Educator Workshops
K-12 Teacher Training
Tanner Humanities Center Gateway to Learning Educators Workshop
Asia Center faculty members offer annual training workshops for K-12 teachers in partnership with the Tanner Humanities Center Gateway to Learning Educators Workshop program.
View educator workshops gateway Second Language Teaching and Research Center
Past Workshops
Asia and the Pacific Islands: Art and World History | July 9 -13
This workshop will explore the art and history of the Pacific Islands as well as several regions of Asia including, South, East and Southeast Asia. The content of this workshop will focus on the images and objects relevant to the AP art history curriculum and the thematic foci of the AP World History curriculum. While this workshop is most immediately focused on the curriculums of AP Art History and AP World History we encourage teachers of Studio Art, Geography, and other Social Studies courses to participate. This workshop is co-sponsored by the Asia Center.
Refugee Communities in Utah: Best Practices for Educational Success | July 16-20
Professor Caren J. Frost, Director of Center for Research on Migration and Refugee
Migration
This interactive workshop will introduce participants to the refugee populations in Utah from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. This workshop seeks to provide contextual information regarding the historical, political, and social conditions that drive refugees from their homes, as well as their experiences of flight, residence in refugee camps, and ongoing relationships with their origin communities. We also seek to provide an overview of the shared and varied experiences of refugees living in Utah with special attention devoted to the experiences that refugee children and the children of refugees encounter in Utah’s educational institutions from K-16.
Survey of Traditional Chinese Culture | July 30 - August 3
This course will cover the areas of ancient philosophy, history, literature, capped with a session on Chinese society today. The instructors will be faculty members from the University of Utah and Brigham Young University.
Contemporary China (June 26-30)
In a rapidly changing international environment, interest in China has grown dramatically. Yet, there is much that remains unknown about its people and government. Faculty from the University of Utah and Brigham Young University will seek to expand our knowledge of contemporary Chinese society, politics, literature, art, and environment. Their lectures will offer a foundation for informed opinion about the evolving role of China in the world.
Place, Story, and History in Contemporary World Literature (July 11-15)
This course will survey contemporary world literature, with particular emphasis on questions about the relationships between local place and global space. We will read recent fiction from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, and ask about the various ways local traditions respond to the pressures of globalization. How have writers used fiction to examine social and historical conflicts, challenge official histories, and recover forgotten voices and neglected traditions? And how have writers used traditional narrative resources to stretch the possibilities of the novel and the short story? In many of these works, local answers to global historical pressures involve reviving traditional aesthetic practices, and we will approach our materials as both social documents and works of art. We will also explore ways of bringing formal and aesthetic questions to bear on discussions of social issues in the classroom.
Professor Scott Black, Department of English
Nature and Environment in Chinese Culture (August 8-12)
As China faces a dire environmental crisis as the result of its rapid economic growth, more and more people in the world begin to pay attention to the human habitat around us. This seminar introduces the Chinese concept, attitude and official policies about nature from the antiquity to the present time. It will address the topic from the perspectives of philosophy, literature, policy, art, and media. All presenters are faculty from the University of Utah.
Professor Fusheng Wu (Department of Languages and Literature), Eric Hutton (Department of Philosophy), Janet Theiss (Department of History), Kevin DeLuca (Department of Communication), Luke Kelly (Utah Museum of Fine Arts)
Contemporary China (July 27-31)
This workshop will be presented by faculty from the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. The five sessions will focus on Chinese literature, politics, geography, diplomacy and society.
Survey of Ancient Chinese Civilization (July 28 - August 1)
In partnership with the Confucius Institute at the University of Utah, this workshop will offer a broad survey of ancient Chinese civilization by examining texts from philosophy, history, literature, and art.
Immigration and Education (August, 2014)
Immigration and Education Utah is a "new immigrant gateway," meaning that it has one of the fastest growing immigrant populations in the country. Topics of investigation and discussion will include: the causes of migration and settlement patters in the United States; the diversity of Utah's immigrant population; the unintended consequences of immigration policies; schools as key locations for integration and/or marginalization; challenges and opportunities diverse classrooms pose for students and teachers; and integration as a two-way process.
An Introduction to the Middle East (July 15 – 19)
This workshop explores the nature of the Middle East as an elusive region with characteristics and boundaries upon which few agree. Major topics covered in the class include the physical character of the region, the main political issues confronting individual countries, the population dynamics and differences to be found in the area, and the critical nature of oil and water as regional resources.
Contemporary China (July 29 – August 2)
This workshop, team-taught by the faculty at the University of Utah and Utah State University, offers a broad and in-depth coverage of various aspects of contemporary Chinese society, including art, literature, film, politics, and social structure.
Understanding Utah's Refugee Committees (August 5 – 9)
This course provides an introduction to the refugee populations of Utah from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The topics covered include overviews of the refugee situation globally and here in Utah; political, cultural and social conditions in the countries of origin of new arriving communities; processes of migration; experiences of communities of refugee background after they arrive in Utah; and integration as a two-way process.
India Through Different Eyes (June 11 - 15)
India is a rising world power, but what is behind this Asian giant? This summer workshop examines India through different eyes: that of an economist, a literature and language scholar, and a historian.
The Arab Spring: Roots and Repurcussions in the Middle East (July 16 - 20)
This class, taught by three University of Utah Middle East professors, will provide a comprehensive overview of recent critical events in religious, political, social, and economic contexts.
China Past and Present (July 30 - August 3)
An intensive introduction to the history and culture of China from ancient times to the present, exploring various aspects of Chinese ethics, politics, literature, society, and popular culture.
