[Kelly McKee]

lynne,  yes the air pollution in the north during winter months can be brutal.  there is a great NOVA video called China Rises that shares a good overview of this issue.  Students enjoy the film as if connects china's rapidling growing economy to the increase of environmental issues.  

[Kelly McKee]

gail, yes, many of these new restrictions seem to prohibit postive relations between china and the us.  even the negative commentary about the coronavirus is alarming.  my chinese friends in Shanghai are just shocked by the anti-chinese actions they are reading about since the covid-19 pandemic.  we as educators really need to be proactive to dispell any negative thinking or attitudes students may be hearing about in the media.

[Kelly McKee]

robert, yes, the urban-rural divide continues to be a challenge in china.  Years ago i had an opportunity to visit Lhasa in Tibet and I was most surprised to see the division between Han Chinese and native Tibetans within the urban setting of Lhasa.  The government's relocation of Han to areas of the west has been occurring for quite some time.  However, it was discouraging to basically see two separate cities within one divided by ethnicity.

[Kelly McKee]

Billie,  I also enjoyed the articles about dancing in China.  I'm always so amayzed to see so many people dancing and exercising in the parks in China during my visits to the country.  I wish the elderly here in the US would take note of this type of activity as it is good health practices for all.  Yet, as we read in the articles sometimes it can get out of control with 'noise pollution.'

 

[Kelly McKee]

Lynne, it is interesting how some of the first europeans to enter china in the 1500s were catholics.  such as matteo ricci.  there is a cathedral and museum in the xujiahui neighborhood of shanghai that shares this history in a postivie manner.  the europeans were known to bring more than just religion to china-they brought new foods and other goods from the americans and other regions of the world.

[Kelly McKee]

Amir, thanks for sharing this link.  the articles in this week's session about christianity in china were really interesting.  i've had several opportunites to attend Easter services at a catholic church in Shanghai in past years.  I've always been shocked by the number of chinese attending the services.   

[Kelly McKee]

Benjamin, I have also been curious about the 5G networks in addition to Juawei and all of the controversy around it.  As an American citizen I use the Chinese WeChat app all the time here in the US and when I travel overseas.  It works really well and is reliable.  I never really think of the US-China network controveries when using the app.  

[Kelly McKee]

Yes, I agree with your comments about future economic problems.  Many other countries are currently facing a lack of people for their work force.  It is hard to believe that this could actually occur in China in the near future.  Shifting the one child policy was done in the interest of the overall economy.  This is something that most western European countries are currently faceing due to many families deciding to not have children or just havine one child.  

[Kelly McKee]

Diana, I am curious to know how your experience living in Shenzen impacts the way you teach about China.  I understand your comments about how China changes at a very rapid pace.  Having first hand experience living in the country must have been remarkable on many levels.  Especially living in a SEZ!

[Kelly McKee]

Diana, are you familiar with the documentary titled Morning Sun?  it is a powerful film about Mao during the Cultural Revolution and hits on some of the topics you share in your post about self-sufficiency in the past and present.  I think your students would enjoy the 'artistic' parts of the film.

[Kelly McKee]

Thanks for recommending the film 'One Child Policy' as it looks like a great classroom resource.  My students are curious to learn more about this policy and typically ask many good questions regarding the parameters.  As restrictions are lifted in China it does make teaching this topic a bit more challenging.

[Kelly McKee]

Lynn, Teaching the geogrpahy and demographics of China is an essential part of my currriculum.  Just as we teach students about the most densly popluated areas of the US it is important for kids to recognize the location of mega-cities in China today.  In some ways the US and China share similarities especially with high levels of population along the east coast and more open spaces in the middle of each country.

[Kelly McKee]

Your comments regarding the power of Xi Jinping resonate with many Americans.  China-US relations are more important now then ever with the current pandemic in addition to the future of our environment.  I think most Americans and Chinese are hopeful of progressive diplomatic reltions moving forward.

 

[Kelly McKee]

Final Essay

The main reason I enrolled in this course was to refresh my current curriculum about China for my Modern World History course.  My existing China unit is four weeks in length and covers Chinese history from the Ming Dynasty to present day.  It is the first unit of this course and one of my favorite units to teach.  For the final essay I thought it would be useful for me to review readings and notes from each weekly session to compile a list of BIG takeaways that I will potentially use next year to supplement my existing curriculum.

Week 1: Geography and Demography/ The Communist Party and the Hukou System

-China has 15 neighbors, this means border control is a huge challenge.  Compare this to the United States with only 2 borders and this gives students a new way to look at issues relating to border control.

-China’s current millennial population (ages 18 to 35) is 400 million.  This demographic is larger than the entire population of the United States

-CCP membership is approximately 90 million members today.  China’s top capitalist, Jack Ma, is a party member.  The article ‘China’s New Revolution: The Reign of Xi Jinping’ was one of the best articles in the seminar.  This is something I will use in the classroom with students, but it will need to be modified or restructured to meet the needs of an average sophomore reading level. 

Week 2:  The Rise of China’s Economy/China Shakes the World

-I appreciate the practical and detailed chronological overview of economic change since 1949.  The video shares many highlight for unpacking Mao’s China vs. Deng’s China with high school kids.  I will certainly use Wang Daqing a.k.a. Iron Man in my curriculum next year -in addition to, Deng’s initiatives to allow for individual businesses to evolve. 

-The data sets of global economic activity from 1750 – 1900 as shared in the video (Kennedy) is most useful for classroom use to help students process the shift of China’s global economy after the mid-19^th century.

Week 3: Expanding Choices

-The articles on religion were useful to share how the government has become more open to religious diversity yet continues to maintain full control; we mostly hear about religious persecution of the Uighers in Xinjiang or Buddhists in Xizang, so sharing resources about the role of Christians in China today will provide more context for students to understand what role religion plays in China today

Week 4:  Generations/Environmental Degradation

-The data charts sharing change over time of CO2 emissions from 2007 to 2017

-All charts and data sharing China as a global consumer; China has become the world’s largest importer of oil and how this demand will impact the market just as the US

-China is a water poor country

-China’s role in the global plastic waste crisis; I had never heard of the film Plastic China before –and I’m eager to share this with my students

Week 5: US-China Relations/Global China

-The overview of the island disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea in addition to the role of Taiwan.  I was completely unaware how airlines in the US dealt with this issue using a ‘no reference to country’ when reserving a flight

-Articles and video regarding the Belt and Road Initiative will help revise curriculum about modern day China

Thank you so much for providing this free online course!  I have certainly gained a lot of new personal insight and curricular ideas about contemporary China as an outcome of my participation in the program.  It is hard to believe that our course began just as the coronavirus was spreading in China.  Being part of this course allowed me to process the initial outbreak in Wuhan and recognize the severity of the illness as it began spreading globally.  We are now shifted to e-learning for the unforeseeable future.  The lesson plan I created for this course about China and plastic waste will become part of my online lessons this spring.  Thank you again, Clay, and I hope to have an opportunity to participate in future USC-China Institute programs.  Be safe and stay healthy. 

 

 

[Kelly McKee]

-The Jeffery Bader article, ‘How Xi Jinping Sees the World..and Why,’ shares multiple lenses for interpreting Xi’s leadership role of China and how the nation interacts with the world.  This article reaffirms Deng as being the most transformative past leader of the PRC as it states how Deng reconnected China with the world by joining organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, IMF, NPT, IAEA, just to name a few.  When Xi became the leader in 2012 his China was a completely different China than the one Deng inherited from Mao.  Xi’s China can boast having the 2^nd largest economy of the world and being the world’s largest trading country.  However, Xi also adopted a host of domestic concerns, such as growing inequality, providing for an aging population, and being the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases.  His grasp on domestic control has been more authoritarian yet he continues to reach out globally to expand China’s economy and presence around the world.  Is China perceived as being a threat to the global system?  Is it a revisionist power?  A regional hegemon?  These perspectives offer potential views of understanding China today -however, students must also recognize how US-China diplomacy has shifted over the past 70 years.  Identifying steps of normalizing US-China relations in the 1970’s and how these acts of diplomacy have completely transformed the world in which we live.   The Foreign Affairs article shares more insight of US-China relations both past, present and future.  It is inevitable that both countries will benefit from constructive engagement instead of demonizing one another as former Cold War enemies of the future.

-Video #2 shares China’s response to the 70^th year anniversary of the end of WWII ‘V-Day Celebration’ in 2015 to remember the defeat of Japan and Germany.  I was unaware of this parade and the extent of which China celebrates September 3^rd as Victory Day, one day after the formal surrendering of the Japanese on September 2, 1945.  Sharing images of the parade could serve as an entry point for unpacking the island dispute between China and Japan today (Senkaku and Diaoyu) especially since Shinzo Abe did not attend the celebration in Beijing.  Was the real reason because of Chinese military aggression in the South China Sea? 

-The US/China dispute of how US airline companies identify Taiwanese and Chinese cities on their website without reference to a country is very interesting.  I never noticed this until viewing this week’s video.  I just did a quick search on both United and American Airlines and noticed that United does not reference the country of China or Taiwan when searching a Chinese city or Taipei.  However, American Airlines does acknowledge the country of China when searching Chinese cities.  However, Taipei still has no country affiliation.  Again, this could lend itself to another interesting lesson for students when teaching about China-Taiwan Relations. 

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