Session #1 Readings: Intro and Geography

[Anonymous]

Readings #1-2
edited by yhuang on 4/3/2012

[Anonymous]

Readings #1-3

[Anonymous]

Readings #1-4

[Anonymous]

Readings #1-5

[Anonymous]

Readings #1-6

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,
Please use this thread to raise questions or make comments regarding themes and materials raised in the opening session. You can talk about the articles you were assigned, the need to learn and teach more about East Asia, or any other subject relating to our discussion on Monday, April 9.

It was great to meet you all and I appreciate your help in recruiting for the seminar and for our half-day workshop on 4/21.

[Anonymous]

From the readings, there seems to be an underlying tension that pervades the countries we're focusing on during this seminar. One one hand, one could point to the economic gains of the last half century as being nearly miraculous. Japan's industrialization and technological advancement since the end of WW 2 is almost a cliche while China's surging economy during the last thirty years has the Washington Consensus worried and challenged in a way that is quite rare. South Korea stands in sharp contrast to its northern cousin (I don't think they're close enough to be siblings), its success seeming even more phenomenal by the contrast. Yet in spite of these economic gains, there seems to be a deeper issue pulling in the opposite direction in all of these cases. Japan's once monolithic success has shown itself to be somewhat fragile; its stagnant economic growth is mirrored by its aging population. China's voracious appetite for economic expansion comes at what may prove to be too high a cost both in terms of human capital and environmental well-being. South Korea's growth, already stunted by the realities of a contracting world economy, will not be enough to balance out the abject poverty of North Korea if reunification every becomes anything more than political speech-making fodder.

So the question really comes to this: is the future going to be determined by a reflexive look to the past, or must it be something completely new? If the former, will traditional values lead to modern prosperity? If the latter, are the solutions palatable enough to be accepted?

If any of the countries go down the rabbit hole of economic collapse, can the rest of the world be far behind?

[Anonymous]

Although I missed the first session I feel that some of my comments may be repeated, if that is the case my bad for missing the class. First off, there has been a period of prosperity in the Asian regions, but much of that prosperity has brought on misfortune because of rapid growth. A recurring comment among many articles was that officials have not had the foresight to anticipate the problems of growth until now when it’s too late. Another interesting thing is that world-wide recession has affected that region similarly the way it has us. The problems of unemployment, women waiting to have children, etc. all are common themes. I am curious to know have any of the countries mentioned had any recovery or improvement. We have seen some improvement in this country but I wonder how the governments of those regions are responding. Is our government looking at this and addressing it enough. How will the struggling economies of that part of the world affect us? China still has accelerated growth but Japan and Korea still appear to be struggling. With recent developments in North Korea,(testing a long-range missile) how is the Obama administration responding. It just authorized to stop shipping humanitarian aid to that country. What impact will this have? Will the N. Korean government use this and twist it around for propaganda? How are the governments of China and Japan responding?

Even though the articles are a few years old, I thought it was interesting how they commented on current trends and expectations for the coming years. For example the article detailing Japan’s infrastructure and the problems about an impending earthquake and the cause for concern if these issues aren’t addressed were interesting and a little ironic. In the aftermath of the devastation from last year’s earthquake, Japan still is struggling to find its economic footing. How much can the US afford to help out in that region? Juggling the issues of political instability in N. Korea, economic despair in Japan and unregulated environmental concerns in China, how can the US help, affect and mediate in that region? It begs to ask the question, can we afford to continue to do so? It also requires an answer to the question why aren’t the governments of that region doing more to modernize their infrastructure, look to the future and come up with viable options? Is it that they’re hoping for a post-World War II type of assistance from the west? There appears to be a lot of unanswerable questions that need quite a bit of resources in order to overcome the challenges of the 21st century.

[Anonymous]

Study China? What are my reasons for being in this workshop? Like many school teachers, I’ve come from a realization that there is so much more than just the need to study its’ history in tired school texts. That’s obviously not as effective, if it ever was, for today’s classroom. China is opening up in so many ways. I look forward to learning more. There is a whole spectrum of opinions on why China is garnering so much global attention. Recently, curious about what I would find on the “www” regarding China’s rise, I came across a blog that sparked a bit more of my curiosity. The workshop, the readings, and the blogosphere are tantalizing. I look forward to the journey.
http://blogs.asaecenter.org/Acronym/2012/05/ignore_destroy_engage.html

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed reading the 24 stories of Filial Devotion. I wonder if this stories are real or not.
I am touched by the story of Feeding Mosquitoes to Spare Parents. An 8 year old who sacrificed being bitten by the mosquitoes so that the parents could have a good nights sleep.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Dear Colleagues,

The readings for the first session is attached in six parts. They are numbered as "#1-1, #1-2," and so forth. Please keep scrolling down this thread to download all six parts. For our first session, our Executive Director, Mr. Clayton Dube, will be giving an introduction on the geography and a brief overview of East Asian civilizations. The attached readings are in PDF format, of which you can download and read/print on your computer. Please email me at [email protected] or give me a call at 213-740-1307 if you encounter any trouble in downloading them.

All the best,
Yingjia
edited by yhuang on 4/3/2012
edited by yhuang on 4/3/2012
edited by yhuang on 4/3/2012

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