session 3 w/Dr. Clayton Dube

Hi everyone, last night was my first class and I must say....this class rocks! Thanks Dr. Clayton.

Asia is still a whole world unknown to me and I find myself a bit intimidated by the vast difference between my own culture and theirs. I hope that taking this class sheds some ignorance on my part and prompts me to one day travel there.

I can't wait to hear more!

Maritza

I was so happy after this session. I actually had some context for our discussion/debate. I have taught units on Buddhism and Hinduism and we are now studying the Russian Revolution and reading Animal Farm. I felt so much better that I could contribute to the conversation. My affective filter was lowered and I am actually looking forward to our next meeting because I don't feel so "out of the loop".

I read "Liang Qichao on his Trip to America," and I thought it would be a great addition to the primary sources I have for the turn of the century. I thought Upton Sinclair and Lincoln Steffens were critical of American society until I read Liang Oichao. It is amazing to see a primary source that so critical of the U.S. at a time when China was under the control of European countries and the U.S. who had helped put down the Boxer Rebellion. I think next year I will take excerpts from Liang Qichao and pair them with excerpts of some of the muckrakers of the Progressive era for my students to analyze in my AP U.S. HIstory class.

We're reading Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" where a town stones one of its members every year. Students are comparing this allegorical story to historical events. Some are looking at the Chinese Revolution. I've encouraged them to read Lisa See's recent Dreams of Joy, set during Mao's revolution, when individuals were ruthlessly "sacrificed" for the good of the movement. When a powerful tradition takes control, the individual who questions it is swept aside or removed.

Liang Qichao took a trip to America in 1903. He spent five months traveling and observing at American society with one question set in mind: In what ways might America provide models for China in its quest to become strong and modern? Although in favor of democratic institutions, he did not see the American republican system as appropriate to China. He was not impressed by the way of life in New York nor the way Chinese had organized themselves in Chinatowns such as San Francisco or Los Amgeles. He met with personalities such as J.P. Morgan, the king of the capital market. Among many things, Liang was impressed by Morgan's practical philosophy such as: "The outcome of any venture depends on preparations made ahead of time; once it is started, its success or failure is already decided and can no longer be altered". After Liang's death in 1929, many of his written observations from his travels in America were adopted to constitute the government of modern China.
edited by virecalde on 3/18/2012

I learned a lot in our round table interactions and think this is a valuable strategy for getting students involved and thinking about how to express their ideas in a group setting.