Foundations & Futures Teaching Asian American Histories for America's 250th · New York · Nov 14, 2026

Join MOCA and The UCLA Asian American Studies Center for a dynamic day of hands-on activities dedicated to strengthening AAPI Studies in your classrooms. Explore the museum and peruse the new Foundations and Futures: Asian American and Pacific Islander Multimedia Textbook, edited and produced by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. Free and available online, Foundations and Futures is the most comprehensive collection of AAPI histories and perspectives, offering resources for high school and college students, educators, and lifelong learners. Throughout the day, participants will: Learn about and explore Foundations and Futures through hands-on activities and presentations from special guests, including historian Mae Ngai, former labor organizer May Chen, and public historian Rachel Bernstein.  Tour MOCA’s core exhibition, With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America and experience special exhibition Ed Young’s Bright Worlds: Gesture and Feeling in 60 Years of Picture Books for Children. Develop strategies for integrating the curriculum and its materials into their classrooms alongside fellow educators. The program will spotlight three chapters from Foundations and Futures— “We Are Here Because You Were There: Race, Colonialism, and Migration,” ”Chinese Americans and the Making of Asian American History,” and “New York Chinatown’s Immigrant Garment Workers”—as a springboard for discussion. Workshop is best for Social Studies/History educators of grades 6-12. Their registration will be prioritized.  Light breakfast and lunch included. Eligible participants will receive 5 CTLE hours. Send inquiries to education@mocanyc.org. Thanks to support from the ILGWU 21st Century Heritage Fund, stipends of $75/educator will be provided upon full day’s attendance and participation.  Image credits: Central Pacific Railroad Worker c. 1862 – 1869. Photograph by Alfred A. Hart, courtesy of Stanford University. Women from Local 23-25 at the 1982 International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) garment workers’ rally in Columbus Park. Photograph by Paul Calhoun, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.