Tag Archives: asian-pacific history

James Wong Howe

Posted on May 20, 2026 | Leave a comment

“James Wong Howe originally Wong Tung Jim: (1899-1976) U.S. cinematographer. At age 5 he emigrated with his family to the U.S. He worked in Hollywood from 1917 and became a cameraman for Cecil B. DeMille. He developed innovations in lighting in the 1920s and pioneered the use of the wide-angle lens, deep focus, and the handheld camera. His low-key cinematography is seen in such films as Kings Row (1942), Body and Soul (1947), Picnic (1956), The Rose Tattoo (1955, Academy Award), and Hud (1963, Academy Award).”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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The Weekly Text, 22 May 2026, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Week IV: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Mahjong

Posted on May 20, 2026 | Leave a comment

OK, let’s face (or at least I should) a simple fact: this reading on mahjong and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet are not exactly essential materials.

This board game did arrive in this country from China, so it does have relevance to Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2026. And this relatively short reading is interesting: it notes the game’s popularity among Jewish women (my mother, and her mother, neither of whom was Jewish, played it with their Jewish friends when I was a very little kid) and speculates that this stems from the proximity in tenements of Jewish and Chinese people in American cities.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Tamils

Posted on May 15, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Tamils: People originally of South India who speak the Tamil language. The Tamils have a long history of achievement; sea travel, city life, and commerce seem to have developed early among them. They traded with the ancient Greeks and Romans. They have the oldest cultivated Dravidian language and a rich literary tradition. They are mostly Hindus (the Tamil area of India is a center of traditional Hinduism). In Sri Lanka there are two separate Tamil populations, the Ceylon Tamils and the Indian Tamils. Tensions between the Ceylon Tamils and the Sinhalese Buddhist majority prompted a Tamil guerilla insurgency in the 1980s and 90s. The Tamils number about 57 million, with 3.2 million living in Sri Lanka.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Cultural Literacy: Mount Everest

Posted on May 15, 2026 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on Mount Everest. This is a half-page worksheet with a three-sentence reading and three comprehension questions. A nicely symmetrical inquiry into Mount Everest.

Which is, after all, the tallest peak in the world. The mountain fascinated my crowd in high school, and we all rushed to see The Man Who Skied Down Everest when it arrived in Madison in early 1976. After seeing it, alas, we ridiculed it as an ego-driven mess that would have been better titled The Man Who Fell Down Everest.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Bhakti

Posted on May 15, 2026 | Leave a comment

“bhakti: South Asian devotional movement, particularly in Hinduism, emphasizing the love of the devotee for his or her personal god. In contrast to Advaita, bhakti assumes a dualistic relationship between devotee and deity. Though Vishnu, Shiva, and Shakti (see shakti) all have cults, bhakti characteristically developed a around Vishnu’s incarnations as Rama and Krishna. Practices include reciting the god’s name, singing hymns, wearing his emblem, and making pilgrimages. The fervor of South Indian hymnists in the 7th-10 centuries spread bhakti and inspired much poetry and art. Poets such as Mirabai conceived of the relationship between the worshiper and the god in familiar human terms (e.g. the lover the beloved), while more abstract poets such as Kabir and Nanak portrayed the divinity as singular and ineffable.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Cultural Literacy: Moguls

Posted on May 15, 2026 | Leave a comment

The last time I taught a Global Studies course here in New York City, they were part of the curriculum, so here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Moguls. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of four sentences and three comprehension questions. And even in that brief reading? The editors of The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy manage to explain the Mogul (Mughal) dynasty in India, but also to observe that the word mogul also connotes “…a great personage or magnate.”

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Bhagavata

Posted on May 15, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Bhagavata: Member of the earliest recorded Hindu sect, representing the beginnings of theistic, devotional worship and modern Vaishnavism. The Bhagavata sect originated in the Mathura region c.3rd—2nd century BC and spread through western, northern, and southern India. The faith centers on devotion to a personal god, variously called Vishnu, Krishna, Hari, or Narayana. The Bhagavadgita (1st—2nd century AD) is the earliest exposition of the Bhagavata system, but it central scripture is the Bhagavata Purana. The sect was prominent within Vaishnavism until the 11th century, when bhakti (devotional worship) was revitalized by Ramanuja.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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The Weekly Text, 15 May 2026, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Week III: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Sikhism

Posted on May 15, 2026 | Leave a comment

For the third Friday of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2026, the Weekly Text is this reading on Sikhism along with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Like just about everything I post during themed history months, this article derives from one of the books (the first one, actually) in the Intellectual Devotional series. Basically, these documents are a miniature research assignment.

And, like just about everything you’ll find on this website, these documents are formatted in Microsoft Word for ease of adaptation and other manipulation.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Babylon

Posted on May 8, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Babylon An ancient city in Mesopotamia, first prominent under Hammurabi who made it capital of the kingdom of Babylonia. The city (now in ruins) lay on the Euphrates 55 miles south of present-day Baghdad and was noted for its luxury, its fortifications, and particularly for the ‘Hanging Gardens,’ which were one the Seven Wonders of the World.”

Excerpted from: Wright, Edmund, Ed. The Oxford Desk Encyclopedia of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

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Cultural Literacy: Upanishads

Posted on May 8, 2026 | Leave a comment

Last but not least this morning, here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the Upanishads. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of one sentence and one comprehension question.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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