These workshops help high school teachers develop activities and lessons with documents that deal with controversial topics in American history. Topics include Colonial America, the American Revolution, the Lowell System, Emancipation, the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, the Census, Public Health: Typhoid Mary, and Korea and the Cold War.

The workshops have structured activities that can be customized for sessions ranging in duration from 45 minutes to two hours. Group activities are designed for teachers to discuss and critically think about documents. Videos contain visuals that illustrate the compelling narratives told by top scholars. Previously taught lessons using the documents are also included. Additional print and Web resources are provided.

Free registration is required to stream videos and download all workshop materials, including comprehensive facilitator guides. Certificates of Participation to those working in groups are available and may be used for inservice or recertification credit. Colorado State University offers graduate-level semester credits, for a fee, to those who complete the sequence of sessions and the required assignments.

Ed Linenthal, editor of the Journal of American History, speaks with Professor Thomas W. Zieler about his article, "The Diplomatic History Bandwagon: A State of the Field," considering the state of diplomatic history in the face of and as a contributor to the new emphasis on globalization.

To listen to this interview, select "200903.mp3" under "March 2009."

Eighth grade American history educator Eric Langhorst discusses the Smithsonian's use of Web 2.0 tools and applications to connect with public and educators.

Lee Ann Potter, Director of Education for the National Archives and Records Administration, engages teachers in document analysis activities related to a wide range of contemporary subjects, alerts them to the online resources of the National Archives, and introduces them to service learning projects that involve documents.

Dr. Craig Barton of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia explores different strategies through which to construct the collective memories associated with African American communities and to help tell the stories of people often invisible in traditional historical narratives. A different type of commemorative is required to interpret the depth and complexity of African American culture which interprets the challenges of historical narrative and the agency of contemporary imagination. As instruments of both public and private patronage these landscapes inevitably minimize the contributions of marginalized cultural communities and were (are) all too often mute about the presence of African Americans and other marginalized groups. Traditional monuments often do not speak to the lives of African Americans and others often excluded from discourse of public space.

The story of the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692 has served as a dramatic moral tale in American culture since the late 17th century. Narrated in history textbooks since the early 18th century and fictionalized in later works of literature, the Salem witch trials tragedy has been interpreted in different ways, suited to changing social and cultural circumstances over time.

Dr. Benjamin Ray of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia explores the role of religion in early America through this iconic narrative. This talk focuses on the most recent historical research and indicates the new shape the story is taking. It discusses the changing nature of historical accounts and shows how students can directly engage the primary source documents and develop their own conclusions.

Dr. Michael Klarman of the University of Virginia School of Law analyzes and interprets the Brown case and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement. He annotates Justice Douglas's conference notes on Brown, tells stories about the justices, details how justices decide cases, explains why Brown was a hard case for many of the justices, and makes conclusions on why they were nonetheless eventually able to reach a unanimous outcome. He discusses the various ways in which Brown mattered and did not matter by linking Brown with the rise of southern massive resistance, violence, and ultimately the enactment of civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s. Klarman includes lessons on how and why Court decisions matter, how historians tend perhaps to overemphasize the importance of the Court's contributions to racial change in the U.S., and important reminders about how violence was necessary to prompt most whites to care about the civil rights of southern blacks.

The Virginia Experiment Teaching Fellows Program was featured as a keynote panel presentation at the Teaching American History Project Directors' Seminar. Andy Mink, Chris Bunin, and Scott Nesbit present a session to a national audience of project directors, curriculum experts, and educators, considering how historians and educators look at primary and secondary sources and how those perspectives can overlap.

Dr. Julie Solometo of James Madison University attempts to reconstruct the lives of Native Americans as they stood on the eve of and during contact with European colonists in North America.

To listen to this lecture, select "Podcast Part 1" under the April 19th listing.

Eighth grade American history educator Eric Langhorst talks about several online resources that can be used to teach about Presidential inaugurations and Barack Obama's inauguration in particular.