Home   >   Koreatown   >   Week-long Korea studies seminar attracts American teachers

Week-long Korea studies seminar attracts American teachers

June 24, 2014
Attendees of the National Korean Studies Seminar look on at a traditional performance inside the KCCLA. (Park Sang-hyuk / The Korea Times)

Attendees of the National Korean Studies Seminar look on at a traditional performance inside the KCCLA. (Park Sang-hyuk / The Korea Times)

American teachers from around the country gathered at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles to learn about Korean history and culture.

The “National Korean Studies Seminar,” which runs Monday to Friday, is hosted by the KCCLA and attracted about 60 K-12 teachers from Calif., New Jersey, Mich. and Ohio.

Mary Conner, former president of the Korean Academy for Educators (KACE), kicked off the seminar with a lecture on the Joseon dynasty and the Japanese colonial era.

About 20 experts from the University of California, Los Angeles, the L.A. Unified School District and KACE will head lectures with a focus on Korean history, culture, philosophy, religion, society, politics and economics.

Topics for planned lectures include ongoing issues in Southeast Asia, the North Korean nuclear problem, Korean unification, Korean immigration, an introduction to the Korean language and understanding Korean students and their parents.

Teachers will have the opportunity to experience Korean food, Korean music, Taekwondo lessons, folk art and crafts, traditional tea ceremonies, a hanbok show and a Korean Buddhist temple ceremony.

Conner said she hopes educators take what they learn from the seminar back to their classrooms to teach children about Korea.