zhong guo ren min qi le!

Today in lecture, my professor, the Swedish-accented Cold War expert named Odd repeated these words of Mao Zedong at the Gate of Heaven . . . .and, I actually knew what he was saying (at least the jung guo ren part!) Speaking to the Chinese people and celebrating the Communist victory in 1949 he said, “The Chinese People Have Stood Up!”

Hayley—I’ve got so much good history material for us. You are going to love it. (Better yet, I have a better understanding of how to frame modern Chinese history in the context of our course! Yippeeeeeee.)

I love being a student of history! Have I mentioned how cool the Cold War is??

I’ve just decided to share some of the phrases I wrote down while listening to everyone talk in my session on teaching strategies:

Students driven by concepts of social justice and morality
Grapple with theory & ideology ---- to think about morality and values
Aristotilian response
To what extent was the CRMovement ushered along by the Cold War climate? (strong presence of leftists in Harlem, domestic more than cold war, segregation in WWII)
“Cold War is much more complicated than mere content”
Russian scientist chooses to go to desert to practice science…Russian classmate Yelena, “Did not think it better for his daughter to be in the cultural capital of the country.”
USSR not able to meet the demands of consumerism….Yelena: ”I wanted to buy jeans.”


Books mentioned: Freedom by Eric Foner
Consumer Republic
Lynn Tyler Mae book—women in cold war/domestic cold war
Uncertain Partners by Lewis Xue (Korean war)
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Film: Good Night Lenin
Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears
The Lives of Others
Illusion of Morality
Gentlemen’s Agreement