This article describes the current lives of the Chinese leaders of 1989. Wang Dan, an active organizer year before the demonstrations and quickly became a leader in the square, has completed a Ph.D. in Chinese history at Harvard University last year and is now on a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oxford. Wu'er Kaixi, who took a…

Imaginations are the best tools people have to avoid future conflicts and unpopular wars. People may never find the panacea to eliminate all violence, but perhaps if students develop their imaginations today, America as a nation can begin to solve more problems with creativity than with fists. Imaginations allow for better decision-making.…

Standing in awe in Xian, China, at the Terra Cotta warrior archaeological site, the author thought of sharing this experience and excitement with her sixth-grade students. She decided to let her students carve patterns of the ancient soldiers to understand their place in Chinese history. They would make block prints and print multiple soldiers on…

In recent years, there has been much talk in the media and the academic world about the "rise of China," as if China were a young country. Because the People's Republic of China (PRC) celebrated its sixtieth birthday only last October--and because the PRC was not admitted into the United Nations until 1971 and did not become a member of…

Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) were developed to enable law enforcement officers to effectively and compassionately respond to calls involving people experiencing psychiatric distress. Mental health professionals responsible for training CIT officers are in a unique position to promote the compassionate treatment of those experiencing psychiatric…

The ubiquity of video games in today's society presents unique challenges and opportunities for librarians and faculty. A significant subset of video games use historical periods as a setting, some with greater adherence to history than others. Many students are playing these games and bringing preconceived ideas of the historical period to the…

Different generations of Americans understand China quite differently. This, of course, is true of many topics. However, the turbulence of Chinese history and U.S.-China relations in the 60 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 has deepened the gaps in generational thinking about China. Those who came of age in…

New writing systems for several of China's minority languages were developed and implemented during a unique period in Chinese history. Throughout the different stages of modern Chinese history, these writing systems have had various societal functions and uses, including the improvement of education and literacy for China's ethnic minorities. In…

A recent controversy in the USA centres on classroom use of Yoko Kawashima Watkins's semi-autobiographical "So Far from the Bamboo Grove" (1986), a novel focused on the flight of Japanese settler families to Japan after the liberation of Korea at the end of World War II. Taught in a literary and historical vacuum under the thematic…

This essay is based on the author's talk at the FPRI Wachman Center's History Institute for Teachers on "What Students Need to Know about America's Wars, Part 2: 1920-Present," held May 2-3, 2009. Observing that the Vietnam War was the longest and most contested conflict in American history and that it called into question many…

Using this instructional resource, teachers can explore the impact of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) on contemporary art in mainland China with their students. The three artists Luo Zhongli (b. 1948), Xu Bing (b. 1955), and Wang Guangyi (b. 1957) came of age during the Cultural Revolution and are representative of a much larger number of…

In the early 1900s, the Qing dynasty implemented a series of institutional reforms to shore up its power. The most important were a nationwide school system and the abolition of the centuries-old civil examinations. "A School in Every Village" recounts how villagers and local state officials in Haicheng County enacted orders to establish…

On March 1-2, 2008, FPRI's Wachman Center presented a weekend of discussion on "China's Encounter with the West" for 45 teachers from 21 states across the country, held at and co-sponsored by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Asia Program. Sessions included: (1) China's Early Encounters with the West: A History in Reverse…

In this article, the author provides a brief history of Hmong and traces the origin of Hmong story cloths. The Hmong, a nomadic and agrarian people, may date back 5000 years. Today they live in China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos, where during the Vietnam War and its aftermath, many Hmong were killed or persecuted for siding with the American…

Developing national identity is a goal of schools around the world. Historically this goal has been especially important for nations coming out of colonization as new governments seek to unify their nations and promote national identities. From 1842 to 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony whose excellent harbor made it a linchpin of British…