The Declaration of Independence of 1776 announced the entry of the United States onto the world stage and inaugurated a new genre of document that would be used by various groups in the following centuries to herald their arrival among "the Powers of the Earth." This seminar views the American Declaration from three global perspectives: first, by placing 1776 into the context of contemporary international and global connections; second, by examining the legacy of the Declaration in the century after 1776; and third, by analyzing other declarations of independence since 1776 for their debts to—and divergences from—the American model. The result should be an enriched understanding of the importance of the Declaration in world history, as well as a novel account of what was truly revolutionary about the American Revolution.

The purpose of this one-week summer seminar is to explore a pivotal period in American history. After the uneven prosperity of the 1920s, the Great Depression of the 1930s was a human catastrophe. But the economic crisis also led to dramatic social and cultural change as Americans reacted to hardship and adversity. Above all, the rise of the New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt reshaped the modern state in ways that remain controversial and at the historical core of political debates today.

Led by Patty Limerick, this seminar uses focused case studies to explore the larger picture of environmental history, a subject that has grown increasingly complex as historians deepen their understanding of the vast role of "anthropogenic change" (also known as "history") in reconfiguring the places and processes thought of as "natural." Much of the seminar explores the transformation of attitudes, from the assessment of North American landscapes and resources by early settlers to the recognition of the changing "baseline" of global warming, along with a reconsideration—and revision—of the usual polarity-pitting utilitarian approaches in opposition to preservationist approaches to the management of nature. With guest speakers drawn from the University of Colorado's widely respected environmental studies program, the roles of naturalists and scientists in shaping American thinking about nature will receive particular attention, as will changes in the production and consumption of energy, a fundamental matter in environmental history. The concluding field trip to Rocky Mountain National Park gives the themes of the lectures and discussions a down-to-earth grounding in a visit to one of the most popular units in the nation's public lands, while close attention to John McPhee's Encounters with the Archdruid provides a framework for drawing lessons from the past to enhance the quality of contemporary environmental decision-making.

This seminar explores the rise of Jim Crow in the United States and tracks it forward to its modern post-civil-rights manifestations. Seminar participants will work with a range of primary sources to interpret the shifting social, economic, political, psychological, and cultural trauma associated with this set of racial practices. Close attention will be paid to the effects of Jim Crow on both sides of the color line.

The American South plays a central role in American history, from the first permanent English colony through the election of 2008. This course will focus on key episodes when Southern history and the history of the nation intersected at particularly important points: the emergence and spread of slavery, the founding, the Civil War, the creation of segregation, and the civil rights struggle. The course will be taught in Richmond, Virginia, a city rich in museums and historic sites that the seminar will use to explore the subjects addressed in the seminar.

Participants in this workshop will travel throughout the Delta as they visit sites where significant events occurred. They will discuss and learn about issues involving civil rights and political leadership, immigrants' experiences in the Delta, the Blues, the great migration, agriculture, and the Mississippi River, among other things. They will sample Delta foods, visit local museums, and listen to the Blues. Field trips will roam as far as Greenville, Greenwood, and Memphis, with stops in between.

During this one-week workshop, workshop fellows will walk the streets and alleys that Benjamin Franklin walked, step through the doorways that he knew, sit in the churches where he worshiped, and stroll around the houses and public buildings where he helped to found the United States. Fellows will also explore the many rooms of Benjamin Franklin's mind: writer, printer, civic leader, politician, diplomat, scientist, revolutionary, founder. They will read Franklin's words—published and personal—and those of other men and women who lived in the era. They will examine the key aspects of gender, of race, of social class, and diverse other topics.

This one-week workshop provides teachers with fresh perspectives on the complex dynamics of the American Revolution in the Southern backcountry, a place where longstanding hostilities between American settlers erupted into a full-scale civil war between Loyalists and Patriots. This program will make use of the rich historical resources in upstate South Carolina. Participants will visit Walnut Grove Plantation and the living history museum at Historic Brattonsville in order to better understand day-to-day life in the backcountry at the time of the Revolution. Then they will tour the battlefields at Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and Ninety-Six to learn more about the nature of backcountry warfare. They will also explore the ways that art, archaeological evidence, and material culture can help increase student engagement with the subject matter. They will examine the war's impact on the region's white women and on its free and enslaved African Americans. A veteran history teacher will serve as master teacher for the workshop, advising participants on ways they can use the content and resources they gain at the workshop in their own classrooms.

This one-week workshop provides teachers with fresh perspectives on the complex dynamics of the American Revolution in the Southern backcountry, a place where longstanding hostilities between American settlers erupted into a full-scale civil war between Loyalists and Patriots. This program will make use of the rich historical resources in upstate South Carolina. Participants will visit Walnut Grove Plantation and the living history museum at Historic Brattonsville in order to better understand day-to-day life in the backcountry at the time of the Revolution. Then they will tour the battlefields at Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and Ninety-Six to learn more about the nature of backcountry warfare. They will also explore the ways that art, archaeological evidence, and material culture can help increase student engagement with the subject matter. They will examine the war's impact on the region's white women and on its free and enslaved African Americans. A veteran history teacher will serve as master teacher for the workshop, advising participants on ways they can use the content and resources they gain at the workshop in their own classrooms.