Two teacher workshops held in June on The Ohio State University (OSU) campus offered 6-12th grade Ohio teachers a chance to learn about East Asia, enabling them to create lesson plans for use in the classroom.

Bringing Korea into the Classroom: June 8-9, 2017 
This workshop was made possible with funding from the Korea Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education Title VI funds for the East Asian Studies Center at OSU and was coordinated by Prof. Mitchell Lerner, Director of the Institute for Korean Studies (OSU).  Prof. Mark Peterson, Brigham Young University, led the workshop, with lectures also made by Prof. Mitch Lerner, The Ohio State University and Prof. Deborah Solomon, Otterbein University.  Topics included:  

• Top ten things you need to know about Korea  
• Korea’s World’s Firsts and World’s Best    
• Understanding the Japanese Colonization of Korea in Context  
• Korea and the UNESCO World History Sites  
• Getting Korea Wrong and Getting Korean History Right  
• Korean Poetry and Literature for the Social Studies Classroom
• Top ten things you need to know about North Korea  

Korean food was enjoyed at lunch each day.  A lesson plan workshop was led by Jeremy Hopping, Granville High School.  29 teachers attended the 2-day workshop and will be working on lesson plans over the summer to use in the next academic year. Lesson plans will be posted on the EASC website and available for use.

National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA-Ohio): June 12-16, 2017
This seminar was organized by the East Asian Studies Center (EASC) of The Ohio State University on behalf of the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), a national initiative supported by the Freeman Foundation. This seminar used a variety of formats (lecture, discussion, guest speakers, and visual materials among others) to address topics in East Asian history, language, education, ethics, science and technology, trade, art and media. Diverse resources (readings, films, cartoons, newspaper articles) were used in such a way as to allow participants to engage with issues and materials in a hands-on, collaborative learning environment. The sessions were designed to contribute to the development of K-12 curriculum tools. The seminar was led by Prof. Patricia Sieber, The Ohio State University, East Asian languages and literatures, with lectures and presentations also by:

• Nick Geruntino, Social Studies Educator, Washington Court House Senior High School, “Teacher Implementation Plan, Resources, and Opportunities”
• Mario DeGrandis, East Asian languages and literatures, “Muslims in Contemporary China”
• Prof. Kirk Denton, East Asian languages and literatures, “Lu Xun and Modern China”
• A roundtable with OSU graduate students Xiao YI and Emily Liu was moderated by Prof. Ying Zhang, history.  
• Prof. Melissa Curley, comparative studies, “Shintoism, Buddhism, and Modern Japanese Political Culture”
• Prof. Deborah Solomon, Otterbein University, “Korean Students and Independence Activism during Japanese Colonial Rule”

19 teachers attended the 5-day workshop and will be working on lesson plans over the summer to use in the next academic year. A follow-up event will be held next spring for teachers to discuss their experiences of teaching the lesson plans they developed.  Lesson plans will be posted on the EASC website and available for use.