Salaam Alaikum! Wow, I think this is one of the most productive and enlightening workshop I've attended in a long time. I teach the basics of Islam to my 7th graders, but I was astounded by the wealth of knowledge that was poured over the attendees today!
First off, I never knew that outside of Egypt, China has a higher Muslim population than any other middle eastern country. (Well...considering the population in China, I shouldn't be surprised).
The workshop covered mainly about Muslims in China and India. Here is a list of the general topics the speakers touched or covered:
1. Different groups of Muslims in China
2. Majority and minority ethnic groups in China
3. Globalization and lack of human rights for minority groups in China
4. Muslim and Hindu relation and coexistance in South Asia; diversity and boundaries of South Asia
5. Mistreatment of Muslims in South China; rebellions and massacres
6. (we were taken on a virtual village tour--which was AWESOME!)
7. and finally, we were given some classroom ideas which can be applied with our students
Like I mentioned above, I taught my students about Muslims and Islam in the middle east. I did not even have a concept of Muslims elsewhere--go figure. It just never connected in my mind. From the workshop, I plan to introduce Muslim Chinese and Indian to my students next year. I want to let them see that Muslims aren't all middle easterners. They can look like everybody else.
Professor Dru Gladney really struck my interest when he talked about the Chinese gov't using the Uryghurs as 'scapegoat terrorists' in order to easily occupy their land and easily strike deals with central Asia for oil and other various resources. This would be a great topic for a class discussion about globalization and the good and bad ramifications that comes with expanding--especially with all of the human rights talk that is surrounding China at this moment.
I also plan to use Wesleyan College's virtual village tour to let my students see Indian communities. Professor Peter Gottschalk's demonstration of its use has me excited at seeing the panoramic views of the villages, exploring the culture and lives, and being able to learn about the individual lives of certain villagers. YEAH!
Professor David Atwill's lecture on the derogatory use of Hui (the name of a Muslim group found throughout China) and the Qing's unfair treatment of Muslims was extremely enlightening. He talked about the slaughtering of thousands of Muslims within several days, the massacres and rebellions that aren't found in my college world religion class, and is certainly not in any world history middle school textbook I've come across. I am definitely going to research some more on this. I want to show my students that Muslims were and are also targets of terrorists attacks. I want my students to step away from seeing all Muslims as terrorists, itching to perform suicide bombings or violently denouncing the faith and beliefs of others.
I think that most of all, I would want my students to realize that Muslims are just another group of people in our world and not who the media typically portrays them.[Edit by="ssamel on Jul 27, 11:15:18 AM"]Hi Kami,
If I can, I'll use this as my make up post for a Tuesday I missed. =B[/Edit]
You are here
Islam in Asia: May 5th Workshop
05/05/2007 03:06 PM
#1
Islam in Asia: May 5th Workshop
Although I arrived late and left early the workshop was really good. This was the first time that I attended an actual workshop that was focused on an area that I spent my whole time as a graduate student studying.
If any one is interested in learning more about Islam in China there are a couple of books that could function as an introduction to this topic and let students know that the world is not as black and white as we usually assume.
-Jonathan Lipman(co-editor with S. Harrell), Violence in Chinese Society: Studies in Culture and Counterculutre (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990). --this book gives some really good examples of Qing massacres done in Gansu.
-Michael Dillon, China's Muslims (Images of Asia) (Oxford University Press, 1996),-- this is an Excellent book that introduces the history and the cultural traditions of the various Muslim groups in China. This is a really good book for middle and highschool students because it is filled with pictures and the reading is not so heavy.
good day,
Percy Armando Ortiz
I found the Islam in Asia workshop mind opening
hint).
I never thought of Asia being a large Muslim society, but it indeed is.
I enjoyed all of the presenters and felt i learned much.
I found the idea of identity to be the most interesting to me. I teach a unit on Identity with my students. We discuss what identity is and what makes identity and if your identity can change or be different for different people and places. But now I have a new questions for them, what happens when two of your identities conflicts?
This was the most evident when learning about the 5 pillars of Islam.
Chinese culture tends to be based on a polytheistic belief but Islam is only Allah
Also they are to not eat pork (which is believed to be unclean) and pork is a main staple of the Chinese diet.
Also in the Muslim group, Ugyhur, there is even more identity crisis. Here is a group of people that were not always Chinese and now they are. They were originally East TUrkistan and they have some resentment towards the Chinese, which makes a lot of sense. How would you feel if everything you knew became wrong? Would you fight back? Or be assimilated peacefully? That would be such a hard decision for me, especially because of poverty stricken areas. Not to mention they don't speak Chinese.
On a different note, I enjoyed the Virtual Village. I found that it would be interesting for kids to see how another world lives. Especially because so many of my students only know where they live and that's all. It could really open their eyes to the world.
I also very much appreciated Gary Mukai. It was one thing to listen to all this wonderful and interesting information, but then to take it all and transform it into lesson ideas was wonderful. I have no idea if I would have been able to make all those connections. I especially liked the overarching questions he gave us (and would love a copy of them, hint
It was a very enlightening day
thanks[Edit by="lmonieperalta on May 9, 10:00:31 AM"][/Edit]
The Islam in Asia workshop was a wonderful educational experience.
University of Washington historian David Waugh has written about British machinations in the extreme Western Xinjiang city of Kashgar. Here's his description:
Daniel C. Waugh, Etherton at Kashgar: Rhetoric and Reality in the History of the "Great Game" (Seattle: Bactrian Press, 2007), 76 pp. This is a reassessment of British Intelligence activity and in particular the career of the British Consul P. T. Etherton at Kashgar (Xinjiang) in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Here's the link -- I'd love to hear what you think. The pdf file is 1.8 mb.
http://faculty.washington.edu/dwaugh/ethertonatkashgar2007.pdf
Site contents:
* Introduction 1; * Etherton's Career 3; * The Challenges of Being British Consul in Kashgar 6; * The Origins of the Kashgar Mission 8; * The Consulate's Intelligence and Communications Networks 15; * Confusion in the British Government's Policies Toward the Bolsheviks 24; * Etherton's Intelligence Activity 30; * How Serious Was the Bolshevik Threat? 40; * The Denouement of Etherton's Kashgar Career 50; * Etherton's Book as Political Discourse and Self-Serving Propaganda 55; * Selected Bibliography 68; * Map 72
Incidentally, when I visited Kashgar (Kashi in mandarin) in 1985. Foreigners such as myself were only allowed to stay in a large hotel that had been the Russian consulate there. Across the street was the British consulate. Muslim pilgrims stayed there as they prepared to cross the border to Pakistan and then on to Mecca for the Haj.
I have attached a photo I took back then of Uyghur women in the market.
One of the things that I was disappointing was the lack of information on Islam in China during the seminar. I know that Islam has a long history in Asia and that it is firmly part of the cultural landscape. I think it helps to demystify Islam for Americans when they realize that anyone can be Muslim and that Muslim communities have thrive all over the world.