North Valley Charter Academy
I was amazed by how little I knew about the current events in East Asia. As an avid news junky, I thought I had a good grasp on modern political events. Boy, was I wrong. I had a great time coming to grips with all current affairs.
Although I had read a few books on Chinese History, there is so much I have to learn. I had done studying on the Cultural Revolution, but had no real grasp on the history that brought it about. I am interesting in developing some sort of series of lessons around the idea of mob psychology/mass hysteria – possibly using some stories of the Cultural Revolution as a precursor to teaching “The Crucible.”
I am also interesting in developing something around the idea that some of the greatest family fortunes in England and the United States were founded on the drug trade in China. I am not sure yet how that would work, but it is a compelling idea.
I knew absolutely nothing about Korean history, so I found those days particularly useful. I was very moved by the stories of the Comfort Women. I was also interested in the idea of taking away the family names of Koreans when the country was run by the Japanese. When teaching summarizing skills in a recent class, I used several stories about the US relationship with North Korea. I was grateful I could give them background information on this topic and go through the history woth my students.
I just read the book A Child of Vengeance by David Kirk. It was an interesting look into the transition into the Tokogawa period in Japan. Highly recommended. It was great to now have a basic background of that period of Japanese history.
All in all, I really enjoyed the class and am truly grateful for the experience.
(edited to delete stray code from copying from Microsoft Word)
edited by Clay Dube on 7/23/2013
.
