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.

The third in this series of workshops featuring different areas of the permanent collection focuses on images of the West. Depictions of pioneers, Native Americans, and western scenes are used to enhance your curriculum. Landscapes, history paintings, and portraiture are featured.

The World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C. is hosting its annual Summer Institute on International Affairs for High School Educators on The U.S. and the World. Topics will include The New Asia, Globalization and the Economy, Religion and Foreign Policy, Future Conflicts, U.S. Foreign Policy Directions, and more topics to be later announced.

The conference features access to international experts, exciting and interactive seminars, lesson plan sessions, on-site sessions at the U.S. Department of State, the World Bank, Foreign Embassies, and others (with optional Graduate School Credit through Projects in Education and the Catholic University of America), a national network of teachers and free materials for the classroom.

This two-and-a-half day workshop will provide a varied program of lectures, demonstrations, collaborative work, and analysis of documents and works of art to introduce teachers to the holdings of the National Archives and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Workshop attendees will participate in and develop classroom activities that utilize both visual images and primary source documents as teaching tools in ways that sharpen students’ skills and enthusiasm for history, social studies, and the humanities. The content focus will be on Westward Expansion and the Civil War.

Drawing upon practitioners, scholars, and educators, the Summer Institute will examine the sources of global conflict and different approaches to peacemaking and peacebuilding in the current global environment, which presents unique challenges and opportunities for teachers striving to ready young people to take their places in an increasingly complex world.

"To celebrate Black History Month and Valentine’s Day, NARA archivist Reginald Washington will give a presentation on marriage records among the Freedmen’s Bureau records."

"Ben Franklin was at the heart of the Enlightenment. He drew to him some of the greatest minds of that time—people whose ideas continue to shape how we live. Jack Fruchtman, author of Atlantic Cousins, examines how Franklin and his circle of friends shaped a remarkable period in history. A book signing will follow the program."

"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."

"This seminar will use a variety of resources: lectures, books, documents, video documentaries, and the resources on the internet. There will also be ample opportunity for participants and hosts to learn from one another. It will be, in short, a week of total immersion in the lengthy, occasionally dangerous, and (almost) always intriguing history of the Cold War, filled with debate and new information."