[clay dube]

Hi Folks,

I propose that we have an additional Saturday session. The first 90 minutes would be for content/trip related matters and three hours would be for web construction efforts. Two Saturdays seem possible:

Feb. 11

Feb. 25

The web session is voluntary, but we'd need all those interested in the study tour to attend the opening meeting. Please vote here for your preference. If they are equally good or bad, please indicate this.

I think we'd meet 9 am - noon, lunch, 12:30-2.

Thanks for weighing in on this.

[clay dube]

Hi Jayme,

In general, using tables allows you to control the formatting, but pages will look different on different computers because of browser and screen differences.

You can get an idea of what your pages will look like by using file | open in your browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, Opera, AOL, MSN Explorer). You can check your links by clicking on them, etc. You should definitely do this before sending me your final effort.

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,

We'll schedule another web session and hopefully have all the computers running Mozilla and keep the projector running.

On submission of your site, you'll give me a disc copy of your site and I'll upload it to the web for you. This is easily done, but because of new security concerns, I can no longer give our teachers direct access to the UCLA website. Please also print out the pages so that I can offer you feedback on them. You'll need to provide print copies and digital files for the curriculum units as well.

On samples:
the lesson plan section of our K-12 site has teacher-prepared materials:

http://www.asia.ucla.edu/lessons.asp

Other sites:
Click on the participant lists for earlier UTLA seminars to see those pages:http://international.ucla.edu/asia/ncta/utla/

Some teachers choose to host their pages elsewhere. Tim Kelly and Caryn Kelly have theirs at:
http://mrkellysclass.net/asian_studies_6th_grade%20folder/index.htmlhttp://mrkellysclass.net/asian_studies.html

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,

Click here to download a copy of our guide to using the forum. A hard copy is included in your seminar reader.

It includes a section on why forums work better than email discussion lists for some tasks, plus information on how to post your ideas and how to respond to others.

A couple of quick notes:
1. Put seminar specific comments/questions in this forum. These include discussions of presentations and your projects.

2. Put more general comments/questions that other teachers would be interested in in the Asia in My Classroom forum or one of the other forums.

3. Rather than starting a new thread (topic) with your post, please try to put your post into an existing thread. This is much easier for readers. So to post something to the film festival thread, go inside that thread and click on the "reply" button. If your subject is different, change the subject line. This will make it easy for readers to scan.

The guide is in "pdf" format. You'll need a copy of the free Acrobat reader (you probably already have it on your computer) to read it. Try clicking on the icon and see what happens. If the file opens, or you are asked if you want to open it using Acrobat, you're all set. If not, you'll need to download and install Acrobat. It's pretty easy to do. Just go to:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Acrobat is handy and works on Windows, Linux, and Mac computers. Because it preserves formatting and is a standard, the US government (e.g., the IRS) uses it to distribute documents.

[clay dube]

This is the schedule. Specific topics and reading assignments will be reviewed at each session.

Thursday, Feb. 2 - 5-8pm
Thursday, Feb. 9 - 5-8pm
Thursday, Feb. 23 - 5-8pm
Thursday, March 9 - 5-8pm
Thursday, April 20 - 5-8pm
Saturday, April 29 - 9am-4pm
Thursday, May 18 - 5-8pm
Saturday, May 13 Islam in China Workshop* - 9am-4pm
Saturday, June 3 - 9am-4pm
Thursday, June 8 - 5-8pm
Thursday, June 15 5-8 pm

*optional workshops held at UCLA, teachers can earn an additional salary point for each.

[Edit by="Clay Dube on Feb 3, 3:16:26 PM"][/Edit]

[clay dube]

A copy of the seminar assignment is included in the seminar reader that you will be provided with. In addition to attendance at and active participation in every session, you are expected to complete three tasks.

1. Exchanging ideas via the discussion forum. Substantative posts are the norm. In evaluating websites (minimum of 5, about 50 words each), provide details on who created the resource, what are its particular strengths and weaknesses, and how might it be used by teachers. In reviewing films (minimum of 1, about 150 words), summarize the story and focus on how teachers could use it to teach about Asia. What issues does it explore? Is it an accurate representation of a particular time and place? In discussing seminar readings or presentations, feel free to raise questions, offer interpretations, and brainstorm on classroom applications for the materials or concepts. For example, how can these primary sources be used to develop student skills?

Remember to post website evaluations and film reviews to the Asia in My Classroom forum. Put seminar-specific posts in this forum. Please put AsiaMedia (http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu) and Asia Pacific Arts (http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu) posts in the appropriate public forum. General discussion of Asia Institute articles or things you see in the newspaper should go in the Asia On My Mind forum.

2. Create a website for use either with your students or your fellow teachers. You may combine this assignment with the curriculum development task. Your website should have a minimum of three different pages. Be sure to check your spelling and grammar and to properly credit your sources of information and images. You may post your website to our web server (your URL will be http://www.asia.ucla.edu/lessons/yourfirstinitialyourlastname -- be sure to name your homepage "index.html") or elsewhere (your school site, your ISP, or on a free website host such as Teacher Web or GeoCities). Please include your email address on the website so that interested colleagues may contact you. You can see what others have done by visiting the lesson plan section of our site (http://www.asia.ucla.edu/asiak12.asp) or by looking at the lists of earlier participants and clicking on their sites (http://www.asia.ucla.edu/ncta/utla).

3. Develop a set of lesson plans covering two - five days. These lessons should be appropriate for the students you have in class everyday. These plans should be fully developed with discussion questions, handouts, vocabulary lists, and so forth. Alternatively, you may write an essay discussing how you will bring ideas and resources from the seminar into your classes and to your colleagues.

Download and print out a copy of the assignment. Try to meet the discussion forum requirement by the end of the year. Start working on your webpages right away (while the techniques are fresh in your mind). And begin thinking about your curriculum project right now. Everything must be satisfactorily completed and submitted by July 31, 2006.

[clay dube]

I just wanted to cheer the two of you for your lively debate, please take on other movies as well. I think the he said, she said back and forth would work with students as well. One could readily offer them multiple reviews of the same film, including reviews with their origins in languages other than English (see Asia Pacific Arts http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu for some of this on Chinese, Korean, and Japanese films).

[clay dube]

Linda's encouraged us to watch the Discovery special on the "man who made china," the first emperor Qin Shi huang. Some might enjoy Jaime FlorCruz's Time article about the discovery of the Qin tomb in 1974:

http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/99/0927/xian.html

This article was part of the magazine's marking of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

There's been some scrambling for credit for the discovery, in part motivated by the possibility of earning some autographing money. Here's a link to a 2003 People's Daily article on the matter:

http://english.people.com.cn/200312/14/eng20031214_130377.shtml

[Please note that to insert hot or clickable links, you just need to click on the LINK icon in the message editing area.]

[clay dube]

I also appreciated the article on Jerry Moses's return to Shanghai. The Skirball Center in LA has offered a variety of programs on Jews in China. Many of these have focused on the Jews of Kaifeng, a community that emerged as part of the silk road exchange.

A website devoted to the Jews who ended up in Shanghai (note that many fled Russia during the Russian civil war of 1919-21, settling in Harbin, Tianjin and other northern Chinese cities as well) can be seen at:

http://www.chinajewish.org/

One article about the Jews of Kaifeng can be seen at: http://www.sino-judaic.org/kaifeng.html

[clay dube]

Edessa heard Greg Veeck (W. Michigan University) speak on efforts to address environmental concerns in China. His talk included discussion of popular demands for clean food and so on. I hope she'll try to summarize some of his key points.

(I wasn't at the talk, but know Veeck's work and appreciate his humor.)

Veeck is generally optimistic over China's ability to address its environmental challenges. He's also sensitive to the fact that our own governments are not always as responsive as they might be to such hazards.

Other observers are not so optimistic. Elizabeth Economy has written The River Runs Black about some of China's environmental woes. An essay she wrote for the "The Globalist" can be read at:

http://www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/printStoryId.aspx?StoryId=3948

The "Asia on My Mind" forum is a great place to discuss these questions. To focus on the teaching questions/opportunities associated with economic development, environmental protection, and so on, please head to the "Asia in My Classroom" forum.

[clay dube]

Jung Chang, best known for Wild Swans and her husband Jon Halliday, best known as a historian of Russia, have produced Mao: The Unknown Story which has stimulated an enormous discussion in Chinese studies and dozens of reviews in newspapers, magazines, and journals. It follows two other recent biographies of the Chinese leader by noted historian Jonathan Spence (Amazon listing) and Philip Short (Burns review in NY Times, free registration required), but also draws most extensively on archival evidence not previously available. It is a sweeping story of modern China, devoting considerable energy to challenging nearly any positive depiction of Mao. Some of what is discussed has been previously suggested by Mao intimates such as his physician Li Zhisui (Amazon listing).

[BTW - links to Amazon shouldn't be seen as an endorsement over other booksellers, simply recognition of it as a convenient info source.]

Here are some links to opinions/interviews regarding the Chang/Halliday book:

NY Times review by Kristof
NY Times review by Kakutani

Guardian review by Yahuda

London Review of Books review by Nathan

Amazon, includes brief interview

Powells, includes snippets of print reviews of the book

Defending China's national sovereignty, progress in improving rural living standards, extending education and health care? These are some of the points Mao's proponents and many of his critics would note about his rule. His detractors and others would also note his capriciousness, his disasterous economic policies, and the devastating political movements he launched.

How are we to teach about controversial figures such as Mao? Might it be useful to expose students to snippets from various biographies about the same event/decision/characteristic? Might we also clip depictions from various points in time (e.g., Mao in Time in 1960, 1972, 2000)? This would certainly stimulate discussion about how new information and experiences generate new points of view.

Incidentally, Mao was included in Time's 100 People of the Century issue:
Time 100 The entry was written by Yale's Spence.

Let's keep this discussion alive and broaden it to discuss other figures from recent Asian history.

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,
The article Karen mentions can be read at

http://www.asia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=33917

The UN Development Program has a useful "You and AIDS" website:

http://www.youandaids.org/Asia%20Pacific%20at%20a%20Glance/China/index.asp

And there's a dedicated UNAIDS website:

http://www.unchina.org/unaids/eus.html

The Chinese government's website on AIDS is at

http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/aids/112999.htm

[clay dube]

Tricia's observation about the politicization of the teaching of the past has merit. At the same time, as the Christian Science Monitor today pointed out, some textbooks are plagued with serious errors. According to the reporter, one described Hindi as using Arabic script. Here's the article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0124/p01s03-wosc.html?s=hns

[clay dube]

The article attached below (click on the icon) has a good list of things to do before travelling, especially travelling overseas. It's from the 1/22/06 issue of the LA Times.

[clay dube]

Click on the icon below to see an article from the LA Times (1/22/06) on getting a passport.

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