Teaching African American History with WPA Slave Narratives
This workshop will examine the questions "What do recollections of formerly enslaved people, gathered by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, tell us about slavery in America?," "What interpretative challenges do the WPA slave narratives pose?," and "How can the WPA slave narratives be used with students?"
The Center's online resource workshops give high school teachers of U.S. history and American literature a deeper understanding of their subject matter. They introduce teachers to fresh texts and critical perspectives and help teachers integrate them into their lessons. Led by distinguished scholars and running 60 to 90 minutes, they are conducted through lecture and discussion using conferencing software. A resource workshop identifies central themes within a topic and explores ways to teach them through the close analysis of primary texts, including works of art, and the use of discussion questions. Texts are drawn from anthologies in the Center's Toolbox Library. To participate, all that is needed is a computer with an internet connection, a speaker, and a microphone.