[Meghann Seril]

Given our current context it could be interesting to dicuss trade and exploration along the transmission of disease. I also think students might be interested in the discussion of supply chains. I think it was mentioned in our first lecture by Dr. Dube that pharmaceutical manufacturers in India could not make their products because the raw materials are imported from China. It could be interesting to have students take a product and try to trace it's origin(s) around the world.

[Meghann Seril]

Hi Dr. Jung-Kim. Thank you for providing this article. This reminds of our Saturday morning discussion regarding symbolism. And not just in the choice of whom to honor on the currency but also in the choice of other symbols on the front and back as well as the color. Symbols are a part of the third grade curriculum and I would love to add to my curriculum some discussion about the symbols featured on our currency (it could be a good math tie in as well). I might have students consider what symbols they believe represent our country and redesign a bill or coin.

[Meghann Seril]

It seems, in his letter to King George III, that Emperor Qianlong was aware of both the positive effects and negative consequences of opening up China to other countries. He is rightfully concerned about the requests made by King George to add an envoy to his court and that it should not provide King George with an advantage. I did find it quite diplomatic that he gave King George an out by possibly laying blame for these "unreasonable requests" on the envoy. Emperor Qianlong is open to trade, as he repeatedly reminds King George of his generosity with different foreign countries, but does not want to be tricked and taken advantage of despite the opportunity open trade provides. He also raises concerns about land encroachment and the imposition of European religious idealogies, all justifiable concerns.

[Meghann Seril]

The placards and proclamations remind me very much of the legalist school of thought. I was particularly struck by the line "when a good person mistakenly violates the law, he is going to be punished." It reminds me of your question two sessions back about how representatives of each school of thought would deal with their own parents breaking an important law. It seems no one can escape punishment. His proclamation on the dismissal of excessive local staff further illustrates his belief that people are motivated by fear and greed so enforcement of laws must be consistent and punishment must be severe. It reminds me of some of the rhetoric used by President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines when talking about how he will deal with the drug crisis in the country.

[Meghann Seril]

I really enjoyed the two readings on Ho Nansorhon and Sin Saimdang. I know one discussion I have not facilitated enough with my students is about the recorded histories and lack of recorded histories of different groups of people and their contributions. I would like to bring to them the fact that Sin Saimdang is featured on the 50,000 won bill to generate discussion of which historical figures we might choose to include on our own money. This could tie into a discussion of having Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill here in the United States.

During our discussion could we discuss further the difference between Neo-Confuciansim and Utilitarian Confucianism? I am curious about these different schools of thought and their influence on culture and norms.

[Meghann Seril]

Hi Billie! I would highly recommend it. We've had a chance to spend some time in Tokyo and Kyoto and it's quite the contrast in pace and definitely in architecture. Just turning the corner on a street you can see a contrast in building design from really flashy shopping centers to quiet houses. In some ways it's like LA in that regard. Anyhow, it's worth the flight and just think of all the amazing food!

[Meghann Seril]

Thank you for preparing the lecture and reading materials. The "Good, Bad, Ugly" article reminds me of a question Prof. Dube brought up in a previous lecture: "How do we know what we know?" One take away from the reading is that we need to teach students to think critically about the sources they are using to understand history. Surely no historical figures are truly all good or all bad, but they tend to be presented in this binary way. So we must consider the author's of history and their purposes in painting historical figures in a certain light. Although this is not part of the third grade social studies standards, I think I would approach this text with a language arts emphasis. I think it would be beneficial for my students to use portions of the text to discuss the language choices that are used to described the three main historical figures and how the author uses that to convince the reader of the merits of each person.

[Meghann Seril]

I really enjoyed hearing from Dr. Bharne about the comparisons of Oriental and Western architecture and how they reflect different values and asthetics. I was able to visit Fushimi Inari two years ago and I remember thinking, "When do we get to the end?" Having applied my Western viewpoint, I'm afraid I may have missed some things along the path. I will certainly remember to keep my eyes and ear open during my next travels, whenever that may be.

[Meghann Seril]

HI Mario and Sandra. I agree that focus on social and emotional learning should be a priority, especially given our current situation. I think about the sudden shift to distance learning and this period we are working through. Whenever we return to the classroom we will certainly need to address emotional trauma faced by our students. Mindfulness should be a part of this work.

[Meghann Seril]

Hi Esther. I love this idea of comparing different leaders and the influences of leadership on religious beliefs and vice versa. Henry VIII comes to mind. You could also consider the groups who established the different 13 colonies. Although we have separation of church and state in the United States I'm sure there would be lots of examples for comparison.

[Meghann Seril]

Thank you for providing these lectures and resources. My first thought in viewing and reading was "So much math!" I know it always important for teachers to help students see the connections between the skills and concepts we are learning and their real-world applications and this topic is chockfull of examples. The concepts of area and perimeter are big in 3rd grade. I usually do an activity in which I ask students to design their dream house and provide the area and perimeter for each room. I would love to use the examples from China of the use of grids in city planning and development to extend this project for my students. I would plan for them to work in groups to design a city given these parameters. As a link to the environmental principles we can consider what natural materials could be used to construct our city. As students present their plans our discussions could dive more deeply into the values that influenced their decisions for both city planning and material choices.

[Meghann Seril]

There was a lot of information to digest. Thank you for sharing all of these materials. I can definitely integrate my learning from this week into my 3rd grade classroom instruction. I found the discussion of rebirth in the different forms quite interesting. I can see this working with our standards about character analysis. As we discuss different characters in our reading literature, students could be asked to consider in what form a character would be reborn based on the actions and motivations. Perhaps Goldilocks would be reborn as a ghost or the boy who cried wolf would be reborn as an animal?

One question I still have is about the idea of Anatman. If there is no permanent self, how does this fit with the premise that your actions and motivations would accrue to determine your form in the next life? I would appreciate some clarification on this idea. Also, could you expand on the idea that belief in the self is ignorance and therfore suffering? There were lots of new concepts for me to wrestle with this week. I look forward to our discussion.

[Meghann Seril]

As a legalist, how I deal with my parent breaking the law is very clear. The laws are clear, their enforcement should be consistent, and punishment should be doled out as necessary. I have to turn my parents it and they should accept the consequences of their actions. Otherwise, how would we ever have order in our society?

[Meghann Seril]

Although inspired by Confucian ideas, I found myself connecting many of the articles of the Warrior Code to Legalism. I connected the importance of the expectations with the need for laws. There was also an emphasis in both cultures of the need for consistent enforcement and harsh punishment when necessary.

My classroom connection is using the shrine example as a way to introduce the concept of comparing and contrasting while using a stimulus that is culturally relevant for many of my students who have Japanese and Chinese heritage. I would be interested to connect the idea of Warrior Codes to creating our own "class code of conduct" as a way to engage students who would enjoy this aspect of Japanese culture.

[Meghann Seril]

Some connections I noted between the 17 Article Constitution and Confucianism: 1. The desire for harmony in hierarchical relationships (father and son, lord and subject), 2. Emphasis on ritual as a way to maintain order, 3. Leadership as a moral model for followers.

One big idea I can incorporate in my social studies instruction is to have the students think critically about the sources they are using. I like the question "How do we know what we know?" as a way to activate students' critical thinking skills when reading from different sources. I would also like to use the aerial photos of different shrines and tombs as real world examples of the use of symmetry. I could have the students design their own spaces using this concept of symmetry as a math extension activity.

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