Author: bmangum

On Tuesday, I attended the Reproductive Ethics in the Middle East webinar event and I definitely learned a lot about how things are changing in this area of the world regarding reproductive technologies, including the ethical and political implications of these new advancements have. Some religious and secular groups in the Middle East do embrace… Continue reading Reproductive Ethics in the Middle East webinar event reflection

When reading the assigned Suras, specifically the Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation, I found it interesting that it began by noting that it is the duty of every Muslim to read and understand the Quran, as well as to instruct others and share it with them. I think this reveals how central the Quran is to… Continue reading Reflection on assigned suras

In Ibn Ishaq’s excerpt and Fred Donner’s “Muhammad and the Believers’ Movement,” we learn that Muhammad starts off as a merchant and is largely viewed as a trustworthy individual. While this may not necessarily be true, we do get the sense that he is someone that is respected. I also found it interesting that Muhammad… Continue reading Ibn Ishaq’s excerpt and Fred Donner’s “Muhammad and the Believers’ Movement” Reflection

I thought our comparison of Christianity and Islam was an interesting discussion…In the Ibn Ishaq excerpt and in Fred Donner’s “Muhammad and the Believers’ Movement,” it is clear that God in Islam and the Quran are central, as well as the fact that Muhammad is viewed as the messenger sent by God. When contrasting the… Continue reading Christianity vs. Islam Reflection

In Ch’en Tu-hsiu’s “The Way of Confucius and Modern Life,” something I found especially interesting was how the traditional Confucian ideals of women’s participation in politics and society compared with those of modern life. The text emphasized the idea that the movement of women’s participation in politics is also an important element of a woman’s… Continue reading “The Way of Confucius and Modern Life” Reflection

In Fairbank & Goldman’s book China: A New History, the origins of the Chinese Communist Party is discussed and at the beginning of the passage, the text states that the May Fourth intellectuals who were in search of new state power divided themselves into two groups: the first were academics who concentrated as scholars, and… Continue reading Fairbank & Goldman Reflection

In an excerpt from Sources of Chinese Tradition, “On the Study of Humanity” by T’an Ssu-T’ung draws on elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Christianity and one of the elements that is focused on in this text is the Confucian idea of jen. The concept of jen in Confucianism is tat of goodness and benevolence, and… Continue reading “On the Study of Humanity” Reflection

In Ha Jin’s short story, “Saboteur,” Mr. Chiu, a university professor, and his wife are finishing up their honeymoon. Afterward, their plan is to return to home and because Mr. Chiu is afraid of relapse of acute hepatitis, he looks forward to going home. When a police officer throws tea on Mr. Chiu during their… Continue reading “Saboteur” and “Bad Joke” Reflections

Reading Ha Jin’s short story “An Official Reply” was especially interesting as a college student because it brought up the idea of not being able to choose your own major, even when applying for the major that you wanted. This lack of individualism and being forced to follow a certain career path could also have… Continue reading “An Official Reply” and “Woman from New York” in-class reflections

The Debate on Salt
 and Iron recounts the controversy over the government monopolies created over the production of iron salt and liquor. While these fiscal policies aimed to maintain a constant level of prices and create profits for the government, there was now less profit for private entrepreneurs which caused a lot of conflicting opinions.… Continue reading The Debate on Salt and Iron in-class reflection