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The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will screen KUROSAWA Kiyoshi's Tokyo Sonata at 7:30 pm on Monday, March 9, 2009. The director will attend and speak following the film.

The film takes inside a middle class Japanese family at a moment of great stress: the salaryman father loses his job. He tries to keep this a secret. The film has garnered a number of awards.

http://www.lacma.org/programs/FilmSeriesSchedule.aspx

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I visited this exhibition at the Getty Research Center in Feb. 2008 and was amazed. It's over now, but the website offers several examples that could be readily used by teachers to show different ideas.

One image, for example, is a battle scene from the successful Manchu Qing dynasty effort to extend the empire into the West. It was part of a commissioned series where the Qianlong emperor's preference for Western-style engravings was executed by Western artists. The website allows the viewer to zoom in and pan across the painting to see remarkable details. In fact, you're able to get closer and see more clearly than those who visited the actual exhibition!

The exhibition was entitled "China On Paper: European and Chinese Works from the Late Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century."

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/china_paper/

The first image in the web collection is a title page of a book which has four of the Jesuits who worked hardest to reach China and Japan during this period: Francis Xavier, Ignatius de Loyola, Adam Schall von Bell, and Matteo Ricci.

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Kay Haugaard has a great short story in the "The Kids' Reading Room" feature contained with the comics section of today's (3/8/09) Los Angeles Times.

Here's the link: http://www.latimes.com/features/kids/readingroom/la-et-story8a-2009mar08,0,648681.story

This short piece would allow for many discussions, including Daoist ideas that everything has its place, its nature, and that preserving this is the key to keeping everything in balance. It also fits with ideas regarding diet and environmental preservation, as well as matters of governance.

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The guide to using the web forum is available by clicking "help" above, or by clicking on the attachment below.

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Please post reviews of websites in the "web resources" thread in the Asia in My Classroom forum. http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/showpost.aspx?PostID=390

The attached file has some websites you may find interesting as a starting resource.

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How can it be that no one has commented yet on this magnificent and now award-winning film? I saw it only a couple of weeks ago and found the plot line ludicrous, but the bigger story mesmerizing. It is not a documentary and it misrepresents locations and so on, but offers larger truths and does so in a compelling way. I encourage you to click on the link below to read a recent op-ed about the film:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/opinion/21srivastava.html?_r=3

In their essay, Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava begin,

"IT does not take much to galvanize protest against a movie in India, but few thought the word “slumdog” would cause so much anger — especially as hundreds of Bollywood titles translate into much worse slurs. We had to pay attention, though, when friends from Mumbai’s sprawling Dharavi area joined hands with those demonstrating against the Oscar-nominated film “Slumdog Millionaire.” The Indian media widely reported that the outrage was over the word “dog.” But what we heard from Manju Keny, a college student living in Dharavi, was something else. She was upset at the word “slum.” We could not agree more.

"In truth, the movie never claims to be a portrait of Dharavi, though some of the most spectacular scenes were shot there, including depictions of the anti-Muslim riots of 1992. The director, Danny Boyle, constructs a cinematic slum out of many pockets around Mumbai. The opening sequence has children playing near the airport, being chased by policemen and ending up — in a moment of pure Hollywood magic — a few miles away in Dharavi.

"The imagery represents what most middle-class residents of Mumbai (and now all over the world) imagine Dharavi to be. The urban legend of its squalor has taken root because few Mumbaikers have ever been there — just as most Manhattanites still avoid stepping anywhere near Bedford-Stuyvesant, that beautiful neighborhood in Brooklyn. Times may have changed since the mid-’70s, when the community worker Barry Stein described Bed-Stuy as the “largest ghetto in the country,” but prejudices die hard, in New York and India.

"Its depiction as a slum does little justice to the reality of Dharavi. Well over a million “eyes on the street,” to use Jane Jacobs’s phrase, keep Dharavi perhaps safer than most American cities.

The rest of the essay is equally interesting.

Here's the movie's official Fox Searchlight website:
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/slumdogmillionaire/

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From the Museum (one of the best anywhere and especially teacher friendly):

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, as part of a major grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation to expand its K-12 educational materials and programs, is gathering information from teachers about the use of visual arts in the classroom. Your valuable feedback will serve thousands of teachers and students in California and across the U.S.

The goal of this initiative, titled the “Bridge Project,” is to expand and update our existing teacher materials for use statewide, and ultimately, across the United States. Our first step is to gather feedback to ensure that we have an understanding of your current needs and preferences.

To begin, please go to the following link:
https://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/6ea8g3b215

The survey will take 15-20 minutes.

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" On the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008, 2 billion TV viewers and thousands in attendance in the now famous Bird's Nest were treated to an unforgettable spectacle at the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games.

"Behind it all was the creative genius of Chinese film director Zhang Yimou. Drawing from the depths of the cultural heritage and ingenuity of the Chinese people, showcasing ancient Chinese inventions — paper, printing, gunpowder, ceramics and the compass — that have shaped civilization and channeling the sensibility and spirit that unite his fellow 1.3 billion citizens, Zhang told China's story to a watching world. He created arguably the grandest spectacle of the new millennium, and it was viewed by nearly one-third of the world's population. With this work, Zhang obtained a stature shared by very few peers."

So begins the essay about why Zhang was named a runner up to Barack Obama for person of the year honors. Click below to read the full article:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/personoftheyear/article/0,31682,1861543_1865103_1865107,00.html

What is especially striking is that this essay was written by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg, of course, publicly withdrew as a member of Zhang's advisory group to protest what he described as Chinese inaction on Darfur. What is the significance of Spielberg now celebrating Zhang and the ceremonies?

You can read Spielberg's letter at:
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=941

Click here to see his 2007 letter to Hu Jintao.

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In 2003, we took our NCTA group to Ewha University, one of Korea's top university and certainly the top women's university. This past week, Hillary Clinton visited and spoke about the key role empowering women plays in development. She spoke as a grad of Wellesley, another women's university. A copy of the talk is attached.

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The attached photo is from the america.gov site. It shows girls in Obama, Japan marking the inauguration of our new president by doing a hula dance.

Here's the slide show -- the inauguration as seen elsewhere.
http://www.america.gov/multimedia/photogallery.html#/4110/caw/

Other slides in the series show Obama t shirts in Shanghai and scenes from Indonesia (a place he lived as a boy) and India.

Another slide show at the site marks the election - and again, it's Hawaiian hula time in front of a giant screen showing election results.

http://www.america.gov/multimedia/photogallery.html#/4110/elect_08/%5BEdit by="Clay Dube on Feb 20, 6:32:24 PM"][/Edit]

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Hi Folks, As you likely know - Sec. Clinton's first foreign trip will be to East Asia. You can read a bit more about her statements here.

On Friday, Feb. 13, just before leaving for her trip, Sec. Clinton will reward Richard Holbrooke, her special envoy to South Asia who has just stepped down as Asia Society chair, by speaking at the Asia Society about US policy toward Asia. The event will be webcast -- perhaps you'll want to watch it with your students.

The event will be webcast live at http://www.asiasociety.org. In the event of server overload, the backup call-in number is: 1-877-270-2157 (pass code 01711457).

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There are some great photo collections introduced in this thread. Here is one of the best. A number of scholars at different institutions have combined to make available many interesting photos of early 20th century images of China. They welcome teachers and others to use them for educational and other non-commercial purposes.

The link is: http://chp.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/index.php

The collection, at present, includes images taken by Fu Bingchang, an avid photographer and civil servant who served as the Nationalist's government's ambassador to Moscow 1943-49. A second set of images features the work of G. Warren Swire, a businessman who traveled frequently and extensively in China. The third set includes images from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and were produced by the Chinese Maritime Service. And the fourth set comes from the Shanghai Municipal Police. It includes photos of officers, their training, and "life on the streets."

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On page 43 of the web resources thread, I've posted information about U.S. Department of Education photos of the Korean War that are now available for educational use via Flickr. Here's a link to the web resources thread:

http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/showpost.aspx?PostID=390

Please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on page 43 to see that post. There are more than 500 fairly well captioned photos.

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The Korean War is sometimes described as the forgotten war (there's a documentary with just that name), but given South Korea's importance to the world economy, North Korea's contribution to regional and global instability, and the many links between people in the US and in Korea, it is essential that we do a better job of teaching about the war. U.S. Department of Defense photos can be helpful in this regard and some are now available via Flickr. Here's the announcement below:

Korean War Historical Images

IMCOM-Korea Photo Collections, The Installation Management Command-Korea Region (IMCOM), US Army Korea

Self-description:
"Historical images from the Korean War. Public Domain - not for commercial use. Please credit Department of Defense and photographer (see attached captions.) 511 photos | 133,701 views [as of early Feb
2009 - ed.], items are from 07 Oct 2008."

Sample caption [from image Korean War - HD-SN-99-03136]:
"Long trek southward: Seemingly endless file of Korean refugees slogs through snow outside of Kangnung, blocking withdrawal of ROK I Corps.
January 8, 1951. Cpl. Walter Calmus. (Army) NARA FILE #:
111-SC-356475 WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1477 Cleared for public release. This image is generally considered in the public domain - Not for commercial use. U.S. Army Korea - Installation Management Command."

URL" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/imcomkorea/sets/72157607808414225/">URL " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/imcomkorea/sets/72157607808414225/

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Here's an announcement about Education about Asia:

EDUCATION ABOUT ASIA (EAA): Enhanced Web Site and New URL

EAA, published by the Association for Asian Studies, has new-look Web site and a more user-friendly URL—http://www.asian-studies.org/EAA

New Web site features include the ability to cross search the Table of Contents for all issues by article title, author, country, or keyword. Copies of articles are not available online, but this new feature will help readers find out which back issues include articles of most interest. In addition, the “Web Gleanings” column featuring useful Web site links is now available online beginning with the most recent issue, Volume 13:3 (Winter 2008).

The EAA Web site also contains sample articles, supplemental content for some print articles, author guidelines, and other special section announcements.

EDUCATION ABOUT ASIA (EAA) is a unique and innovative magazine—a practical teaching resource for secondary school, college, and university instructors, as well as an invaluable source of information for students, scholars, libraries, and those who have an interest in Asia. Teachers and students from a wide range of disciplines—anthropology, Asian studies, business and economics, education, geography, government, history, language and literature, political science, religion, and sociology, the arts, among others—subscribe to Education About Asia.

Published three times each year (January, May, and October) since 1996, EAA will greatly enhance your understanding and knowledge of this important region of the world.

EAA brings you stimulating articles on all areas of Asia, with subjects ranging from ancient cultures and literatures to current affairs; essays describing classroom-tested educational programs and strategies; a comprehensive guide to Asia-related print and digital resources, including movies, documentaries, books, curriculum guides, and web resources. Thematic issues include Islam in Asia, marriage and family, youth culture, religion, economics and business, visual and performing arts, and a special series on Asia in world history.

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