|
March 20, 2007
INCORPORATING INFORMATION ABOUT ASIA INTO THE CURRICULUM IS THE TOPIC OF A DAYLONG CONFERENCE AT WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY
A conference for teachers that is designed to help them integrate information about Asia into their curriculum and classrooms will be held at William Paterson University on Tuesday, April 10.
“Globalizing the Classroom: Integrating Asia into the Classroom,” is a conference for middle and high school teachers of social studies or world languages, and school administrators interested in addressing this important topic. Admission is $60 which includes materials, breakfast and lunch. Participants can earn six professional development contact hours. The conference will be held at the University’s building at 1600 Valley Road in Wayne. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the conference ends a 4 p.m.
“The purpose of the conference is to act as a forum for developing strategic tools for teachers,” says Balmuri Natrajan, assistant professor of anthropology at the University, who is one of the organizers of the conference. “The end product would be a network for teachers which they could use as a resource based at the University. This network would aid teachers with curriculum support including lesson plans, critical bibliographies, and list films to use in the classroom.”
A series of lectures will be held in the morning session after opening remarks from Theodore F. Cook, professor of history and director of the University’s Asian Studies Program, who will speak about Asian studies initiatives at William Paterson.
Janis Jensen, coordinator of World Languages and International Education, the New Jersey Department of Education, will speak about state initiatives in Asian languages and Asia in the curriculum at 9:15 a.m.; Sreenath Sreenivasan, dean of students and associate professor, School of Journalism, Columbia University, and founder of the South Asian Journalists Association, will discuss India and how the changes in that country might affect American education at 10:00 a.m.
The conference continues at 10:45 a.m. as Andrew S. Nathan, professor of political science at Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute, talks about what to study about China and new needs for world education. At 11:30 a.m. professors Sreenivasan and Nathan will lead a workshop, “Hands on Asia: Workshop on Asia in the Classroom.”
The afternoon session begins with a presentation at 1:30 p.m., “Asia in the Undergraduate Curriculum: Preparing In-Service and Pre-Service Teachers,” delivered by members of the Fulbright-Hays Group Study Tour to India and the Teach Asia Project at the Asia Society. Participants include Mary Sari, New York High School for Law and Public Service, and William Paterson Professors Sheila Collins, political science, Donna Perry, English, and George Robb, history. The program will end with a roundtable discussion at 2:30 p.m.
The conference is sponsored by the William Paterson University Asian Studies Program, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Center for Continuing and Professional Education. To register, or for additional information, call the Center at 973-720-2354.
###
www.wpunj.edu
|
|
