Kansas NCTA

For great info on future opportunities, follow the pages of Asia for Educators https://www.facebook.com/asiaforeducators/ and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia https://www.facebook.com/NCTAsia.

Dear educators:

Spring is the season not only for new green shoots, but also more opportunities to learn and teach about East Asia. Here’s the latest:

1. APPLY NOW Secondary teachers who teach about East Asia as part of their required curriculum are invited to apply for "Maritime East Asia," an online seminar held June 13-July 21, 2022 by NCTA and Teaching East Asia at the University of Colorado. Topics include early modern geographies and mapping, Zheng He's tribute missions, Imjin War, pirates and other maritime enterprises, and Tokugawa Japan's engagement its neighbors. The seminar consists of five one-week modules, asynchronous and live discussion, and presentations by academic specialists. $200 completion stipend available. Details and application athttps://www.colorado.edu/.../maritimeemea2022flyer.pdf

2. APPLY NOW for the Virtual SPICE Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/fellowship/middle-school-seminars offered in collaboration with NCTA on July 25-28, 12:30-3:00 PM (ET). This institute will feature content lectures and curricular resources on the history and culture of East Asia with a special focus on the Silk Road, ancient Chinese dynasties, and feudal Japan. Successful completion stipend of $200 available. Application at https://stanforduniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cIIwqvVq3qCqpM2.

3. Thursday, April 28, 6 PM (CT): FREE webinar on “Godzilla over the Years: The Changing Landscape of the Godzilla Movies” with former KCTA Director Bill Tsutsui and Harvard professor Alexander Zahlten. Details and registration at https://www.japansocietyboston.org/event-4731214. Also enjoy Dr. Tsutsui’s YouTube video about taking Godzilla to the mall, and to meet his mom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kssRMWVruf4.

Recommended resource: April 16th was the 50th anniversary of the giant panda program at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC. During the historic presidential trip to China in 1972, US First Lady Pat Nixon told Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai she loved pandas. Zhou responded, "I'll give you some." Two months later, the first pair of Chinese giant pandas arrived at the zoo to start "panda diplomacy" which helped China and the US began normalizing relations https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/04/16/giant-pandas-national-zoo-50th-anniversary/. China continues to send pandas throughout the world for this purpose even today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda_diplomacy.

Pandas are a good topic for getting your students interested in China. See the following:
1. (teacher packet grades K-8) from the Toronto Zoomhttps://www.torontozoo.com/EducationAndCamps/Elementary/TeacherResources/Grades%20K-8-%20Giant%20Panda%20Teacher%20Resources%20and%20Activity%20Guide.pdf
2. (lesson plan grades 3-6) https://mass.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/vtl07.la.rv.text.lpsources/compare-and-contrast-information-from-multiple-sources-wolongs-pandas/.
3. (handouts) https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/primary-resource/giant-panda-primary-resource/.
4. (panda curriculum) from the San Diego Zoo https://sdzwildlifeexplorers.org/sites/default/files/curricula/Panda_Trek_curriculum_2017_0.pdf.

Japan Society of Boston - Godzilla over the Years: the Changing Landscape of the Godzilla Movies Japan Society of Boston, Japanese Society, Trips to Japan, Japanese events, Events in Boston, Japanese culture, Japanese art, Japanese music,