WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2011
REGISTER online: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/virtualschool/registration.htm
Presenter: Stacey Irvin
Complete lesson plan on “CHINA: Xinjiang Province” available on Vanderbilt Virtual School website at: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/virtualschool/programs/windowsontheworld/chinaxinjiang.htm
TARGET AUDIENCE: Students in grades 4 - 12
TIME: Two sessions: one at 9:00 AM CENTRAL TIME and one at 10:00 AM CENTRAL TIME
COST: Cost for a videoconference session is $75.
FORMAT: Approximately 45 minutes in length. Format is about 25-30 minutes for the presentation and 15-20 minutes for an interactive question and answer session with the students and presenter.
Xinjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China is located in northwestern China. The geographic position of Xinjiang makes it very important. Xinjiang has a rich cultural history extending back thousands of years. During China's golden age, the T'ang Dynasty (618-907), traders with their wares and religious pilgrims travelled in camel caravans along the ancient and well-known and ancient Silk Road, while now it is an unavoidable part of the railway leading to the second Eurasia Continental Bridge.
Xinjiang Province in far western China is home to numerous people groups: Muslim Turkic groups including the Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Tatars and the Kazakhs, and a few Indo-European Iranic groups, such as the Tajiks and the Sarikolis/Wakhis. Other minority ethnic groups include Hui Chinese, the Mongols, the Russians, the Xibes, and the Manchus. Translation: It’s an amazing dichotomy of people groups, cultures, and languages. Photographing such diversity is wonderful.
Inhabited since early times by nomad tribes, it is an area of rugged mountains and desert basins. Although Xinjiang is predominantly agricultural and pastoral, it has rich mineral resources. The vast oil fields at Kara may (served by both highways and an airline) are among the largest in China, and there are extensive deposits of coal, silver, copper, lead, nitrates, gold, and zinc. The indigenous peoples of Xinjiang practice a variety of cultural traditions.
Come explore this beautiful land and these beautiful people groups with lots of pictures made by photo-journalist and our presenter, Stacey Irwin.
Patsy Partin, M.Ed
Director, Virtual School
Vanderbilt University
2007 Terrace Place
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 322-6384
www.vanderbilt.edu/virtualschool
