2011 Peace and Reconciliation Study Tour to China and Korea

Edmonton-area teachers have the opportunity to study in Asia this coming summer. Organized by the Association for Learning & Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (ALPHA), a non-profit group with chapters in B.C., Alberta and Ontario, the study tour will visit China and Korea from July 13 to 28.

Participating educators will enhance their knowledge of atrocities committed by Imperial Japan during the War including sexual slavery, forced labour and human experimentation.

Study tour learning activities include examination of historical facts, education about social justice, visits to museums, meetings with survivors, and dialogues with local historians, scholars, teachers and lawyers.

This summer’s study tour will also visit a number of cities including Shanghai and Beijing.

In Nanjing (formerly Nanking), participants will visit the former site of the International Safety Zone established in 1937 by 28 foreigners. The Zone saved close to 200,000 Chinese from being massacred by Imperial Japanese soldiers.

While in Harbin, Edmonton’s sister city, teachers will visit Unit 731, a formerly secret military site where the Japanese carried out experiments on Chinese captives to develop chemical and biological weapons.

In both China and Korea, teachers will meet with survivors of military sexual slavery who are now in there 80s and 90s. Euphemistically called "Comfort Women" by the Imperial Japanese, tens of thousands of these women endured horrific suffering and died at a young age.

The 2011 Peace and Reconciliation Study Tour for Educators will be the seventh such tour organized by ALPHA. New this year participants will be meeting with scholars and teachers from Japan.

Potential candidates will be notified shortly after March 18 to arrange for an interview. The final selection will be made before mid-April 2011.

Prior to the tour, it is mandatory for successful tour applicants to take part in a series of pre-tour preparation sessions held on the afternoons of the first Sundays in each of three months: May 1st, June 5th, and July 3rd.

Successful applicants are responsible for obtaining a visa to enter China.

Following the tour, participants are expected to make professional contributions by sharing their study tour observations and experiences with their students and colleagues in the teaching of social responsibility and global citizenship. In the past, some study tour participants have made this obligation part of their Professional Growth Plan.

Through its fundraising this past year, ALPHA is able to cover most of the costs associated with the 16-day study tour. Successful applicants contribute $2000 for which they will receive an income tax receipt.

Teachers interested in joining this year’s study tour are asked to visit Edmonton ALPHA’s website < http://edmontonalpha.org > and download the Application Form. Applicants must also provide personal and professional information and complete a written response to a statement. These three documents must be received by March 25th.

Questions?

Contact Edmonton ALPHA
Ph: (780) 707-5855
Fax: (780) 433-2949
Email: info@edmontonalpha.org.

2008 Study Tour in China