[Nelson Ta]

The seminar was a wonderful experience and provided a vast array of interesting perspectives. While I did enjoy the past classes that I attended, I enjoyed this seminar more because of the focus. It really felt like there was coordination between all of the professors to genuinely stick within the seminar's parameters. I have been brainstorming more ways to incorporate East Asia into my classroom. I tend to use plenty of graphic novels in my classes, so I thought about switching it up and using various mangas. I considered a manga called Lone Wolf and Cub which focuses on an exiled Samurai and his three-year-old son and their quest for revenge. It could be paralleled with different American westerns such as True Grit and others. Besides that, studying the rights of women around the world would genuinely be an interesting endeavor for myself and students. We could take a critical lens and see how religion and culture can contribute to patriarchy. I never considered that Confucianism was proliferating the subservience of women. I think that would be an interesting topic for students. I teach in a predominantly Latino/a community, so we often have conversations about how culture applies gender roles and restricts women to certain functions within the household. For my students, they would gravitate towards the comparison between gender roles and the changing idea of masculinity and feminity. I had a great time learning from all of the professors and I would definitely try my best to come back next semester. It was a pleasure learning from everyone!

[Nelson Ta]

Thank you for allowing us to learn from these wonderful professors!

[Nelson Ta]

As we saw and heard with the questions give up by peers, it is impossible for people to separate the two Koreas. With North Korea constantly in the news and President Trump antagonize the Asian countries, people will always have questions and develop their own perceptions about Korea. I would love to bring my students to the Cultural Center to help to learn the differences between the two very distinct countries. 

[Nelson Ta]

The article did a great job of introducing readers to these new ideas and people.  It has been shocking to see how many students have been absorbed by the Korean wave of music.  I went to the Coachella Valley Arts and Music festival this year and saw the last few minutes of Black Pink. I had no idea who they were, but I could grasp their popularity by looking at the crowd.  I would love to speak to my students about how music can pass cultural and even language barriers. When I was in Japan a few years back, I went to a night club that was playing American pop music. Most of the crowd was singing along to every word of One Direction. When I tried to engage them in a conversation after, I was shocked to find that they didn't speak English. They were able to sing the lyrics without any understanding of what they were saying. That was fascinating. 

[Nelson Ta]

I was fascinated by the topic of the comfort women and the denial displayed by the Japanese government. Ever since my trip to Japan a few years back, I have been in love with the culture, people, and history of the country. I found the people of Japan to be one of the most respectful and interesting populations I have encountered, especially in Asia. Thus, it was disheartening to hear that there is so much denial that comes from the Japanese government. This would be a good lesson for students who study history. We could analyze how different countries handle past atrocities We could examine how Germany deals with the Holocaust, how US deal with slavery, and etc. From the lesson,  I could see why there is so much animosity between older Koreans and older Japanse. Actually, even my Chinese relatives still hold some resentment towards Japan. It is interesting to see how these long-lasting grudges transfer from generations. 

[Nelson Ta]

I was very fascinated with the themes presented by Folding Beijing because the explanation provided by Professor Bernards seem to insinuate the differences in class.  It somewhat seemed critical of the system to me and I wonder if the Chinese government cares about themes that challenge their principles. Considering that the country cracks down on Google and social media sites, it would be interesting to see if they would censor a science fiction piece that was an allegory or analogy of the tyranny of the government. What if an author wrote about the protests in Hong Kong but instead of Hong Kong, it was placed on Mars. 

[Nelson Ta]

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I never really thought or considered that Chinese science fiction was out there. I grew up watching many Chinese shows and most of them dealt with a mixture of the fantastic and the ancient. This may be due to the preferences of my parents. Most films were cheaper versions of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Every once in a while, I would see movies such as Infernal Affairs which focused on reality and drama, but I never saw science fiction.  I think introducing texts like Folding Beijing would help demystify Asia to students and sho the commonality in imagination and art.  Folding Beijing is such an interesting story and is similar to science fiction we would read here. 

[Nelson Ta]

I recently did a lesson on Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth which is a documentary primarily focused on global warming and the dangers of the path humans are currently heading.  The Wandering Earth brings up interesting dilemmas about the future of civilization and I could see how it would interest kids in the class, especially ones who are interested in Science. I am curious how you would be able to do the current events while tying in the rest of the themes. 

[Nelson Ta]

It was fascinating to see the extended Coca-Cola add within the film during the long bike riding scene. In today's films, product placement is pretty common. It is difficult to watch any Hollywood show and not see a moving advertisement for a snack, car, or tech company. I saw the billboard as a sense of American propaganda embedded in the film. They want to normalize western ideas and products. The long shot of the billboard is overly in your face. 

[Nelson Ta]

I loved the TED Talk that she gave. It was a phenomenal way for the professor to end the session. Even though I do not speak Japanese and don't often watch foreign films that only use subtitles, I was able to feel the emotional impact of Kamase. Also, as a person that genuinely enjoys film and film festivals, I like the initiative of eastern countries breaking into the film industry. For years, the Academy Awards have been dominated by Hollywood, especially the animated films. Even though there have been many and groundbreaking animated features from East Asia, they are never recognized. Thus, I like the movement to create significance for their own films. 

[Nelson Ta]

I agree with you, Donna. There were definitely pushing for people to travel to South Korea. I've been to South Korea and it was an enjoyable experience, but I wish I had some type of guide with me. While the landmarks were easy to navigate to, it was difficult to figure out where to at night. However, I would go back to South Korea in the future. 

[Nelson Ta]

I may be in the minority, but I actually did not enjoy the Korean Cultural Center. I found many of their presentation pieces to be outdated. I also felt that parts of the presentation felt more like a propaganda piece rather than a cultural center. To be fair, it is run by the tourism department, so I get that their job is to promote the visitation of South Korea. In terms of education, there could have been more. It seemed a bit lacking. However, I would invite students to go visit the center since there are many students that are interested in South Korean culture. 

[Nelson Ta]

I would definitely take my students to visit the museum. It isn't too far from my school and I honestly think it would make a great field trip. My students are always fascinated by other cultures and have asked many times about my background. I enjoyed learning from experienced docent and felt their style could really help visitors relate to the pain and misfortune that went with the internment camps. There are so many parallels to current politics. I would compare them to the housing of migrants from Latin America.

[Nelson Ta]

I find it fascinating that the stereotypical gender characteristics of men are vastly different in eastern and western cultures. There seems to be more emphasis on beauty rather than "masculinity" in eastern culture.   The idealized male body of muscles and ruggedness is seemingly changing. It is interesting to see that there are large fanbases of KPOP and other eastern stars all around the world, so it seems the trend is catching on around the world.

[Nelson Ta]

Yeah, I found that very fascinating and it is unfortunate to see how women aren't valued until they are able to provide a son. It is surprising to see that a female author would suggest the inferiority of women in the chinse culture, but I can kind of see how years of patriarchal oppression could convince a person to betray their gender. 

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