only way China can prevent this is to, like you said, control the flow of information. I am continuously surprised that the government continues to allow citizens to come to the U.S., stay for 1-2 years, and then return. I can only hope that the Chinese families that I have been in contact with and taught, can take their positive experiences home, and share them, share the differences in individual freedoms. Hearing about the reeducation centers, I do worry that while the parents of my students may be permitted to keep the knowledge and skills they gained while studying/working here, but what about the other knowledge? How do they stifle the information that they were exposed to while they were here? WIth cell phone cameras and social media, there are more sources of information now, than ever before. That the goverment is able to control as much informationas it does, with the technology and platforms available is no small feat. I agree that we need to show our students that information is not an automatic right, and can be restricted, but also that they need to look closely and carefully at the sources of information. China still disseminates information. Are the citizens able to evaluate the sources of information provided to them? We need our students to critically examine all information, even that coming from our own government.

[Cynthia Stults]

Hi Meghann! I think that a great place to start with younger students when discussing the idea of bias is when they have a conflict. I think we can easily point out, how when we go to tell on someone for doing something bad to us, we typically leave out, or downplay any negative part we may have played. I used this example of in both 3rd and 4th grade when we started learning about Native Americans and how they have been portrayed in primary source accounts, and how some historical accounts may not be entirely accurate. To make this more understandable, I give the example of a boy who ran to me to tell me another girl had kicked and dented his water bottle. When I asked why, he claimed he didn't know. Upon further prodding, "You mean you were just walking in line when she came up and kicked it for no reason," suddenly it turned into, "Well I might have been squirting her with my water bottle, and she might have asked me to stop, and I might have kept squirting her, and well maybe I did deserve that." I explain that people don't always have someone to ask questions like I did. Now that they are doing so much more work online, they need to use these skills to evaluate the sources of online information. Who is telling the story, and are they truly showing all of the sides. The problem of bias in history is universal across all cultures. This is a skill every student needs. 

[Cynthia Stults]

Jessica, as I read your comment, I suddenly remembered the fairy tale of The Three Little Pigs, which I think that your little ones are already familiar with. In that story, brick is supposed to be the "best" building material, but with what we have learned about Japan and building with wood, you could discuss cultures that use straw, wood, and brick, and discuss a little bit of how they are able to withstand the elements and last for hundreds of years. There would be lots of visual references available from Professor Vharnes presentations, and for those of us with older students, we can get more into the science of why and how wood can be just as strong and durable as brick, despite what the fairy tale says.

[Cynthia Stults]

Taking the East Asia Since 1800 seminar first gave me an interesting perspective on this seminar. It was interesting to see how events, governments, and traditions that were established hundreds, even thousands of years ago shaped their modern cultures. What was even more interesting is how much intersection and movement there was among China, Japan, and Korea.  It was interesting how some of the social structures have held over and possibly influenced current issues. For example, in Korea, many people who were born in Korea, but are the children of immigrants have not been allowed to vote. When reading about some of the young Korean men who realized they would not be able to improve their social status/quality of life due to one their parent’s social status and left to go take the civil service exam in China, It seemed that tradition was almost continuing, however, within just the last year or so, Korea has made steps towards being more accepting of its immigrants and multicultural families. This is a prime example of understanding the past to avoid repeating its mistakes. 

 

Much like how Buddhism was adapted to fit into China, Korea, and Japan, I can adapt much of what I have learned in this seminar into my teaching. I plan to adapt our Chinese philosophy debate into one based on the mission system. I also want to try and utilize Professor Yamashita’s use of artifacts as an agent of instruction when teaching social studies. This can help students with observational skills and then guiding them to make connections and create better engagement than if I just tell them everything they need to know. I also see myself utilizing a lot of compare and contrast activities of European cultures my students tend to be more familiar with East Asian cultures, that are the home cultures of several of my students, but aren’t normally addressed in our curriculum. I think my students will be surprised how much all civilizations have in common despite how different they may seem. It is my hope that understanding of our commonalities will help our students become more open and accepting of all peoples, races, genders, and cultures. 

[Cynthia Stults]

Chad, I really appreciate you making connections between what we are learning about ancient civilizations with modern issues. So often, students wonder why they have to learn about ancient civilizations, and many feel that if it happened so long ago, it has no bearing on the present. I feel that if we can make the connections, like you have, and help students make them as well, then they will hopefully begin to see how important it is to understand the past, and then see if we as a society have truly progressed beyond any of their mistakes. If not, then we need to act as agents of change in order to keep the past from repeating itself. The presentations about the plight of the uighurs in China not only resurrects negative actions from World War II, but those of conquering parties from more ancient times. 

[Cynthia Stults]

Hearing Professor Yamashita talk about The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon gave me an idea for a lesson. I think that, especially now, students have found journaling, either on paper or electronically, to be helpful in dealing with the stress that the quarantine has brought on. In doing a bit of research, The Pillow Book was basically Shonagon's journal of court happenings, and was likely written without her intending on publishing. For this exercise, I would have students keep two journals about the goings on at school and in their social lives- one that they would have to share with the class, and one that they could keep private. After students have about 2 weeks of entries, I would share some of the appropriate excerpts from The Pillow Book and ask students to describe the author based on the journal entries. After students create their hypothetical dossier, we can discuss Shonagon and her life, and then compare her with the gossip blogs and reality television personalities of today. For and English Literature class, you could even compare her with the fiction of Jane Austen adn some of her heroines (Emma in particular) who similarly opine on their surroundings and social lives. I think when students can make connections between themselves and figures from long ago, they typically care more and when they care more, they learn more! I could adapt this for younger students, but I'm hoping/praying most of them aren't aware of the gossip blogs or reality tv that I think older students are.....

[Cynthia Stults]

Meghann, yet again you inspire ideas for teaching. In so many of the East Asian origin stories we have heard (and now one from your Filippino heritage), the deities are animals, or forces of nature. This is in direct contrast to Greek and Roman mythology, in which the deities are all human-like, and humans were created in their likeness. We study Greek mythology in 4th grade, and I think it would be incredibly interesting for the students to examine several of these stories, do some research, and then hypothesize about why different geographical areas had their specific idea of where humans came from and the deities that controlled the earth. 

[Cynthia Stults]

Hilda, I love your observation about the improvement in the lives of the merchant class during this dynasty. Since we have seen the placards and what is of value to at least one of the emperors, this improvement makes sense. As hard work is seen to be of value (as you pointed out in an earlier post), it stands to reason that merchants, while not completing as much manual labor as the farmers, are still engaged in meaningful, productive work. I find it incredibly interesting how in China there seems to be more emphasis on merit (rather than heritage) when compared with other East Asian countries. It makes sense why some of the Korean young men left Korea for China.

[Cynthia Stults]

I am finding myself more and more intrigued by the various systems of social stratification within cultures. I found it extremely interesting first, that an individual's status was based on the lower-ranking parent's. I'm not sure if there are any other countries where the lower ranking parent automatically determines the status. I think that in most of the cultures I have studied, it seems like they typically go with the high ranking status. I was also very surprised, but after Dr. Jung-Kim explained how some of the young men who were stuck in Head Rank 6 would basically defect to China, where they could take the civil service exam and receive a government posting, based on their intellect and merit (or how well they cheated) instead of one of their parents. I always wonder what, if any remnants carry over. In the U.S., the "old money" families and those with longer history in the U.S. are still considered of a higher social status than newly minted millionaires. I do wonder if any of this very early stratification still persists in Korea today.

[Cynthia Stults]

Meghann you are just a treasure trove of ideas! In reading this exchange, and then the artice Dr. Jung-Kim shared, it reminded me that we also look at symbolism in 4th grade. As part of California history, students examine the state seal and discuss which symbols were included and why. I would love to expand this to currency and include foreign currency as well. Students could break into groups and do a bit of research on currency of different countries and the contributions of the people on them. Sin Saimdang and her story would be a great discussion about women and their role in currency and the inequities. I'm definitely stealing your redesigning currency activity, and I think I'll also have my students design their own personal seal. 

[Cynthia Stults]

I love how Professor Bharne always challenges the stereotypes that we Westerners have about East Asian architecture. I also am excited to encourage my students to approach learning about new cultures as chameleons, as he suggested. We need to try and blend in and ask the question about everything they see: why is it the way it is? Just asking that one question can take students (and ourselves) into a wonderful, authentic path of inquiry that can cross into multiple disciplines. When students ask the question why did they build homes or cities the way they did, the answer can lead to lessons in geography, climate, religion, family structure, agriculture, food, and even geometry and physics. Think of how deep you could go with this one simple question about dress, food, and basically all aspects of culture? These skills will help students develop empathy and can hopefully lead to improved relationships with students who have different home cultures.   

[Cynthia Stults]

I love how Professor Bharne always challenges the stereotypes that we Westerners have about East Asian architecture. I also am excited to encourage my students to approach learning about new cultures as chameleons, as he suggested. We need to try and blend in and ask the question about everything they see: why is it the way it is? Just asking that one question can take students (and ourselves) into a wonderful, authentic path of inquiry that can cross into multiple disciplines. When students ask the question why did they build homes or cities the way they did, the answer can lead to lessons in geography, climate, religion, family structure, agriculture, food, and even geometry and physics. Think of how deep you could go with this one simple question about dress, food, and basically all aspects of culture? These skills will help students develop empathy and can hopefully lead to improved relationships with students who have different home cultures.   

[Cynthia Stults]

I found it very interesting how in both Korea and Japan, Buddhism was utilized as a tool to promote interests of the state and encourage allegiance of the people to the government. I don't want to seem extremely cynical, but it makes an extreme amount of sense that if you are a new religion that has to compete with other religions and traditions that have been part of the culture for a longer period of time, the best way to be sure that the governments that be accept you would be to offer yourself as a means of protecting and promoting the state. Then, at the very least, the government will not fear that you are seeking to overthrow them, and are more likely to allow you to spread unfettered. 

[Cynthia Stults]

Samantha, I definitely think that your idea of incorporating buddhists traditions in the classroom could have huge benefits. I think that if we use "expedient means" as she described in her presentation, we can very easily adapt the precepts to be applicable and palatable to our students. I think that students really need to develop empathy and concern for each other. I really like how when Buddhism came to East Asia, the focus was on viewing the suffering of one as the suffering of all, and using this as an impetus to improve society. What a wonderful thing it would be if our little microcosm of a classroom could have this same philosophy- if one of us is struggling, we all need to help them so they aren't struggling or suffering alone. Bullying would decrease, disrespect would decrease, even student productivity should increase, because if I'm not focused and doing my own work, then it's bringing the rest of the class down, or if I know someone could use some help, I should help them.

[Cynthia Stults]

I think your idea is fantastic, Sandra! I know that there was a lot of backlash in my conservative Christian hometown at the idea of Buddhism being taught in school. So many pearl-clutching mothers were so worried that their children would be "converted" to an exotic religion that had no similarities with their own. Yet, when one looks at the story of the first Buddha, there are so many similarities to that of Jesus, its uncanny. Both had miraculous births, both were prophesied as saviors by seers who would die before that would happen, both began their "ministries" at around the same age (29 and 30), both suffered and made physical sacrifices (fasting), and both sought ways to help others overcome suffering. Seeing as religion has been the cause of many wars and conflicts, I think it is incredibly important that we have students find the similarities in religions that may seem diametrically opposed to theirs, to hopefully prevent strife based on religious differences. 

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