Category: Race

9/30 First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)

9/30/2016

Complete 5-minute reflection on yesterday's student-led discussion activity.

Step 1: Background

Read the introduction to woodblock prints by John W. Dower. Together, we will consider the following questions:

How would you summarize what we will be looking at today?
What might historians find useful about looking at woodblock prints?
What pitfalls or dangers might these images pose for historians?

Step 2: Visual analysis

Prints for: Group 1; Group 2; Group 3.

Examine the selection of woodblock prints assigned to your group using the following categories:

Context. When was this made? What is the subject matter? What clues are given for a time frame? Consider material objects such as clothing, tools, machines, weapons, architecture, etc.

Characters. Who or what is portrayed here? A person or people? Specific groups? Symbol? What clues are given about who/what they are?

Color. What colors, if any, are used? What role do the colors play in conveying a message about the scene? Do you think they were used just for visual appeal? What is the mood or tone established by these colors?

Composition. Look at the use of space and the layout of figures and activity in the visual. Where is your eye drawn? Is this the main subject? Why do you think so? Is one image bigger than another? Is that to suggest a relationship? What kind of relationship? Is the entire space used? Why or why not? What is in the foreground? The background? Does either suggest importance?

Construction. Someone consciously constructed this image for a purpose. Who do you think made this? Why? For what audience? Who would connect with this image? Who would not?

Step 3: Thematic analysis

After analyzing your woodblock prints, identify at least two or three themes or patterns you see emerging in your set of prints. Be sure to draw evidence from at least three prints to support your claims.

All of your themes should be based on your group’s own set of prints. If needed for further evidence, you may also consult the full set of woodblock prints.

Step 4: Conclusions

Drawing on thematic observations from all three groups, consider how the creators of these woodblock prints aimed to answer the following two questions:

What did it mean to be Japanese and “new” (modern)?
What did it mean to be Chinese and “old” (backward or obsolete)?

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Thu 9/29 Race and Social Darwinism

9/29/2016

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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.

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Thu 9/22: Meiji Education

9/22/2016

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Select notetaker.

Opener

Consider the statements posted around the room. Stand at the station that you think best exemplifies your own philosophy of education:
- A good education instills an appreciation of one’s culture and a love for one’s nation.
- A good education encourages individuals to question authority.
- A good education cultivates economically productive workers.
- A good education helps everyone understand his or her proper place in family and society.

Warm-up discussion:
- Defend why you have chosen this station.
- Consider how it matches to the predominant educational values in the society in which you call home.
- If you were to write a statement like this about Meiji education, what would it say?

Ienaga on Meiji information and education policy

Introduce Ienaga. Further information available:
- His obituary (outside link) printed in The Guardian
- “Textbook Controversy” (outside link) by George Washington University’s Center for Memory and Reconciliation.
Questions for discussion:
- What stood out to you most in this chapter?
- The Meiji period lasted from 1868-1912. Explain the change over time in the state’s approach to (a) ideas and information and (b) education.
  - Note any laws, regulations, or events that seem to mark major turning points.
- Explain how the military came to influence school curriculum.
  - What values did this influence aim to instill?
  - How might these values be similar or different to the education you received?
- What did Japanese schoolchildren learn about China?
  - What might have been the possible outcomes of this type of racialized learning?
- Identify 2-3 passages explaining the author’s conclusions on the results of these policies.
  - How do the author’s views on information and education reflect his broader stance toward politics?
  - Why might one support the author’s conclusions?
  - Why might one reject or complicate the author’s conclusions?

Concluding remarks

If you were responsible for setting the goals of Meiji information and education policy in the years after 1868, what policies would you have pursued? What might have been the advantages and disadvantages of your policies?

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9/30 First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)

Thu 9/29 Race and Social Darwinism

Thu 9/22: Meiji Education

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