This course will examine military aspects of the war, as well as political developments during it, including the political history of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural. The course also examines the post-war Amendments and the Reconstruction era.

Having adopted a form of government, the Americans had to make it work. This course examines their efforts to do so, as the Republic took shape amidst foreign dangers, political conflict, westward expansion, and religious revivals.

This course will examine military aspects of the war, as well as political developments during it, including the political history of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural. The course also examines the post-war Amendments and the Reconstruction era.

Ahimsa Center's 2009 Summer Institute for K–12 teachers—the third one in a series on Education about Nonviolence—will focus on Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68), the pioneers of nonviolent action for social transformation. Participants will work with expert faculty and scholars to learn, reflect, and critically assess the significance of Gandhi and King in their own times and their continuing relevance in our times as leaders of nonviolent mass movements, and also as thought-leaders who seem to have anticipated so many of today's critical issues and vexing problems. Themes and topics covered in the institute will provide a solid foundation for curricular innovations that will help students gain critical insights into the relevance of Gandhi, King, and their respective journeys of nonviolence.

During this two-week institute teachers and scholars will reconsider iconic American writer John Steinbeck, author of more than 30 books, winner of the Pulitzer Prize (in 1940, for The Grapes of Wrath), the Nobel Prize for Literature (1962), and the United States Medal of Freedom (1964). Days will be filled with study, exploration of the area, discussion, and reflection. During the two weeks, participants will have ample opportunity to appreciate "Steinbeck Country" through exploration of the land and Steinbeck's literature.

The story of sugar's transformation from luxury product to ubiquitous commodity in the modern Western diet offers a rich vantage on transatlantic and world history. It also prods students and scholars to deeper consideration of the myriad social, cultural, and economic processes within which even the most seemingly banal substances can be enmeshed. Seminar participants will explore these connections and processes, with special attention to the Caribbean. The link between sugar cultivation and the transatlantic slave trade—and the enduring, intertwined legacies of both—will be an important area of discussion and analysis.

This course examines American strategy and operational art during the middle part of the 19th century. During the first part of the course, participants will look at the development of American grand strategy during the era of the early Republic, based on an understanding of America's place in the world, the genesis of the war with Mexico, the strategy and major campaigns of the Mexican War, and the way that Mexico prepared the generation of officers who led the armies of both the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War. During the second part, participants will examine the strategy and campaigns of the Civil War. Civil-military relations in a republic is a major thread that runs throughout the course.

The America's Industrial Revolution workshop at the Henry Ford will draw together K–12 educators with leading humanities scholars and museum staff for unique enrichment exercises centered on the impact of industrialization. The workshop is designed to encourage participant curiosity and deepen knowledge on the subject, engage participants with innovative methods of transmitting enthusiasm and content to students, and empower participants to use cultural resources to enliven the teaching and learning of history. Participants will explore the diverse ways that Americans experienced social change between the 1760s and the 1920s through lecture/discussions and by visiting with museum curators at 12 of the 80 historic sites interpreted in Greenfield Village, including Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, Hermitage Plantation Slave Quarters, 1760s Daggett Farm, 1880s Firestone Farm, a railroad roundhouse, and a 19th-century grist mill. In addition, time is set aside each day for exploration of archival sources in the Benson Ford Research Center and to work on individual lesson plans for implementation back home. The week's activities will culminate with a visit to a related National Historic Landmark, the Ford Motor Company's Rouge Industrial Complex.

From the North Carolina Museum of History website:

"Explore the history of civil rights in the state from 1830 to the present. An interactive time line, a Web quest, and tips on teaching with primary sources enhance the in-depth text and historic images."

From the Primary Source website:

"How can American art be used to deepen your students' understanding of democracy in American life? Bringing together educators from across the country in conjunction with the NEH Picturing America program, Democratic Vistas will show you new ways to incorporate important works of visual art in the core humanities curriculum. Day One of the institute explores democratic values and aesthetics as a theme in American art; Day Two highlights the "art of the people" - folk and traditional art, as an expression of American creativity. The course takes advantage of Boston's unique artistic and historical resources with a downtown walking tour of civic monuments, a museum field trip (Boston's Museum of Fine Arts) and presentations by leading scholars in the field.

Following the course, participants must complete a lesson plan or school project highlighting one of the works in the Picturing America collection."