Students will gain an appreciation of performing arts by learning about Chinese opera styles and lion dancing. Students will practice deep looking and critical reasoning skills through activities including comparing and contrasting lions and dragons, discussing the symbolism of costumes and gestures, and thinking about how the arts impact people’s lives both during celebrations and as part of their everyday activities.

Through an exploration of a selection of popular Chinese and Chinese American foods, students will learn about the diversity and adaptability of Chinese food culture and make connections to their own food customs and traditions. Students will investigate how differences in geography and climate in China have created diverse, regional cuisines. Students will also explore the food customs and traditions Chinese immigrants brought with them and how these customs and traditions have been preserved, changed, or adapted to new circumstances.

Through an examination of personal artifacts, photographs, and documents from the Museum’s collection and others, students will explore the Chinese American experience through the lens of Kenneth, a young Chinese boy who emigrated to the United States via Angel Island. Students will consider what the journey was like, learn about the specific challenges Chinese immigrants faced, investigate the conditions on Angel Island, and reflect on immigration laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act. Interactive activities coupled with close looking will encourage students to make connections between past and present experiences of immigrants to the U.S., and even their own.

Using primary and secondary sources from MOCA’s collections and others, students will analyze the history and impact of the perpetual foreigner stereotype, with an emphasis on how that stereotype has affected, and continues to affect, people of Chinese heritage (or perceived as being Chinese or of Chinese heritage) in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.