pre-2011 web resources

[Anonymous]

http://pratyeka.org/philosophies-of-asia/

Since I teach some of the Chinese philophies, as well as Asian religions, this is a great website, for background information on all those topics. It has major facts, but also has a lot of explanation. It also includes a lot of comparisons to other religions around teh world. Its not the most organized website, but it is divided by chapter. You simply have to scroll down to find the section you are looking for. Sections include, but are not limited to philosophies, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zen, Christianity and even yoga. I like this website becasue again, I do not have a lot of bakground information on China, and while you could not really send a student to this website and expect them to return with information, its great for teachers, to solidify the know information they know, and are more able to answer questions fro students.

[Anonymous]

http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/cn.htm

Here is a great website for geography of China. I particularly like this website because as a sixth grade teacher, one of the major focuses in our subject is the way geography affects the way a people settled, and how they created their civilization. It has a variety of maps for many different parets of Asia, from China to India. Each region has political as well as physical maps. IN addition to learning form the actual maps, it has information adn statistics that you can look at in order to show students how geographty affects a people, and its culture. It includes information about weather, land statistics and geographic coordinates. It even includes a link to a website for every country in Asia. When you click on that link, it gives you all the geographical ifnormatio you could need of on that country. Its extremely comprehensive!

[Anonymous]

http://www.taleofgenji.org/index.html

This is a really good website that introduces "The Tale of Genji" to students. In the "Background" section it gives a lot of information about the novel itself and the Heian period in which it was written. It focuses on the life of the nobility and upper-classes. It also describes what relationships were like back then, as well as what Japanese men were looking for when seeking an ideal mate (talented caligraphy skills and poetry far outweighed beauty).

Under the "Summary" section the site gives a quick look into "Genji's" 54 chapters - a Cliff's Notes version that helps you get a grasp on the novel.

What's really cool about the site is it has links to all the places Genji would have traveled to, and you can click on them and learn all about these different places in Japan. If you are considering teaching any part of "Genji" or the Heian period - this site is definately worth looking into.

[Anonymous]

http://mcel.pacificu.edu/as/students/genji/homepage.html

Another great Genji website. This one has six links that take you to different aspects of the tale. The Summary link is much better then the former because it focuses more on the themes incorporated into Genji's story. The theme it seems to center around is Genji's affairs and how while not the MAIN focus of the story, play an important role.

Another link takes you to 10 main characters and describes them and their relation to Genji - very helpful with his vast family tree of relatives and conquests.

Another intersting link is the Culture site where they again discuss marital relationships and affairs of the Heian period. It talks about how a man initially courts a woman, how affairs were the norm, and how women of different stauts were given different treatments.

Both of these sites combined paint an overall picture of the story, and I would suggest using both to get a fuller picture for your students.

[Anonymous]

http://www.blackshipsandsamurai.com

This is a really neat website. It's from MIT and it tells the story of an expedition taken in 1853 by a guy named Commodore Perry. This mission eventually led to the opening of the East to the West.

The expedition was recorded by a German artist named William Heine. Through his drawings the site tells the story of the expedition. They are very beautiful and give a clear view of how the world was during that era and locale. Each picture is downloadable so teachers and students alike can use them in further presentations.

Another neat feature is you can pick either the East or West's view on the event or subject occuring. One will give you the European view while the other will give you an Eastern or Asian view - very clever.

[Anonymous]

web-japan.org

I LOVE this website! It is so much fun. This is simply a site that talks about all things that are modern Japanese. There are tons of links that take you to all different facets of the culture. For example there is a "Trends" link that shows what's hot in fashion, food, etc. Another link (Nipponia) takes you to a quarterly magazine with all sorts of articles on travel, food, nature, geography, and culture of Japan. The head article was about how Japan is the land of hospitality. There is also a really cute link just for kids that explores Japan in a child-friendly way with links to anime, folk legends and amusement parks. All very cute and fun!

[Anonymous]

americantanka.com

This one's for English teachers. This is a great website if anyone is interested in teaching Tanka poetry. For those who don't know, Tanka is a five-line poem that describes a single event using vivid detail so that it almost brings you to that place and time. It's kind of like haiku except it allows you more syllables and is actually older.

The site discusses the importance of tanka as well as it's history and relevance around the world. If you are planning on doing a poetry unit, this would be a great way to start the kids off. To me it is not as rigid as haiku, and anyone can do it. Taking your kids to this site as an initial resource for information would be a good idea. Then, tanka away!

[Anonymous]

Everyone, there are several geography web sites starting with googleearth which has garnered attention. There are several others that should warrant a look , especially so when teaching about East Asia. Microsoft's TerraServer at http://terraserver-usa.com was one of the first to offer high-resolution aerial photographic images of the US, which is obtained from U.S. Geological Surveys.Aside from NASA, the USGS probably has more maps and images than anyone else in the world, according to some sources.
To access displays by category follow the address at gttp://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/mapcatalog. Categories include: topography, geology image, culture and history, international and world, and environmental.
The best way to access NASA is through its Blue Marble site --http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Bluemarble
If you are looking for monthly changes then look for the small-print link to "monthly global maps. When scrolling down on this site at the bottom you will find links to the following interactive Web browsers for NASA imaging: EarthSLOT, GeoFusion, NASAJPL,OnEarth, NASA World Wind, and YaWah. YaWah is Blue Marble's next gernaration site.

[Anonymous]

The Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative at http://www.ecai.org is another resource for ones rich in time and interest. ECAI is a consortium of professional from museums,libraries, and non-governmental organizations which work on a broad range of projects that us interactive map software. If you wish to know about the Silk Road type in the above address and /silkroad/. This is almost a bottomless site of information of cultural data tweaked to mapping.

[Anonymous]

I came across the SPICE web site at the Islam in Asia Worshop at USC. It is quite a repository of lesson plans and resources on Asia and World Cultures. The web site is at http://spice.stanford.edu They do charge for their publications.

[Anonymous]

Do not forget to cosult the web address http://www.aems.uiuc.edu for your media needs. It is and extensive data base of mutimedia resources for the classroom. There is a special AEMX Media Review Section in this month's Education About Asia. The acronym stands for Asia Educational Media Service pronounced aims.

[Anonymous]

I found a neat little haiku site- http://www.cc.matsuyama-u.acjp/~shiki/Start-Writing.html. A good introductory site for initiation to Haiku with many good examples to show your students. Also, expert tips on your own haiku writing form Japanese masters. I particularly like the idea of so many haiku being generated from one common image or concept. My SAS students in particular would enjoy this site.[Edit by="gjones on Jul 27, 12:06:28 AM"][/Edit]

[clay dube]

A recent Reuters report noted that hotels in China are now being required to provide condoms in each room.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKPEK27213320070727

AIDS is a large problem in China (and elsewhere in Asia, especially India). Teachers on a study tour in spring 2006 were surprised to find condoms and other items among the toiletries supplied by the hotel (note: the condoms were not free, the toothbrush, comb, etc. were). I explained that Henan Province (where this particular hotel was located) was particularly hard hit by AIDS because of sloppy blood plasma collection practices. Entire villages have been decimated by the disease.

Here's an English language website from the Chinese government:
http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/aids/112999.htm

The WHO AIDS office's website is at:
http://www.wpro.who.int/china/sites/hsi/

[Anonymous]

The following website http://www.dharmaforkids.com/ Dharma for kids is a kid friendly website for students to learn more about Buddhism. It includes basic Buddhism teachings and images of Buddhist symbols. It also offers interactive activities related to Buddhism on the web.

[Anonymous]

This website : Daily Life in China http://members.aol.com/Donnclass/Chinalife.html has various artifacts relating to Chinese History. These ancient objects tell of these people's most pressing questions about daily life. It includes informations about oracles bones. This site also focuses on the daily life of people during several dynasties - the Xia, Shang, Chou, Han, and T'ang.

[Author]

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