GHS208-01 Spring 2020 China and the Islamic Middle East

I attended Leila Fadel’s talk about the portrayal of Muslims in the media last night. I was expecting great things because I was interested in the talk not only for this class, but also since I am a journalism major and the assistant news editor for the Collegian, so it was directly relevant to work that I do. This talk opened my eyes even more than I thought that it would. Leila’s experience as a journalist was very relatable, and she understood the struggles that journalists often face, such as the time frame you have to write a story or getting sources to speak to you. She also knew how difficult it is to confine a lifetime’s worth of experiences a person has into a short article or sound bite. For this reason, Leila emphasized getting a variety of different perspectives in news stories not just the same person or asking the same people to speak on the same subjects. She also talked about how words can have a harmful effect even if it is not intended so a journalist has to choose them wisely. She illustrated this point with the words “moderate” and “conservative.” In the context of defining a Muslim person’s religiosity, these can seem like you are saying “not that Muslim, so safe” or “very religious, you might need to worry.” I had never thought about how such simple words can carry deeper meanings. Everything that Leila Fadel talked about is directly applicable to my classwork and my stories for the Collegian. I hope that this knowledge will allow me to take the time to think a little deeper about what I am saying when I write stories, especially about those with different backgrounds from my own.

Chinese culture has traditionally attributed The Great Learning to Confucius, however the overall consensus today is that they were written to closely represent his views and his ways of reasoning.  People now believe Zeng Shen, often called Master Zeng, is the author of these writings.  The Great Learning is the shortest work in the Confucian Canon, and also has a chapter in the Book of Rites.  The assigned reading on the canvas page gives a great description of the Great Learning, and really helped me understand some of the ideas Confucius lived by.  Below I will talk about some of the main points of the Great Learning, and how I feel like they relate to myself and the modern world.

9. Things being investigated, knowledge became complete. Their knowledge being complete, their thoughts were sincere.

This was the one of the parts of The Great Learning that really stuck out to me.  It reminds me of one of the chapters in the Tao Te Ching where it talks about how solving larger problems is accomplished through small tasks.  Similarly, in the above text in order for ones thoughts to be sincere, they must first investigate the topic.  Then once they have investigated, their knowledge on the topic will become more complete and now they are ready for their ideas and thoughts to be sincere and genuine.  I feel like this really relates to me and the current political situation.  Unfortunately, I have not been following the candidates as closely as I would have wanted to as the Presidential election approaches.  When I am around friends and family and they talk politics I usually avoiding giving my voice because I feel like my thoughts aren’t as educated as I would like.  Based of The Great Learning once I investigate and research the candidates more, my knowledge will become more complete.  Then it will be possible to voice my thoughts and allow them to be more sincere and genuine.

15. It never has been the case that what was of great importance has been slightly cared for, and, at the same time, that what was of slight importance has been greatly cared for.

I also really enjoyed this thought from the passage.  It reminds me of the priorities I currently have in my life.  Currently as I prepare to graduate within the next few months my effort and thoughts often revolve around jobs and the future.  However, by doing this am I giving very little thought to some of the smaller things in my life this semester such as leaving my friends and the place I have lived the past few years.  I really enjoyed reading The Great Learning and connecting it to other class material as well as my life.

While doing the assigned readings in the Tao Te Ching there were a few selections that really had an influence on me.  First, was Chapter 7.  Chapter 7 is all about the idea of no self interest.  It talks about how the reason Heaven and Earth can last forever is that they do not exist for themselves.  One direct quote I really liked was, “Place themselves last but end up in front.”  This quote reminded me of a saying my parents would often say to me growing up.  Whenever I would get in trouble or do something wrong they would remind me to always treat others how I would want to be treated.  This just emphasized how important selflessness is in today’s world.  Another Chapter I read with a similar message was Chapter 49.  Chapter 49 was all about not judging people and treating others how you want to be treated.  My favorite quote from this chapter was, “Those who believe, I believe them.  Those who do not believe, I also believe them.”

Another chapter that I felt had a really great message was Chapter 63.  This chapter revolved around the idea of the largest and most difficult problems in the world must be completed in little things.  The chapter states, “Plan difficult tasks through the simplest tasks.  Achieve large tasks through the smallest tasks.”  Growing up my parents always emphasized the importance of setting small goals.  Looking back at it these small goals were just a small part of the overall larger goal my parents had for myself.  I feel like this chapter also relates to current problems going on throughout the world.  For example, with all of the issues with the Coronavirus there will not be one large solution to this epidemic.  It will take many small tasks of washing hands, and disinfecting objects to contain this massive health problem.

I look forward to reading more chapters as the semester progresses and making connections with my life and the world around us.

I attend the Leila Fadel event about the reporting on Muslims In the American Media. This was a very moving talk. She documented much of Indian oppression. She won many awards, one being a Gracie award for a single mother in Tunisia and lost her children to ISIS. She says great journalism captures the moments in time. When she got back from the Middle East, she was writing about oppression and horrific events through communities in the Middle East. Her job now revolves around telling stories about the diversity of her country, but she says that it is overwhelming because this is about a culture that deals with a lot and there is so much to say. She says that Muslims have a bad stereotype when it comes to what people think of them. This is an issue since there is more hate in the U.S. nowadays than there has been in the recent past. She did a six-part series on NPR and national geographic about what it means to be Muslim in today’s society. We then heard a Bosnian girls’ choir and it was very beautiful to hear what they sing. Their parents would tell them they can’t wear a scarf in this society since the stereotypes have gotten so bad.

We listened a podcast from two Muslim women in their twenties about Muslim identity. They use their podcasts to talk about what is most important to them like race, leadership, and equality. They started talking about how they were getting bullied in school because of their religion, which was disgusting about how kids were treating them and what they were saying and writing about them. At a school, people are supposed to feel safe, but at this school, some kids were saying how the Muslim students were dirty and going to bomb the school and they see them as more of animals rather than humans. However, they also explained how Islamic citizens are not the only ones who are marginalized. There are other people who are Jewish or a part of the LGBTQ community who are marginalized. This has been a large issue for as long as I have been alive.

She then explained about how we can’t make a person’s religion and a bad event and take that as a norm. She goes to people’s homes and summer camps and events where they practice and pray and reaches out about certain attacks and how they view the hate and stereotypes they view around the world or view personally. She recited a line that someone said, “post 911 there is more of an effort to demonize Muslims” that people are invalid regarding Muslims identity. She said one of the most shocking questions she was asked was are people going to want to be Muslim in 10 years. Even though it’s shocking it’s an interesting question that people are even going there because the hate is so horrific in society, and how the power of storytelling any be deteriorating. That it is not storytelling, but it can be the voice of one person to display hate and provide facts that can blast an entire community of individuals. She explains that an accurate story and the most powerful stories are those that people will let you into their lives in the times that they hurt from or affect them personally. Overall, it was a very powerful event, and I was very happy I went.

This evening, I attended Leila Fadel’s keynote speech on reporting on the Muslim community in the American media. Leila Fadel is an NPR journalist who reports on stories that pertain to diversity groups in the nation. Many of her stories pertain to Islamic communities in the United States. Fadel was very interesting in her reporting perspective because she was formerly an international correspondent for these diverse community groups and has since come to the United States to write honest stories about the Islamic community groups. It is evident that Fadel is passionate about telling the stories of diverse community groups in the United States. She shares the truth behind the stories that she reports on, which is a truth that many viewers/listeners would not hear without her reporting.

I learned a lot from Fadel sharing some of the stories she has reported. One of the stories that stood out to me was about two sisters that lived in the Bay area and were Muslim. One of the sisters was a 23-year-old teacher. On 9/11, the woman walked into her classroom and it was vandalized with derogatory words like “ISIS” and “terrorist” and other related terms that were very hurtful to the young teacher. She was asked if she wanted to switch schools. She stated, “I am not the problem.” The woman was part of an Islamic community that was praying in a barn because they could not get the community to support their group building a small mosque. The community said they could not build a mosque because of environmental concerns. This young woman’s story demonstrates to me the struggles that those in this community experience. It is easy to overlook the challenges that diverse community groups like this Islamic community and this Islamic woman experience because the vast majority of us in America do not experience the same challenges. However, it is wrong to overlook the issue of what Fadel described as the the demonization of Islam. Fadel’s speech was eye-opening and made me realize there is sometimes a lack of honest coverage for pertinent issues in our society.

On March 2^nd I attended an event where the keynote speaker was Leila Fadel.  Leila works for the NPR as a National Correspondent. Over the years, she has written multiples stories ranging from smugglers in Egypt to the Muslim experience while living within the United States.  Leila has won many awards over the years for her work including in 2017 when she won an award about a story detailing the hardships of a mother and two daughters.

Leila spent a decade in the Middle East covering hardships that people went through.  Within the past few years she moved back to the United States and became a National Correspondent.  Since moving back she has shifted her focus more towards the Muslim American experience within the United States.  She went into detail about the increasing hate crimes within the United States, especially within the past few years with the election of President Trump.  She also showed clips throughout her presentation that had many effects on myself as a listener.  The first clip she showed was a clip of Bosnian girls who live in Chicago singing a song.  She mentioned how many of the girls wanted to assert their identity and wear a traditional scarf.  However, since their parents wanted to protect their children from discrimination they did not allow them to wear the scarfs.  The fact that little girls could not dress how they wanted to just to avoid the possibility of being bullied is a very sad fact that goes on in the United States.  Similarly, she played a clip from an interview with a little boy where he details the bullying he constantly faces in school.  The little boy talked about how kids go up to him and say be careful his watch might be a bomb.  These are huge acts of racism and prejudice that unfortunately go on and many Muslim Americans have to deal with.

The main takeaway from the presentation is although we may think the United States as a nation is all about freedom and equality, we are not.  Unfortunately, there are still large biases within the United States that do not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.  As I move forward in my own life I will try to be more aware of biases that I might have as I attempt to make everyone around me feel equal.

Meteor Garden is a Chinese television series that is on Netflix. The series is about an eighteen-year-old girl, Dong Shancai, who just got into a top university in the country, but she encounters an elite clique of popular students and finds love.

It was interesting to notice the differences of a romantic comedy series that is traditionally American versus this Chinese series. The emphasis on academics is evident from the beginning, which demonstrate the value of academics and academic performance within the Chinese culture. Shancai getting into the premier university is the first important point in the episode. There is a lot of pressure put on her to get into the university and the appropriate department. There is a great celebration for Shancai when she does get accepted into her program. Once at school, Shancai quickly encounters the popular group of boys called F4. In an American series, these male students would likely be portrayed as handsome, athletic, and stereotypically good with the ladies. However, in Meteor Garden, F4 is portrayed as students who are very smart within their respective departments and are talented at the game Bridge. There is still a commonality between Shancai’s love story and one that would be presented in an American series. In the romantic comedy Mean Girls, the elite clique of girls is portrayed as dumb and beautiful. This is a popular American romantic comedy and demonstrates the difference in what Chinese and American viewers want to see and value in their own lives.

Another difference that stood out to me is the difference in how family life was portrayed within Meteor Garden and other American romantic comedy series. Many American families are unconventional in that American society has strayed significantly from the nuclear family household. American series typically portray this trend in family life by mirroring that with the families in the series. In Meteor Garden, Shancai has two parents that are married. She is an only child. Her father provides for the family by working as a logistics manager and her mother stays home and cooks for the family and other friends. Typically, these details would not be shared as explicitly in an American series so soon in the episode. These details were revealed within the first couple minutes of the first episode in Meteor Garden. Shancai still lives with her family while she is at university, which is not traditional for American schooling. In the show Modern Family, this demonstrates the unconventional family structure that is popular in American society today. This draws a stark contrast to the way family life is portrayed in Meteor Garden.

I found the first episode of Meteor Garden interesting and analyzing the differences between an American series and a Chinese series demonstrates some cultural differences between China and America. Many of these differences were drawn from differences in cultural values, many of which we have discussed in class. If you would like to watch Meteor Garden for yourself, you can stream it on Netflix.

Our group continued on from our last meeting learning more about the Lion Dance. We continued to practice how the dance is done, but this time we added a new move to the dance as well as implementing a drum. The drum is designed to carry on the beat and movement of the lion, especially when the lion bows three times. The drum carries the beat and rhythm for the cheerleaders/dancers as well.

This was a fascinating meeting learning more about the Lion Dance. I always enjoy seeing how different cultures celebrate, especially through dance. I am looking forward to learning more about this dance and getting better at it myself.