International Development

FSI researchers consider international development from a variety of angles. They analyze ideas such as how public action and good governance are cornerstones of economic prosperity in Mexico and how investments in high school education will improve China’s economy.

They are looking at novel technological interventions to improve rural livelihoods, like the development implications of solar power-generated crop growing in Northern Benin.

FSI academics also assess which political processes yield better access to public services, particularly in developing countries. With a focus on health care, researchers have studied the political incentives to embrace UNICEF’s child survival efforts and how a well-run anti-alcohol policy in Russia affected mortality rates.

FSI’s work on international development also includes training the next generation of leaders through pre- and post-doctoral fellowships as well as the Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program.

616 Jane Stanford Way
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(650) 723-1116 (650) 723-6784

gmukai@stanford.edu

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Dr. Gary Mukai is Director of the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (91�Թ�). Prior to joining 91�Թ� in 1988, he was a teacher in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, and in California public schools for ten years.

Gary’s academic interests include curriculum and instruction, educational equity, and teacher professional development. He received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from U.C. Berkeley; a multiple subjects teaching credential from the Black, Asian, Chicano Urban Program, U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education; a master of arts in international comparative education from 91�Թ�’s Graduate School of Education; and a doctorate of education from the Leadership in Educational Equity Program, U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education.

In addition to curricular publications for 91�Թ�, Gary has also written for other publishers, including Newsweek, Calliope Magazine, Media & Methods: Education Products, Technologies & Programs for Schools and Universities, Social Studies Review, Asia Alive, Education 91�Թ� Asia, ACCESS Journal: Information on Global, International, and Foreign Language Education, San Jose Mercury News, and ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies; and organizations, including NBC New York, the Silk Road Project at Harvard University, the Japanese American National Memorial to Patriotism in Washington, DC, the Center for Asian American Media in San Francisco, the Laurasian Institution in Seattle, the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, and the Asia Society in New York.

He has developed teacher guides for films such as The Road to Beijing (a film on the Beijing Olympics narrated by Yo-Yo Ma and co-produced by 91�Թ� and the Silk Road Project), (a film developed by the Nuclear Security Project featuring former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, former Senator Sam Nunn, and former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell), Days of Waiting: The Life & Art of Estelle Ishigo (an Academy Award-winning film about Japanese-American internment by Steven Okazaki), Doubles: Japan and America’s Intercultural Children (a film by Regge Life), A State of Mind (a film on North Korea by Daniel Gordon), (a film about kamikaze pilots by Risa Morimoto), Makiko’s New World (a film on life in Meiji Japan by David W. Plath), (a film by Kerry Y. Nakagawa), Uncommon Courage: Patriotism and Civil Liberties (a film about Japanese Americans in the Military Intelligence Service during World War II by Gayle Yamada), Citizen Tanouye (a film about a Medal of Honor recipient during World War II by Robert Horsting), Mrs. Judo (a film about 10th degree black belt Keiko Fukuda by Yuriko Gamo Romer), and Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story (a film by Regge Life about a woman who lost her life in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami).

He has conducted numerous professional development seminars nationally (including extensive work with the Chicago Public Schools, Hawaii Department of Education, New York City Department of Education, and school districts in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County) and internationally (including in China, France, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, and Turkey).

In 1997, Gary was the first regular recipient of the Franklin Buchanan Prize from the Association for Asian Studies, awarded annually to honor an outstanding curriculum publication on Asia at any educational level, elementary through university. In 2004, 91�Թ� received the Foreign Minister’s Commendation from the Japanese government for its promotion of Japanese studies in schools; and Gary received recognition from the Fresno County Office of Education, California, for his work with students of Fresno County. In 2007, he was the recipient of the Foreign Minister’s Commendation from the Japanese government for the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and the United States, especially in the field of education. At the invitation of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, San Francisco, Gary participated in the Republic of Korea-sponsored 2010 Revisit Korea Program, which commemorated the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. At the invitation of the Nanjing Foreign Languages School, China, he participated in an international educational forum in 2013 that commemorated the 50th anniversary of NFLS’s founding. In 2015 he received the Stanford Alumni Award from the Asian American Activities Center Advisory Board, and in 2017 he was awarded the Alumni Excellence in Education Award by the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Most recently, the government of Japan named him a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays.

He is an editorial board member of the journal, Education 91�Թ� Asia; advisory board member for Asian Educational Media Services, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; board member of the Japan Exchange and Teaching Alumni Association of Northern California; and selection committee member of the Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher Award, U.S.–Japan Foundation.

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Small-group activities encourage students to become historians as they evaluate letters from Hernando Cortés, poetry from the Aztecs, and pictures of the Danza de la Conquista. They come away from this unit with a richer knowledge of the Aztec/Spanish encounters; an understanding of concepts such as bias, perspective, interpretation, and balance; and an appreciation for the complexity of writing history.

In this unit, students learn about the Han Dynasty of China, which successfully unified China for more than 400 years (202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.). Small-group activities explore how the Chinese created unity through music, philosophy, politics, agriculture, and language.

This cross-cultural investigation of eight Chinese and Japanese folktales is designed to interest students in China and Japan. Students create their own folktales as a final activity.

This curriculum unit uses cooperative activities and games to introduce students to the physical and political geography of Latin America. Students examine different world maps to help them understand that maps are created for specific purposes and convey different information based on their perspective and design.

Teaching the geographic concepts of region, cultural boundary, and movement can be challenging. This unit helps students explore these ideas as they learn about the geographic distribution and spread of major world religions throughout Asia.

This unit teaches students about the basic physical and political geography of Africa and introduces the fundamental geographical concepts and vocabulary in an African context.

This simulation of international trade focuses on the concept of interdependence and allows students to experience firsthand the kinds of cooperation and conflict that are generated among the nations of the world as they negotiate to obtain needed resources. Note: This unit is part of the Teaching with Simulations bundle.

This unit provides an introduction to written language (including pictographs and ideographs) and tools needed to "demystify" written Chinese. Students create their own symbols to communicate concepts, words, and ideas to others.

In this unit, students examine three key contemporary issues: immigration, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the environment. Note: This unit is Part II of the U.S.ñ Mexico Relations bundle.

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