Resources

Explore a curated collection of resources designed specifically for educators teaching about East Asia and Asian America. Below, you’ll find links to primary sources, structured curriculums, comprehensive resource collections, and other classroom materials to enrich your lessons. You can filter your search by grade level, region, state standard, and resource type, or just search for a specific topic or keyword. Additionally, don’t miss the excellent content available through NCTA’s Partner Sites, tailored to support K-12 educators in bringing East Asia into the classroom.

A white fabric featuring multiple South Korean flags, including the large Taegeuk symbol and black trigram markings—a striking tribute to Korean history and the spirit of Korea democracy.

When Did Korea Become a Democracy | Korea Society

This lesson plan created by Brian Burback details how to get high schools to research on and evaluate South Korea’s democratization process. The activities included will allow students to learn about the various South Korean presidents that were part of the country’s democratization process and think critically about during which presidency Korea truly transitioned to a democracy. Teachers can stick to this lesson plan or expand on this by incorporating some of the materials introduced in the lecture (e.g. definition of democracy, benefits of democracy, introducing the Polity V score). 

Lesson Plan
A black and white illustration featuring circular and rectangular patterns, a round medallion, and a flame-like motif on a plain background, inspired by the artistry of Silla Korea during its Golden Age.

Silla Korea and the Silk Road: Golden Age, Golden Threads | Korea Society

“Silla Korea and the Silk Road: Golden Age, Golden Threads” is a 192-slide curriculum guide developed for high school world history and geography courses, published by the Korea Society. The guide shows how contemporary themes of globalization in Asia are not new, as indeed, trade in goods and cultural practices along the Silk Road had a profound effect on Korean states, and in turn helped to spread Korean culture to other parts of Asia. The guide is divided into five parts:   1. Was Silla (Korea) Part of the Silk Road? [A nice overview of Silk Road History]   2. Did the Silk Road Create Silla’s Golden Age?  [A Detailed Account of Global Influences on the Korean Peninsula]   3. Sillan Individuals and the Silk Road [Fantastic individual biographies of notable figures in Silla history]    4. Concluding Exercise: Does International Trade Help or Hurt Culture?   5. Advanced Readings.

Teacher Resource
Abstract painting of a sunset over water with silhouetted hands holding small human figures, sailboats in the background, and vibrant shades of orange and yellow—symbolizing hope for a better tomorrow through Marshallese education.

Hope for a Better Tomorrow | Marshallese Educational Initiative

Created by the nonprofit Marshallese Educational Initiative (MEI), this exhibit features artwork by Marshallese youth in Springdale, Arkansas. The drawings reveal the generational trauma caused by U.S. nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands. Through powerful visual storytelling, the exhibit raises awareness about the lasting impact of nuclear testing and highlights the voices of Marshallese youth living in diaspora.

Student Resource Teacher Resource
Three people paddling a yellow canoe on the ocean in the Marshall Islands, with the word Archive below the image.

Marshall Islands Story Project: Oral Histories

A collaboration between the College of the Marshall Islands and Loyola University Maryland, this project preserves Marshallese culture by collecting oral histories and traditional stories from elders. Marshallese students play an active role in documenting and sharing these narratives. The archive consists of a collection of photos, videos, and text, as well as additional resources to support Marshallese education.

Teacher Resource
Texas Tech University double T logo above the text Vietnam Center & Archive, highlighting its renowned Virtual Vietnam Archive.

Virtual Vietnam Archive

Hosted by Texas Tech University, “The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive collects and preserves the documentary record of the Vietnam War, and supports and encourages research and education regarding all aspects of the American Vietnam Experience.”

Teacher Resource
A large camp with rows of rectangular barracks buildings set on a grid, surrounded by open land and several train cars visible in the foreground—a stark reminder of life during the Time of Fear.

Time of Fear

Time of Fear is a documentary published in 2004 by PBS that tells the story of Japanese Americans incarcerated at the Rohwer and Jerome camps in southeast Arkansas during World War II. Featuring rare home movie footage and interviews with former incarcerees and local residents, the film explores themes of racism, fear, and resilience. It offers a powerful lens into the intersections of race, place, and memory in one of the most segregated regions of the rural South.

Teacher Resource
A rural road stretches into the distance beneath the text Relocation, Arkansas: Aftermath of Incarceration, capturing the quiet landscape and history tied to relocation in Arkansas with a faint stamp in the background.

Relocation, Arkansas

Published in 2017 by filmmaker Vivienne Schiffer—daughter of former McGehee mayor Rosalie Gould—Relocation, Arkansas explores the long-term effects of Japanese American incarceration in Arkansas. The documentary follows the generation born after the camps closed, the stories of those who chose to remain in Arkansas, and the surprising relationship between the Japanese American community and Mayor Gould (who served from 1983 to 1995). Through themes of race, healing, and cross-cultural understanding, the film offers a deeply human perspective on a legacy of exclusion and resilience.

Teacher Resource
Densho logo featuring two overlapping concentric circles above the word Densho on a dark blue background, representing the DENSHO Archive.

DENSHO Archive

Densho is a leading digital archive and educational platform dedicated to preserving the histories of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. The site features over 900 oral histories, along with tens of thousands of photos, documents, letters, and newspapers. It also offers age-appropriate lesson plans and classroom resources, making it one of the most comprehensive tools for teaching about Japanese American incarceration.

Teacher Resource
A watercolor of a factory evokes the WWII Arkansas landscape, capturing a glimpse into the Japanese American Experience documented by the Butler Center.

Butler Center – The Japanese American Experience in WWII Arkansas

Hosted by the Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art (part of the Central Arkansas Library System), this resource offers a concise overview of Japanese American incarceration during World War II. Its centerpiece is the Rosalie Santine Gould – Mabel Jamison Vogel Collection, featuring hundreds of artworks created by Japanese Americans imprisoned at the Rohwer and Jerome camps in Arkansas. These paintings and drawings offer powerful visual testimony to life behind barbed wire and are ideal for interdisciplinary lessons combining history, art, and civil rights.

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A watercolor painting depicts a fenced camp with multiple barracks, a watchtower, and a muddy landscape with puddles in the foreground, capturing the stark reality of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II.

Rising Above in Arkansas – Japanese American Incarceration During WWII

This digital project explores the history and legacy of Japanese American incarceration at Rohwer and Jerome during World War II. Using maps, archival materials, photographs, and spatial storytelling, the site helps students visualize how thousands of Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated and confined from 1942–1946. 

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A person stands with hands on hips in the middle of a large cotton field, as if reflecting on themes explored in the Far East Deep South film, gazing toward the horizon under a partly cloudy sky.

Far East Deep South – Film and Discussion Guide

This discussion guide includes a timeline, discussion questions, activities, and a chapter-by-chapter breakdown to facilitate learning and conversation on themes established in Far East Deep South, an award-winning film directed by Larissa Lam and produced by Baldwin Chiu. Far East Deep South follows a Chinese American family’s journey to the Mississippi Delta, where they uncover surprising family revelations and explore the complex history of Chinese immigrants in the segregated South. The film highlights the deep connections between the Chinese and Black communities during the Jim Crow era and the lasting impact of discriminatory immigration policies.

Teacher Resource
A red and white graphic of Arkansas’s outline features bamboo stalks and a dogwood flower, bordered by a rough red square—an emblem reflecting the Arkansas Chinese Heritage.

Arkansas Chinese Heritage Project

Founded in 2023 as a joint initiative of the University of Central Arkansas’ Center for Asian Languages and Cultures and the Chinese Association of Arkansas, the Arkansas Chinese Heritage Project documents the experiences of Chinese Americans in Arkansas through oral histories, archival research, and educational resources. The site includes lesson plans on the Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1869 Memphis Planters Convention, offering students a localized lens on national conversations about immigration, labor, and race in American history.

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