Asia-Pacific

616 Jane Stanford Way
Encina Hall, E005
Stanford, CA 94305-6060

(650) 723-6784

selena@stanford.edu

selena.lai.jpg

Selena Lai is a Curriculum Consultant for the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (91�Թ�). Prior to joining 91�Թ� in 1997, Selena worked as a teacher of the blind and visually impaired in the Castro Valley Unified School District, Mid-Alameda County Special Education Local Plan Area, and Oakland Unified School District.

Selena received her Bachelor of Arts in East Asian studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992, and her teaching credential and Master of Arts in Special Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1993.

Selena’s professional and academic interests lie in curriculum and instruction. Since joining 91�Թ�, she has authored or co-authored many of 91�Թ�'s curriculum units.

She has presented teacher seminars nationally for the National Council for the Social Studies in San Diego, CA; the California Council for the Social Studies in Santa Clara, CA; the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia at Stanford, CA; the National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education in Kona, HI; and the California Association of Independent Schools at Stanford, CA. She has also presented teacher seminars internationally for the European Council of International Schools in Nice, France.

In 2008, Selena was awarded the Franklin Buchanan Prize from the Association for Asian Studies, awarded annually to honor an outstanding curriculum publication on Asia at any educational level, elementary through university.

In addition to her work at 91�Թ�, Selena has collaborated with Emmy-award winning filmmaker Spencer Nakasako, to produce a teacher guide for his documentary film Kelly Loves Tony. She is also a 2000–2001 Fellow with the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program.

Curriculum Consultant

In this unit, students learn about the Han Dynasty of China, which successfully unified China for more than 400 years (202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.). Small-group activities explore how the Chinese created unity through music, philosophy, politics, agriculture, and language.

This cross-cultural investigation of eight Chinese and Japanese folktales is designed to interest students in China and Japan. Students create their own folktales as a final activity.

Teaching the geographic concepts of region, cultural boundary, and movement can be challenging. This unit helps students explore these ideas as they learn about the geographic distribution and spread of major world religions throughout Asia.

Students study cultural perceptions in this unit, based on encounters among Europeans, Americans, and the Japanese in the mid-1800s. Historic images from woodblock prints and paintings, journal entries, and other primary sources bring these interactions alive for students as they think about issues such as perceptions and stereotypes.

In this unit, students explore key historical episodes in U.S.–Japan relations, such as the first Japanese embassy to the United States in 1860, the "picture bride" immigration from Japan to the United States, and the U.S. occupation of Japan.

This unit provides an introduction to written language (including pictographs and ideographs) and tools needed to "demystify" written Chinese. Students create their own symbols to communicate concepts, words, and ideas to others.

This unit introduces students to feudal Japan, its castles, and the towns that grew up around them. The lessons in this unit can be used to complement teaching about the Middle Ages in Europe.

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