This institute explores the primary pictorial forms in American art from the British colonial settlement to the aftermath of the Civil War. The three units—portraiture, history painting, and landscape—will include a particular focus on works drawn from the National Endowment for the Humanities' new initiative "Picturing America." This NEH poster series, which has already been distributed to thousands of schools, captures 40 canonical works of American art that reflect the artistic and cultural history of the United States. Through the institute, participants will come to a deeper understanding of these works in their historical contexts and explore different methods of visual analysis. They will develop strategies and tools to use the "Picturing America" series in their classrooms.

This institute will provide educators the opportunity to engage in serious study and seminar-style discussion of basic issues of political theory and the values and principles of American constitutional democracy.

This workshop provides a varied program of lectures, demonstrations, analysis of documents, independent research, and group work that introduces teachers to the holdings and organization of the National Archives. Participants will learn how to do research in historical records, create classroom material from records, and present documents in ways that sharpen students' skills and enthusiasm for history, social studies, and the humanities. Each participant selects and prepares to research a specific topic, searches the topic in the records of the National Archives, and develops a teaching unit that can be presented in his or her own classroom.

From the Facing History and Ourselves website:

"Please join us as we explore the Facing History and Ourselves resource book, Choices in Little Rock—a collection of teaching suggestions, activities, and primary sources that focus on the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. These efforts led to a crisis that historian Taylor Branch once described as 'the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War.'

These resources explore a range of civic choices—the decisions people make as citizens in a democracy. Those decisions, both then and now, reveal that democracy is not a product but a work in progress, a work that is shaped in every generation by the choices that we make about ourselves and others. In this workshop, we will consider ways to engage students in the issues raised by this history and its civic implications for their lives today."

From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website:

"The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in cooperation with Arizona State University, will present this forum, designed for secondary, pre-service, and community college educators. The forum will explore the content, methodologies, and rationales for teaching the history of the Holocaust; increases teachers' knowledge of the Holocaust; and examines contemporary issues associated with this history."

From the Continuing Education Options website:

"You will explore the history, human influences, science and stewardship of the Mississippi River during a narrated Mississippi River cruise on the Harriet Bishop river boat. You will experience pioneer life at the Oliver H. Kelley farm, a living history site set in the mid 1800's, and you will be exposed to modern farming practices, techniques, and equipment. You will visit the MN Commemorative Air Force Wing (dedicated to the preservation of WWII treasures). You will learn about the history and significance of railroading in MN from the 1930's through the 1950's on guided tours of the Jackson Street Roundhouse. We will explore the MN Landscape Arboretum and the Richardson Nature Center in Bloomington with a naturalist and discover how to utilize this experience in the classroom."