My name is Yueqin Chao, you can call me King or King Chao instead of full name. I am an Asian Study Major History minor Junior student who interested in the 19th century China History. Because I think that period of time was a period of revolution and changes, and to understand the modern Chinese society we should first know about that period of history. I choose this class because I think this will be very helpful for me to researching the poster and propaganda during Mao Years, how to analyze it within and without the political ideas, which might be my senior research.
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Hi! I’m Alicia, and I’m a first year. I am from Queens. I am super interested in Chemistry and want to learn more on environmental studies and ornithology, but my major is undeclared. I am very excited about this course! I love learning about art and want to know more about its history and the role it played in the history of Chinese Communism. I enjoy studying how art and media effect the state quo, but also react to and depict it. I can’t wait to learn about the social movements and activism illustrated throughout art this term!
Hello, my name is Joe McDonagh. I am a senior electrical engineer who plans on graduating this June if all goes well this spring term! I live on Long Island and love to play sports. After graduation I hopefully will find a job and begin my engineering career. I took this class to fill a requirement, however this course in particular was of interest to me because I believe it would give me an opportunity to learn something new before graduating. Looking forward to a fantastic last spring term here at Union !
Hi, my name is Lydia and I am a junior philosophy major with a minor in art history. I am new to Union this year, and I transferred from McGill University. I am from New York City, and I went to LaGuardia high school where I was an art major. I spend most of my free time practicing art, and I am also involved with the Mandeville Gallery as a student docent. McGill had a really terrible art history department (in my opinion) and no visual art department at all, so I feel very grateful to be here 🙂 I am particularly excited to take my art history studies outside of the western canon in this class. Included is a picture of me that my very sweet brother took.
Hello, my name is Aram and I am a senior at Union College majoring in Art History and Visual Arts. I am originally from Winchester, Massachusetts. After graduation, I will be studying for a master’s degree in Industrial and Product Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. I am taking this class because I am interested in understanding the way propaganda was integrated into people’s daily lives within Communist China. I am also interested in understanding the ways Propaganda as a strategy developed before the integration of technology.
Hi! My name is Elaine. I am a first year here at Union College. My hometown is Malden, Massachusetts. I don’t have a declared major yet, but I love learning about costume design and historical fashion. My interest in historical art was one of the main reasons why I’m intrigued to learn about how an entire country’s image was so controlled and calculated, given that art is used to express oneself freely. There are also a lot of people that I know who also grew up in Communist China as well, so I wanted to learn about how they lived when they were my age and how they saw the world through that perspective.
My name is Gavin Bibbins. I am a senior and an Asian Studies and Visual Arts ID major and a Psych minor. After graduation I hope to work in 3d animation or computer graphics, digital art is my specialty. Through my study of East Asia I found a love for philosophy in how it permeates the entire being of a society. I believe that with all cultures, values and ways of thinking are imbedded in art and culture, so to best understand the philosophy and art of a culture one should study both. By studying the history of a place through its art one can peer inside the mind of its creator and audience and better grasp the socio-political climate of the time. As viewers we also have to understand that we are never separate from the art and the circumstances in which it was created. These events will continue to shape how we live and exist in the world.
Hey! I am Camilo, I am a Psychology and Chinese ID junior. I love traveling to China! I want to work in an international setting, I have an interest in language learning and I plan on integrating both of these aspects into a successful career in business/consulting . I think art is often overlooked when considering powerful influences for our past. I am interested in this course because I want to gain more background knowledge on Chinas culture and also be able to asses art under a more analytical lens. In doing this I hope to be more knowledgeable about the country and its portrayal of communism. My Chinese name is 慕容轩
My name is Paxton Ouellette and I am a current senior at Union College, with majors in both history and political science. Although a majority of my work tends to focus on the United States, I have been able to incorporate Asian studies as well, particularly with how the American government had reacted to Communism in Asia during the twentieth century and how that influenced United States-Asia relations following the end of the Second World War (1939-1945). My history thesis discusses the changing views of the Japanese by Americans throughout the twentieth century, which was allowed by understanding that Japan was a student of the West, requiring discipline when the nation acted in ways that were not expected (such as was the case in the 1940s and 1980s). In order to discuss this, I will be using mass media such as political cartoons, songs, newspapers, and films to better understand these changes in opinions towards the Japanese. Following my graduation from Union in June, I am excited to attend law school in our nation’s capital at George Washington University where I plan to study constitutional law.
Hi everyone, I’m from China, Jiangsu Province, Changzhou city. I’m currently a senior, majoring in computer science and mathematics. During the pandemic, I was back home in China. 13 hours time difference was such a painful experience. It’s so nice to be back at the campus to continue with my undergraduate journey.
In this class, I would love to learn more about China’s modern history and arts. I think modern China is full of darkness, struggle, and pain. But at the same time, modern China is also an important turning point for China, standing on the world stage. This special era helped China grow, refresh, and learn from others, instead of just being complacent about the past and escaping from reality. I would also love to improve my writing, observation, and critical thinking skills from this class.
Nice to meet you all!
