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clay dubeThanks -- let's keep it going. What do the rest of you think about this story? What does the author seek to convey?
clay dubeMeghann and Billie have already raised great questions/ideas. We can link discussions to the importance of waterways and infrastructure. Right now, when we're linked electronically, we can more fully appreciate how vital electric power and telecommunications are. Talking about roads, walls, and canals in ancient China can help students think about all the invisible infrastructure we rely on daily.
clay dubeWe're delighted by the points you folks are making and the interaction you are having amongst yourselves. Let's keep this going. Now that we're mostly interacting with the world through phone and computer, let's keep the discussion alive. You can do so here and also in our social media / video / podcast pages:
Teaching about Asia: https://www.facebook.com/groups/teachingaboutasia/
USC US-China Institute: https://www.facebook.com/uschinainstitute/
Our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/USChinaInstitute
China Life podcast: https://china.usc.edu/section/china-life-podcast
clay dubeHi Esther and all -
AIG's founders and leaders have long contributed to US understanding of China. Mansfield Freeman did through the Freeman Foundation. The CV Starr Foundation has done this as well (funding libraries at Columbia and Berkeley among other projects). Former AIG boss Maurice (Hank) Greenberg has funded many projects as well. The Luce Foundation (built on the fortune of Henry Luce, one of the founders of the Time-Life empire) has also been important in this regard. But the need is great and the future depends on teachers. We're counting on all of you to inform and inspire young people to recognize the importance of Asia and the need to understand it better.
clay dubeHilda,
Thanks so much for raising this issue. Zhao has been chastised within China and indirectly by China's ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, for this attempt to change the story line. We've seen disinformation from China's government that wants the world (and its own people!) to forget it mismanaged the initial response and to remember that it then successfully (it seems, stay tuned on this) corralled the problem. But some in China have pushed back against this narrative. China's transparency failed, in part, in the early days. The party-state apparatus put politics (and functionaries put career and convenience) ahead of people. It got so bad that people literally died on the street and at home because no hospital could take them. Here, the US government was woefully slow to mobilize. Stopping the flow of people was a good first step, but without large scale testing you can't separate people to slow / stop the spread. You have to prepare medical facilities, supplies, and people. Our government failed at this. We can't really complain that China didn't share information. It did, but we didn't act. Public health systems, just like militaries, police forces and fire departments, are investments in safety, security and sustainability. Many people understand this now who didn't in the past. Let's hope that through education, we can learn from this experience. We seemed to have failed to grasp this in the past, in part because threats (earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, and disease outbreaks) may seem localized. Acting on science rather than political wishes is a good place to start. In China, the politicians didn't want the political calendar and the holiday disturbed. They ended up with a frozen economy and thousands dead. In the US, some didn't want the disruption, we already have 802 dead and an economic downturn. You have to prepare.
We have discussed some of this messaging on our Facebook page. Many of your are in our Facebook Teaching about Asia group. I hope you will also like/follow the main US-China Institute Facebook page as well. Look at some of the past posts. Hilda - thanks for raising this here. Please make institute resources available to friends and colleagues.
https://www.facebook.com/uschinainstitute/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/teachingaboutasia/
clay dubeBillie - thanks for your note. Hopefully others will take a look at these short video lectures and offer their thoughts. We're aiming at regrouping for a Zoom-facilitated video discussion.
All - Billie was part of an online program on Contemporary China earlier this spring, so she's familiar with these tools. I hope everyone else will watch the videos at your convenience, comment online and join us via Zoom (a free download for your computer, phone or tablet or within your browser).
clay dubeHere are the afternoon presentations. Please feel free to use these slides with your students. Please do not post them to the internet or otherwise distribute them. Please post any questions or suggestions.
clay dubeHere are pdf versions of the presentations we discussed today. You may find them useful for review. Feel free to use any of these slides with your students. Please do not post them to the internet or otherwise distribute them.
clay dubeFor the Sui dynasty (589-617), we'll focus on reunification and the remarkable Grand Canal. Please read this short web page about the canal and its builder: http://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/waterworks/the-grand-canal-china/
For the Tang dynasty (618-907), please read the intro to the attached poetry selection. Then choose one poem that interests you and post something about it. Please also read Bai Juyi's The Song of Everlasting Sorrow and come up with at least one question about it. This and many other Tang poems came to be well known in Japan and were excerpted in The Tale of Genji.
For the Song dynasty (960-1279), please read the Attractions of the Capital (N. Song dynasty: Kaifeng, S. Song dynasty: Hangzhou) reading.
For the Yuan (1279-1368), please read the selection from Marco Polo about the capital and its people.
clay dubeSince the BRI is a signature leader of Xi Jinping, there's little direct public criticism of it, but a number of folks raise the sorts of questions Robert mentions. In fact, Xi Jinping's renewed emphasis on poverty alleviation may be partly driven by a need to counter such criticism. It's worth noting, however, that the central government also believes that BRI will help develop poorer areas on China's periphery, that it will connect those places to capital and markets that they don't currently enjoy.
clay dubeHi Folks,
These are tough topics we discussed today. One point I'd like to emphasize is a tendency to equate declared intent with reality and a proclivity to assume the worse. China has regularly announced bold plans that don't quite get realized, at least in the short term. That, of course, is not unique to China. Many Americans are waiting for a long promised push to rebuild and improve our infrastructure. All of us in education know about funding gaps and so on. China's BRI efforts are running into more than a few problems. Some are due to a conflict between the aims and priorities of the host nation and the Chinese investors/builders, some are due to the usual unexpected problems that develop in trying to complete complex projects (ask anyone who has built or remodeled a home). And there is also push back at home as some question investing elsewhere rather than improving things at home. 75 years after the end of WW II, we celebrate the Marshall Plan's role in helping Europe become stable and prosperous. At various times in the early going, however, there were plenty of doubts and challenges. Stepping back to try to see the fuller context is a challenge. Not all investment yields greater productivity and wider prosperity. Let's hope, though, that China's work in Africa helps people in both places live more prosperous and healthy lives.
The article here is not about Africa, but about the BRI in Pakistan:
Pakistan is a place that has great potential, but has all sorts of domestic problems. The article highlights the range of difficulties and suspicions even friendly nations can encounter.
clay dubeHi Folks, I'm the lead instructor for the seminar. I work with Catherine at the USC US-China Institute. I have taught at both the secondary and college level. I've taught Chinese history, Japanese history, US history and world history. I greatly enjoy working with teachers and am looking forward to this seminar. I enjoy photography and travel, both close to home and in Asia. I like small towns. Here's a photo of a old, totally stereotypical, Chinese restaurant we saw in Lompoc not long ago.
clay dubeHi folks - it was optional viewing this week, but I think that you might like this 10 minute film, produced by an American student working with a Chinese student. It's called Leftover Park, 2014 (9 minutes).
clay dubeBen - it doesn't sound as though you were a fan of Stan's article. Nonetheless, you may find his story to be of interest. You can hear it in our China Life series: https://china.usc.edu/3-solving-china-puzzle
clay dubeKelly, you noted several things, but one is the role of the Confucius Institutes in the US. We'll talk about that next week. Many politicians have been bashing them of late and several have closed. My question is, who should be paying to teach Americans Chinese? Should we rely on foreign governments or is this important enough for US taxes to be put towards it?
