Reflection: Session 3 – Debates (Feb 28)
This was a very unique day in the entire seminar so far. Today the class was divided into four groups of Chinese philosophies: Confucianism, Legalism, Daoism, and Mohism. We had a little a week to prepare our position and defend it in front of our peers.
I selected Confucianism group and we presented a portrayal of the only ancient Chinese philosopher who is fevered all over the world. In fact, there are Confucian Institutes all over the U.S. The prominent ones include the ones In California: UCLA and San Diego State. Other groups did a commendable job as well. At times, it seemed like chaotic political shouting match. But there was Prof Dubey with his adroit moderation skills.
Among the reasons that made this session extraordinary was this more like an inter-active where the participants were given some reasonable time to present their view points. This kind of activities will be extremely effective with students in the middle school (like mine) as well as high school.
DO YOU KNOW THAT:
* Today is the anniversary of Nixon’s trip to china
* Today is also the anniversary “2 28” – the Main Land coming to Taiwan (1947)
* 54% of world’s cement is used by China – it is#1 (India is #2): China uses 8 times that of India
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