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.

This workshop will provide the larger historical and cultural context for understanding the Pearl Harbor attacks by illuminating one of the most important (if at times antagonistic) bilateral relationships in the 20th century—that between the United States and Japan—and the impact of that relationship on both nations' international affairs. Importantly, it will explore the multiple histories that converge at Pearl Harbor—including not only American and Japanese but also Hawaiian and diverse American experiences, especially those of Americans of Japanese ancestry—reminding participants that despite the mythic status of the Pearl Harbor story in American culture, there are in fact a number of "Pearl Harbors," with different impacts and memories for diverse Americans and for people throughout the world. During the workshop, participants will visit the Arizona Memorial and related attack sites in order to gain a sense of the time and place represented by these historic resources. Since the history of Pearl Harbor is still a living history, participants will also have the unique opportunity to meet with Pearl Harbor survivors, World War II generation residents of Hawaii, and Japanese Americans who spent the wartime years in internment camps, and to experience history "come alive" through their oral histories. Importantly, the workshop will model ways to teach collaboratively. Participants will engage in rigorous conversations with leading U.S. and Japanese scholars about the historical significance and meanings of the events surrounding the attacks and important cultural and historical issues that continue to shape national perceptions of Pearl Harbor. Through hands-on sessions, participants will work closely with the scholars as well as with a group of teachers from Japan and with one another as they explore issues of content and pedagogy in teaching Pearl Harbor and develop plans for collaborative projects and lesson plans that integrate materials from the workshop. In this way, the workshop will serve as a catalyst for creating a network of educators dedicated to ongoing scholarship, professional development, and collaboration.

This workshop will provide the larger historical and cultural context for understanding the Pearl Harbor attacks by illuminating one of the most important (if at times antagonistic) bilateral relationships in the 20th century—that between the United States and Japan—and the impact of that relationship on both nations' international affairs. Importantly, it will explore the multiple histories that converge at Pearl Harbor—including not only American and Japanese but also Hawaiian and diverse American experiences, especially those of Americans of Japanese ancestry—reminding participants that despite the mythic status of the Pearl Harbor story in American culture, there are in fact a number of "Pearl Harbors," with different impacts and memories for diverse Americans and for people throughout the world. During the workshop, participants will visit the Arizona Memorial and related attack sites in order to gain a sense of the time and place represented by these historic resources. Since the history of Pearl Harbor is still a living history, participants will also have the unique opportunity to meet with Pearl Harbor survivors, World War II generation residents of Hawaii, and Japanese Americans who spent the wartime years in internment camps, and to experience history "come alive" through their oral histories. Importantly, the workshop will model ways to teach collaboratively. Participants will engage in rigorous conversations with leading U.S. and Japanese scholars about the historical significance and meanings of the events surrounding the attacks and important cultural and historical issues that continue to shape national perceptions of Pearl Harbor. Through hands-on sessions, participants will work closely with the scholars as well as with a group of teachers from Japan and with one another as they explore issues of content and pedagogy in teaching Pearl Harbor and develop plans for collaborative projects and lesson plans that integrate materials from the workshop. In this way, the workshop will serve as a catalyst for creating a network of educators dedicated to ongoing scholarship, professional development, and collaboration.

From the Continuing Education Options website:

"The Twin Cities is blessed by having various outstanding organizations and institutions willing to share their facilities, information and talents with the community. While participating in this class you will visit a number of organizations throughout the area and have an opportunity to meet with education directors and be given extensive tours of their facilities. You will visit The Hubbard Broadcasting Company (KSTP TV and radio) and the Star Tribune. You will tour the various facilities of MNDOT and see the communication and technology systems that are involved in monitoring and maintaining our roadways. On the U of M campus you will tour the Bell Museum of Natural History where children and adults can explore wolves, loons, moose and other Minnesota wildlife. We will also visit the Weisman Art Institute. In St. Paul you will be given a tour of the State Capitol and see government come alive. Finally, the past will be tied with the present when you visit historic Fort Snelling, which was once a symbol of American ambition in the wilderness."

The Archives of American Art, National Portrait Gallery, and Smithsonian American Art Museum have collaborated to create a series of teaching posters on themes such as Westward Expansion and the Harlem Renaissance. Attendees at this workshop will receive a set of the posters and explore ways to use the images, documents, and activities in the classroom.

Participants in this institute will interact with scientists studying Maine's unique environment; explore the wide range of National Park Service resources available to teachers; visit an offshore island and learn how early artists, Native Americans, and coastal environments can intersect in your classroom; and develop multidisciplinary activities to take back to their classrooms.