Participants in this course will explore American Indian history in North Carolina from the earliest evidence of human habitation in the state through first contact with Europeans, the Trail of Tears, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, and into the present day.

Students often hold incorrect ideas about Native Americans and, in particular, know very little about the history and culture of American Indians right here in North Carolina. Archaeological finds, creation stories, the writings of early European explorers, government documents and treaties, stories handed down through oral tradition, indigenous crafts, newspaper articles, and more will enrich exploration of key issues in Native American history in North Carolina.

Moreover, thoughtful articles and lively discussions will allow participants to address modern issues such as the needs of American Indian students in North Carolina classrooms and present-day controversies such as the use of Indian-themed mascots in school athletic programs.

This seminar focuses on North Carolina's rich textile heritage as told through the stories, songs, and images of the people who worked in the mills. Using the backdrop of the Louis Hine's National Child Labor Committee Photography, Gaston County, 1908, "Standing on a Box," seminar participants will explore the experiences of mill workers in communities across North Carolina with particular attention to the life and work of families and children. In addition, participants will learn about notable individuals in the North Carolina textile story, such as union songstress and mill worker Ella May Wiggins, who was murdered for her organizing efforts during the Gastonia mill strike of 1929.

This institute provides the opportunity to analyze and investigate the material culture and decorative arts of the early South. Each summer the institute focuses on one region of the early South, rotating its concentration from the Chesapeake to the Carolina Low Country to the southern Backcountry.

The 2009 Institute emphasizes the material culture of the early southern Backcountry, including the piedmont and western regions of Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia, as well as Tennessee and Kentucky. The program curriculum includes lectures, discussions, work­shops, artifact studies, research projects, and study trips.

Participants will spend a spring morning exploring how artists use size and scale to focus attention on the natural world. This hands-on session with Museum Educator Camille Tewell will combine gallery discovery with the experience of monumental art in the Museum Park.

Heroes, kings, popes, and saints are but a few of the roles mankind uses to depict figures possessing power. How have artists portrayed this power? Museum Educator Joseph Covington provides some answers as he leads you through the Museum's European and American collections.