Message from EunjeeKang

[Anonymous]

When I first signed up for this seminar, I assumed it would be more about China rather than East Asia. As who majored in Asian History I had not been happy with how teachers approach Each Asia, because it was hard to make students understand continuity among East Asian states throughout history. I believe it was because China and Japan are the most emphasized civilizations. Also most standards ask schools to teach their students about what China and Japan achieved individually rather than how East Asia has been developed as an interconnected international community. I believe teaching students how they have had influenced each other and the change and continuity in East Asia by visiting shared cultural, intellectual, and technological heritage among China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and more countries.

I teach 7th and 8th grades this semester and I believe I can incorporate what I learned from the seminar into my lessons easily. Fortunately, many of us live in Southern California which is the most diverse place on earth, and students have been exposed to multi cultures especially variety of food. As we discussed throughout the seminar, talking about food immediately can grab students’ attention and entice them with the civilization. I enjoyed what Pf. Yamashita brought to our classroom and I believe it would be a great talking piece in the beginning of even China unit. I also thought it would be great to take a field trip to the Getty Center for the Dunhuang exhibit but I was disappointed the exhibit will leave soon. I believe teaching about the Silk Road in order to help students understand how the world was connected through trade, how China could advance more than its neighbors, and how the East Asian cultural bloc could be maintained.
Also, for my 8th graders, I would definitely use Chinese officers during the American Civil War. I told other US history teachers about it and I also shared the article with them and they were very excited. Most of all, students tend to pay more attention when there is a hook in the beginning of a lesson and/or unit, and the article will take a perfect role. I also believe that the article poses a big question about who Americans are, which is a central historical question in my 8th grader’s class.
Overall, although the lectures were highly scholarly for those without academic background in history (or anthropology), the way that USC-China crated this course modeled how teachers can introduce East Asia to students.