Teaching East and West is a three-day conference in the Washington, DC area for K-12 teachers. The conference compares the material cultures of Tokugawa Japan and Elizabethan England. By presenting these two contemporaneous cultures together, the conference encourages teachers with an interest in Japan to place Japan/US relations in an historical context.

Objectives

• TO GIVE you exciting new content and teaching strategies
• TO EXPOSE you to the enormous number of resources for Japanese and Elizabethan culture in the Washington, DC metropolitan area
• TO INTRODUCE you to your fellow enthusiasts, educators, and colleagues

This three-day conference and its two follow-up meetings will offer guided tours of some of Washington's richest resources, including The Textile Museum, the US National Arboretum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Freer and Sackler Galleries. Traditional English and Japanese meals will be served, with dinner speakers on hand to explore the various aspects of both cultures. Lectures from distinguished scholars will provide new ideas for lessons, curricula, and pedagogies, while theatrical and musical performances will demonstrate how relevant these cultures remain. Participants will share new curricula and lesson plans with their colleagues around the world via an electronically archived database.

Participants who attend the conference and both follow-up sessions and complete the requirements of the program will be eligible to receive two MSDE Continuing Professional Development credits.
Enrollment in the program is open to all regional public school teachers.

Teachers will receive a $50 per day stipend to help cover the cost of participation during the three-day conference and the two follow-up sessions. A non-refundable application fee of $35 does apply. Schools are urged to support their teachers by paying the application fee.

We invite teachers from all disciplines and grade levels to work with scholars and museum curators as we place contemporary Japan/US relations in a comparative historical context. Beyond the value of studying two important periods in world history, the conference will provide a basis for understanding cultural similarities and differences in the contemporary world.

Teaching East and West will meet teachers’ needs by

• supporting and encouraging Washington, DC area K-12 educators with an interest in Japan
• helping teachers incorporate aspects of Japanese culture into their classrooms
• introducing teachers to topics that supplement current Maryland State Department of Education-mandated curricula in global studies, fine arts, and English literature
• aligning new topics with the Maryland State High School Assessments