Committee of 100 and The Asian American Education Project Announce the Availability of a Free AAPI Curriculum Series for Educators to Utilize When Teaching About the Chinese American Experience
New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA (April 30, 2024) – On the eve of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month starting on May 1, Committee of 100, a non-profit organization of prominent Chinese Americans, and The Asian American Education Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to diversifying school curricula to include Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) histories and narratives, today announced the release of a new and jointly developed curriculum series that focuses on the challenges, opportunities and contributions of Chinese Americans.
The curriculum was built on the research Committee of 100 conducted with the Economist Intelligence Unit titled From Foundations to Frontiers: Chinese American Contributions to the Fabric of America. That research examined the multi-faceted Chinese American contributions to U.S. society historically and presently.
The series of five lesson plans focuses on Chinese Americans in businesses and entrepreneurship, science and technology, food, art and film, and a lesson on the concept of the perpetual foreigner. These lesson plans are now available on both the Committee of 100 website and The Asian American Education Project website.
“The history of the AAPI community in the United States is rooted in innovation, creativity and beauty, but also hardship, racism and xenophobia,” said Cindy Tsai, Interim President, Committee of 100. “All of that history—the highs and lows, the good and the bad—should be on full display to all Americans. We are thrilled to partner with The Asian American Education Project on this important project.”
As the Co-Executive Directors of The Asian American Education Project, Stewart Kwoh, Pat Kwoh, and Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan said, “Committee of 100’s Foundations report is such an important record of the Chinese American story. We are proud of our efforts in helping to make this report accessible to middle school classrooms across the nation.”
Momentum is Building
The teaching of Chinese American history in public schools has not been a priority for the U.S. education system but momentum is growing to change this. In 2021, Illinois became the first state to require Asian American history to be taught in public schools, followed by New Jersey in 2022.
Last year, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) reintroduced legislation to promote the teaching of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) history in public schools, and companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY). According to Committee of 100 research, 11 states have codified AAPI studies requirements and 16 states have introduced legislation that would create AAPI studies requirements.
