session 1 - discussion

[Anonymous]

This was a very interesting and thorough outline of the transition in China from the classic education, of subjects written in a non-spoken language, and steeped in Confucianism, to texts written in the vernacular of a spoken language, which caused Mandarin to mainly become the national language of China, as well as drifting away from the teachings of Confucius. Traveling to other nations, with different beliefs and teachings, can lead to some people becoming free thinkers, no longer strictly tied to their previous religion or ideology.
Psychological and cultural evolution came in the form of revolution in China, in the spirit of May 4th. I'm not surprised that Lu Xun killed himself, given his passionate belief that literature is the medicine to cure the Chinese soul. I read an article entitled, "Existential Depression in Gifted Individuals", which signifies the high tendency for people who understand so much, and care so much, to feel hopeless when they see that their ideals are unreachable, and that the ugliness of this world is overwhelming. He portrayed a clear understanding of this tendency in his characterization of Hsiang Lin's Wife.

[Anonymous]

I truly appreciated the brief overview of what will be discussed this semester. In co-teaching world history previously, I noticed that many of my students were asking, “Why is this important?”. I found that much of the information discussed today, specifically the statistics (i.e. population, geography) that were shared, were interesting and can be applicable to the connections that I want out students to make. In thinking about the geography that was discussed, I was stunned by the gap of knowledge I had in my own education. I appreciated the in-depth discussion of the geography of Asia and was surprised by the landscape of Japan, China, and most of all Korea. I hope to one day visit Asia and experience the various traditions and cultures.

[Anonymous]

The first session of our seminar was really interesting, engaging, and it reminded me about how much I enjoy being a student. I was always aware that Asia, and east Asia in general is quite dominant in terms of population and up and coming with its economic growth, but it was quite striking to visual and numerical representations on Asia’s numbers. As I heard about the recent reproductive trends, such as people delaying reproduction and the amount of pregnancies in South Korea, I wondered how this will impact the demographic trends of Asia as times passes by. I also drew a lot of parallels between economic issues affecting reproduction trends in Asia and the US. It seems that just like the US, in Asia young people are also putting off having children at this point in time because it is simply not affordable. It makes me wonder if we will continue going down this path, or if certain interventions will be implemented that will affect the affordability of starting families.
edited by nramon on 10/12/2015

[Anonymous]

As awful luck would have it, I missed Session1, but learned a lot from the comments on this threat. I, too, am a "map nerd", and really regret not being able to have seen this part of the class especially; but again, the discussion input, as well as the readings, were enormously helpful.I wa surprised to see that China's border with Russia is relatively small... I'd always thought otherwise. I'd love to visit the region of the Russian-Chinese border someday (using some academic reason as a pretext), just to observe how these two fascinating peoples interact... courses like this are wonderful primers for future travel

[Anonymous]

So sorry I missed this first session; I would have enjoyed the map portion immensely. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Huntington Library and Gardens, as my make-up class.

[Anonymous]

I am looking forward to taking the knowledge from the presentations and the other teachers in the seminar and applying it to the classroom. During the first presentation I was especially interested in the current data given. In my AP Human Geography class I teach about population and there were a lot of great maps on population growth. These maps can also be used for migration, culture, ethnicity and language. I liked the proportional charts and graphs that I can also share with my students. We use Goodes World Atlas: Twenty Second Edition that has the best set of choropleth and proportional symbol maps that cover topics ranging from population to uranium production. I also use these maps in my world history class to relate historical content to current events and trends.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

These are just a few thoughts on yesterday's seminar.
I was very ignorant of the previous and current relationship between the 3 countries. I discovered that I know practically nothing about East Asia. It was very interesting to see their demographics, economic system; how they spend their money compared to us, the relationship between the sizes of the countries and their population compared, again, to the US. We didn’t really discuss all the articles that we were assigned, but I also obtained relevant information from them, the one that caught my attention the most was “We are busy. Get an abortion”. I shocked me that in Japan there is this Matahara, harassment towards pregnant women. I know they have a culture of workaholism and this is why they are very prosperous, nonetheless, if women are speaking up is because this is affecting them greatly, and how wouldn’t it be? I can just imagine how frustrating this could be, telling your co-workers you’re pregnant and they look at you badly because they will end up doing your job while you’re out on maternity leave. Very saddening!
edited by Clay Dube on 10/2/2015

[Anonymous]

“Ollagada, the Korean-language verb for making a trip to Seoul for a day or a lifetime, translates as “going up”; naeryeogada, the one for returning to your hometown, translates to “going down”. A young South Korean looking to make something of himself has, in recent history, faced two options: go over to America, if possible, or go up to Seoul.” Colin Marshall’s words seem to summarize the changes we have studied this program. In each period, in each country, the move away from agrarian life towards one of modernity indicate moving forward – progressing. Yet, once China, Korea, and Japan reached their respective stages of modernity – as indicated through post colonialism or war – it is noticeable that each country began to evoke elements of their past even that include returning home[town]. Thus, as the Korean-language saying go, ollagada naeryeogada; life like history goes up and down.
edited by crhude on 1/23/2016

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