Thu 9/29 Race and Social Darwinism

Text under discussion: Michael Weiner, selections from “The Invention of Identity: Race and Nation in Pre-War Japan,” in Frank Dikötter, ed., The Construction of Racial Identities in China and Japan (Hong Kong University Press, 1997) 96, 100-110, 112-117 (total ±17 pages)

Overview:
Today we will be practicing shared facilitation strategies. To do so, we will divide our class into three segments:

• Group preparation. During this time, you will meet with your partners to consider the text through the lens of the topic your group will be responsible for addressing. Rather than present the answer, your goal is to facilitate discussion with and among your peers.
• Facilitation by group 1: How did new racial thinking emerge and become popularized in Japan?
• Facilitation by group 2: What was the impact of new racial thinking for Japan and its East Asian neighbors?

Where to look:

• Within the text itself. Think about how each of the parts of the text relate to one another.
• Text-to-text connections. Relate the arguments to those of another text we have read, or to a reading outside our course.
• Text-to-self connections. Relate to something you have experienced.
• Text-to-world connections. Relate to event locally or globally, past or present. Two particularly helpful places to consider are (a) your own time and community and (b) the particular events and places that are being written about.

What to look for:

• Lack of clarity. Pose a question and attempt to work through it.
• Extension. How might these ideas apply to other contexts that the author has not raised in the passage?
• Inconsistencies or contradictions. Walt Whitman was once charged with inconsistency, to which he answered: “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.” No great thinker is entirely consistent; such is the nature of intellectual exploration. Do you see ways in which some elements of the text pose challenges for others? Why?
• ​Agreement/disagreement. How do you feel about the author’s logic, examples, or conclusions?

Today's notes prepared by Mr. Hall.