Hatton W. Sumners Institute

Description

The institute is divided into three levels, as follows:

101: This 40-hour training begins with an in-depth study of the Declaration of Independence. Participants will then be taken through the ancient and European origins of the U.S. Constitution, followed by the American origins. The training will continue with a famous Federalist debating a famous Anti-Federalist over whether a New York State convention should vote to ratify the Constitution in 1788.

Then attending teachers will be taken on a walk through the seven articles of the Constitution. The remainder of the time will be spent studying the First Amendment and famous Supreme Court cases on the First Amendment, including the current term cases.

The agenda is divided into blocks of time spent with scholars, followed by break-out sessions where activities are demonstrated on the curriculum covered in the scholar sessions.

201: Available to those teachers who have completed the 101 session, the advanced session begins with a look at the "Ladder of the Bill of Rights." The remainder of the three-day, 18-hour institute is spent studying Amendments Two through 10, along with Supreme Court cases decided under each of these amendments. Break-out sessions follow each scholar session with activities on the Bill of Rights.

301: The one-day, seven-hour Update Session is available to those teachers who have previously attended both 101 and 201. Participants will spend most of the time discussing Supreme Court cases that have been decided during the past few years with the scholars. They will also receive a new activity guide, which includes lessons on Federalism and writing.

Contact name
Greenwood, Yvonne
Contact email
Sponsoring Organization
Law Focused Education, Inc.
Phone number
800-204-2222
Target Audience
3-12
Start Date
Course Credit
The State Board for Educator Certification approves the institute for continuing education credit for teacher certification, and optional graduate credit is available through the University of St. Thomas in either Political Science or Education.
Contact Title
Coordinator
Duration
Five days
End Date

Great American Texts: Democracy in America

Description

Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America is the best study of America to be written by a foreigner. It examines government, religion, the races, private associations, literature, the family, and much else, all the while contrasting democratic America with old aristocratic Europe. This course will examine as much of the book as possible, focusing especially on Tocqueville's account of the love of equality (and its dangers) and his prescriptions for the preservation of liberty.

Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Teachingamericanhistory.org
Phone number
419-289-5411
Target Audience
K-12
Start Date
Cost
Free; $500 stipend
Course Credit
Teachers may choose to receive two hours of Master's degree credit from Ashland University. This credit can be used toward the new Master of American History and Government offered by Ashland University or may be transfered to another institution. The two credits will cost $468.
Duration
Six days
End Date

Abraham Lincoln and the Forging of Modern America

Description

This workshop will consider the myths and realities of four themes central to the figure of Abraham Lincoln. First, participants will examine Lincoln and American Nationalism. To more fully understand this theme, they will examine how historians have portrayed Lincoln over time. A starting point for this examination will be reading from primary sources including Lincoln's Message to Congress in Special Session (July 4, 1861), followed by selected sections from secondary sources: James McPherson's Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution, and Barry Schwartz's Lincoln at the Millennium. Central to this examination is the question of how Lincoln used history, especially the American Revolution and the Founding Fathers, to develop his rhetorical defense of the Union and justification for action. Second, participants will consider Lincoln and power. The examination of this theme centers on the dilemma of how to fight a civil war and preserve civil liberties. Lincoln scholars will provide participants with opportunities to discuss how Lincoln attempted to preserve the Union without sacrificing the Constitution. The investigation begins with required reading of selections from David Donald's Lincoln and David Potter's Jefferson Davis and the Political Factors in Confederate Defeat. Participants will probe critical issues such as suspension of habeas corpus, censorship of the press, and declaration of martial law through reading Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. Third, participants will consider Lincoln and freedom. It has been argued that Lincoln changed the meaning of the Constitution. Participants will investigate this theme by first reading the Gettysburg Address and selected letters in which Lincoln describes his vision of equality. Then, they will analyze selections from Garry Wills's 1992 The Words that Remade America, which suggests that the change went beyond the relationship between the federal government and the states to the relationship between the federal government and the individual. How might Lincoln's words, "a new birth of freedom" suggest change in the vision of equality? Finally, participants will consider Lincoln and race. They will examine the Emancipation Proclamation and the complex issue of race in America. Readings for this theme draw on selections from the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the Emancipation Proclamation and selected Lincoln letters, and readings from Lerone Bennet's Was Abe Lincoln a White Supremacist? and Philip Shaw Paludan's Emancipating the Republic: Lincoln and the Means and Ends of Antislavery. Much of Lincoln's position of honor in American history rests upon his action to free the slaves. Yet, some view the proclamation as an empty gesture or even a conservative attempt to forestall more radical action. These discussions will provide participants with an opportunity to explore the evolution of Lincoln's attitude toward emancipation that culminated in his support for the 13th Amendment.

Contact name
Pryor, Caroline R.
Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Phone number
618-650-3439
Target Audience
K-12
Start Date
Cost
Free; $750 stipend
Course Credit
Participants who might want graduate credit (History or Education) will be provided with an SIUE graduate tuition waiver for up to three units of graduate course credit for this workshop. University fees will still apply. To receive course credit and a grade, an additional series of three lesson plans will be required to be submitted to the project director, following workshop participation. Registration for this tuition waiver will be processed on campus during the workshop.
Contact Title
Project Director
Duration
Six days
End Date

The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, Culture, and History in the Mississippi Delta

Description

Participants in this workshop will travel throughout the Delta as they visit sites where significant events occurred. They will discuss and learn about issues involving civil rights and political leadership, immigrants' experiences in the Delta, the Blues, the great migration, agriculture, and the Mississippi River, among other things. They will sample Delta foods, visit local museums, and listen to the Blues. Field trips will roam as far as Greenville, Greenwood, and Memphis, with stops in between.

Contact name
Brown, Luther
Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Delta Center for Culture and Learning
Phone number
662-846-4311
Target Audience
K-12
Start Date
Cost
Free; $750 stipend
Duration
Six days
End Date

Primarily Teaching [MA]

Description

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.

Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Archives (NARA)
Target Audience
Upper elementary through high school
Start Date
Cost
$100
Course Credit
Graduate credit from a major university is available for an additional fee.
Duration
Five days
End Date

Primarily Teaching [TX]

Description

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.

Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Archives (NARA)
Target Audience
Upper elementary through high school
Start Date
Cost
$100
Course Credit
Graduate credit from a major university is available for an additional fee.
Duration
Five days
End Date

Primarily Teaching [MO]

Description

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.

Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Archives (NARA)
Target Audience
Upper elementary through high school
Start Date
Cost
$100
Course Credit
Graduate credit from a major university is available for an additional fee.
Duration
Five days
End Date

Primarily Teaching [DC]

Description

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.

Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Archives (NARA)
Target Audience
Upper elementary through high school
Start Date
Cost
$100
Course Credit
Graduate credit from a major university is available for an additional fee.
Duration
Ten days
End Date

Primarily Teaching [TX]

Description

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.

Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
National Archives (NARA)
Target Audience
Upper elementary through high school
Start Date
Cost
$100
Course Credit
Graduate credit from a major university is available for an additional fee.
Duration
Five days
End Date

Teacher Institute in Early American History

Description

Designed for elementary social studies teachers who teach United States history and government, this intensive week-long workshop will immerse participants in early American history "on location" in Williamsburg, the restored capital city of 18th-century Virginia, and nearby Jamestown and Yorktown. 25 teachers and a returning mentor teacher will be selected for each session. Participants will be involved in an interdisciplinary approach to teaching social studies with colonial American history as the focus. Teachers will have the opportunity to exchange ideas with noted historians, meet character interpreters, and take part in reenactments of 18th-century events. They will review various interactive teaching techniques with a mentor teacher and with each other. Instructional materials in a variety of media will be provided to participants to use in their classrooms. Together with Colonial Williamsburg staff, teachers will prepare new instructional materials for use in their own classrooms.

Contact name
McKee, Amanda
Contact email
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Colonial Williamsburg
Phone number
757-565-8417
Target Audience
Elementary
Start Date
Cost
$1900
Course Credit
Three graduate credit hours available from the University of San Diego
Duration
Eight days
End Date