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Teaching Peace with “The Last Cherry Blossom”: A Conversation with Japanese American author Kathleen Burkinshaw 

Kathleen Burkinshaw‘s YA historical novel The Last Cherry Blossom is a deeply personal labor of love, loosely based on her mother’s childhood. It promotes world peace and nuclear disarmament through a moving story about Yuriko, a Japanese girl who survives the 1945 Hiroshima bombing. Teachers joined in for an online author interview followed by Q&A. Program benefits included a free copy of the book and resources for teachers of Language Arts, Social Studies, History and Humanities.

Workshop Leader

Kathy Whitham is a tenured English instructor at South Seattle College where she teaches literature (Asian American Lit, YA Lit, Graphic Novels), Humanities, Film Studies, Creative Writing and Composition.

Program details

Saturday December 3, 2022
9:00 – 11:00 PST/12:00 – 2:00 EST
This is an online program and was held on Zoom. 

Program benefits

  • A free copy of the book The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw (which will be sent to participants after they register for the program)
  • 2 free WA OSPI Clock Hours
  • Free online resources

This program was 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).