Introduction

[Dennis O'Connell]

Hello everyone!  I participated in the Spring 2019 sessions at USC and felt that both I, as a teacher, and the students of my classroom benefited from the program.  I enjoyed learning about East Asian history before 1800, so I am looking forward even more to learning about East Asia post 1800.    I love traveling (having visited 143 countries so far), and feel it is so important to learn about other parts of the world.  Next summer I plan to travel extensively in China (entering by land from Kyrgyzstan) before visiting Mongolia and South Korea.  I look forward to seeing how this course not only prepares me to understand what I will be seeing and experiencing on that summer trip, but more importantly will provide me insights into how I can bring East Asia into my classroom in a more impactful way.