NCTA Indiana University - NCTA Pitt Weekend Workshop Series

NCTA Indiana University - NCTA University of Pittsburgh

Weekend Workshop Series

Environment and Politics in Communist China 

June 28, 2024 

Join IU Northwest faculty member Diana Chen Lin on June 28, 2024, for a K-12 educator professional development workshop focused on current issues in East Asia likely to be of interest to students. The workshop will provide lectures and discussion of the complex history of China’s environmental changes up to the 21st century. It will explore how China’s post-1978 modernization turned China into the largest carbon dioxide emitter. The workshop will also tackle the significant policy shifts in China that seek to transform challenges into opportunities by making China a leading country in green technology and green energy cars.  We will work on the criteria and methods to discuss these issues in the classroom. All will receive a copy of Yifei Li and Judith Shapiro’s China Goes Green: Coercive Environmentalism for a Troubled Planet (Polity Press, 2020).  

All K-12 educators are welcome; teachers of AP Human Geography, World Cultures, Modern World History, Art, Global Studies, English, Media Literacy, and World Languages will find the topics particularly useful. Participants will be exposed to workshop topics through lectures, discussions, and activities that can be brought into the classroom and used to enhance global contextualization within Illinois and Indiana state academic standards. 

All participants are eligible to receive mileage reimbursements for round-trip travel totaling more than 25 miles. This is a Weekend Workshop Series (June 28-29, 2024) and K-12 educators may register for one or both workshops plus an optional dinner on Friday June 28; hotel accommodations will be provided for participants registered for both workshops. This series is a collaborative initiative between the Indiana University and University of Pittsburgh NCTA coordinating sites. 

Series Session Two

East Asian Pop Culture 

June 29, 2024

8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Join IU Northwest faculty member Diana Chen Lin on June 29, 2024, for a K-12 educator professional development workshop focused on contemporary pop culture in East Asia likely to be of interest to students. This workshop explores the social and cultural implications of East Asian pop culture both regionally and globally. It offers some explanations for the recent surge in popularity of East Asian popular culture, specifically focusing on Japanese pop music, anime, and manga, South Korean and Chinese pop music, along with related elements like video games, toys, and books. The discussion will contextualize East Asian pop culture in relation to American influence and mutual influences between East Asian countries. The workshop combines readings, songs and videos in a discussion of methodologies to incorporate the content into the classroom. All participants will receive a copy of William Tsutsui’s Japanese Popular Culture and Globalization (Key Issues series).