Making History Culturally Relevant

In my class I try to always make the history that we are studying culturally relevant to my students. With that being said, we are currently studying East Asian Empires - the East Asian Empires included the following: China (Tang & Song Empires) ; Mongols; and Japanese w/ Samurai. So what way to make things more culturally relevant then thru music. Therefore, I present the Wu-Tang Clan.

Discussion Questions

1. How has Chinese culture influenced the Wu-Tang Clan, according to RZA? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What was the Wu-Tang? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Have you ever thought about how music is influenced by culture? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chinese Art Flourishes During the Song Empire

In class we discussed the relationship that warriors developed with art and how they held the studying of art to a high level of esteem. In this film clip you will see why they did such!

1. As a warrior how might the study of art and nature be beneficial to you? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Have you ever watched Chinese movies with subtitles before? Why not? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. How is your culture different from the cultures that we are learning about in class? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

World History- Mongols

According to historical record this group of ruthless, skilled, and terrorizing people changed the perception of peoples thinking about Asia for many years. Also, the Mongols were able to unite the two continents in regards to trading and promoting the exchange of cultural ideologies. 

1. Why were the Mongols such a feared fighting force? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Have you ever heard of Genghis Khan before watching this video? What are your thoughts of him? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________