From the James Madison's Montpelier workshop:

"James Madison's life encompassed the development, establishment, and maintenance of a new constitutional enterprise. His career was dedicated to establishing the new nation and its constitutional system, and in the process he made the transition from founder to citizen—that is, from the outside to the inside of the political system, from regime-making power to institutionalized governmental authority.

"Explore James Madison's role in the invention of fundamentally new concepts of a constitution, a bill of rights, and citizenship—and explore Montpelier, his lifelong home and plantation in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains."

From the James Madison's Montpelier workshop:

"James Madison's life encompassed the development, establishment, and maintenance of a new constitutional enterprise. His career was dedicated to establishing the new nation and its constitutional system, and in the process he made the transition from founder to citizen—that is, from the outside to the inside of the political system, from regime-making power to institutionalized governmental authority.

"Explore James Madison's role in the invention of fundamentally new concepts of a constitution, a bill of rights, and citizenship—and explore Montpelier, his lifelong home and plantation in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains."

From the Tsongas Industrial History Center website:

"The Inventing America Workshop combines scholarly presentations with on-site investigations of the canals, mills, worker housing, and exhibits of Lowell National Historical Park and of other sites in Lowell's historic district.

"Sessions draw on scholarly monographs, primary sources (such as 'mill girl' letters), and works of literature and historical fiction. We intersperse hands-on activities with lecture-discussions and field investigations.

"In addition to Lowell's landmark resources, we take full advantage of Old Sturbridge Village exhibits and scholars to explore pre-industrial rural life and draw on the expertise of scholars and presenters at Walden Pond and Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Massachusetts, to explore how prominent authors addressed the question of industrialization's effect on American life, values, and the environment.

Hands-on activities deepen participants' understanding by engaging them in simulations where they weave cloth, build water-powered mill systems, and work on assembly lines. Participants even cook a meal over fireplaces at Old Sturbridge Village and discuss farm vs. factory life after a boardinghouse dinner at the Boott Cotton Mills."

From the Tsongas Industrial History Center website:

"The Inventing America Workshop combines scholarly presentations with on-site investigations of the canals, mills, worker housing, and exhibits of Lowell National Historical Park and of other sites in Lowell's historic district.

"Sessions draw on scholarly monographs, primary sources (such as 'mill girl' letters), and works of literature and historical fiction. We intersperse hands-on activities with lecture-discussions and field investigations.

"In addition to Lowell's landmark resources, we take full advantage of Old Sturbridge Village exhibits and scholars to explore pre-industrial rural life and draw on the expertise of scholars and presenters at Walden Pond and Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Massachusetts, to explore how prominent authors addressed the question of industrialization's effect on American life, values, and the environment.

Hands-on activities deepen participants' understanding by engaging them in simulations where they weave cloth, build water-powered mill systems, and work on assembly lines. Participants even cook a meal over fireplaces at Old Sturbridge Village and discuss farm vs. factory life after a boardinghouse dinner at the Boott Cotton Mills."

From the Middle Tennessee State University website:

"The Hermitage: Home of President Andrew Jackson is uniquely positioned to interpret many of the changes in America from the dawning of westward expansion to the eve of the Civil War. Andrew Jackson, as both an agent and a product of change, was one of the most important, and most controversial, individuals during this period of turmoil and transition. As a political and military leader, as a businessman, and as a slave-owning cotton planter, he was at the center of important national issues. To many people in his day, Andrew Jackson was a symbol for American democracy, and he remains so in our own time. During the Jacksonian era, government moved from the republican system envisioned by the founding fathers to a democracy. Jackson also was a contentious president, touched by scandal, who took unpopular stands. His military and political careers are well known, but during his time democratic ideals were translated into religious life, reform movements, architecture, and the decorative arts. Daniel Feller, editor of the Papers of Andrew Jackson at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a visiting scholar for each workshop, points out that, at the time, Americans exuded a great deal of optimism about the future. Our goal is to present multiple perspectives that allow teachers to draw their own conclusions about Jackson's role in shaping the politics and political ideals of American society. No single historical perspective can adequately or definitively interpret Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage, or an entire period of history. Participants will be encouraged to weigh historical and archaeological evidence, react to multiple interpretations, and draw their own conclusions to deepen and enrich their knowledge of history."

From the Middle Tennessee State University website:

"The Hermitage: Home of President Andrew Jackson is uniquely positioned to interpret many of the changes in America from the dawning of westward expansion to the eve of the Civil War. Andrew Jackson, as both an agent and a product of change, was one of the most important, and most controversial, individuals during this period of turmoil and transition. As a political and military leader, as a businessman, and as a slave-owning cotton planter, he was at the center of important national issues. To many people in his day, Andrew Jackson was a symbol for American democracy, and he remains so in our own time. During the Jacksonian era, government moved from the republican system envisioned by the founding fathers to a democracy. Jackson also was a contentious president, touched by scandal, who took unpopular stands. His military and political careers are well known, but during his time democratic ideals were translated into religious life, reform movements, architecture, and the decorative arts. Daniel Feller, editor of the Papers of Andrew Jackson at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a visiting scholar for each workshop, points out that, at the time, Americans exuded a great deal of optimism about the future. Our goal is to present multiple perspectives that allow teachers to draw their own conclusions about Jackson's role in shaping the politics and political ideals of American society. No single historical perspective can adequately or definitively interpret Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage, or an entire period of history. Participants will be encouraged to weigh historical and archaeological evidence, react to multiple interpretations, and draw their own conclusions to deepen and enrich their knowledge of history."

From the Maritime Museum, San Diego website:

"If you ever dreamed about sailing into the past, this is your opportunity to join a crew made up of distinguished university professors and noted historians as we navigate through 400 years of west coast history while exploring one of the world's greatest collections of historic vessels, rare museum gallery exhibits, and historic sites in San Diego.

"The week will be spent investigating new ways of thinking about the Pacific and its role in the American story. Sixty-five years before the settlement at Jamestown and seventy-eight years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, European sailing ships were busy exploring and charting the west coast. Long before the wagon trains moved across the plains, Americans were establishing themselves in their own seaborne empires stretching from Alta California and the Oregon territory to China. Where are these stories? Who were the players? What were their motivations? And what legacy did they leave behind that shapes our county today?"

From the Maritime Museum, San Diego website:

"If you ever dreamed about sailing into the past, this is your opportunity to join a crew made up of distinguished university professors and noted historians as we navigate through 400 years of west coast history while exploring one of the world's greatest collections of historic vessels, rare museum gallery exhibits, and historic sites in San Diego.

"The week will be spent investigating new ways of thinking about the Pacific and its role in the American story. Sixty-five years before the settlement at Jamestown and seventy-eight years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, European sailing ships were busy exploring and charting the west coast. Long before the wagon trains moved across the plains, Americans were establishing themselves in their own seaborne empires stretching from Alta California and the Oregon territory to China. Where are these stories? Who were the players? What were their motivations? And what legacy did they leave behind that shapes our county today?"

From the Massachusetts Historical Society website:

"In the spring of 1775, the towns of Lexington and Concord became targets, scenes, and symbols of actions which would ignite a war culminating in the birth of a new country. In those towns were people caught at the crossroads of Revolution. This institute is designed to immerse our participants in the evocative eighteenth-century landscapes of those towns, as well as the port city of Boston, to examine the decisions and dilemmas involved in the events of 1775 and the subsequent interpretations and uses of those events. We want to put you, the educator, at the crossroads of the American Revolution.

"Our Massachusetts institution, the nation's oldest historical society (1791), is world-renowned for the strengths of its document-based collections and online resources. We will introduce you to the landscapes, structures, objects and exhibitions that connect those treasured documents to real places where events unfolded that irrevocably affected the course of human history."

From the Massachusetts Historical Society website:

"In the spring of 1775, the towns of Lexington and Concord became targets, scenes, and symbols of actions which would ignite a war culminating in the birth of a new country. In those towns were people caught at the crossroads of Revolution. This institute is designed to immerse our participants in the evocative eighteenth-century landscapes of those towns, as well as the port city of Boston, to examine the decisions and dilemmas involved in the events of 1775 and the subsequent interpretations and uses of those events. We want to put you, the educator, at the crossroads of the American Revolution.

"Our Massachusetts institution, the nation's oldest historical society (1791), is world-renowned for the strengths of its document-based collections and online resources. We will introduce you to the landscapes, structures, objects and exhibitions that connect those treasured documents to real places where events unfolded that irrevocably affected the course of human history."