A Conversation with Yoon Pak and Sharon Lee of the TEAACH Act

Asian American History 101

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 1. Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and had fun on New Year’s Eve. To launch this new season, we’re going back to the thing that’s at our core… Asian American History. Our special guests for this conversation are Professor Yoon Pak and Dr. Sharon Lee, two of the key leaders helping with the implementation of the TEAACH Act. The Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act was a historic moment for Illinois and the country, because it made Illinois the first state to mandate the teaching of Asian American history in K-12 public schools.

Although it was an unfunded mandate, groups like The Asian American Foundation and Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago stepped in to help raise awareness and funds. None of this would have happened without the hard work of Yoon Pak and Sharon Lee from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who created the curriculum and resources organized in three modules. The professional development for K-12 educators is key in implementing the TEAACH Act well.

Yoon Pak is the Head of the Education Policy, Organization and Leadership department at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Among other things, she specializes in the history of intercultural education from the 1930s-1950s. She was recently awarded the 2023 Campus Executive Officer Distinguished Leadership Award. Sharon Lee is a Teaching Assistant Professor in EPOL and program coordinator for Diversity and Equity in the department. Her research and teaching background is in diversity and equity in higher education; history of education; and Asian American student experiences. Her book An Unseen Unheard Minority: Asian American Students at the University of Illinois was published by Rutgers University Press. Check out the TEAACH Act Resources and enjoy the conversation!

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