People sitting around table learning at JANM education workshop

Educator Workshops

Collaborating with educators to share the Japanese American experience with students is an important part of furthering our mission. JANM offers professional development workshops for classroom teachers and other educators.

Upcoming Educator Workshops

girls on teeter totter in camp

Virtual Educator Workshop—Teaching the Youth Experience of Japanese American WWII Incarceration

April 11, 2024 

Join the JANM Education Unit for this free virtual educator workshop exploring the daily lives of young Japanese Americans who came of age in America’s concentration camps. During World War II, over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were unjustly incarcerated in American concentration camps—approximately one third were children. Through photographs, personal stories, and artifacts from JANM’s collection, learn strategies for engaging your students in the experiences of young Japanese Americans who faced abrupt upheaval and wrongful imprisonment during such a formative period in their lives. 

MORE INFO

Photo: Japanese American National Museum (94.166.67)

historic building buses taking people to camp

Little Tokyo: How History Shapes a Community Across Generations

An NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop for teachers

June 24–28 and July 15–19, 2024 

Los Angeles, CA

Little Tokyo: How History Shapes a Community Across Generations will examine history through the neighborhood of Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, California. Joined by scholars, educators, curators, and community historians, this program will examine how this unique area has been impacted by events and issues such as restrictive covenants, eminent domain, the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans, the civil rights movement, and gentrification. We will consider history’s relevance to present day issues of identity and preservation. Additionally, participants will take a day trip to Manzanar National Historic Site and explore teaching through primary sources using the collection of the Japanese American National Museum.

MORE INFO

Virtual Professional Development Workshop screenshot

Virtual professional development workshops

Virtual professional development workshops for up to 30 educators can be arranged for schools, districts, or other groups of educators.

Workshops can be developed to include: 1-2 hours of live content and up to 1.5 hours of asynchronous material.

Professional development sessions must be booked at least four weeks in advance. If you have any questions, please email us at education@janm.org.

DOWNLOAD PRICING SHEET

Please note that availability, pricing, requirements, and options are subject to change.

Past Educator Workshops

sketch by yuri kochiyama

Teacher Workshop: Santa Anita Race Track and Temporary Detention Centers during World War II

July 20, 2023

Join us for this special teacher workshop focused on the temporary detention centers many Japanese Americans were first sent to upon being forcibly removed from their home in 1942. These so-called “Assembly Centers” served as temporary prisons while America’s more permanent concentration camps were constructed.

LEARN MORE

An American vocabulary: Words to action, various cards

Bringing An American Vocabulary: Words to Action into the Classroom

Saturday, January 21, 2023 • FREE

Join visual artist Audrey Chan, rapper jason chu, and the JANM Education Unit for this free, in-person educator workshop on bringing An American Vocabulary: Words to Action into the classroom. 

Learn More

Support the understanding and appreciation of the Japanese American experience.

Become a Member Make a Gift