[Rebecca Blankenship]

I was really taken by the idea that initially ramen shops were not locations that were "respectable" places for women to visit. Women's relationship with food is such an interesting one. Gender norms place the responsibility of cooking at home on women while professional kitchens tend to be male dominated spaces.

I really loved the info graphics  from this weeks lecture  I can see using them with students as a way to analyze stats and media literacy  

 

[Rebecca Blankenship]

In light of this weeks learning, I thought you all would be interested to see that Bibigo is now the official sponsor of the Lakers. https://www.nba.com/lakers/releases/lakers-and-bibigo-announce-multi-year-global-marketing-partnership-2021

[Rebecca Blankenship]

This is a really great source we use in my class to virtually explore japanese cuisine. It is a Google Culture site that has lots of curated resources about recipes, ingredients, the history of umami and VR tours of fish markets. I really like it because you can send kids down a virtual rabbit hole and then have them share back out.  I had forget about it until I read the about the roll of sushi and how it has been Americanized into items such as the California roll.  
I found it really interesting that Korean food ( at least until more recently) remained closer to its original/traditional form than Chinese or Japanese food.  I am curious if that was due to the small number of immigrants or if there was some other reason for that. 

 

 

[Rebecca Blankenship]

Our reading about SPAM and the in class discussion reminded me of the way in which our governments can support businesses or create markets for products by making them a staple of GI rations.  This reminded me of the BTS run episode I saw in which chef Baek joins BTS to cook and promote Baek Ham. https://youtu.be/d5CBcWQFGbE His discussion of the product is around the 15:00 minute marker.  Apparently Baek Ham is promoted to help the Korean pork farmers.  As Koreans do not eat alot of the hind quarters of the ham, chef Baek created Baek ham to help get those cuts of meat used and stimulate the market for these farmers.  This reminded me a lot of SPAM and I am wondering how the taste profile differs.  Here is a link to the article.  https://koreatrending.com/trivia/baek-jong-wons-k-ham-project-feat-bts/

[Rebecca Blankenship]

Angela,

I never thought of the food as a tangible symbolm of colonization.This opens up such an interesting set of connections to make with my student.  

[Rebecca Blankenship]

Hi. My name is Becky Blankenship. I teach 7th grade Social Studies on Vashon Island, WA. The course covers the world from 600-1450. I love all food. I am headed to South Korea summer 2022 on a Fulbright. I was supposed go this summer but Covid. Since I couldn't travel yet I have been exploring Korean foods as I love to cook. My favorite dishes that I can make are tteobokki, bibimbap and hotteok. I think just like written records foods and recipes tell a story. I want to find a way to use food as a lease for my students to understand the world especially during 600-1450.

[Rebecca Blankenship]

This was a wonderful seminar and I learned so much. For my Gender and Women’s Studies class I would really like to use students’ interest in KPOP to explore issues of beauty norms.  Specifically, I was not aware of the escape the corset movement before this class.  I would like to have students examine the tension between Korean beauty industry and the glass skin standard with the escape the coreset movement.  I would also like to have students look at Korean vs American standards of masculinity.  Specifically looking at KPOP groups such as BTS and the Flower Boy standard in Korea vs American views on masculinity.

 

Furthermore, the story of the Uyghurs seems to be intricately woven into the history of the Silk Road and the modern BRI. As much as I understood the modern persecution, I really did not understand the historical roots of the Uyghurs in China.  Dr. Gladney’s lecture helped me to understand the key role Uygyrs played in the Silk Road trade and how they are responsible for the transmission of ideas such as Buddhism into China.

Finally, I love using the arts into the classroom.  I was not familiar with the traditional Chinese musical instruments and based on the recommendations of this course. I found a wonderful erhu concerto of the Chinese tale of the Butterfly lovers.  I had already planned to use a modern retelling of this story with my students. Now I have added looking at how the music is also a retelling of the story.  I think this will be very powerful for students.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu5XohUR3Pg&t=78s

[Rebecca Blankenship]

These rap videos are great.  I think I could create a whole unit on propagada music.  I have some Russian favorite that I would use in addition to these Chinese ones such as A Man Like Putin  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk_VszbZa_s and the Russian World Cup song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEkNFao5IdU from 2018.  My student have a field day with these. 

[Rebecca Blankenship]

The videos are from a NCTA class I took through University of Washington a few years ago.  When I use them in class we talk about US cultural defintions of time and Chinese definitions of time.  How perhaps China is play for the longer game in mind to use soft power to have English speaking children grow up feeling positively about China and the BRI.  

[Rebecca Blankenship]

The connection to Confucianism was fascinating to me.  The idea of learning music as the pininical of what is meant to be learned has such an interesting role in the world.  I think this would make for excellent discussion amongst students especially in places where music education is not funded.

[Rebecca Blankenship]

Butterfly Lover's inspired a story in A Thousand Beginning and Endings.  The book is comprised of short  stories by various Asian American YA authors.  The story itself is set in a post apocolyptic modernized warring states period in which disease is weaponized.  But at its center is the story of the butterfly lovers.  The story is called Bullet, Butterfly.  

[Rebecca Blankenship]

I use parts of Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road documentary with my students each year.  They love it.  It is such a compelling way to show the interconnection of the silk road as well as how bringing in all of these diverse stories and sounds makes for a much richer song.  

[Rebecca Blankenship]

I was really struck by the value placed in Classical music and how that valued developed overtime.  I think it is interesting that since China has done a better job of containing Covid and because of state support of the arts that the West is going to need to rely on China to keep classical music and symphonic music alive during this pandemic.  What we fund is what we value so this demonstrates alot about Chinese values.

[Rebecca Blankenship]

This is exactly what I have been looking for thank you so much.  I am really looking forward to better understanding the story so I can share with with my students.  Have you read American Born Chinese or the Epic Crush of Genie Lo both are modernized retellings of the Monkey King tale for American audiences.  They are both wonderful and really great for young adults. 

[Rebecca Blankenship]

Maria, 

These articles are awesome.  It can be so hard to include female voices in pre-Modern history so I really appreciate these resources.  I too was really struck by the idea that one of the charcteristics of Buddhism that appealed to the Chinese was that it provided an opportunity to provide support and appreciatio for mothers in a way that was not possible under Confucian systems.  

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