History Meets Humanity Youth Conference

Transcription

1 History Meets Humanity Youth Conference The Peace and Harmony Day Youth Conference is designed to educate youth in the Korean & Chinese communities about the history of WWII in Asia. This is a joint effort among the Korean Canadian Cultural Association (KCCA), ALPHA Education & the National Unification Advisory Council Toronto Chapter (NUAC) and Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto (CCCGT). Students will have opportunities to learn the overview of the history of WWII in Asia in plenary session and go into deeper understanding of each atrocities and perspectives in smaller workshops. EDUCATIONAL GOALS Provide multicultural education that reflects the province s diversity. Teaching WWII in Asia is culturally relevant and is aligned with the Ontario Equity and Inclusive education policies. Many students can be engaged and empowered by what they learn. Decentralize Eurocentric history education. World War II in Asia had significant global social, economic, and political impact but has been a marginalized part of WWII history in North America. Even now, there are unresolved Human Rights issues. Foster global citizenship in a changing world. Learning about the Asia-Pacific War will catalyze responsible and active social and civic participation through the notions of tolerance, prejudice, racism, stereotyping, imperialism, and power. DATE: Saturday, September 12, 2015 LOCATION: TIME: WHO: FEE: Korean Canadian Cultural Association (KCCA), 1133 Leslie St 10 am 3 pm High School and University students Free but pre-registration required (Lunch included)

2 DAY SCHEDULE Time Activity 09:00 10:00 am Registration 10:00 10:10 am Greetings from the organizers 10:10 10:25 am Keynote Speaker 10:25 10:55 am The Asian Pacific War History Overview using clips of a documentary Silent Shame 10:55 11:05 am Reflection Activity 11:05 11:15 am Transition to workshop session I 11:15 12:15 pm Session I Workshop A 100 students Workshop B 30 students Workshop C 25 students Workshop D 25 students Workshop E 20 students 12:15 13:00 pm Lunch/Performance 13:00 14:00 pm Session II Workshop A 100 students Workshop B 30 students Workshop C 25 students Workshop D 25 students Workshop E 20 students 14:00 14:10 pm Transition back to the auditorium 14:10 14:30 pm Student reflections 14:30 14:45 pm Q & A with Discussion Panel 14:45 15:00 pm Closing remarks & Opportunities for students and teachers to write evaluation

3 Click here to enter text. Facilitators Tiffany Hsiung is an award winning Toronto based film-maker who is now finalizing her new documentary film Within Every Woman that shows one-on-one interview testimonies of the now ageing Comfort Women: women from China, Philippines and Korea who were kidnapped and forced as teenagers to work in Japan s military brothels during World War II. For more information visit: Flora Chong is ALPHA s Executive Director. She earned her Master degree in Social Justice and Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. In the past ten years, Flora has worked with many survivors, scholars and peace activists in Asia and North America in promoting global awareness of the Asia Pacific War, and has helped spearhead many educational projects that foster critical understanding of social justice and humanity values in the context of the War. She received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for her contributions to the community. Judy Cho, is ALPHA Education s Program Director. She completed her Bachelor degree in Science at Ewha Women s University in Seoul, Korea. She has been working as an educator and advocate of gender equality in Canada more than 10 years. She is also one of the co-founders of NABI Women s Network and worked as a project coordinator for the Free and Empower Me (FEM) project which aims to empower youth by examining historic issues surrounding violence against women, promoting healthy ways for young adults to deal with current issues of violence in our communities. Joy Lee-Ryan is ALPHA Education s program coordinator. She has an educational background in teaching English and Drama through a social justice/anti-oppression framework. Joy has co-created a youth visioning project called The Catalyst Collective where she developed and facilitated workshops for middle school students to understand social injustices and be motivated to engage as active citizens. Donald Woo is a Chinese French-Canadian playwright. He is currently a part of the 2015/2016 Cahoots Hot House (playwriting unit) at Cahoots Theatre as well as being a member of the 2015 Playwrights Unit at Tarragon Theatre. Donald is developing, with fu-gen, Three Years Eight Months ( 三年零八個月 ), a trilogy of plays concerning the Canadian experience in Japan-occupied Hong Kong during World War II.

4 Alissa Wang and Leanne Kim, a Chair and a member of UOT ALPHA Chapter were awarded the University of Toronto's Undergraduate Research Fund in the school year to conduct research at the National Archives in Washington D.C. Their findings include primary sources released recently by the United States relating to the discovery, investigations and cover-up of Japanese war crimes in World War II, in particular those related to biological warfare. They hope to share their findings with other students and encourage further research and analysis on this significant episode of Asian, American and world history. Workshop Descriptions 1) Women and War Her Stories & Art Therapy: Military Sexual Slavery In many cultures, women were and are viewed as inferior to men. They usually suffer the most harm during wartime from severe casualties, sexual violence/mutilation, unwanted pregnancies, STIs, stigmatization, and even discrimination and inequality after the war has ended. Now imagine that all these experiences of survivors of sexual violence have been unknown, denied, and not recognized by their perpetrators. To understand systematic violence against women, students will examine the treatment of women who were forced into the Japanese military sexual slavery system during WWII. Contemporary issues also arise because sexual violence committed by the imperial Japanese army against women during WWII are not taught in Japanese schools. From a global perspective, what is the impact of the denial? What kind of gender-based violence do women face today? How can we raise awareness and prevent gender-based violence? How survivors courageous acts inspire us to be engaged as a global citizen? In the 20 th century, artists and psychologists began to explore how art-making can be utilized as a method of healing, learning, and documentation of progress for those who suffered mentally and emotionally from traumatic experiences. Through this workshop, students will examine the therapeutic function of art as they learn about how survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery have been able to heal mentally and emotionally through art therapy. In the latter half of the workshop, students will get the opportunity to respond to what they have learned during the conference by creating their own works of art to help process feelings and questions. Facilitator: Tiffany Hsuing

5 2) Red Snow: Exploring Peace and Reconciliation through Theatre <Nanking Massacre> In late 1937 and early 1938, over a period of six weeks, Imperial Japanese Army forces brutally murdered 300,000 people including both soldiers and civilians in the Chinese city of Nanking (or Nanjing). The horrific events are known as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking, as between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted. Using an excerpt from the play Red Snow, performer/playwright Diana Tso will facilitate hands-on drama activities for students to explore their voices and stories about crossing borders, power, hatred, war, empowerment, compassion, healing, and reconciliation to initiate dialogue for building bridges between individuals and communities. Red Snow is about a young woman s search for her grandmother s silenced story and the stories of love, pain and loss through three generations of a family affected by the Rape of Nanking in Created by Diana Tso, Theatre educator/performer/playwright, Facilitated by Joy Lee-Ryan, senior project coordinator of ALPHA Education 3) Connection to Canada Canadian POWs What was Canada s involvement in the Pacific theatre of WWII? Students in this workshop will engage in interactive learning activities to discuss and examine Canada s involvement in the Asia- Pacific war by focusing on the Battle of Hong Kong, the struggle of the ethnic minority Canadian troops, Canadian POWs, the internment of the Japanese Canadians at home, and the unsung heros. Through the context of WWII in Asia and a social equity lens, students will reflect on identity, inclusion, and diversity issues. Created by Donald Woo, playwright of Three Years Eight Months 4) The Role of Ethics in Science - Biochemical Weapons and Human Experimentation during WWII in Asia This presentation will give a brief overview of Unit 731, a Japanese biological warfare experimentation facility set up in the northeast region of China, followed by a discussion on the aftermath of the discovery of Unit 731 at the end of the war, particularly the United States' decision to cover up these Japanese atrocities and to grant Unit 731 members immunity from postwar international war crimes trials.

6 Discussion will span from the immediate postwar and early Cold War period to post 1960s era, focusing on circumstances that shaped the American decision to cover up the atrocities. Throughout, important archival documents will be provided to the participants for critical analysis. Scientific research has led to great advances in human health and welfare, but is all scientific studies justifiable and ethical? To explore the role of ethics in science, students will examine the human and chemical experimentations that were conducted by members of the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII. The officers and scientists that committed the atrocities in the name of science in secret facilities like Unit 731 in China were not persecuted at all. Why? What happened to the victims, the site, and all the data collected from the experiments? Learning about wartime biochemical weapons and human experimentation will increase students understanding of ethics and science. Students will learn about the secret atrocities done at Unit 731 and critically think about the impact of unethical human and chemical experimentation. Created by Alissa Wang and Leanne Kim of UOT ALPHA, supervised by Flora Chong, Executive of Director of ALPHA Education 5) Legacy Left Behind Exploring Identity This workshop examines historical events during and post-war history in East Asia, such as Japanese Occupation, Korean War and Political changes in China. We will discuss how our heritage shapes our cultural identity and what kind of stereotypes and prejudice that have been created throughout history. This workshop also explores the dangers that lie within them and modern day issues facing youth. Created and facilitated by Judy Cho, Program Director of ALPHA Education