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AnonymousWhen I sign up for this seminar, I do not know what to expect, and how the East Asia movement can do with my Math teaching. My Coworkers were excited to this seminar, so I excited too. After five days program finished, I felt it was one of the best seminar I ever had. I learned about the Asian movement and what have affected to L.A, I knew more about the K-pop and K-drama, and the origin of Japanese food was so interested. These information may not directly into my Math teaching but are very useful for statistic samples, also are very good topics to my computer class’ info processing’.
It was a big impression from the first day Mr. Stephen Cheung. We live in L.A but we never know that much about L.A. We learned how many cities in the L.A and the economic situations from the changing of foreigner countries, and what the view and concern the L.A will face. I believe this information will give my students some kind of view to their daily life, and they can put into their info process project.
The K-pop and K-drama will be something that interested to my students too. Most of my students are from southern L.A, their stronger talents are street dance, basketball, and anything related to entertainment. They will love to see these young groups from Korean, it will be a stimulate to their creativities.
My personal favorite part of this seminar was the origin of Japanese Food. I ate Japanese food in my whole life time, but the first time learned so much knowledge from Mr. Yamashita. I will give these interested information to my students hope they like to make some research and put into our Algebra statistic project.
A lot of time , we see things change in our life but never go further to learn about it. Like there more and more business from Chinese, more and more Korean drama in our TV, and more Temples in L.A area. Some people will have hostile to these changes; some people complained the impact to their old life. This seminar made me think more about the changes, and make me built a new attitude to face the changes. I will pass on this attitude to my students and help them build a healthier idea on facing new situation in the life.
AnonymousReflection on the USC 2016 Summer Seminar
First, I would like to thank the USC U.S – China Institute, and the Annenberg School for Communication for the prodigious experience. The instructors are world class, their knowledge, and their ability to communicate difficult concepts is impressive.
The seminar topics were on point for the subjects that I teach. I will be able to integrate most of the information, materials, and insights from the seminar into my classroom. The sessions that focused on Hinduism, Buddhism, Caodaism, Daoism, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Dao Mau, will be especially helpful as my textbooks are very limited when it comes to Asia, and even less on Eastern Religions. My students will become high-level thinkers as a direct result of the seminar.
The Professors welcomed inquiries during their presentations allowing for student discourse. The unique teaching styles of the professors; was a seminar in itself. Their ability to communicate and shift gears to respond to a question, and then get back on point was notable. The information learned from the seminar has liberated me from the fear of instructing on the aforementioned historical figures and subjects. Attached is a lesson plan formulated specifically for incorporating East Asia into my teaching. I definitely intend on integrating my new knowledge of Karma, Karmic debt, and the cyclical doctrine of existence into my classrooms’ Socratic discourse. Guanxi will become a common vocabulary term, and the strategy of “same message, multiple sources, and multiple times” will be integrated into my school by cross collaborating with my fellow teachers.
The Korean Cultural Center is enlightening! I plan on exposing my students to the linguistic aspects of the Korean language, specifically the phonics element, as most of my learners are ELL and ESL. The Getty Museum speaks for itself.
The institution, the facilities, and the accommodations’ were first class. The campus is clean and safe, and the buildings and landscape are Ivy League. Thank you again for the opportunity to participate in the Seminar. I will look for your newsletters.
Best,
Michael J. Madruga
AnonymousLike many new participants, I didn't know what to expect when I first signed up for the seminar. I knew I was going to learn more about Asia and was hoping to bring some ideas back to my classroom. But it was more than what I have bargained for.
First of all, I love the food and the refreshment!(Thank you, Catherine!)
In all seriousness, I was really impressed with the quality of the presentations. All the presenters were extremely knowledgeable, including our host. But I was even more impressed by their gracious and down-to-earth manner. I never felt that I was being lectured on as in the cases of some of my former professors. I can actually talk to all the presenters as though we were acquaintances.
The only regret I have is that my brain is not expanded enough to absorb all the knowledge that are being shared in the lectures. At times it seems too much to take-in with such a short span of time. Some of the lectures could have been, and probably are, meant to be digested in the course of weeks rather in a few intense hours. Perhaps this is specifically designed so that we will keep returning to the program in the future or at least explore the topics further on our own.
I love how we ended the program with a real visit to the Korean cultural center and the Getty's. It is both relaxing and educational. It's one thing about learning about 敦煌 in books and article, but there could be nothing better than seeing it up-close-and-personal. The experience in the caves - air-conditional mind you - is nothing short of a miracle. I felt as if I was going back in time to a far distance place that I have only heard of in myths and legends. Visiting the place in person is now on one of my bucket list.
Overall, this has been a fabulous experience. I felt like a little kid in a playground. It's great to be a student again. Thank you for the opportunity and all your hard work in making it happen.
AnonymousLearning about East Asia culture from the USC Us- China Institute was one of the most powerful cultural workshops I have attended throughout my teaching career. I believe there is so much to learn from the East Asia culture and although there are vast similarities from various countries that span throughout East Asia, there are also vast differences that I have learned about as well. I think in efforts of having our students be outstanding global citizens we must educate them and equip them with the knowledge and understanding of cultures throughout the world. I intend to incorporate East Asia into my teaching through reading informational text. With Common Core ELA shifts, our students must be able to read and answer and ask questions from more literature that is informational and has text complexity. Encouraging and exciting students to learn more about other cultures in a fun and engaging way where students can take ownership of their learning through planning their own trip to various countries throughout will help students to be successful in reading more informational texts that is now required of them. For this particular unit I focused on China, however I know that I can continue to build on their knowledge of China from this unit and have students to learn more about Japan and later compare and contrast the two which is a reading comprehension skill that is required of my second graders. After Japan, I can keep traveling and have students to continue to build on their prior knowledge to increase their cultural awareness. For my students, especially since I teach at the primary grade level, I feel that the ideas and issues that were raised during the seminar that are of the greatest relevance to my students are simply the traditions and culture that includes food, holidays and celebrations, language, early education, and family structures and values. These were the issues I feel are more so the foundations and my students will be able to relate to them and compare them to their own early lives more so.
AnonymousWhen I first heard about the USC US-China Institute program I thought it would be great to learn more about China because I visited six years ago. I was on a tour with a chamber of commerce and just got a smattering of the culture. It was a fast pace tour of 5 locations. The weather was beautiful since the Olympics had just concluded. I wish I had been involved with the institute before going on the trip. It would have been more intense for me with the background knowledge. When I applied to the institute I wasn’t sure I would be accepted. It was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed the speakers and the museum trips. I even promoted the Korean Museum to a friend who has been teaching English the island off of South Korean. It was great to meet the teachers from different schools. Hope to keep in touch with some of them. The Getty Center tour was a highlight. It is astounding how the curators can bring these historical caves to cities around the globe. I hope to utilize all of the great resources put together on our behalf with my family, my students and my colleagues. I want to thank everyone involved to putting our week together. I was very nice and convenient that we were provided lunch each day. It was very much appreciated. This enabled the participants to get to know each other. Although it might have been nice to have been given more time to interact with each other. When we went on the field trip we started to get to know one another but it was the last day of the institute. In your future seminars it might be nice to allow for this type of interaction earlier in the week.
AnonymousPlease find attached a 3 day lesson plan for 4th grade covering Asian immigration to California, including the Gold Rush, building of the Transcontinental Railroad, Chinese Exclusion Act, and the development of Californian cities and communities.
AnonymousPlease find attached a review of the Chinese Film "Lady of the Dynasty" starring Fan BingBing. I had not known much about Fan Bingbing or Chinese cinema before taking this summer seminar. Fan Bingbing is quickly becoming well known throughout the world. She is currently learning English and recently did an interview on The View for an American audience. She is to date the second highest paid actress in the world. The Chinese government is actually now looking a putting an income cap on the amount of money that actors can make. the "Lady of the Dynasty" is based upon an old Chinese tragic love story from the Tang dynasty about one of the emperor's concubines. The set is lavish and opulent. Enjoy the review and this has inspired me to view more Chinese cinema.
Rob_Hugo@PortNWThe "Movement in East Asia: The Flow of People, Goods, and Ideas," Summer Residential Institute was extremely educational and entertaining. I had the opportunity to take other seminars before, and I'm never disappointed. The resources, the material presented, and the presenters are always great. I was not surprised to hear about Pokemon Go, on the first day, since it seems to be everywhere now and days. Yet, I didn't know much about it, or that it was Nintendo's product, until mentioned by professor Dube.
I especially, enjoyed learning about Los Angeles World Trade Center from Stephen Cheung. I have lived most of my life in LA. but I never bother to know how many cities form part of the greater Los Angeles are, 88 to 100 with incorporated cities. Also, about the level of significance of LA's economy on CA, and the U.S. and the amount of flow that the LA and Long Beach's port have every single day, it was an eye opener.
After, learning about the origins of Japanese food, I am definitely curious to try as soon as possible, especially the tempura. Also, I think food will be a great way to introduce Asian cultures to my students. In addition to food, technology could be very useful to make connections between the U.S. and Asia. Most of my students have cell phones, but many don't know that a high percentage of them are made in Asia, particularly Samsung in South Korea.
Everyday of the seminar was interesting, but I always enjoyed the history lessons the most, especially when I was given information on useful primary and secondary sources to use with my 8th Graders. For example, Benjamin franklin's article, "From the Morals of Confucius, and " Chinese in the Civil War," by Stuart Heaver." These resources will form part of two of my lessons this coming up school year.
Also, I enjoyed learning more about the Korean Wave, Korean Drams, and KPop, since some students are aware and actually follow it. I found that I didn't know that much about BUddhism, and religion in Vietnam, until taking this seminar. I fell more confident about all the topics, I mentioned above, and I will definitely share what I learned with my colleagues and students.
AnonymousWhen 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.