This institute will focus on the life of George Washington as seen through several lenses. Focusing on Washington's personal life and connecting it to his public career will be the theme of the first week of the institute. Participants will consider Washington's education, his relationships with women, and his attitudes towards fame, religion, and death. Participants will look at Washington's own words in an attempt to understand the man. Traveling to Longfellow House, participants will meet with Paul Blandford, who has devoted his life to studying Washington's year in Cambridge. Blandford will also explain Washington's place in 19th-century New England culture. In the second week, participants will contrast the heroic Washington with the revisionist appraisal. How did John Marshall and Mason Locke Weems view Washington? Why does Richard Brookhiser still consider Washington’s life "exemplary?" Participants will analyze Michael Pack's documentary Rediscovering George Washington and meet with William Martin, writer of the novel Citizen Washington and the screenplay for a documentary on the life of Washington, George Washington: The Man Who Wouldn't Be King. To offer an alternative to the heroic Washington, participants will meet with the radical revisionist historian Howard Zinn. His visit will provide an opportunity to discuss what role the life of Washington should play in national and state history standards. Looking at current research, participants will attempt to determine whether Washington holds up in a reality-based age, whether his Mount Rushmore image and iconic status remain compelling. In the third week, participants will focus on Washington's public career and legacy. The guest speaker for the third week will be Karal Ann Marling, author of George Washington Slept Here, and numerous other books on American history. Professor Marling has taught Art History and American Studies at the University of Minnesota. She will speak on "George Washington and Memory," or "How the Colonial Revivals of the 19th and 20th centuries reshaped the character of our first President." During the third week, participants will also take a field trip to Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights.

From the First Division Museum website:

"Join us as award-winning Army Times reporter Sean Naylor provides the most comprehensive picture of the largest battle of the Afghan war to date—Operation Anaconda. One of only eight journalists allowed to accompany the troops into battle, his first-hand insider information is chronicled in his book, Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda. What was intended as a grand gesture turned into a missed opportunity to crush what remained of Al Qaida in Afghanistan in March 2002.

Operation Anaconda was conducted by a force of about 2,000 soldiers, more than half of which were US conventional forces, Special Forces, and Special Operating Forces commanded by Major General Buster Hagenbeck of the 10th Mountain Division, headquartered at Fort Drum, New York. Coalition forces from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, and Norway joined United States troops in Operation Anaconda. Operation Anaconda was part of the ongoing effort in Afghanistan to root out Taliban and al-Qaida forces holed up in the Pakitia Province area of the country.

A book signing will follow."

From the History Channel website:

"Educators and students nationwide can tune-in and view this LIVE webcast online at www.veterans.com. The webcast will be broadcast live from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

A panel of scholars and veterans will answer questions from students via video, email, and a live audience. The teach-in will focus on the histories and stories of World War II veterans, and will provide information on how communities nationwide can contribute to the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project. This event is part of the Take A Veteran to School Day initiative. For additional information, teacher resources, and tips for conducting oral histories with veterans, visit the Teacher Resources section at www.veterans.com. Stay tuned for more information about this event!"

This seminar will focus on the factors that both pushed and pulled African Americans from the South after the Civil War. It will analyze the images of the North that prevailed among Southern blacks, the forces that shaped those images, and the prominent themes that the Great Migration brought to African American literature. How were the realities African Americans encountered in "the Promised Land" of the North comparable to experiences they had undergone in the South? What roles did individuals, agencies, family, and business play in the movement north? And how does an examination of westward migration and migration from rural to urban areas within the South broaden understandings of the Great Migration?

Led by distinguished scholars, each seminar will consist of three sessions. The first two, featuring lecture and discussion, will focus on the close analysis of images and primary documents. The third will concentrate on the integration of seminar ideas and material into lesson plans using the Center's Seminar-to-Classroom Guide.

From the Newark Museum website:

"Join us for a fun-filled, information–packed morning of exploration and discovery. Learn how you can make the most of what The Newark Museum has to offer teachers and their students.

Enjoy participatory workshops and gallery programs designed for teachers to creatively implement the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for language arts literacy, social studies, science and art. Teachers' families are welcome to join us for this intergenerational museum experience."

On September 26, 2009, the Smithsonian Institution has invited hundreds of museum and cultural venues to participate in Museum Day 2009. Register for free to receive a pass on the website, and present it at one of the participating organizations (search for those near you on the site) for free admission.

From Bombingham to Selma, Montgomery to Tuskegee, Alabama's people and places left an indelible mark on the world in the 1950s and 1960s. From Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver to the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, Alabama citizens have been at the forefront of the crusade to improve African Americans' lot in life in the United States. Selma's citizens began a march in 1965 to protest the killing of one man. This day became known as Bloody Sunday. Now the citizens of Selma have created a people's museum so the world will not forget those tumultuous days and will remember the people's stories. Teachers in this workshop work with noted scholars, converse with living legends, participate in discussion groups, meet foot soldiers of the movement, and travel to key sites of memory dedicated to the preservation of the history of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

From the Facing History and Ourselves website:

"Using Facing History's principal resource book, Holocaust and Human Behavior, as well as video, primary sources, and presentations by survivors and leading scholars of the Holocaust, participants will experience a rigorous encounter with this powerful history. During the Seminar, a wide range of innovative teaching strategies are used to help teachers confront the Holocaust. At the conclusion of the Seminar, participants leave with a thorough grounding on how to incorporate these teaching tools into their classrooms in ways that will help students connect the history of the Holocaust to the ethical choices they face today."