The ARNCTA Mission:
The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), funded by the Freeman Foundation, is a multi-year initiative to encourage and facilitate teaching and learning about East Asia in elementary and secondary schools nationwide. Founded in 1998 as a collaboration between Columbia University and several other institutions nationwide, NCTA has become a premier provider of professional development on East Asian history, geography, art, literature, and more. For over 10 years, the Arkansas NCTA (ARNCTA) has joined this national network of institutions with the goal of providing on-site seminars, teacher resources, and travel funding that empowers Arkansas teachers to bring East Asia into their classrooms.
Teachers who participate in ARNCTA on-site and online workshops interact with East Asia specialists, review sample curricula and lesson plans, collaborate on effective strategies for teaching East Asia, and receive extensive materials and resources for use in the classroom. NCTA seminar alumni have also qualified for study tours to China, Japan, and Korea as well as travel stipends to attend East Asia workshops throughout the country. For news on upcoming seminars and grant opportunities, please see follow our News and Events.
In addition to providing professional development seminars, ARNCTA is also committed to providing an online repository of primary source collections, digital humanities projects, sample lesson plans, and other curriculum materials across a wide variety of disciplines and grade levels. To access these materials, please see our collection of Teacher Resources Page.
About Us:
The ARNCTA is housed within the History Department of the University of Central Arkansas under the leadership of Dr. Zach Smith, a specialist in the cultural and intellectual history of modern China. At UCA, Dr. Smith directs the Asian Studies Program and teaches on a broad variety of topics related to East Asia, including globalization, student protest, Japanese film, East Asian visual culture, and gender history.
In the past, ARNCTA seminars have drawn upon the expertise of Asia specialists throughout the state, including Dr. Ka Zeng at the University of Arkansas, Dr. Paul Crutcher at UA Little Rock, and Dr. Aiqun Hu at Arkansas State. If you would like to learn more about ARNCTA and our work, please Contact Us.
Contact:
The Arkansas NCTA is open to any ideas from local, regional, or national groups interested in the NCTA's mission of promoting the understanding and teaching of Asia. We are particularly keen to hear from those who have content to provide to teachers and students in Arkansas about Asia and from those who currently teach in Arkansas and have ideas about ways the Arkansas NCTA might support the teaching of Asia.
In whatever capacity and for just about anything, feel free to contact the Arkansas NCTA director:
| Zach Smith, Ph.D, Program Coordinator for UCA's Asian Studies Program |
| (501) 450-5633 |
| This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
| University of Central Arkansas |
| 201 Donaghey Ave. |
| Conway, AR 72035 |
| uca.edu/history/programs/asian-studies/ |