[Mike Hagiwara]

Going into my third or forth USC US-China Institute, I wasn’t sure what to expect since the previous seminars were quite dense, in a positive way, with information. To my pleasant surprise this several of  the sessions touched on issues which are currently encompassing not just the nation, but the entire world. Though I found all the speakers, and their topics, very interesting and informative, I especially enjoyed Professor Jung-Kim’s lectures and readings. It is obvious that the “Korean Wave” isn’t going anywhere soon. Our students, across all grade levels, have become experts in Korean music, food, and even dramas! It is vital that we use this interest to our advantage to really push our students to learn more about not only Korean history and culture, but other cultures as well. 

When teachers go through their pedagogical classes during teacher training we are taught to engage prior learning and to use anticipatory sets to hook our students into learning about the subject matter; this is not an easy feat as it is difficult for students to engage in historical content. Teachers then have to find more creative and modern solutions to this obstacle. Professor Jung-Kim addresses the somewhat-recent popularity of Korean culture with a focus on Korean pop music. In my dozen-plus years of teaching at two inner-city schools, I would never have imagined how popular Korean culture, especially music, would become among my Latino/a and African American students. Anytime we would begin our unit about Korea or Japan, I would get questions about pop music, food, music videos, or anime. When Professor Jung-Kim posted the reading (https://theconversation.com/rethinking-the-k-pop-industrys-silence-during-the-black-lives-matter-movement-141025) during the summer I was actually surprised to find that 1) K-pop was influenced by hip-hop, rap, and R & B and 2) K-pop’s popularity can be credited to the small minority audiences of people of color. With this knowledge in mind, I would definitely focus on the importance of communities of color in propagating culture, as well as their role in raising social awareness about issues such as Black Lives Matter. For a more advanced class, or even an elective, I would also want to use the reading from The Guardian about the relationship between K-pop musicians, who are “the face” and those that write/produce the music-many of whom are Black. It would be an interesting discussion to have the students engage in and even debate over, especially in this very unique time in our world history.

 

[Mike Hagiwara]

Going into my third or forth USC US-China Institute, I wasn’t sure what to expect since the previous seminars were quite dense, in a positive way, with information. To my pleasant surprise this several of  the sessions touched on issues which are currently encompassing not just the nation, but the entire world. Though I found all the speakers, and their topics, very interesting and informative, I especially enjoyed Professor Jung-Kim’s lectures and readings. It is obvious that the “Korean Wave” isn’t going anywhere soon. Our students, across all grade levels, have become experts in Korean music, food, and even dramas! It is vital that we use this interest to our advantage to really push our students to learn more about not only Korean history and culture, but other cultures as well. 

When teachers go through their pedagogical classes during teacher training we are taught to engage prior learning and to use anticipatory sets to hook our students into learning about the subject matter; this is not an easy feat as it is difficult for students to engage in historical content. Teachers then have to find more creative and modern solutions to this obstacle. Professor Jung-Kim addresses the somewhat-recent popularity of Korean culture with a focus on Korean pop music. In my dozen-plus years of teaching at two inner-city schools, I would never have imagined how popular Korean culture, especially music, would become among my Latino/a and African American students. Anytime we would begin our unit about Korea or Japan, I would get questions about pop music, food, music videos, or anime. When Professor Jung-Kim posted the reading (https://theconversation.com/rethinking-the-k-pop-industrys-silence-during-the-black-lives-matter-movement-141025) during the summer I was actually surprised to find that 1) K-pop was influenced by hip-hop, rap, and R & B and 2) K-pop’s popularity can be credited to the small minority audiences of people of color. With this knowledge in mind, I would definitely focus on the importance of communities of color in propagating culture, as well as their role in raising social awareness about issues such as Black Lives Matter. For a more advanced class, or even an elective, I would also want to use the reading from The Guardian about the relationship between K-pop musicians, who are “the face” and those that write/produce the music-many of whom are Black. It would be an interesting discussion to have the students engage in and even debate over, especially in this very unique time in our world history.

 

[Mike Hagiwara]

Like you, this was really the first time I had the chance to get a deeper understanding of the Uyghur group in China. I had heard about them in the past but hadn't really understood how China treated them and why. When teaching about the history of different countries and civilizations, it's definitely important to educate our students properly-by this I mean that we need to balance the good with the bad. Too often history teachers focus on teaching exactly what our content standards would like us to teach and usually this means a somewhat filtered brand of history that does a disservice to our students. Knowing what I know about the discrimination against the Uyghur population, I would definitely want to incorporate that element into a discussion about modern China and let my students know that no country is free of bias and discrimination. 

[Mike Hagiwara]

Although I have been exposed to Korean culture throughout my life because of my mom being Korean, I will admit that I have become more interested in Korean culture within the last 3-4 years. The reason for this is my young daughter-I want her to know, and understand, more about her Korean side because since she was born, she has been more exposed to the Japanese side of the family. She can speak and understand Japanese but has only basic knowledge in Korean. I have allowed her to sit alongside me when watching certain Korean dramas and have tried to expose her to a wider range of Korean food. Who knows, maybe in a few years I'll take her to a "nore-bang!"

[Mike Hagiwara]

This is disturbing and hope it isn't true. To think that the Chinese government is knowingly harvesting organs from victimized groups of minorities is disgusting. If this is deemed to be accurate, why is there not more of an uproar over this news on the world stage? Why haven't countries like the United States forced China's hand and encouraged other countries to do the same? Unfortunately China does have a tainted track record when it comes to human rights violations and so it wouldn't be too surprising to hear that this disturbing allegation is worse than what we understand.

[Mike Hagiwara]

Definitely agree with you on how interesting it is that Buddhism spread into Japan. Despite early resistance to Buddhism, it is now so ingrained into society that you only need walk a few hundred feet before encountering a Buddhist temple! The way that Japanese society places importance and reverence to both Buddhism and Shintoism is remarkable as well-from the Shinto-based "Coming of Age Day," which celebrates adulthood to "Obon," which is grounded in the Buddhist belief that the spirits of the departed return to their ancestral homes and families. 

[Mike Hagiwara]

Thank you for sharing this article Marina. In recent years it's definitely become more feasible that the two Koreas unite. However, as the article points out, there are several factors to be considered. We would all like to think that it would be as easy as the two leaders sitting down and finally agreeing to peace but the reality is that the complex social and economic impacts would drastically cause challenges. One question I am very curious about was the one mentioned in the article that reads: 

“If unification was to occur, [would] North Koreans effectively be second-class citizens in their own state or will the South try to make them as equal as they can as quickly as possible, at least in terms of benefits, access to capital and things like that?"

This is such an intriguing question because I would imagine that there would be a hierarchy that naturally develops out of the unification of the two Koreas. Again, thank you for sharing the article.

[Mike Hagiwara]

I definitely think including the history of Korean comfort women is vital to the proper study of high school world history! We have to teach students a worldly view of history and not a narrow-minded one. Since you're likely target are 10th grade students, I think it would be meaningful to use any prior knowledge they have of Korean culture to engage them in the topic. I also have to teach about Korea to my 7th grade students but do not get far enough in Korean history to talk about comfort women but I will definitely like to use your idea of creating a Kahoot game/activity to test their knowledge of Korean pop culture. 

[Mike Hagiwara]

I just recently finished watching Crash Landing On You and came to the realization that so many large corporations are banking on the success of hallyu. From tech companies like Samsung to fast-food entities like Subway, the continued success of the vast number of Korean dramas are providing a perfect niche for the corporations to place their products front and center. In my own personal viewing of Crash Landing On You, there were countless occasions that I desired to eat Korean fried chicken or whether I should switch my cell phone back to a Samsung. With the amount of product placement money that is being funneled into the Korean television industry, it's no wonder that we see countless Korean dramas making their way into western mainstream media! As the interest of Korean dramas continues to grow and expand across the world, so will the number of sponsorships by big-name conglomerates because they understand the marketing value. Just a thought and observation!

[Mike Hagiwara]

What really surprised/intrigued me about this lesson was how much music impacted the development of China. Through most of our own schooling in regards to China, we learned about their social/political turmoil and how they became an economic power but classical music was never given any form of credit (at least in my early education). To hear that western classical music and art had such an important role in China is new to me because I had always been under the impression that, historically, China had largely isolated itself from much of the outside world and developed its own culture without much help from the outside; of course the Silk Road and other trade routes helped established the country's wealth, but I didn't realize how much their culture, policies, and economy were molded by their reliance on western artforms. 

[Mike Hagiwara]

Agreed Cindy! I always thought of China as a very homogeneous country with little or no discrimination. Several years back we had a history teacher on our staff who was of Uyghur-descent and I didn't really think much of it because I didn't know the history of the Uyghur people; had I known a bit more back then, I would have definitely talked to her about it. In recent years I've also heard of Uyghur cuisine also making its way into the L.A. food scene. I've been interested in visiting one of these restaurants in the city of Alhambra. If anyone has been, or has other suggestions, let me know!

[Mike Hagiwara]

In the Tontev article about the BRI after Covid, he introduces and discusses the idea of an over-reliance on China in the world economy. He mentions that the Covid-19 outbreak has exposed the dangers of having too-close a relationship with China and that maybe it's time for countries to approach China with a degree of cynicism. My opinion is that this skeptcism will be short-lived; right now the world is looking for someone to blame for this virus and it's easy to just put China in the crosshairs. In the short-term there is no doubt that China will suffer financial drawbacks due to its unemployment and reduced exports, which may also temporarily halt certain BRI programs, but once the pandemic has drawn back to more controllable levels Chinese goods will once again make their way into the marketplace. The world's reliance on China is a double-edged sword; we want to support our countries own economies by buying local/regional products, but at the same time we don't want to pay twice the price for them, which is why we end up going to Daiso where essentially everything is less than $3. 

[Mike Hagiwara]

Great post Alexis. I just wanted to respond to your post about the importance of introducing different cultures into the lives of our students through globalization. I think that the part in your post where you mention that your students are not "well-versed in other cultures" is not just an obstacle faced in a rural school community like yours. It can be found in any school community, even one in the big city where one would think that cultural diversity is the norm. I have taught in South Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and the area that surrounds the community is quite diverse- a ten/fiteen-minute drive will take you to Koreatown, Little Tokyo, and Silver Lake. Due to this central location I figured, at the start of my career, that most of the students would be more understanding and aware of diverse cultures. However, after the first few years I realized that many students had never left the bubble of their home communities. This surprised me because I wouldn't have imagined that my students would lack access to the diversity of Los Angeles. It was this realization that made me really want to incorporate my own culture into my classroom whenever possible. As educators it's our role to "globalize our students" through any means possible. You put it perfectly when you say that we have to show students that "we share culture among each other."

[Mike Hagiwara]

Your post raises some really great points and ideas. The question that you are planning to pose to your students, "Can someone observe two religions at one time?" is a great way to start a lesson not only about Buddhism, but any belief system. However, like you point out, Buddhism ideaology is in-line with other mainstream belief systems that it isn't difficult to "feel connected," like you write. Although the classification of Buddhism as non-theistic is not one that I have much knowledge about, I think that it would be a great research topic for older-aged students!

[Mike Hagiwara]

One of the things that has always intrigued me about the religions of Japan has been the coexistence of Shintoism and Buddhism. Just walking around Japan will give you insight into how the two belief systems have incorporated themselves into the fabric of society without obvious/overt conflict between the two. You could be walking around an ancient village like Asuka Village and see numerous Buddhism temples adjacent to Shinto shrines, speaking to Professor Meek's integration of Buddhism with traditional kami cults and how it was vitally important to the success and spread of Buddhism in Japan. In modern Japan, during the new year celebrations, Japanese society engages in the traditional hastumode (first Shinto shrine visit of the year). In this practice, the Japanese discard the previous year's Shinto amulet and get a new one for the new year to bring new fortunes. Buddhism, on the other hand, is more concerned on the soul of the afterlife; this is why most Japanese families will honor the death of a family member in a Buddhist service at a temple. Below are a couple of other readings I found that might be of interest to some.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/05/16/arts/seeing-where-shinto-and-buddhism-cross/

https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/3344

https://japanology.org/2016/06/buddhism-and-shinto-the-two-pillars-of-japanese-culture/

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