CRDG and UH Press Book Wins Prize

By Lani Abrigana
Curriculum Research and Development Group

The Rise of Modern Japan, a high school history book co-published by the Curriculum Research and Development Group and the University of Hawai‘i Press, has been awarded the Franklin Buchanan Prize for 2003 by the Association for Asian Studies.

On bestowing the award, AAS said "The Rise of Modern Japan is an outstanding contribution to the study of Japan and to the field of Asian studies at the secondary level and serves as a brilliant example of how university and K–12 educators can work together to further the field of Asian studies." An attractive, full-color, activity-centered text, it was crafted to engage today’s students and refined after use at the Education Laboratory School.

AAS noted that "the material provides students with academically sound text and context with which to understand Japanese history and society. It further integrates many primary source documents directly into the text, thereby bringing the historical narrative to life. Complementing the text are stunning full-color photographs, useful maps, interesting illustrations, and other relevant visual materials along with a music CD, all of which combine to deliver a product that is not only highly educational, but also informative, balanced, enjoyable, and appealing to all types of learners."

The Rise of Modern Japan was a joint effort of four authors: Linda Menton, professor at the Curriculum Research and Development Group and director of the Curriculum on Asian and Pacific History Project; Noren Lush, Education Laboratory School teacher and curriculum developer; Eileen Tamura, associate professor at UH’s Department of Education Foundations and Chance Gusukuma, CRDG researcher and curriculum developer.

The book was developed by the Curriculum on Asian and Pacific History Project at CRDG. Some costs were covered by development and publication grants from the U.S. Department of Education. The project has produced an earlier award-winning history textbook, China: Understanding Its Past, winner of the James Harvey Robinson Prize from the American Historical Association in 1998.

For more information about The Rise of Modern Japan and China: Understanding Its Past, visit CRDG’s Web site or the UH Press Web site.