NCTA provides content rich professional development programs for K-12 educators and pre-service teachers in all fields. This includes face-to-face college level seminars, online courses, workshops, book groups, webinars, and among other opportunities. Below are current offerings both locally and nationwide:
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
In Person at the Frick Fine Arts Building,
“The world needs music and art to help solve some global issues more than ever. If leaders and people are looking for happiness, sustainability, justice and hope, they shall look to music and art.” - Sean Gao
For 30 years, Sean Gao has been a global engagement professional and an environmental artist who is an advocate for the sustainability of performing art, quality education and environmental justice and policy.
Humans have always been a musical species from the beginning of time, and Sean believes music is from the people and for the people. This audience-centered musical conversation will feature instrumental and vocal music from the East and West to inspire teachers and students about teaching and learning Asian content. The guest artists include members of his world traveling 6-WIRE trio and others.
A reception of Light Refreshments to follow the lecture and performance.
Educators will receive Act 48 hours and free parking at Soldiers & Sailors Garage in Oakland.
America’s China Dreams and Realities, 1940-2024
An NCTA Mini-Course for K-12 Educators
Tuesdays, February 4, 25 & March 11, 2025
6:30pm – 8:30pm (Eastern Time)
Online, Synchronous via Zoom
Course instructor: Dr. Jeffrey Wasserstrom Course moderator: Lynn Parisi
Participate in 1, 2 or all 3 live sessions:
(These sessions have filled. We are taking names for the waitlist and anticipate that some spots will open up closer to each meeting time. Our course moderator will notify you 3-4 days in advance if a space has become available.)
This course consists of three sessions. Each session includes:
Participants will receive advance readings and resources as well as a certificate of completion for 3 PD contact hours per session. Complete all 3 sessions and receive a complimentary copy of the 2024 book Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War by David M. Lampton plus certificate of completion for 12 PD contact hours. Pennsylvania teachers will also receive Act 48 hours.
(These sessions have filled. We are taking names for the waitlist and anticipate that some spots will open up closer to each meeting time. Our course moderator will notify you 3-4 days in advance if a space has become available.)
Learn more about our Mini-Course Instructor & Moderator
Jeffrey Wasserstrom is Chancellor’s Professor of History at the University of California-Irvine. He specializes in Chinese history with research interests that include patterns of student protest, the way that globalization affects urban life and popular culture, American images of Asia, and the gendered symbolism of revolutions. He was co-founder and consulting editor of the popular blog/electronic magazine, “The China Beat: Blogging How the East is Read.” Wasserstrom has contributed to many academic periodicals, general interest news magazines, newspapers and websites. Most recently, he is the author of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know, Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink; and the 2025 publication The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asia's Struggle Against Autocracy and Beijing.
Lynn Parisi is a national consultant to NCTA. She retired in 2023 from the University of Colorado as the founding director of the Program for Teaching East Asia and one of the five founding directors of NCTA. At TEA and NCTA, Lynn led study tours to China and Japan, taught online courses and workshops, developed curriculum, and directed TEA’s long-running residential summer institute program. She is the award-winning co-author of several units in the MIT Visualizing Cultures project and the four-part curriculum series and Japanese History through the Humanities. Prior to her work at TEA and NCTA, Lynn was a high-school history teacher and spent 18 months teaching English in Japan and Taiwan.
April 4 & 5, 2025
Session One - April 4 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm (Eastern Time)
Session Two - April 5 from 8:00am - 4:00pm (Eastern Time)
4130 Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh and Virtually
Join us for a free two-day K-12 mini course exploring the Opium Wars of the 19th century, their causes, and far-reaching consequences, connecting historical events with modern global issues. Through examining the relationship between imperialism, trade, and culture, participants will gain insight into how the Opium Wars reshaped international dynamics, especially between China and Western powers, including the emerging empire of the United States. In collaboration with the Global Studies Center and World History Center at the University of Pittsburgh, sessions include presentations, activities and teacher-led strategies for curricular development.
This program will hybrid, and you may choose to attend online or in person. All participants who fully attend and participate in the two-day mini-course will receive Smoke and Ashes: Opium's Hidden Histories after the program. Benefits include a Certificate of Completion and Pennsylvania teachers will also receive Act 48 hours.
