From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History:

"When Americans are asked to rank their presidents, Abraham Lincoln almost always comes out at the top. But why? Sometimes, the reason is that he freed the slaves . . . or that he saved the Union . . . or that he was a great war president . . . or that he was a master of words. All of these are true, but these truths don't get at the man behind these truths. Although Lincoln had next-to-nothing in the way of formal education, he possessed a natural intellectual curiosity, a voracious appetite for reading, and a passion for ideas. He was a lawyer, a politician, a fixer. But he was more than just a lawyer, a politician, or a fixer. Lincoln's curiosity . . . his reading . . . his ideas . . . led him into the vortex of the great clashes of ideas in the nineteenth century about religion, politics, Romanticism, race, and slavery. In this seminar, we will see how Lincoln was shaped by three important issues in his day:

• The clash of religion and the Enlightenment
• The offense of slavery
• The fight for the survival of democracy

This seminar will be an exploration of Lincoln's mind—of the great intellectual problems he faced, of the books he read, of the ideas he defended, and of the kind of democracy he thought was worth saving. And at the end, we will come to know Lincoln, not just as the greatest of presidents, but as a man of great ideas as well."

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website:

"In 1776 Americans began a struggle to create an independent nation. In 1861, they began a struggle to preserve or splinter that nation. This seminar will examine the historical circumstances that led to the American Revolution and the drafting of the Constitution, focusing in part on the unresolved problems and conflicts that contributed to the coming of the Civil War. The history of these two great wars will be told through the stories of individual men and women who lived, and died, in defense of their cause."

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website:

"The American Revolution did more than secure independence for thirteen American colonies—it gave antislavery organizing a moral legitimacy it had never had before. In Britain by the early nineteenth century, opposing the slave system could serve as a mark of virtue rather than evidence of eccentricity. The first emancipation schemes depended on efforts to strengthen the role of the imperial state in an era of weakening overseas authority, and the abolitionist movement as a whole derived its power from a profound yearning for moral worth in the aftermath of British defeat and American independence. This course will consider the disparate strands of the British Atlantic world and bring into focus shifting developments in the abolitionist movement."

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website:

"High school and undergraduate survey courses on U.S. history before 1865 rightly treat the War of Independence and the Civil War as decisive events. Three other significant conflicts of the period, the French and Indian War, the War of 1812, and the Mexican-American War, rate mentions in the textbooks, but their events are usually treated cursorily, and their impacts are rarely considered, if they are mentioned at all. This seminar will demonstrate the powerfully ironic significance of these less well-known imperial wars by exploring the linkages between them and the far more familiar revolutionary civil wars that define this period in American history. For in fact the decisive victory of Britain and its colonists in the French and Indian War brought on the collapse of the British empire, just twelve years after the triumphal Peace of Paris (1763); the similarly decisive victory of the United States over Mexico, confirmed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), precipitated the crises that led, in thirteen years' time, to the disintegration of the Union. The War of 1812, usually seen as having ended indecisively with the Treaty of Utrecht (1815), not only decided the fate of native peoples east of the Mississippi and lent a powerful impetus to the democratization of American electoral politics, but also created an ideological justification for warfare that endures in American political culture to the present day. Our exploration of these striking effects will, we hope, encourage the participants both to reconsider the dynamics of early American history and to re-think the contexts in which they discuss with their students the impact of warfare on the formation of the American Republic."

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website:

"The ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in December 1865 abolished slavery in the United States, formally, officially, and legally. A century and a half after emancipation, however, the question of slavery still roils the waters of American life. This seminar, led by Ira Berlin, will view the development of chattel bondage in mainland North America from the perspective of the larger Atlantic world. Topics include the nature of the slave trade, the distinction between societies with slaves and slave societies, the evolution of plantation slavery, the transforming face of the Age of Revolutions, the remaking of slavery in the nineteenth century, and the current debate about the meaning of slavery for American life."

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website:

"This seminar explores the history of the American antislavery movement, from its institutional and ideological origins in the post-Revolutionary era to the eve of the Civil War. A particular focus of the course will be the historical reality and mythology of the Underground Railroad, understood through the lives, strategies, writings, and fate of black abolitionists."

From the Lincoln and New York website:

"N-YHS invites teachers to preview Lincoln and New York at our Teacher Open Houses. Lincoln and New York uses exciting artifacts, hand-written documents, and iconic images to demonstrate the surprisingly central role New York played in the Lincoln story and the leading player Lincoln became in New York.

Registration is free and includes entry to the exhibition, tours with our trained educators and education staff, curriculum materials and light refreshments. Teachers also will enjoy a 10% discount at the Museum Store."

From the seminar website:

"Summer Seminars for School Teachers are offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide teachers an opportunity for substantive study of significant humanities ideas and texts. These study opportunities are especially designed for this program and are not intended to duplicate courses normally offered by graduate programs. On completion of a seminar or institute, participants will receive a certificate indicating their participation . . ."

"A seminar for school teachers enables 16 participants to explore a topic or set of readings with a scholar having special interest and expertise in the field. The core material of the seminar need not relate directly to the school curriculum; the principal goal of the seminar is to engage teachers in the scholarly enterprise and to expand and deepen their understanding of the humanities through reading, discussion, writing, and reflection."

Specifics on the texts and scope of this seminar are not yet available.

From the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration website:

"Learn about key American photographers and photographic processes and styles, as well as how photography from 1839 to the present day relates to American history. Receive digital images, image guides, and other materials to make connections between photography's history and levels of language arts, science, social studies, and visual art."

Program provided by the Amon Carter Museum.

From the Chicago History Museum website:

"Discover how to incorporate public art into your history instruction. Join James Percoco on a visual journey to see Abraham Lincoln monuments across the country. Percoco compares their meanings when they were unveiled with how we respond to them now, as well as shares tips for analyzing public art with students. See the exhibition 'Abraham Lincoln Transformed' and investigate the Lincoln monument behind the Museum. Fee includes a copy of Percoco's Summers with Lincoln, breakfast refreshments, and classroom resource materials."