USC U.S.-China Institute receives grant for K-12 education

By NICOLE DAILO
This article originally appeared in the Daily Trojan on January 27, 2009.

The USC U.S.-China Institute’s mission to promote awareness of East Asian history and culture has received a boost of support — a $567,388 grant from the Freeman Foundation to continue its various professional development programs for K-12 teachers.

Since 2006, the institute has worked to provide California educators with the materials and knowledge needed to bring East Asia to life in their classrooms. Besides facilitating the growth of East Asian studies in various elementary and high schools, the institute also conducts research and outreach to achieve its mission. 

“This is part of USC’s commitment and strategic plan to directly address societal needs,” said Clayton Dube, associate director of the U.S.-China Institute. “This is a pressing need for L.A. as a whole, to know what’s going on in China and East Asia.”

The grant is the second the institute has received from the Freeman Foundation since 2006. It will fund the institute’s educational programs, with most of the money going toward weekly seminars for secondary school teachers.

The seminars, which focus on supplying teachers with new methods to educate students about East Asia, last three to four months and feature presentations by experts on the politics and cultures of the region.

While teachers from all disciplines are welcome to participate in these seminars, the institute concentrates primarily on social studies and language arts educators who must incorporate the study of East Asia into their curriculum according to state law, Dube said.

“The teachers who have completed our programs teach about 50,000 students, so the long-term impact of this program is quite large,” he said.

To give graduates of these seminars firsthand experience with East Asia, the institute selects a few to participate in a study tour of the region. Last summer, Dube accompanied 16 teachers on a three-week trip to China and Japan. The Freeman Foundation grant will fund the next study tour, scheduled for the summer of 2010, he said.

Frank Wiley, a social studies teacher at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, was one of the educators invited to participate in the institute’s 2008 study tour. He said completing the seminar and subsequently traveling to China and Japan has made him a better teacher.

 “It puts fuel in your tank, to go on a trip like that. It does really strengthen me and I can’t wait to get back in the classroom,” Wiley said.

The grant will also support shorter, one-day workshops focusing on topics relevant to East Asia, such as the different countries’ visual culture and human rights challenges.

The institute’s online initiatives, including a forum called “Asia in My Classroom,” where teachers share tips and study materials, will also receive funding from this grant.

“The reason we received the grant is because we’ve proven ourselves to the [Freeman] Foundation,” Dube said.

Graem Freeman, executive director of the Freeman Foundation, said the institute’s educational programs were consistent with his organization’s mission to develop a greater appreciation and understanding of East Asia and its role in international affairs.

“We do a lot of work with institutions like USC that have Asian studies programs. We had 200 [grant] proposals and we selected the best 85,” he said.

In partnership with the USC East Asian Studies Center, the institute also encourages students who have studied abroad in East Asia to visit L.A. County schools and give presentations about their international experience.

Many USC students said they recognized the importance of learning about East Asia and they acknowledged the significance of the institute’s goal to help local teachers better equip their students to study the area in the future.

“If America wants to stay competitive in the international arena, it’s important we learn about international cultures,” said dental student Arash Hakhamian. “Not only is it important on a political scale but also on a business scale.”

Alicia Anguiano, a freshman majoring in political science and history, said gaining more knowledge about East Asia is necessary, considering its rising international influence.

“China’s getting to be a really important country, and it’s important to learn about it because you get a better sense of the world,” she said.

For the institute, motivating Americans to develop a greater cultural and historical interest in East Asia is the ultimate goal, Dube said.

“What we want to do is translate cutting-edge research into information about U.S.-China relations and make that available in an easily digestible form for the rest of the country. … With teachers, we’re able to dramatically influence understanding of Asia,” he said.