Education About Asia: Online Archives

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Columns, Resources

The ASIANetwork: A Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges to Promote Asian Studies

by Marianna McJimsey

In its beginning, the purpose of the ASIANetwork was simple enough. Since the end of the Second World War, contacts with and interest in Asian affairs had burgeoned, and a corre­sponding expansion of positions in higher education insured that Asian Studies would reach into the domain of private liberal arts colleges. The concurrent for­mation of regional associations of liberal arts colleges established the notion that a pooling of resources would expand opportunities for faculty and students ...

Columns

Asian Factoids 1:1

by EAA Editorial Office

Are You Paying Attention? Approximate percentage of time educational researchers estimate 1st and 5th grade Beijing and Chicago students are paying attention to the teacher. BEIJING           CHICAGO 1st grade                  82%           60% 5th grade             82%           55% Approximate percentage lessons in which the teacher did not provide feedback to Beijing and Chicago children concerning their seatwork. BEIJING...

Columns, Resources

The Indiana University Server for East Asian Languages and Cultures

by Jason Lewis

The Indiana University East Asian Studies Center (EASC) has developed a World Wide Web (WWW) server' for students and educators concerned with East Asian studies. Since its creation in 1979, the EASC has sought to make available a variety of information and expertise con­cerning the languages and cultures of China, Japan, and Korea. Thanks to the ex­plosion in the use of the Internet', resources and expertise that were once somewhat confined to libraries and campuses are now available on deman...

Columns, Resources

Bringing China to the High Schools: A Case Study

by Diana Marston-Wood

I am a high school history teacher with an academic background in East Asia Studies. This article will describe the process by which my independent school implemented an interdisciplinary CHinese studies program that began in the fall of 1987. Eight years later, the school offers students four years of Chinese language and courses in Chinese poetry and literature, as well as a two term Chinese history course. This case study of Shady Side Academy's curriculum change process may be useful to high...

Columns, Film Review

Struggle and Success: The African-American Experience in Japan

by James Gillam

Are you a young African-American professional who would like to go to Japan for an extended stay? Are you anxious about how you will be received and how well you will be able to func­tion once you get there? If you answered yes to these ques­tions, then you should watch Regge Life's Struggle and Suc­cess: The African-American Experience in Japan. Struggle and Success is a documentary film that focuses on the experiences of thirteen African-Americans who have lived in Japan for extended pe...

Columns, Resources

Constructing Teen Tokyo: Museums and Teaching About Asia

by Elaine Vukov

Teen Tokyo: Youth and Popular Culture, an exhibition at the Children's Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, represents the coming of age in contemporary Tokyo from the perspective of the teenager. Al­though designed for young Americans, it is instructive for all age groups. For those familiar with Japan, the exhibit evokes customs and manners that may be experi­enced only in Japanese culture. For people who have never visited Japan, the exhibit offers a context to view everyday objects and underst...

Columns, Resources

In a Teacher’s Cyber-Lounge: The Emergence of H-ASIA

by Frank F. Conlon, Steven A. Leibo

Introduction Imagine yourself sitting at your research desk or in front of a class of students con­fronted with an issue with which you are unfamiliar—one that local library re­sources simply do not allow you to ex­plore. Recognizing the dilemma, you walk toward your "cyberspace" Asian Studies teacher's lounge knowing that at any hour of the day or night you will be able to sub­mit a question or concern to professional colleagues all over the world. People rang­ing from graduate students...

Columns, Film Review, Resources

The First Emperor of China

by Ronald L. Higgins

The Videodisc version requires use of a laserdisc player and color monitor. The CD-ROM version requires an appropri­ate personal computer, 13" color monitor, and CD-ROM drive (double-speed recommended). These two programs, especially the CD-ROM version, cover much more information than the title suggests. When supple­mented by lectures or readings, they make excellent single-unit introductions to ancient Chinese civilization for students with little or no previous background in the subject....

Columns, Film Review Essay

Moving the Mountain

by Cindy Hing-Yuk Wong

In this informative and empathetic documentary, the filmmakers follow individual and family history to try to interpret Chinese roles in Canadian history. In many re­spects, this work complements other Chinese-Canadian fictional works like Bone, and Half Moon Cafe. It may also provide context and counter­point for the recent Chinese-Canadian feature-length film, Double Happiness by Mina Shum. Together, these works address the multicultural landscape of contemporary Canada with its ever-growing...

EAA Interview

Teaching the Trade War

by Lucien Ellington, Peter K. Frost

Teaching the Trade War As the table below shows, the United States has an enormous bilateral merchandise trade deficit with Japan. Much of the deficit reflects the fact that the United States tends to export raw materials and a few military goods to Japan. while importing large amounts of manufactured items. The deficit in automobile vehicle parts and engines alone is equal to about 57% of the total U.S.-Japan trade deficit. The deficit is, in turn, equal to roughly 43% of the total U.S. trade ...

Book Review, Columns

The Columbia Project on Asia in the Core Curriculum: Case Studies in the Social Sciences–A Guide for Teaching

by Murray A. Rubinstein

Myron L. Cohen's volume, Case Studies in the Social Sciences: A Guide for Teaching, is the first of three projected volumes published in the series The Columbia Project on Asia in the Core Curriculum. A second volume on literature has also been published, and a third, on history, is in its final stages of preparation. According to Roberta Martin, the Core Curriculum Project Director, the major objective of the editors and writers of these volumes was to"identify themes, texts, and comparative...

Feature Article

Hiroshima, HIROSHIMA, ”Hiroshima,” Hiroshima

by Richard H. Minear

Hiroshima, HIROSHIMA, "Hiroshima" Many of us teach Hiroshima in passing, but few of us devote extended treatment to the topic. It is my thesis that more of us at all levels, but especially the seventh grade through college, should spend more time on Hiroshima, that the time we spend will repay both us and our students. It is my aim to introduce the recent scholarship (the latest 1985 and later) that is transforming our knowledge of Hiroshima and to suggest one way of teaching Hiroshima. Complet...

Feature Article

Historical Inquiry and the Public Memory

by Robert David Johnson

With the the controversy created by the Enola Gay exhibit at the Smithsonian illustrated the deep division between the public memory and prevailing patterns of historical scholarship. New levels of inquiry suggest ways in which those of us who teach about the bomb might try to bridge the gap.

Columns, Film Review Essay

Anatomy of a Springroll

by D.E. Perushek

The winner of a Special Jury Award in the Na­tional Education Film and Video Festival of 1993, Paul Kwan's Anatomy of a Springroll is a collage of im­ages of food linking him with his Vietnamese homeland. Kwan blends reminiscences of his boyhood Saigon home with his perpetuation of it through its food in his northern Califor­nia home. There is much of the surreal and comical here as Kwan interposes elements such as an Asian puppet drama de­picting a cook preparing 100 dishes for a tyrant, an...

Columns, Film Review

Senso Daughters (Senjo no Onnatachi)

by David Desser

Senso Daughters is an ambitious, deceptively complex video that participates in an on-going contro­versy revolving around Japa­nese behavior during the Second World War. While it deals with the so-called "For­gotten War," Japan's brutal and dehumanizing conquest of New Guinea beginning in 1942, it finds its controversial heart in the vexing issue of the "comfort women" used by the Japanese Army to satisfy the sexual needs of its soldiers.

Columns, Resources

Web Gleanings: Japan and the Internet

by Judith S. Ames

It was only a few years ago that the Internet was solely the domain of sci­entists, academics, and others wishing to exchange often arcane information with others in their community. No longer is this so; the Internet, long unknown to the general public, has made inroads into vir­tually every area of our lives, and with the emergence of the World Wide Web, com­merce and industry have begun to take advantage of this powerful form of com­munication. In this context, too, the sites on the Inter...

Feature Article

Enduring Stereotypes About South Asia: All Indian Art Is Religious

by Vidya Dehejia

Whether in the medium of stone, bronze, or clay, images of gods and goddesses, often multi-armed and occasionally multi-headed, dominate the scene. And setting aside Islamic monuments, all other architectural structures are sacred. Hindu and Jain temples exist in vast numbers, while Buddhist monastic establishments are abundant. It is not surprising that the notion is widely held that all Indian art is religious. The notion, however, is but a half-truth.

Book Review, Columns

Comparing Cultures: Readings on Contemporary Japan for American Writers

by Gary DeCoker

Comparing Cultures is no ordinary writing text. It could just as easily be titled Japan: An Introductory Reader. The fifty-plus essays and book excerpts, along with extensive chapter introductions by the editors, make this book an excellent introduction to Japan for advanced high school or early college students. And, as the editors intended, it presents an innovative approach to English composition. The editors divide the book into two parts which total eleven chapters. Each chapter consists...

Feature Article

Cultural Memory and Postmodernism: A Pedagogical Note on Asian Studies

by Thomas Coburn

Traditional historical approaches to the study of Asia, or to parts of Asia, have become increasingly problematic.1 To the long-standing questions that all Asianists face —How can I bring life to what are often for students quiet alien cultural forms? — has been added a cluster of new ones. How can I help students begin to understand the constructed nature of all knowledge, including that of Asia? How can I get the important but often abstruse matters of power, gender, and class into the alr...

Columns, Resources

Media Materials for Education About Japan and Asia

by Jackson Bailey

PART ONE The Earlham College Institute for  Education on Japan The Earlham College Institute for Education on Japan was estab­lished in 1986 to provide ad­ministrative structure for the growing work of the College with K-12 educators, college faculty and students, and business and civic groups in need of information about Japan and other parts of Asia. The Institute and its affiliates provide resources, advice, and consulta­tion to a wide variety of groups and individuals. One of the affil...

New to EAA?

Before viewing the full archives, view Editor’s Choice Articles, handpicked by EAA Editor, Lucien Ellington, which provide a good overview of EAA and introduction for new readers.