Past programs

Real and Imaged Rivers of Japan and China – Online NCTA Seminar

Program Start Date: Aug 10 2023

Location: Online program

This interdisciplinary seminar for K-12 teachers explored how rivers have shaped, and in turn were shaped by human society and the environment in China and Japan. Combining geographic background with artistic representations, and environmental/political perspectives, this workshop helped teachers gain a comparative perspective on Asia’s landscape and culture. Geared toward secondary teachers, course content looked

NCTA Summer Seminar – Exploring Asian Art: Trade, Transmission, and Cultural Exchange

Program Start Date: Jul 29 2023

Location: Seattle, WA

  Teachers joined us for a three-day in-person intensive workshop in collaboration with the Seattle Art Museum as we considered the themes of trade, transmission, and cultural exchange. The first day took place on the University of Washington campus with discussion of the historical contexts and conditions of works of art we saw during our

Online NCTA Program: East Asian Legacies of Colonialism and Imperialism

Program Start Date: Jul 10 2023

Location: Online program

This series of standalone online workshops considered the legacies of colonialism and imperialism within an East Asian context. Designed for secondary teachers in Social Studies, History, Art History, Art, Language Arts, English, and Visual Culture, each workshop addressed different aspects of the historical legacy and present-day realities of imperialism and colonialism. Elementary educators were welcome

Online Book Talk – Mind, Body & Soul in “Shadow Life” by Hiromi Goto

Program Start Date: May 16 2023

Location: Online program

Participants joined Professor Kathy Whitham for an online conversation with Japanese Canadian author Hiromi Goto to discuss aging, mortality, intersectionality, independence, body positivity, friendship, living life to the fullest, and other themes in her delightful graphic novel Shadow Life. Professor Whitham lead an author interview, followed by Q&A. About Shadow Life Poet and novelist Hiromi

Disaster and Resilience: Lessons from Minamata – NCTA Online Program

Program Start Date: May 6 2023

Location: Online program

  This combination online book discussion and workshop explored the NCTA award winning graphic novel The Minamata Story: An EcoTragedy, which tells the story of how the Japanese town of Minamata became synonymous with environmental tragedy and recovery. The story of the Minamata disaster, on the island of Kyushu, has application to a range of

Image, Text, and Language at the Intersection of Cultures – East Asia and Beyond (NCTA Online Seminar)

Program Start Date: Apr 26 2023

This four-session online seminar explored the relationship between image, text, and language in East Asia and beyond. Each week we examined different genres such as woodblock prints, scrolls, manga, and multimedia expressions from an interdisciplinary approach to consider shifting language-text traditions and practices. Themes and topics included nature, religion, intercultural exchange, and adaptation. Participants completed

Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance by Louisa Lim – Online Book Club

Program Start Date: Apr 18 2023

Location: Online program

  What is Hong Kong? The British considered it a “barren rock” without meaningful history. The People’s Republic of China claimed it as its own, and believes it was finally returned to its rightful place in 1997. When protests erupted in 2019 and were met with escalating suppression, Louisa Lim, a journalist raised in Hong

NCTA Online Seminar: Looking Ahead – Chinese Youth

Program Start Date: Mar 22 2023

Location: Online program

  This NCTA online seminar examined the lifestyles, behaviors, and attitudes of young Chinese adults growing up in a country that has become an economic and global power. Their development coincides with their country’s historic and far-reaching developments – what does this mean? Do Chinese youth aspire to a different future than their parents? Educators

NCTA Online Seminar: China and Japan Between 1912 and 1939

Program Start Date: Feb 27 2023

Location: Online program

The years between 1912 and 1939 were momentous for Japan and China. In 1912, the Meiji emperor passed from the scene, and Japan faced an uncertain future with a much weaker emperor at the helm. In China, 1912 saw the end of two-thousand years of imperial rule.  China was at a crossroads.  During the next