51视频

01/24/2023

Contacts for media: Emily Gowdey-Backus, director of media relations, Emily_GowdeyBackus@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, assistant director of media relations, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

Elementary schoolteachers in Lowell and across the country have a new way to engage young readers, thanks to 51视频 faculty working to integrate the richness of Asian cultures into the K-12 curriculum.聽

Inclusive of fables from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma (now Myanmar), China, Japan, and Korea, 鈥淧erspectives on East and Southeast Asian Folktales鈥� examines depiction of identity, morals, Buddhist values and other issues.聽

鈥淭his book highlights a plethora of cultural and linguistic assets reflected in East and Southeast Asian folktales for children. As an interdisciplinary collection it is an excellent guide to culturally sustainable schooling for educators and scholars engaging with the immense variety of ways to tell stories in Asian communities,鈥� said 51视频鈥檚 MinJeong Kim, associate professor of language arts and literacy in the university鈥檚 School of Education.聽

Kim co-edited the volume with 51视频 psychology Professor Emerita Allyssa McCabe.

Penned by a variety of scholars, the book aims to better enable K-12 teachers 鈥� many of whom lead classrooms in urban settings with diverse student populations 鈥� to connect with their pupils and to celebrate the cultural heritage of Asian American students who may have already heard these stories in their homes.

鈥淲e were privileged to hear favorite folktales that were new to us and filled with wisdom,鈥� said McCabe. 鈥淩esearch projects generally add to our knowledge, but this project revealed so very much that is distinctive for Vietnamese, Cambodian, Burmese, and Laotian cultures 鈥� but also much that would benefit everyone. What鈥檚 more, the folktales are very entertaining.鈥澛�

As the second-largest community of Cambodians in the U.S., 30%, or more than 4,100 children, in Lowell鈥檚 schools are Asian American, according to 2019 figures from the state Department of Education.聽

The book is a companion edition of sorts to the illustrated children鈥檚 book 鈥淎 Long, Long Time Ago in Southeast Asia,鈥� a compilation of translated folktales from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. Used in Lowell public schools, the book鈥檚 stories were gathered by 51视频 faculty scholars, including Kim and McCabe, from members of Lowell鈥檚 Asian American community.聽

51视频鈥檚 Center for Asian American Studies will host a book launch for the new text Tuesday, Jan. 24, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Free and open to the public, the event will be held virtually and on 51视频鈥檚 South Campus in Coburn Hall in room 225 at 850 Broadway St., Lowell. Members of the public who wish to attend should visit www.uml.edu/research/caas to register and, if attending remotely, receive credentials for the teleconference.聽聽

鈥淭he Center for Asian American Studies is thrilled to see this latest book project come to fruition under the leadership of two excellent faculty in psychology and education. It epitomizes what we seek to foster: research collaborations across disciplines to serve Asian American and Asian diasporic communities. Scholars, teachers, parents, and community members will find this collection immensely insightful and useful,鈥� said 51视频鈥檚 Sue Kim, an English professor who co-directs the center and serves as associate dean of undergraduate studies in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

51视频 is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its students bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. 51视频 delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu