Readings for Discussions

Here are some readings for upcoming class discussions:

  • November 9th: “The Six Lesson Schoolteacher,” (EDIT: Ooops, there’s a new version of the essay, titled “The Seven Lesson Schoolteacher,” which adds one more point. Please read the newer version, here.) by John Taylor Gatto. I suggest you consider the similarities and differences between American society as discussed in this essay, and Korean society. (For example how it is hakwons, not TV, that fill the traditionally “free” time of children… in other words, more schooling for kids.) And by the way, read the stuff at the top: Gatto is being very sarcastic, not in his claims–he means them–but in pretending through most of the essay that he thinks they’re all good things.
  • November 16th: There will be no reading for this class. We’ll try out a different activity.
  • November 23rd: “Is Internet Censorship Compatible with Democracy?: Legal Restrictions of Online Speech in South Korea” by Eric S. Fish (Yale University Law School), from the Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law. This is a long article at 50 pages, though of course there’s lots of blank space and footnotes. Still, I highly recommend you start reading soon, and finish it well ahead of time, and that you take notes along the way as you read it, regarding which points you wish to discuss. You can download the article from this webpage. I expect you to arrive at class not only ready to discuss specific points in the article, but also the question in the title.
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