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China's top officials have focused attention on American profligacy and poor regulation as the source of the crisis. American officials have said the problem is that China keeps its currency artificially low in value so as to make its exports cheap. The recent US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue meetings in Beijing provided officials with the chance to bring this all out yet again. The reality is that China did help drive the housing bubble by buying American debt and thereby helping keep interest rates low. But they did so for their own economic benefit not to harm the US. Investing in American debt has been a secure investment. And the Chinese are loathe to weaken the dollar since that will harm the dollar based investments they have made.

No - the fault lies in our inability to keep our spending within sight of our income. And with the aging of our population and the increased demands to made of the Medicare and Social Security systems, we are going to have even less budget maneuverability. We better educate our children well as we need each of them to be fabulously productive so as to carry the burden we have already assigned to them.

Will American policy toward China change? I don't expect significant short term change. We need Chinese cooperation on the economic front, in curtailing nuclear weapons proliferation, and in beginning to address the ultimate challenge of global warming. We need the Chinese to more fully open their markets and media and to stimulate domestic consumption rather than relying so heavily on exports. This is ultimately good for China's own economic stability as well. China's leaders recognize this, but have thus far aimed their stimulus package in traditional ways, favoring infrastructure first and foremost.

The USCI website will soon have an article about China and the crisis. It already has news summaries in the US-China Today daily update pages: http://www.uschina.usc.edu/dailyupdateS.aspx. To see what US and Chinese officials said the this week's SED and at previous meetings, visit the resources pages: http://www.china.usc.edu/Resources21.aspx

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The multinational giant Siemens is funding a competition for middle school science classes. Teams of students are to develop projects addressing some environmental challenge. Possible topics with an Asia focus could include work on air and water pollution, energy conservation, green building techniques, and more. Some of our seminar participants have developed lessons on these subjects. The deadline for entry is in March 2009 and at least some of the data has to be collected/analyzed by then. One project that is important locally is the recycling of waste products such as paper and metals. It's an important component of US-China trade.

Prize winners will be on tv, all members get $5,000 savings bonds, and a lot more. They will give out national and state prizes, plus honorable mentions. The first 100 teams just to apply get the Planet Earth dvd set.

If some of your students decide to give it a go (perhaps this could be combined with science fair and other endeavors?), please do share news about what topics you take on and what the students discover here.

The website with the info: http://www.wecanchange.com/

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Looking for a way to interest students in discussing current economic news and international trade? Photos of how the economic downturn has affected vehicle imports might do it. The LA and Long Beach ports are full of cars that they can't move elsewhere as no one is buying. Toyota, Nissan, and Mercedes Benz are all looking for more land to rent to store the cars they've already brought to America. Here's a slide show from the NY Times on the subject:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/17/business/1117-PORTS_index.html?adxnnl=1&ref=multimedia&adxnnlx=1227389182-XrErCYmzizbkQaXxhmX5wQ

Here's the accompanying article. It includes a great graph showing how many days supply of cars the manufacturers now have. Hyundai in 2006 had a 59 day supply, now it has 115 days. Toyota had a 42 day supply and now has 78.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/business/economy/19ports.html?sq=long%20beach&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all

Please share your ideas and experiences teaching about the national and international economy.

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Earlier this week, the NY Times and other publications focused on the rapidly increasing numbers of students headed to China. Here's the Times story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/education/17exchange.html?_r=1

The greatest number of US college students go to Spain (24,005) and France (17,233), no doubt a reflection of how much more widely Spanish and French is taught in high school and college. In 2006-7, though, 11,064 students went to China. (These are study programs, not just tours.) The rise from 2005-6 for China was 25%, for France 11% and for Spain 10%. I'm sure the 2007-8 numbers will show similar growth.

What does this mean? Obviously it means there's increasing interest in China's economy and culture and in Asia generally (note that India was up to 24%, with more than 2,000 students, Japan up 14% with 5,012 students). South Africa and Latin America are also increasing in popularity. Clearly our students are less wedded to a junior year in Europe than previous generations (though study abroad has always been limited to a sliver of all students -- I didn't go abroad until after graduation, as a student working full time, that wasn't a viable option). What does it mean for the future? We should hope that this more diverse experience base makes us more sensitive to opportunities, beliefs, and assumptions of others and hopefully helps us acquire the language skills necessary to really understand a place and its people.

What do you think? Do your students know that American students can and do study elsewhere? Are they curious about experiences such as that?

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http://www.ing-usa.com/us/aboutING/CorporateCitizenship/Education/INGUnsungHeroes/index.htm

This program funds small projects (about $2,500) in all 50 states. The most recent call for proposals was just announced Nov. 11, 2008. Perhaps you have an Asia-related program that you'd like to hold (a speaker, a performance, a field trip, a book purchase, or ....)? Please do apply and let us know how it works out.

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Here's a summary of June Tsai's article in Taiwan Journal about this film.

Wei Te-sheng's feature film debut Cape No. 7 was released in August, but is still in theaters. It has already earned US $13.5 million in ticket sales, some 8% of the total box office. It is rare for a film in Taiwan to surpass 3% of the total box office. Wei's Cape No. 7 has outearned Ang Lee's Lust, Caution in Taiwan. In an unprecedented show of respect for the film, even the pirates have elected not to make it available via the web. The film's title refers to a an address in Hengchun, in southernmost Taiwan. A Japanese man loved a woman who lived at the address. Leaving Taiwan at the end of the Pacific War, the man writes seven letters to the woman. He never sends them. After his death, the man's daughter finds the letters and decides to send them. In Hengchun, meanwhile, a town leader is determined to have his stepson lead a band that will open for a visiting Japanese group. The film has moved audiences to laugh and cry. C.S. Stone Shih of Shoochow University argues the film's popularity can largely be attracted to its accurate representation of ordinary life. Wei, the director, is 40 years old and previously worked as an assistant to Edward Yang (1947-2007), one of Taiwan's most acclaimed directors. The film's popularity has stimulated travel to Hengchun.

Tsai's article: http://taiwanjournal.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=46100&CtNode=122

Here are a couple of interesting links about the film:
http://www.culture.tw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=812&Itemid=235

Brian Hu of Asia Pacific Arts has written about the film:
http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/081031/article.asp?parentID=99915

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One of our NCTA partners, the University of Colorado, is offering a wonderful opportunity this summer. You can travel to Japan and visit places that Japan's great Basho visited. The tour is June 28 – July 28, 2009. Applications will eventually be available at: http://www.colorado.edu/cas/BashoTeacherInstitute.html

This trip is funded by the Fulbright-Hays program and is open to secondary teachers of world literature or history; teachers of AP Japanese Language and Culture; as well as university instructors of Japanese.

Please mention you heard about the opportunity via the USCI Asia in My Classroom forum.

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Many teachers are found of haiku and enjoy introducing it to their students. One of our NCTA partners, the University of Colorado, is offering a wonderful opportunity this summer. You can travel to Japan and visit places that Japan's great Basho visited. The tour is June 28 – July 28, 2009. Applications will eventually be available at: http://www.colorado.edu/cas/BashoTeacherInstitute.html

This trip is funded by the Fulbright-Hays program and is open to secondary teachers of world literature or history; teachers of AP Japanese Language and Culture; as well as university instructors of Japanese.

Please mention you heard about the opportunity via the USCI Asia in My Classroom forum.

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One of the participants in this OSU NCTA seminar created a series of lessons utilizing Chinese literature for young adults:
http://ncta.osu.edu/China%20Culture%20and%20Young%20Adult%20Lit%20McBrady.pdf.

Many are already using Red Scarf Girl and Iron and Silk, but I'm not familiar with many of the titles listed (e.g., Colors of the Mountain). It would be great if teachers who have read or used them could comment on using them.

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Korean cinema is leading East Asia these days. You can see many specific film recommendations (JSA and The Way Home are two of my favorites), but at this nearly decade old site you can learn about the history of Korean film and learn about the current industry. It's well organized and offers background readings that are quite handy.

http://www.koreanfilm.org/

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Contemporary Chinese art is hot. Auction prices are rising and the number of exhibitions is growing. This blog includes links to many exhibitions. It isn't updated as often as it could be, but I think that you may find the existing posts and links to exhibitions interesting:

http://www.chinesevisualculture.com/

One of the highlighted galleries trades on the fame of the 798 art district:
http://www.798avantgallery.com/ Click on the artist link to be able to see slides of their work.

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Hi Folks,
Thanks for the posts by Dottie and Susan, please keep them coming. Before starting a new thread, please first see if there is an existing thread that is appropriate to the topic you want to discuss. For example, the role of Asian diplomats in World War II might be taken up in the high school ideas (since that period is taught in high school):
http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/showpost.aspx?PostID=386&PageIndex=5

For photos, etc. of various Buddhist sites, you might post those here in the middle school thread (since the rise and transmission of Buddhism is covered there):
http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/showpost.aspx?PostID=385&PageIndex=12

And you might find this thread on local temples interesting:
http://uschinaforum.usc.edu/showpost.aspx?PostID=7761

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The democratization of South Korea and Taiwan over the past two decades are important and seldom told stories. Both were military dictatorships until the late 1980s and both only became multiparty democracies in the late 1990s.

In South Korea, two former generals turned presidents (Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo) have gone to jail, convicted for treason, mutiny, and corruption. And now in Taiwan, there's the prospect that Chen Shui-bian, the man who broke the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) 50 year hold on political power when he was elected president in 2000, could go to jail. Chen was detained for questioning today. He left the presidency in May 2008.

Some charge this prosecution is politically motivated. Others note that Chen has admitted that payments to his wife were funneled into an overseas account.

We had a symposium on Taiwan's democracy and March 2008 presidential election earlier this year. The article includes links to presentations made at the symposium (including election results, historical data, and examples of print advertising):
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=986

Given the focus last week on the highest ranking cross-strait meeting in 60 years and the focus this week on the arrest of the former president - it would seem a good time to talk with students about Taiwan's struggle to build a democracy and to maintain autonomy while still forging essential economic ties with the mainland.

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It's great to read your response to Chunhyang and your thoughts on how it might be used. Could you say a bit more about the era it is set in and the values it discusses? What does it mean that this story still resonates with Korean (and foreign) audiences. I love the idea of discussing story telling methods with students. Could they utilize this approach in telling their own morality play?

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Hi Shauna,
I'm sorry that I was away and could not attend this session - I'm a bit puzzled though by your posts. Please explain the connections to Japanese literature or the challenges of incorporating it into what you teach. For example, you mention that Lynne Miyake suggested a novel that you'll be recommending to students. Which one was that? On the various Zen and Daoist quotes, those could be tied to elements of Japanese thought and literature, but where and how?

Thanks -
clay

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