Final_Reflective_Essay

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Stockton University *

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MISC

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History

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Oct 30, 2023

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Final Reflective Essay Introduction I took this class initially because I needed a general education course. This class caught my interest because I enjoy learning about different cultures. I usually learn about different cultures by reading articles online, and I saw this course as an opportunity to dive deeper into the history, economy, culture, and politics in East Asia. Going into this course, I had misinformation on East Asia, but through the readings and the videos, I learned otherwise. I learned that East Asia is very diverse, and much more than the big-name countries, like Japan, China, and India. This course has taught me a lot, which is why I enjoyed this class. From Mahbubani’s and Perkin’s books, to the YouTube videos from many different organizations, this course has widened my worldview, especially on Eastern Asia. Summary of Major Topics Many of our initial readings and videos focused on the history if Eastern Asia, which gives plenty of insight as to how Eastern Asia became so diverse. There were multiple trading routes leading through Asia that lead to cultures influencing different areas. This led to a very diverse region, in which multiple cultures live and thrive. We also read about the colonization in this region throughout history. Many European countries colonized parts of Eastern Asia, but it took a while for any of them to gain independence. This course shows later on how these colonizations had some upside.

Many of these countries that finally gained independence, are still developing countries. In these readings, I also learned that these countries took a while to open up their economies to other countries worldwide. A lot of these countries share numerous similarities and experienced plenty of growing pains. These countries were able to help one another through the growing pains and with their experiences, have become very successful countries, that are still developing. This success from these countries coming together has become known as the ASEAN. The reading covered how the ASEAN worked within itself, as well as with other outside countries to create success in East Asia. Much of the readings for this course has focused on the history of East Asia, while the videos covered more of the present. Some of the videos watched in this course covered some issues East Asia currently is facing, including Covid. This pandemic has brought out other issues countries in East Asia are facing. One of the issues they are currently dealing with is an aging population. Many of these countries are attempting to fight this issue, and none seem to be too successful just yet. Another problem some of these countries face is using coal as a power source. This has caused some countries to turn to hydropower as a power source, which has its own issues. China has started using green energy and is the current leader in doing so, and they have the ability to spread this with surrounding countries in East Asia. Key Takeaways and Feelings on the Course

This class has taught me a lot, and has also cleared a lot of things up for me. It was surprising to learn that many countries in East Asia are considered developing countries. I had always thought that countries in this area were already developed. I was focused on the big- named countries like Japan, South Korea, and China, and didn’t really think about some of the other countries in this area that are smaller, but still important to this region. While everyone mainly focuses on the big-name countries, this class taught me about the smaller countries that help make up East Asia, and how different each country in this area is. However, these nations do also have their similarities when it comes to development and economics. This course has helped teach me that because of these differences and similarities, these countries were able to help one another develop. This class has also shown me that America as a nation doesn’t understand East Asia. This lack of knowledge could be because most Americans do not care about world culture, and do not have the desire to learn about it. This is why courses like this are extremely important, courses like this one teach young students about different cultures, and allow them to understand different cultures and areas of the world. This class has also shown me that we should never trust the media, or other people's opinions. Some of the media has tried to paint China as the enemy, and the cause for some worldwide issues, however, that is the furthest from the truth. This course has shown how innovative China is as a country, and how important the country has become for East Asia’s economy, and even the world's economy. While I never formed my own opinion, I still never let what I would see in the media affect my view on

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different countries. While this course has shown me that China is not the enemy, it has also shown me that they aren’t friends either, China and America need to cooperate with one another. China is an important country when looking at worldwide success, and it is important that America stops painting them as an enemy. This class has also shown me the importance of East Asia’s economy, and how strong their economy is. The economy in East Asia is one of the strongest economies, and while the big name countries like China play a major role in that, so do many of the small countries in the region. China is probably one of the biggest manufacturing countries in the world, and has major trading ports all around the country, but is not the only country in this area that manufactures a lot of goods. These small countries, even though they are still developing, have been developing strong trade routes. Many of these small countries account for a lot of goods that are distributed worldwide. These countries developing themselves into strong manufacturing countries helped the worldwide economy thrive. When they are able to make a plethora of goods, then the companies purchasing the goods have plenty of goods to sell to consumers. This also allows these smaller countries to build good relationships with bigger countries worldwide, and has led to the ASEAN. This course has shown me the importance of the ASEAN. The ASEAN is one of the largest organizations and has helped these smaller countries develop. The ASEAN has created great relationships with larger countries around the world, allowing the small countries in this area to develop. This course has taught me that these small

countries that have formed the ASEAN have developed very well so far, and will continue to develop because of their relationship with outside countries. This course has taught me a lot about East Asia, and has opened my eyes to a lot of things. Overall, I was able to learn that East Asia has more developing countries than I had thought. Finally, this course t aught me that East Asia, even while it’s developing, is still an important region to the worldwide economy, and will continue to become an even stronger region.