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Welcome to the Program for Teaching East Asia
The Program for Teaching East Asia (TEA) at the Center for Asian Studies conducts national, regional, and state projects designed to enhance and expand teaching and learning about East Asia at the elementary and secondary school levels. Specific projects focus on curriculum development, professional development for teachers, and curriculum consultation and reform related to Asia in K-12 education.听 TEA projects are currently supported by a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation and grants from the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, The Japan Foundation, New York and the CU Office听for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship.
The Program for Teaching East Asia is conducted under the auspices of the 西瓜视频 Center for Asian Studies. Our Center's statements on Institutional Racism in the US and the University of Colorado Campus Land Use may be found at /cas/center-asian-studies-statements.
Current Programs
Fall 2025 - In-Person Workshop
听Teaching Biography through East Asian Picture Books - A Workshop for K-8 Teachers. October 25, 8:00 am to 3:30 pm, CU Boulder campus.The workshop will focus on the teaching of biography while learning about the lives of a interesting and famous people in East Asia. The six books teachers will receive accurately feature China, Japan and Korea and can support standards-based social studies instruction, as well as students' development of written and visual literacy skills.Application link coming soon.听
Fall 2025 - Online Courses
Modern China Transformed: Xi Jinping's Policies and their Human Impact. September 12-October 29. This course for secondary teachers explores the transformative era of Xi Jinping鈥檚 leadership in China, focusing on his key policies and their impact on Chinese society through a reading of NPR correspondent Emily Feng鈥檚 newly published Let Only Red Flowers Bloom. Application link coming soon.听
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Religion in East Asia: Diversity and Diffusion. September 24-November 11. This course will work with secondary teachers to develop "religious literacy" in East Asian religious and philosophical traditions with special attention paid to 1) China as the gateway for Buddhism and the source of Daoism and Confucian philosophy in East Asia; 2) Korean's negotiation of shamanism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity; and 3) Japanese Shinto and Buddhism including how and why Japanese embrace both. Application link coming soon.听
China's Demographic Transition: Population Decline in the Post-One-Child Era. September 29-October 26. This short course explores the history, motivations, and outcomes of China's population measures, and the policy shifts addressing a shrinking population. Application link coming soon.听
From Bandung to the Belt & Road: China's Evolving Role in China. October 27-December 7. This seminar traces the arc of China鈥揂frica relations from their symbolic beginnings at the 1955 Bandung Conference鈥攚here Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai joined leaders from newly independent Asian and African nations to champion anti-colonialism and solidarity鈥攖o the 21st century鈥檚 Belt and Road Initiative and beyond. Application link coming soon.
Biography through East Asian Picture Books: China. October 30-November 19. Aimed at elementary and middle school teachers interested in integrating picture books into literacy and-or social studies instruction. The course will focus on the teaching of biography while learning about the life of a famous calligrapher in the 4th century and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Medicine for her work on malaria. . Application link coming soon
Fall 2025 - Webinars
Art in the Classroom:听Korea.听Dates TBD. 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. Registration link coming soon.听
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 鈥渂est practice鈥 presented by an NCTA consulting scholar, seminar leader, teacher alum, or author.
- Take a 鈥渜uick course鈥 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 .
Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 in China and the U.S. through Literature and Writing听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听Wuhan Diaries: Dispatches from a Quarantined City,听by the Chinese author Fang Fang.听Students then wrote diary and journal entries recording their own experiences processing their year during the COVID pandemic. Their moving personal accounts link听their personal experiences to experiences in China and globally.听 Visit our project page for more information on the project and selected student writings.
. 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.听 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.
