General Discussion Forum for the Class

[Anonymous]

The selection “Victims” is about a young girl whose life is negatively affected by the “Gang of Four.” Liang Xia witnessed her father’s arrest and the death of her mother. Her life was drastically altered without her parents. Liang Xia is filled with bitterness, hate, and vengeance toward the government.

I thought that excerpts of “Victims” could be used in the classroom to portray the impact of the Cultural Revolution on ordinary people and its methods of eliminating the opposition. It would be powerful to learn about the “Gang of Four” and “Hundred Flowers” via the words of the victims. This selection is a powerful tool to show that children also suffered emotionally and psychologically as a result of the losing their parents.

[Anonymous]

I am currently reading a fabulous book called "The Unknown Story: Mao", by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday. While I am only about half way through the book, I would honestly recommend it to anyone who wants to delve into the Gang of Four and the Cultural Revolution. The book came out in 2005 and is well researched and surprisingly easy reading for such a lengthy and dense tome. It has certainly challenged some of my notions about Mao: I had always thought of him as being very motivated by doctrine, ideology. It turns out that the Chairman was possibly much more pragamatic, calculating, and just plain crazy than previously believed. Very interesting and stimulating reading. Has anyone else read this? BTW, Jung Chang is also the author of the well-known book "White Swans".

[Anonymous]

I am assuming that none of my fellow classmates are among the "Lost" fanatics seeing that five months have passed without reply. However, if any of you should choose to start watching I think you will find a lot of references to what we have learned in this course. At first glance, the show appears to be about people stranded on an island after a plane crash. They deal with attacks from a group they name "the others" and many of the characters deal with visions and/or strange occurances.

I won't delve too deep into this conversation, seeing as I am the only one having it, but the show has a lot of references to the four schools of thought, along with many other religious and literary references. The characters are struggling to discover how to lead and manage themselves and how they should interact with the vast natural environment surrounding them. Some people look to one character (who happens to have the last name of Sheppard) as their leader. They desire to have someone to make decisions for the group. Other characters rebel against having a chosen leader and question his direction for the group. There are also many other story lines that follow the relationships between fathers and their daughters, as well as fathers and their sons or son-in-laws. The readings we did in class regarding relationships and the four schools of thought helped me to further analyze the structures and influences of various societies.

I have actually used references to the show to help my students understand topics in History. Many of my students watch the show and enjoy debating what the mysterious story is all about. I had a discussion with a student who loves the show and eagerly explained that she made a connection between the reading in our history textbook about Hinduism and something that had happened on the episode from the previous night.

I am not suggesting we all buy the DVDs and watch Lost with our students to learn about Asia. I am pointing out that when we acquire knowledge on a new topic (this example being the schools of thought) there are many opportunities to make connections to prior knowledge and they may appear in odd places. I happened to see discussion topics from the four school of thought playing out in a TV show, and I feel that I enjoy the show and understand more of it because of my newly gained knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but I beg to differ. "Lost" is an exercise in frustration. I have always had the sense that the 'writers' literally don't know what is going to happen next. The first 7 or 8 episodes showed great potential, but they started dragging in more and more ludicrous story elements. The initial premise still holds the greates potential- strangers of misfortune must battle one another and the elements to forge a new life. THAT would have been great, but the writers had to start the inevitable dash for ratings. Yuck!

[Anonymous]

I normally don't watch LOST, (although I absolutely loved the X Files), as it is one of those never-ending stories. Whatever the writers may be doing, I see the point being made about making connections in unlikely places once you have learned something new. And quite honestly, if it works as a frame of reference for your students to understand a topic they are just learning about, I say use it. It may be "unorthodox", but if it works as a key, all the better.

Heck, some of my students may not be able to point to India on a map, but if I ask them where Apu from the Simpsons hails from, I get my answer immediately. I see no problem with starting out with something from "pop culture" as long as it works its way back to the actual culture you are trying to teach.

[Anonymous]

As we are on the subject of pop culture, I will admit that one of my guiltiest pleasures is music videos. In this day and age of media saturation, we all know that a good or bad video can catapult or ruin a band's career. And quite honestly, I watch them in order to know what my students are talking about when they reference a song, artist, etc. I don't feel quite so out of it that way.

Getting back to my point, I watch IMF, International Music Feed, and they do actually show artists from all over the world. The other day they were doing a half-hour special on music from China, and there were some really interesting artists, like Eason Chan, and the one I particularly remember is Emme Wong (think of a Chinese Beyonce - she is just gorgeous).

What really struck me as I was watching these videos was that as teachers we always focus on the historical and higher aspects of a culture, and therefore perhaps tend to regard them as unchanging because of the perspective on the past. What these videos really made me realize is that a) I never imagined that Chinese rock stars would model themselves on the American version of the same (but then again, we are the originals) and b) quite honestly, I never even imagined that there were modern Chinese artists that would work what are essentially rap vocals into their own language.

I think my students would fall out of their chairs laughing, but it would be worth showing them as an expose to the culture.

It was an eye-opener for me, but any thoughts on incorporating modern music into your classrooms when doing a unit on any Asian country?

Side note: There is another great half-hour show, called Passage to India that highlights artists from India. It is a mix of Bollywood, boy bands, and a number of other things, but some fun music!

[Anonymous]

Hello again,

Being that I am not a super techie person (in spite of the seminar's best intentions), I will post my film review here, because I am not sure where it is supposed to go.

I watched the film "Last Life in the Universe" from 2003, which won awards from the Toronto, Sundance and Venice film festivals. I figured I couldn't go wrong with such accolades!! The main actor is Japanese, Asano Tadanobu, who plays the role of Kenji, a librarian who dreams of suicide. To say his apartment and lifestyle are Type A is putting it mildly. To the point that when two people are murdered in his apartment in Bangkok, he doesn't call the police, he simply cleans up the blood from his stacks and stacks of books, as those seem to be the only thing he really cares about. Then he leaves the apartment.

The movie was interesting, and a merger of different cultures, as he is Japanese, but living in Bangkok, and the woman he meets is Thai. So the dialogue bounces between the two languages, and when even they don't understand each other, they switch to English.

The one thing I noticed was the pace of the film. Whereas here in the States when there is violence, it very often turns into an explosion of guns, cracking heads, etc. And while the movie had been rated R for violence, sexual content, language and drug use, it seemed downright tame compared to what you come across on cable. Some was explicit, most of it was not, but there was really nothing graphic or in poor taste at all. All the themes for which it was rated R were dealt with very serenely, as simply an additional part of life to deal with, rather than a descent into hell in each scene (and considering that the girl he meets is effectively a prostitute trying to get away from her physically abusive boyfriend, occasionally using drugs to escape her problems, this could have turned into a trashy movie, which it did not). Again, the pace of the film had us thinking it would move very slowly, but in fact it did not.

The other point I would like to make about the film is that of the style of humor. It also was so low-key, as to almost be missed, because it was simply so subtle. When the hit-men show up in their unbelievably tacky suits, it does make you laugh out loud, they just look so bad. But that doesn't detract enough from the rest of the scene. At those moments, I really wish I understood Japanese because the dialogue must have been subtly humorous as well, but we missed it completely.

Ultimately, I was discussing the film with my husband (I made him watch the film with me), and we decided that the film is really a love story, made up of two desparate people who find each other, and find a way to be together at the end of the film. It ends oddly, but you are led to understand what has happened at the end.

Would I ever show this film to my students? No way - even if not graphic, the themes are far too adult for teen-agers, and the pace would bore them. However, on a quiet day, when you feel like exploring universal themes, it would be a film that I would watch again, to see if I could pick up some more of the subtleties.

One last thing that I found incongruous. If Kenji is so unbelievably boring and tame, when did he get that huge tattoo that takes up almost his entire back (we see it in only two scenes)? It does make you wonder.....

[Anonymous]

Well, hello out there,

Not sure if anyone is reading these anymore, but I will jump in with the following...

One of my favorite units to teach in US History is the chapter on immigration, as it lets the students know that every group that came to the US in extremely large numbers has had a similar experience.

However, one thing came up in the Italian news a while back, but never made it to the pages of our newspapers, at least just a few of them. There was a riot between the Chinese and the Italians in Milan, some of it having to do with great numbers of Chinese immigrants in Milan. The link follows, which gives some idea of what the basic story is:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,2056692,00.html

I hope that works as a link, or you can do what I did and just google "chinese immigrant riots in milan italy". It will pull up a whole series of links, but the one from the guardian of London seems to be the most neutral in its journalism.

With all of our debates about immigration, especially as I teach in a 99% Latino school, where they take the issue of immigration very personally, it is a good story to use to highlight that immigration is a worldwide issue.

[Anonymous]

There was an excellent article in the August 13, 2007 issue of National Review, discussing the two dozen countries that actually recognize Taiwan as an independent nation.

It was an interesting article, because it discusses not only the heavy-handedness of the PRC in pressuring countries to recognize it rather than Taiwan, but also mentioned that the PRC put tremendous pressure on Chad to recognize it, and that the PRC was actually aiding rebels in Chad in order to put more pressure on its government for the reason of acknowledging Taiwan instead.

It was a very brief article, but well-written. I would like to know if anyone else had heard of this event, and whether it was picked up in the press anywhere else.

[Anonymous]

Another segment that appeared on PBS' Life & Times the other day was about the "other" immigrants, as so much of the focus is always on the Latino segment of the immigrant community.

Life & Times had a brief segment about immigrants from Southeast Asia and whether they are losing out in the immigration debate. You can still see the broadcast via the web at their site:

http://www.kcet.org/lifeandtimes/features.php

I hope that link works, but it doesn't look like it will. Just go to:

http://www.kcet.org/lifeandtimes/features.php

[Anonymous]

Reading Archaeology magazine the other day (another one I subscribe to), there was a very interesting article on the famous terracotta warriors to be found in China. Although the ones which have been unearthed have for the most part lost all of their color, some purple can still be found on newly excavated ones (mostly on the "skirts" of the warriors).

The article is a bit technical, but it does explain at length what modern scientist believe may have been the methods by which the ancient Chinese created the purple pigment. Very interesting article, also because purple was such a special color in the ancient Roman empire, I had never thought about it being so rare in other ancient cultures as well.

An article worth reading.

[Anonymous]

As a follow up to the above, in the same issue, there is one tiny paragraph on p. 15 (this is the September/October 2007 issue) the fact that 400 year old Ming Dynasty porcelain was found off the coast on a local's fishing boat. It led to the fisherman revealing the location of a shipwreck off the coast, and a boat laden with valuables.

It is such a shame that people in general do not see the long term cultural value in such discoveries, but only the short-term profit that can be made. As least this cache of valuables will more than likley end up in museums, rather than in the hands of private collectors. And hopefully the fisherman was given some renumeration by the authorities (but that is very wishful thinking).

[Anonymous]

Reading National Review the other day, there was a two page article about China and Tibet, and the fate of Tibetan Buddhism under Communist rule. It was an interesting article, because it discussed how Beijing has been working steadily for years to make Tibet more Chinese, and the author was in fact mentioning that when walking through the capital, the city is beginning to look and sound more like mainland China.

The article of course touched on civil rights, and religious freedom, which is always an issue with China. Hopefully one day we will not have to read such commentaries anymore, once people have more freedom.

[Anonymous]

In the same issue of the Economist (this is an August 2007 issue), there is a short article about the first of Pol Pot's henchmen to be charged by the UN with crimes against humanity.

As a US History teacher, one thing that somewhat irks me is that this country seems to be obsessed with Vietnam. While it was a tremendous part of our modern history, and affected many people here, it seems to me that there is almost a tunnel vision about it, leaving the broader history of the area untouched. I was surprised to see that in the US History book, while Vietnam has an entire chapter, the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge merit only one short paragraph in the entire chapter.

This I find discouraging, and always take the time to brief my students on the Khmer Rouge, and what they did in Cambodia.

This article caught my eye, not only for personal interest, but also because it seems the world may finally see some of these men pay for their crimes, before they all pass away.

[Anonymous]

In yet another Economist article (can anyone tell that I read constantly?) - there was a very interesting piece on the brain drain taking place in Asia, and that people who are educated, especially those who have been educated in the West, are simply not returning to their home countries. Those with a better education are also leaving for Western countries, leaving analysts to ponder whether the growing Asian economy will have enough educated people to maintain it.

I first was introduced to this phenomenon by a good friend who is Filipina, my dentist, and has about half of her family here, all working professionally in the dental/medical fields. We had been discussing the fact that all people with earning power due to a better education come to the US (and many go to Italy, also) and at first send back money, but then eventually bring over their other educated relatives.

There seems to be a high enough demand, especially in the medical field, for all of these people to come here, but it does leave you to wonder what is going to happen to all of the countries they have left (Philippines, China, India, etc). They desperately need doctors, dentists and nurses, so will they begin to fill their own countries with their professionalism? One hopes so.

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