[Natalie Lau-Chien]

I greatly enjoyed this seminar and found all of the topics to be very fascinating and enlightening.  I gained a greater understanding of the interconnections between Asia and the world, including many topics with which I had zero or minimal familiarity.  The theme of crossing boundaries was a well chosen topic that has numerous connections that can be interwoven into any content curriculum throughout the year.  As an ESOL teacher, I have some flexibility with the topics that I choose.  This year I am moving away from a more basic grammar intensive book to thematic units that develop academic language (while also scaffolding and building social language).  I plan to start the year with a unit about identity and what it means to be American.  As I build their academic vocabulary and background knowledge on social studies topics, I plan to teach the unit that I developed on globalization and crossing boundaries, which includes many of the resources and topics that were discussed in during this seminar.  These topics include the Uyghurs in China as well as K-pop and the black lives matter movement, or the spread of Buddhism around Asia.  In a separate unit, I also hope to discuss soft power, propaganda and point of view by showing my students the BRI English language videos that Rebecca had shared on the forum page, as well as the soft power diagrams shows by Dr. Kim.  In another unit, I hope to discuss stereotypes and mistreatment of minority groups, while drawing parallels between the treatment of minorities in China and the USA. 

Thank you for this opportunity! I look forward to hopefully joining in other USC US-China Institute seminars in the future.

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Jessica,

I also watched the video of Jasmine Tang and agree that these are important stories for students to know about in order to expand their thinking of what can and cannot be done, not only in their own lives, but also in the lives of those around them.  We need to expand our world view and see that we don't need to be confined to the cultures of our own heritage or those of the country(ies) that we grew up in.  I love that you chose to follow your interests and major in Italian and musicology, and also join a Bulgarian choir!  This reminds me of how I joined a Klezmer (Jewish) band at my college during my first year because that was the only opportunity available for me to play percussion instruments in an organized musical group on campus.  I did not think twice about not joining simply because I am not of Jewish heritage.  Neither did the director or other band members.  I think it's a great way for us to learn about and appreciate other cultures.  Growing up in Hawaii, surrounded by many cultures--Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese, and more--we appreciated and embraced the languages, food, and traditions of many cultures.  The local pidgin creole also reflects the mixture between the different cultures.  Because of my exposure to many cultures, I agree that my life is much richer.  

As an ESOL teacher, I think that this is important for my students to know--that their heritage language and culture is a valuable asset that should be affirmed and maintained within this country--while they also learn a knew language and navigate a new culture.  One should not feel forced to assimilate and abandon their langauge and culture.  It is so vital for teachers to teach with a culturally responsive curriculum that affirms and validates the importance of their home language and culture.  

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Shane,

Thank you so much for sharing this wealth of resources that will be so useful for me in developing a unit for my students that incorporates the experiences of the Uyghurs as well as the BRI.  I especially find the bottom two questions intriguing as I have been developing a thematic unit about identity--particularly "What does it mean to be "American"?"  and "What is our responsibility as global citizens?"  I have also been thinking about what type of action can we take as individuals and as a country to try to stop the mistreatment of Uyghurs and other groups.  What could America or other countries do to intervene and/or what has already been done?  

I am also impressed that you have an entire website dedicated to sharing your lessons on various topics, especially many relevant to this class.  Thank you for sharing!

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Alexis, I love this idea of teaching through a modern lens in order to foster more authentic connections for students.  My goal this year is to teach ESOL through thematic units and I think focusing on a theme such as “Connections Between the Past and Present”, which highlights the commonalities between governments, experiences of minority groups, and trade or development, would be an engaging topic.  I also like the idea of highlighting parts or peoples of the world that are often left out of the curriculum.  I think using this theme would enable my students to expand their worldview, find connections between their own countries of origin and those around the world, while also developing their academic language. 

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Sandra-

I agree that there are so many parallels between the ways that minorities, such as the Uyghurs, are treated in China, and the ways that minorities have been treated in the U.S.  I did a quick Google search expecting to find historical stories of slaves being sterilized.  Rather, I found the opposite—that slaves were used to breed more labor for farms.  The practice of sterilization was a more common practice, even as recent at the 1960 and 1970, among those who were poor and on welfare, as well as those who were the offspring of criminals or mentally ill.  The percentage of black women who were sterilized against their will—following an abortion procedure in a clinic—were as much as 529% higher among black women than among poor white women.  These practices of systemic racism in hopes of perhaps shrinking populations of unfavorable groups are just one of the many ways that groups of people in power try to oppress minorities. 

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Alma,

Thank you for sharing this article.  It was heartbreaking to read and made me sick with discomfort at the thought of live people having their organs. I am curious to see if the UN followed up on this report to confirm what was stated and to condemn such atrocities taking place.  I would also like to learn more about the type of re-education (or harm) occurring to Uyghurs and other minorities in China and what types of actions other countries have taken to try to stop this from happening.  I also noticed that Falun Gong was mentioned as one of the minority groups that were victims of organ harvesting.  This reminded me of how they came up in the last segment of this class with Sheila Melvin and Jindong Cai.  Someone had asked about the Shenyun perfomances around the country and their ties to the Falun Gong.  I remember seeing the show with my husband and had no idea it was connected to promoting Falun Gong until we saw the show.  I just remember feeling a little like I was bait and switched.  The performance was fairly good in itself; however, I do recall that it definitely was a vehicle to promote their message about who they are and where they stand in relation to Communist ideology.  This way of promoting their beliefs through various marketing means (in this case, "cultural performances"), also reminded me of the ways that China is promoting its BRI projects through various propaganda.  

https://www.insider.com/shen-yun-show-falun-gong-2019-3

This article discusses Falun Gong and its connections to Shenyun, as well as reports of the Chinese government harvesting organs of members of Falun Gong.  Falun Gong is banned by the Chinese government and deemed as a cult. 

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Ivonne,

I appreciate the way that you echoed Dr. Gladney's closing remarks about finding ways to build bridges rather than building walls.  That has always rung true, but especially today as racial tensions and inequities have risen to the surface in the USA (and globally), particularly during the last few months.  As a teacher, it has always been my goal to raise awareness of the inequities in the world and tell the stories of those whose stories have been invisible or silenced.  I believe that as we share these stories, we can begin to build bridges because it is in the sharing of stories, we can also find connections.  To start the year, I am planning on doing an identity unit with my high school students.  I would like to give them an opportunity to explore and share about their own identities as immigrants in the USA.  Then, I would like to share different stories and experiences of those both in the USA and around the world, including the Uyghurs in China.   I also want to invite different students and teachers in the high school (not in our class) to share their stories so they can build connections (some of my students feel isolated as minorities in language and culture in my predominantly white school).  It is my hope that by expanding their knowledge of those in their community and around the world, we can begin to build connections and bridges among the students as well as among those across the world.  

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Jessica, 

Thank you for posting such wonderful resources.  I read the first online comic that you posted and I agree that it's a wonderful way for students to learn about individual experiences in the XUAR.  The comics were very accessible to my ELL students.  While it is a completely different storyline, the online comics reminded me of a series of comics at the NYT by Jake Helpbern, who chronicles the lives of a Syrian refugee family in America. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/26/opinion/sunday/welcome-to-the-new-world.html

 Students could discuss graphic novels/comics as a medium for telling stories, including their own stories.  What are the pros and cons of using a graphic novel format?  They could also compare and contrast the effectivenes of  telling the stories verbally vs with a graphic novel.  

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

I really enjoyed the lectures about Buddhism as well as the correlated readings.  I was particularly interested in this topic because my dad's parents were Buddhists and my mom's parents also incorporated some Buddhist practices into their lives while also being regular attendees to Catholic mass.  I grew up seeing my paternal grandmother bowing/praying to an altar of incense and a statue (perhaps kuanyin?  or the larger bellied buddha?) in her patio every morning.  When she passed away in her home, my grandfather had Buddhist monks come to the home and they continously chanted next to her body--I think to keep her spirit there until they took her body away.  When we sat in the room around her body, we had a phrase to repeatedly chant.  If we felt the need to cry, we needed to leave the room because they said that would cause her spirit to want to stay and follow us.  I am curious if this practice is one that is unique to Chinese Buddhism or if other Buddhists around the world also follow a similar practice. 

It was fascinating to hear about the different origin stories for Buddha as well as the spread of Buddhism through Asia over time.  It was also interesting to hear how Buddhism varied in northern and southern India, as well as how it was received and adapted to the different cultures and religions in China, which already had Confucianism and values of filial piety, or Japan, which allowed followers to maintain  kami as their local gods.  

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Megan,

I appreciate you bringing up that there are both positive and negative sides to K-pop.  Dr. Kim also mentioned the ways that the K-pop stars are overworked and underpaid and rarely get to make choices for themselves, which is another negative impact of K-pop.  Teaching about K-pop has so many avenues into our curriculum, no matter which content area we teach.  I teach K-12 ESL and think that this topic would be more suited to my high school students.  This year I am planning to teach in thematic units in order to build academic language through content.  I think this topic lends itself well to having students read articles and form opinion on what they think about K-pop and the positive and negative impact that it has had globally.  It would also be interesting to compare and contrast the ways that other types of music have/haven't had a great influence in the USA or other countries.  

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Mike,

That is wonderful that you had the experience of living in Japan, and also got to witness firsthand the way that Korea's soft power also had an influence on middle aged Japanese women, particularly through the K-drama, Winter Sonata.  I am curious to learn about if k-dramas continue to be popular in Japan (I imagine they still are) and if so, how has that continued to bring the countries closer together.  This would be a great way for students to study inter-country relations in Asia.  

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Megan,

I think that was wise of you to pause on watching K-dramas during college!  That would be tough to try to keep up with school while being tempted to watch hours and hours of k-dramas!  I'm so glad my mom didn't introduce them to me until after college.  And I am so glad that Netflix was not around when I was in college.  All we had was the one TV in our dorm living room that had set shows on cable.  

I think it's a great idea to have students consider and discuss what U.S. soft power is.  I agree that Disney/Hollywood movies are influential, as well as McDonald's and KFC which seem really popular in China, and prestigious U.S. colleges such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, etc.  I am curious what the students would say about how the U.S. could better promote our country.  

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Hi Rebecca,

I have heard of the book Loveboat Taipei, but haven't read it yet!  That's great to hear that your students love it.  I am interested in reading it to see if it reflects any of my experiences of when I was there at age 19.  While I went hoping to practice and improve my Mandarin, many people were primarily there to socialize.  I did appreciate how the program did include daily Mandarin classes as well as cultural classes in the afternoon.  I never thought of it as a soft power tool, but now I can see how it is a great way for Taiwan to build positive connections with overseas Chinese.  

The FLEX program sounds great! It reminds me of a different program through the U.S. Dept of State, administered by IREX, which is now called Teachers for Global Classrooms (now it's under the Fulbright programs).  They invite teachers from specific countries around the world, including Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and India (those were some of the countries included in 2008), to spend 6 weeks in the USA learning teaching methodologies.  The teachers can then apply for a reciprocal US teacher to visit their country.  It's a great way to build positive relationships between the US and the countries.  I still have fond memories of my time in Bangladesh and hope to visit again one day.  

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

On another note regarding the influence that Chinese music had on Western music, I was fascinated when Sheila Melvin mentioned that Puccini used the motif of the Chinese folksong "Jasmine Flower" in his opera, Turandot.  This was after he heard the melody through a music box owned by the Italian baron, Eduardo Fassini-Camossi.  (These music boxes were created by the son of a Swiss watchmaker, who was a violinist and composer that visited China for business and also collected and transcribed Chinese folksongs.  His family decided to include this songs in their music boxes.)  This passing of a Chinese folk melody from a Swiss businessman to an Italiian baron to an Italian compser shows numerous occasions of boundary crossing.  I first heard this melody when I was a teaching assistant in an elementary school Chinese summer class in Hawaii, which was a summer job while in college.  I had no idea that this folk song had also been also used in an Italian opera.  After going down more internet rabbit holes, I also found that this folk song was also used in the 2008 Olympic medal ceremonies as adapted by Wang Heshung and Tan Dun, one of the composers mentioned in the second lecture.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVnZ7RG70cM

This wikipedia link lists the numerous times that this folksong, also known as "Mo Li Hua", has been used in western films or musical performances. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mo_Li_Hua

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

This was another fascinating combination of video lectures and readings about crossing boundaries--classical Western music being brought to China and the subsequent influences that they had on each other.  I have not heard this history before and found it very interesting to learn of the origins of Western music in China, first beginning with the arrrival of Jesuit Matteo Ricci and his harpsichord in the 16th century.  I wonder if there are other stories of western musicians/missionaries traveling to other countries across the globe with attempts to not only share their music but also spread their religion to other "heathens".  While the emperors did not convert, they were able to learn about western instruments and orchestration. 

I wondered if the western musicians that visited had any awe or interest in the types of music and instruments that the Chinese had at the time.   During the 16th-18th centuries, was there ever a two-way exchange or did the Europeans come with an arrogant elitist mindset that their classical music was top notch while the music, culture and instruments was substandard?  In the last article, "How China Influenced Western Music", the Sheila Melvin described that while the influence of music has been largely one way, there is evidence of numerous musical works written by Western composers who were influenced by Chinese music.  These range from a Chinese Overture composed by German composer Carl Maria von Weber, who was inspired by a Chinese "air" (folk song) that was brought back from China by a French Jesuit missionary, to 20th century composers from San Francisco, who were influenced by the Book of Rites or Book of Changes.  

 

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