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Summer 2026

Layers of History and Identity: Summer Study in Taiwan. June 21 - July 5, 2026 in Taiwan. During these two weeks, 14 participants will learn about Taiwan’s history and culture while visiting multiple cities and sites. Application is open to full-time, in-service K-12 NCTA teacher-alumni nationwide. Applicants must have completed at least 20 hours of NCTA programming. Details and application. 

East Asian Under Mongol Dominance: Subjects, Allies & Adversaries. July 2026, dates TBD in January. Six-day summer institute on the CU Boulder campus examining how the Mongols dominance impacted China, Japan, and Korea in different ways in the 13th and 14th centuries. Details and application coming in                                     January. 

Winter/Spring 2026 - In-person Workshop

Teaching Biography through East Asian Picturebooks. March 28, 8:00 am - 3:30 pm, Tucson, Arizona. Explore the possibilities of biography while learning about the lives of interesting and famous people in East Asia, past and present. Consider six picture books that accurately feature China, Japan, and Korea to enhance your integrated social studies and literacy curriculum, as well as students' development of written and visual literacy skills. Details and application.

Winter/Spring 2026 - Online Courses

Modern Korea: Science, Science Fiction, State & Society. January 8 - February 25.  How has science and technology altered modern Korean society and states? How has science and technology influenced Korean people’s speculative narratives of the future? What messages do sf literary voices convey about Korean history, society and realities? This course will consider these questions of technology, economy, ideology, society, and culture from a humanities lens using primary and secondary sources.  Details and application. 

China's Space Dream: Teaching China's Space Program. January 26 - February 22. This three-week online course explores China's fast-moving space program - past, present, and future - and its impact on science, Global power, and space exploration. Details and application. 

Teaching Biography Through East Asian Picturebooks: Korea and Japan. January 27 - March 16. This course for K-8 teachers explores four picturebook biographies that share the lives and experiences of Korean and Japanese individuals. Teachers will gain broader understandings about Korean and Japanese history, society, and culture and discuss the use of these titles in integrated social studies and literacy classroom instruction. Details and application. 

Film in the Classroom: China. January 29 - February 25. Examine how three films portray historical periods in Chinese history and showcase how families and individuals navigate complex and challenging political times. Details and application. 

Film in the Classroom: What's Korean about K-Pop Demon Hunters? March 27 - April 9. What is Korean about Netflix’s most-watched animated original film, K-Pop Demon Hunters which has earned five Grammy nominations and the adoration of your students? Join NCTA at TEA to learn about the contexts of Korean popular music and fandom, traditional and contemporar y Korean culture, Korean history and geography, and the Korean diaspora in the creation and content of the film. Details and application. 

Winter/Spring 2026 - Webinars

The House Before Falling into the Sea with Author Ann Suk Wang and Illustrator Hanna Cha. February 10, 7 pm ET. Join us for this webinar that will examine how in this partial biography, Wang’s words and Cha’s mixed-media art together gently tell the Suk family’s story taking in refugees during the Korean War at their home in Busan. Details and application.

Learning Behind Barbed Wire: A Look at Schools in a Japanese American Incarceration Camp during World War II. February 12, 7pm ET. Explore K-12 education at Amache - one of the 10 Japanese American Incarceration Camps during World War II. This will provide educators a look into the school structure and daily lives of K-12 students, as well as the reciprocal impact of Amache schools and the community inside and outside the camp. Details and application. 

Free Spirits: Katsushika Ōi and Her Father Hokusai. February 25, 7 pm ET. What is the story behind the story of Hokusai's Daughter by Sunny Seki? Learn about the real Katsishika Ōi, her relationship with her father Hokusai, and their free spirited lifestyles and art in Edo, Japan of the early 19th century. Details and registration. 

Understanding the 228 Incident: A Turning Point in Taiwan's History. February 26, 7 pm ET. Learn about the 1947 228 Incident that was sparked by tensions over corruption, economic hardship, and abuses of power by the Kuomintang. The event marked the beginning of decades of political repression known as the White Terror and remains a pivotal moment in Taiwan's struggle for justice, democracy and historical recognition. Details and application.

Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains with author Anita Yasuda. March 3, 7 pm ET. Kick-off women's history month with Anita Yasuda, author of this picturebook biography of Junko Tabei, a Japanese mountaineer and environmentalist, who overcame gender stereotypes to become the first woman to summit Mt. Everest and the Seven Summits. Details and application. 

Fall 2025 - Webinars

Art in the Classroom: Korea. September 25, October 9, November 6, November 20, and December 2, 7:00 - 8:00 pm ET. Explore the deeper significance of objects from across Korea in this webinar series, where we examine their creation, imagery, and broader historical context. Join one or all sessions to discover how these objects can enrich classroom discussions and lessons. Register for one or more.                                 Details and Registration

Resources from TEA

TEA's NCTA Video Project. TEA's NCTA "Short Takes" is a collection of 40 video lectures designed for use by classroom teachers as professional background or classroom use. Each video focuses on a timely topic or “best practice” presented by an NCTA consulting scholar, seminar leader, teacher alum, or author.

• Take a “quick course” on a current topic you can integrate into your teaching.
• Choose a video to show in class.
• See how NCTA alumni are using new resources successfully.
• Hear what authors have to say about using their new books in the classroom.

Access the complete collection.

Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 in China and the U.S. through Literature and Writing is a 2020-2021 special project undertaken by TEA with funding from the Universty of Colorado Office of Engagement and Outreach and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA). The project worked with ten secondary teachers to introduce them and their students to the book Wuhan Diaries: Dispatches from a Quarantined City, by the Chinese author Fang Fang. Students then wrote diary and journal entries recording their own experiences processing their year during the COVID pandemic. Their moving personal accounts link their personal experiences to experiences in China and globally.  Visit our project page for more information on the project and selected student writings.

Resources and Strategies for Teaching about Asian America and Responding to Anti-Asian Racism. Educators have a critical role to play in teaching about Asian America and, now more than ever, educating to combat anti-Asian racism and all forms of racism.  Developed for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, May 2021, this TEA-NCTA resource offers educators a selective "toolkit" to address these goals during the May 2021 Awarness month and every day.