How have U.S. immigration and citizenship policies shaped who is considered American and who is treated as a threat? In this two-part virtual workshop series with the East Asia Resource Center and Densho, K-12 educators are invited to examine Japanese American incarceration within a longer history of immigration restriction, racial exclusion, citizenship, and detention in the United States.
In the first session on October 29, participants will hear from scholars and explore the laws and policies that shaped Japanese immigration and incarceration during World War II. They will consider how questions of citizenship, family separation, detention, and belonging have emerged in different historical contexts through primary sources, oral histories, and family stories from Densho’s archives. Together, we will also examine how to place past and present events in conversation without treating them as identical.
The second session on November 5 will shift from historical context to classroom practice. Educators will learn how to apply the Densho Education Framework and work with grade-level specific sources and instructional strategies they can adapt for their own students. In a workshop-style setting, teachers will consider how to facilitate thoughtful conversations about immigration, incarceration, and contemporary issues. Participants will leave with historical resources, classroom-ready materials, and strategies for helping students make meaningful connections across time while attending to the distinct context of Japanese American incarceration.
About Densho
Densho (伝承) is a Japanese term meaning to pass on to the next generation, or to leave a legacy.
Founded in 1996, Densho is a digital archive and public history organization whose mission is to preserve and share history of the World War II incarceration to promote equity and justice today. Densho’s public websites include more than 1,200 oral histories and over 140,000 photos, letters, and other archival items, as well as free historical and educational resources.
About the photo:
From Photo Essay: Day of Remembrance Caravan from Puyallup to Northwest Detention Center. Participants brought handmade signs and played taiko and honked car horns to make sure that people inside NWDC could hear the action and know they are not alone in their fight. Photo by Natasha Varner.
Sessions and Details
Session 1: Thursday, October 29, 2026, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. (Pacific Time)
Session 2: Thursday, November 5, 2026, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. (Pacific Time)
This program will take place on Zoom. Participants are encouraged to attend both sessions.
Benefits
Free WA OSPI clock hours and a certificate of completion are available for participants who attend all sessions.
Registration
This program is free and open to current, in-service K-12 educators of all grades and subjects. Please follow this link to register. Space is limited.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out at earc@uw.edu.
This program is sponsored by the East Asia Resource Center at the University of Washington, and funded by a Freeman Foundation grant in support of the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA).