About Us
Spotlight
Jenna Bergren
History Teacher
Fishers High School, Indiana
Jenna Bergren read, made pottery, practiced t’ai chi, ate Japanese food, brushed up on Asian history, and wrote great lesson plans for her students at Fishers High School in the NCTA Teaching about Asia seminar offered through the East Asian Studies Center. Then she signed up for the study tour of China. “It was an amazing trip—the people I met, historical sites I explored, the history and culture I learned were better than I had even hoped to experience,” she says. “When I teach about China now, I have first-hand experience, pictures, artifacts, and lots of good stories that students love to hear.”
National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA)
We are a founding member of the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), a multi-year initiative funded by the Freeman Foundation that facilitates teaching and learning about Asia in middle and high school world history, geography, social studies, and literature courses. Launched in 1998, this nationwide program is a collaboration of the East Asian studies programs of seven national institutions:
- Columbia University
- Five College Center for East Asian Studies
- Indiana University
- University of Colorado
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Southern California
- University of Washington
Since its inception, NCTA has provided introductory Teaching about Asia seminars for middle and high school teachers in 46 states. Our center has coordinated seminars in eight states in the Midwest and the South:
- Alabama
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Ohio
Resources
Teaching about Asia Seminars
Thirty-hour seminars offered throughout the Midwest and South for middle and high school teachers interested in incorporating East Asia into their curricula.
Study Tours to China, Japan, and Korea
An annual summer study tour for alumni of the NCTA Teaching about Asia seminars.
