5/12 - Dube - East Asia Since 1900

I agree with previous posters that our last class went by much too quickly! I would have liked to have more time to hear about China as it is right now and where it might be heading. Mentions of the Olympics were interesting, but I would like to know more.

Also like others have mentioned, I was fascinated by Professor Dube's explanation of the opium trade. I had no idea so many countries were indirectly involved (including the US?). The economic implications and psychological results on Chinese citizens would be interesting to read more about.

I have to thank Miranda and Professor Dube for putting together this wonderful series. I have never had this caliber of present to me on a weekly basis.

I just passed the CSET for Social Studies and normally I teach English I could foresee using the material on the Opium Trade and the Treaty of Nanjing. I think my students would find the comparison interesting and worth exploring in writing and research.

As with most posters, i agree that our final lecture was so short. Personally to me, I find more relevance in modern history because I can relate to it more on a certain level. The thing that struck me most was the whole odea of Global Trade. It was certainly amazing to see the power and influence that the British possessed during this time. Everything from Mexican Silver, British Tea, and labor from India made for quite a business. Most of us tend to think that Global trade was only a recent invention that was successful in modern times mostly due to advanced technology (e.g. airplanes, RR, etc). Minus the longer time table for travel, it is clear to see that Globalization had already begun a long time ago. 🙁

Last lecture about East Asia, Thank you for Miranda bringing snacks to feed our tummies all the time.

The lecture was too short to cover all the materials, I am hoping in the future they will have East Asia in My Classroom Part II to cover the rest of the materials.

A wonderful lecture as always. Sad as it was, I was impressed by the story of james Flint who learned Chinese and writes a letter to the Emperor and unwittingly gets his two teachers executed for transferring technology (by teaching Flint their language) and himself is thrown in prison. Such anecdotes greatly increase the memorability of the lecture and color the picture of the open/closed policies of East Asia and how that picture has changed throughout the ages. This short story also illustrates the ironies of the Opium Wars that occurred within a century.

Also in this session I made mention of a relatively new Chinese invention, the e cigarrette which could revolutionize smoking around the world.

"A Chinese invention, the "e-cigarette" is basically a steel tube meant to look like a cigarette. It contains a battery, a nicotine cartridge and an atomizer. Puff on the end and the cigarette glows (thanks to the battery and a light-emitting diode), and the nicotine-water combo is vaporized so you can breathe in the mixture as if it's a nicotine hit from a tobacco cigarette. When you exhale, there's a white mist that looks like smoke. Only the e-cigarette is never lit. No tobacco. No tar." http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/article1008278.ece

But this invention has created a huge debate among health officials because it is still a product that transports addictive and potentially harmful substances into the lungs. The FDA has banned their sale because there haven't been enough tests on them yet to know whether they really pose health risks or benefits to smokers. Opponents of the new invention say it could lead to higher levels of addiction to nicotine in some smokers and is especially dangerous because people would be able to use them everywhere since they produce no secondhand smoke. There is also great worry that they will be marketed at teenagers.

The following ABC news special does a good job of covering the argument from both sides.

[Edit by="jdavidman on Jun 30, 10:42:22 AM"][/Edit]

Althogh I enjoyed the presentation, the emphasis always seems to be in the ancient past. The class title implied that the focus would be on China post 1900, but we hopscotched through the 20th century. I know that we need to understand China's past in order to understand its present (perhaps) but I would have appreciated more time spent on modern China, especially its transformation into the world power it is today.