Celebrating Foundations and Futures

By Nicole Gilbertson
June 16, 2025

On June 11, the UC Irvine Humanities Center and the School of Education’s Teacher Academy co-hosted a special community reception celebrating Foundations and Futures, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center’s groundbreaking new ethnic studies textbook. Educators, authors, and community members gathered to explore how this rich multimedia resource—the most comprehensive online history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders—can support inclusive, engaging teaching in K–12 classrooms.

The community reception followed a two-day workshop, Oral History as Community History, hosted by the UCI Teacher Academy. Local educators participated in hands-on sessions exploring oral history methods, practicing interviews and designing classroom-ready lessons that center student voice and lived experience. Workshop facilitators included leading oral historians and textbook contributors: UCLA Assistant Professor Thuy Vo Dang, author of the “Vietnamese American Experiences” chapter, and Sacramento State Assistant Professor Will Gow, who authored the chapter on oral history. Together, they guided educators through strategies to elevate community narratives and bring them into the classroom. Teachers across grade levels left the workshop with plans to engage their students in oral history projects rooted in their own families and communities – connecting the past to the present and empowering the next generation of changemakers.  

The Foundation and Futures textbook, launching Fall 2025, will feature 50 chapters of rich content, multimedia resources, and standards-aligned lessons. The project, funded by $10 million in state support, was developed to fill a critical gap in K-12 education around the history, struggles, and contributions of AAPI communities. The UCI Teacher Academy will continue to partner with local educators throughout the upcoming academic year to support implementation of Foundations and Futures and help bring these vital stories into more classrooms.