Past K-12 Seminars

Join us for a book talk that examines stories from East Asia to America and their place in the K–12 classroom. This session focuses on how personal narratives and historical storytelling support student understanding of migration, identity, and connections between East Asian histories and the United States. Educators will gain classroom-ready strategies to help students analyze texts, make cross-cultural connections, and communicate their understanding through reading, discussion, and writing in their classrooms.

Join us for this five-week complimentary online seminar offers teachers a comprehensive introduction to the major social, political, economic, and cultural forces shaping contemporary China. The seminar explores topics such as daily life, demographic change, technology and innovation, environmental challenges, and China’s expanding global influence. Alongside building a strong foundation of knowledge, teachers will consider multiple perspectives and examine current debates that drive conversations about China today. Teacher participants will walk away with some practical strategies, classroom resources, and examples to incorporate modern China into the curriculum in clear, engaging, and meaningful ways.

Join us for this five-week online seminar covering Japan’s cultural landscapes through castles, imperial sites, tea culture, and modern memorials. The seminar explores how architecture, gardens, and ritual expressed political power and aesthetic values from the early modern era to today. Teacher participants will walk away with accessible readings, visual analysis, some classroom-ready materials and strategies for bringing Japanese history and culture to life. This seminar is ideal for those teaching world history, social studies, art history, and Asian studies or any subjects.

Join us for a 2-hour in-person workshop exploring the intersection of K-pop visual culture and traditional Korean Minhwa folk art. Artist Sofia Kim will guide participants through the symbolism, storytelling, and contemporary reinterpretation of Minhwa motifs—especially as they appear in modern pop culture narratives such as the K-Pop Demon Hunter theme.

Join us for a book talk that examines stories from East Asia to America and their place in the K–12 classroom. This session focuses on how personal narratives and historical storytelling support student understanding of migration, identity, and connections between East Asian histories and the United States. Educators will gain classroom-ready strategies to help students analyze texts, make cross-cultural connections, and communicate their understanding through reading, discussion, and writing in social studies, ELA, and world language classes.

Join us for this five-week online seminar tracing the spread of Buddhism from India across the Silk Road into China, Korea, and Japan. Focusing on religious migration and cross-cultural exchange, participants will explore how trade networks, diplomacy, and pilgrimage carried Buddhist ideas, art, and practices across Asia. The seminar highlights how Buddhism adapted to local cultures while shaping political life, visual traditions, and philosophical thought. Teacher participants will walk away with accessible readings and classroom-ready resources for teaching Buddhism’s global influence in world history, social studies, humanities, and art history.

Join us on February 18, 2026, for a journey where travel, folklore, and art collide in a book talk on Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter, a visually stunning graphic novel by French creators Cécile Brun and Olivier Pichard (Atelier Sentô), translated by Marie Velde. Register to receive updates, exclusive readings, and a chance to explore the spirit side of Japan like never before.

Join us for this five-week online seminar exploring major social and cultural transformations in contemporary Korea. The seminar course examines shifting family structures, changing gender expectations, intergenerational differences, and the impact of Korea’s declining birth rate, including how demographic change is shaping conversations about immigration. Teachers will walk away with real-world examples, current case studies, and an engaging look at how Korean society is responding to rapid social, economic, and cultural change.

Join us for this 10-week online seminar to explore the history and cultures of East Asia from the neolithic past to 1800. The course includes an overview of the region’s geography and demography, early ideologies as well as links between China, Korea and Japan. Teacher participants will walk away with real-world examples, current case studies, and an engaging look at social hierarchies and expectations through literature and art, and explore the technological breakthroughs, economic rise and political systems of the region. Teachers from all subjects are encouraged. The first part of this seminar covers the topics include Geography and Demography Early Chinese History and Thought, Hundred Schools Debate, Cosmopolitan China, Classical Japan, Warrior Japan. The second part of this seminar covers the topics include Japanese Literature, Buddhism, Patterns of the Korean Past, Mongols - Ming, Qing - East Asia at 1800.

The Chinese Language Teachers Association of Southern California (CLTA-SC), in partnership with Global Asian Women Artists (GAWA), the USC U.S.-China Institute, and the USC Chinese Program, invites Chinese language educators to a hybrid professional development workshop connecting Chinese intangible cultural heritage with classroom-ready instruction.