Message from srae

[Anonymous]

S. Rae’s Evaluation:

1. I really liked the lectures, the erudition, and passion of all the professors, especially appreciative of the professors who were open to students asking questions and allowing dialogue--where real learning occurs.

yes, the course met my expectations except for. . . . see #3.

2. I will use the reference books on Japan and my lesson plan to teach Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen this spring, which I look forward to.

3. IMPROVING__
a. I think the course should be divided into 2 seminars-- less is more.

b. The second half of the seminar had a different vibe with remaining students quite dedicated. The exception, which I still feel is important to critique, is those who used their cells to text during class and those who were on the web during class. The one young woman, whom I think she said she went to Berkeley, texted constantly in plain sight often with her phone right in front of her, which she would look at while professors were teaching.

Inequitably, she was never reprimanded in front of the entire class as I was. That happened after I whispered a comment about Tibet to Sophia, which I would have preferred to state aloud. I was censored and verbally cited by Mr. Dube. My heinous crime, which I was reprimanded for, was to ask a question or to try and clarify a point.

This discrimination will be a part of a letter I write to the Freeman Foundation. My claim is that Mr. Dube and Ms Ko were biased and favored some of the seminar’s students.

For example, during the final class, I tried to make a point about Tibet, which was cut short by Mr. Dube before I could finish. However, he never cut off any other students who shared, such as Manuel Mendoza. I’m pretty sure I was the only one singled-out for allegedly having disruptive behavior. [I had perfect attendance.]

Within an hour as I was responding to a comment Sophia had said to me about Korea and its invention of the printing press--Sophia started this conversation--Ms Ko had the audacity to verbally reprimand me in front of everyone, but she said nothing to Sophia. This was humiliating and unnecessary.

Furthermore, during the last session, the Berkeley woman and Mike from the Christian High School were looking at her/his laptop and were obviously not discussing their class notes but instead were being entertained by the web site. Mr. Dube nor Ms Ko did not discipline that disruptive behavior. This is a telling example of disparate treatment toward me, which I allege happened during the seminar.