TEA News

The Center for Asian Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder

Program Highlights Upcoming Opportunities NCTA Seminars Resources	Program Highlights
	Teachers Visualized Japan at the 2007 Summer Institute
	Twenty teachers from around the United States ventured to Boulder in July to participate in TEA's Summer Insitute titled Visualizing Japan: Teaching Japanese History through the Arts. The institute was the 23rd summer institute conducted by TEA and 13th in the series on Japanese History. It was supported by the Freeman Foundation and the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.	Christina Gentile (NY), Joan Brylski (WI), and Jim Rees (AR).
	The institute examined five periods in Japanese history through case studies of art forms that were emblematic of each period. The five periods that framed our study were Heian, Medieval, Tokugawa, Meiji, and Contemporary Japan. Participants studied with scholars and practitioners, examining specific art forms as historic texts that reflect trends and developments at times and places in Japanese history. Scholars who led sessions at the institute were from CU as well as other institutitions and universities. Anne Nishimura Morse, the Curator of Japanese Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, led several sessions including "A Tale of Two Cities, Images of Political and Cultural Authority in Kyoto and Edo." Bill Tsutsui, a professor in the Department of History at the University of Kansas, conducted a session titled "Gozilla and Postwar Japanese Culture." Designed for social studies, literature, and art teachers, the institute touched on major questions and content from the National Standards for World History.
	NCTA Study Tour to China
	NCTA Study Tour 2007.	How can we analyze and also teach about the sweeping political, economic, and social changes in China today? That was the challenge for National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) seminar alumni who participated in this year’s NCTA study tour to China through the University of Colorado, an NCTA national coordinating site.
	Seventeen secondary educators from California, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, Nebraska, and Virginia studied in Beijing, Changchun, Xi’an, and Shanghai from June 25 to July 15, working with University of Colorado faculty Timothy Weston, professor of Chinese history, and Timothy Oakes, professor of geography, and NCTA project staff. Teachers visited schools and homes in several cities and met with economic planners, university faculty, artists, and author Yu Hua. They also had homestays in Shanghai with middle and high school students and their families. One of the biggest concerns teachers voiced was how to teach about China’s political and economic systems--systems that defy easy categorization or the label of communist. We also looked at the Olympics as a benchmark of progress and world acceptance for China, with the promises and challenges the world spotlight holds for China as an Olympic host. The study tour group will meet again in September to discuss lesson ideas and ways to disseminate the information they have gained to other educators.
	Exploring Japan through Children’s Literature
	For the second year running, TEA is conducting an elementary-specific study tour and professional development program entitled Texts and Contexts: Japan through Children’s Literature. This year eleven elementary teachers from private and public schools in Colorado were selected to participate in this Colorado Consortium for Teaching East Asia (CCTEA) program.	CCTEA 2007 at Imperial Palace in Kyoto.
	Led by TEA Japan Project Coordinator, Catherine Higbee Ishida; David Henry, an Assistant Professor at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks; and TEA’s elementary programs assistant, Leena Sickler, the group traveled to Japan, June 21 through July 9, 2007. Five Japanese cities and their surrounding areas served as classrooms for the teachers to explore Japanese culture and history and the setting and background of that city’s featured children’s literature. Highlights of this year’s study tour included: Small-group visits to the settings of three true stories of Tokyo: Faithful Elephants, Chibi, and Hachiko; Learning about religions of Japan with Professor Charlotte Eubanks and through a temple over-night in Kyoto; Meeting with an atomic bomb survivor in Hiroshima; An individual homestay with families in Colorado’s sister-prefecture of Yamagata; Participating in the Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka-city in Kanagawa prefecture; Visiting three elementary schools in Otsu, Yamagata, and Kawasaki cities. During the study tour and the weeks of summer following it, the CCTEA teachers collaboratived to develop lesson plans to teach about Japan based on the featured children’s literature texts. The group will reconvene for three days in September and October to debrief their experiences in Japan, revise lesson plans, and consider instructional change and program requirements for the 2007-2008 school year.
	Upcoming Opportunities
	Sept. 17: Teacher Workshop Series Kickoff: China's Transformations on the Eve of the Olympics. 4:30-7:30 pm at the University of Colorado at Boulder. More information and registration. Sept. 20: Arts of Asia for the Classroom Series: Japanese Tea Ceremony. 4:30-7:30 pm at the University of Colorado at Boulder. More information and registration. Sept. 27: Performance 2007 Japanese Dance and Music. 7:30 pm at The Grusin Music Hall at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Open to the public and free admission. Contact Shimizu@Colorado.edu. Sept. 30: Performance 2007 Japanese Dance and Music. 6:30 pm at The Denver Buddhist Temple. Open to the public and free admission. Contact Shimizu@Colorado.edu. Oct. 15: (application deadline) Fulbright Teacher Exchange program. For program information and application, visit http://www.fulbrightexchanges.org/. Nov. 30 - Dec. 2: NCSS Conference registration is now open for the 2007 NCSS in San Diego. For conference information and registration, visit http://www.ncss.org/. Asia-related Sessions at NCSS 2007 Annual Conference Courtesy of the NCSS ASIA Community Group and National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) Friday, November 30 10:15-11:15 am Beijing Welcomes the World: Teaching about the Issues and Impacts of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Jon Zeljo, Karla Loveall and Harris Payne, Program for Teaching East Asia (#272) Room 31C. 10:15-11:15 am Recording the Past: The Lost Generations of China and Cambodia, Tikka Sears, Southeast Asia Center, University of Washington; Mary Cingcade, East Asia Resource Center, University of Washington; and Sarah Lin Bhatia, East Asia Resource Center, University of Washington (#790) Room 26A. 3:45-4:45 pm Resources for Teaching about Migration in Asia, Catherine Ishida, Program for Teaching East Asia, University of Colorado; Gary Mukai, Stanford Program for Cross-Cultural and International Education, Stanford University; Lucien Ellington, Education About Asia; and Sheila Onuska, International Education Consortium at Cooperating School Districts [Sponsored by the ASIA Community (formerly SIG)] (#449) Room 28D. 5:00-6:00 pm Movement in the Mountains: Culture and Conflict in the Himalayas, Kelly McKee and Chris Bryant, Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest, Illinois (#280) Room 31B. Saturday, December 1 7:00-8:00 am ASIA Community (formerly Asia SIG) Breakfast and Business Meeting, Room 22. 8:00-9:00 am ASIA Community Teaching about Asia Curriculum Demonstrations, Room 22. 9:15-10:15 am Bridging China’s Great Wall (of Censorship), Sarah Lin Bhatia, East Asia Resource Center, University of Washington; and Alice Finch, National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (#777) Room 30C. 4:00-5:00 pm Crossing Cultures and Bridging Curricula through Children’s Literature, Catherine Ishida, Program for Teaching East Asia, University of Colorado, (#452) Room 31A. 5:15-6:15 pm Innovative Approaches to Teaching about Japan, Vicki Gonterman, chair, with other Elgin Heinz awardees presenting [Sponsored by United States-Japan Foundation] (#277) Room 27B. Check out the Center for Asian Studies' Events page for more opportunities, performances, films, and lectures on Asia!
	NCTA Seminars
	Join an NCTA 30-hour professional development seminar in your area, offered through the NCTA national coordinating site at Teaching East Asia, University of Colorado. Currently scheduled seminar locations include (titles in red are linked to more information): Fall 2007 University of Wisconsin at Madison; beginning September 8, 2007 University of Iowa at University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls; beginning September 8, 2007 Omaha-Lincoln, Nebraska; beginning September 11, 2007 Colorado Springs, Colorado; beginning mid-October Merced City School District, California; beginning September 20, 2007 Winter 2008: Adams 12/North Denver Suburbs, Colorado; beginning January 2008 Jefferson County/West Denver Suburbs; beginning January 2008 Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; beginning January 2008 Quad Cities of Iowa/Illinois at Augustana College; beginning January 2008 St Louis, Missouri at the International Education Consortium; beginning January 2008 Ongoing information available at: http://www.colorado.edu/CAS/TEA/nctasites.html
	Resources
The Program for Teaching East Asia University of Colorado at Boulder 595 UCB Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 735-5122	Check out Behind the Bamboo Curtain, a great site from ESPN about China's preparations for the 2008 Olympics and how they are presenting themselves (and what they hope to hide) from the world. TEA's Curriculum Resource Center offers teachers throughout the western U.S. access to a wealth of classroom resources. Print and audio-visual materials are available for two-week loan; artifact trunks for one-week rental. The resource center is open by appointment, and staff are available by phone to assist teachers, during regular business hours. Latest additions to the center include: Chikanobu: Modernity and Nostalgia in Japanese Prints, Brian Coats (Folk Art/Art) China's Brave New World and Other Tales for Global Times, Jeffrey Wasserstrom (Contemporary Issues) My Reality: Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation (Folk Art/Art) Peking Opera, Xu Chengbei (Culture) Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan, Karl Friday (History)
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