The Cold War dominated the second half of the 20th century, but until recently the world had only an imperfect sense of what it was all about. Historians wrote about it, of necessity, from within the event they were seeking to describe, so that there was no way to know its outcome. And because only a few Western countries had begun to open their archives, these accounts could only reflect one side of the story. Cold War history, hence, was not normal history: it was both asymmetrical and incomplete. The end of the Cold War and the subsequent partial opening of Soviet, Eastern European, and Chinese archives have revolutionized the field. Everything historians thought they knew is suddenly up for reconsideration, whether because of the new documents available to them, or as a consequence of knowing how it all came out. Even as this happens, though, the memories of those who lived through the Cold War are rapidly fading, and a new generation of students has no memory of it at all. This seminar will seek to integrate the latest scholarly research on Cold War history and the ways in which that subject is presented in the classroom. The seminar will use a variety of means: lectures, books, documents, video documentaries, and the resources of the worldwide web. There will also be ample opportunity for participants to learn from one another, and for the presenters to learn from the participants. 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.

From the Spertus website:

"Teachers of all levels and settings are invited to join Spertus Museum educators to learn about the exciting new tours, resources, and educational opportunities that are available this year.

Explore letters, language and storytelling in the new Gray Children's Center. Discuss stereotypes and discrimination while you tour the Twisted into Recognition exhibition. Learn about Holocaust education, tours on Jewish heritage and traditions, and the upcoming exhibition A Force for Change: African American Art and the Julius Rosenwald Fund.

Ask about earning CPDUs as part of your visit by participating in our fall teacher workshop, Storytelling: A Gateway to Literacy. End your visit by catching up with colleagues over a glass of wine and light refreshments."

From the Continuing Ed Options website:

"Not only will you experience a sample of the literature, music, art and dress, but you will be delighted with authentic dishes prepared by chefs from a number of diverse cultures. The cost for these ethnic meals in included in the tuition. We will meet in the Neighborhood House, a multi-cultural, multi-lingual community center, see Mexican Folk Dancers and experience an authentic Mexican dining experience. In New Prague we will be entertained by a group of senior folk singers and learn about the cultural history of the area. We will be treated to some traditional Czech food at the Town's Edge Restaurant. Participants will visit the American Swedish Institute, observing the elegant Turnblad mansion, its many pieces of furniture, painting and personal accessories and experience an authentic smorgasbord. We will also meet at the Minnesota Historical Society and learn about the many diverse societies that make our country so culturally rich."

From the Arab American National Museum website:

"Through a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the AANM presents a free three-day summer workshop to enhance educators' knowledge of the Arab World, Arab Americans and Islam."

The transition to an industrial economy posed many problems for the United States. This course examines those problems and the responses to them that came to be known as progressivism. The course includes the study of World War I as a manifestation of progressive principles. The course emphasizes the political thought of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and their political expression of progressive principles.

This seminar will have daily discussion at the Library Company of Philadelphia, which was founded by Benjamin Franklin, and where participants will have hands-on access to writings and images of this tumultuous era. Daily meetings will look at the ups and downs of fighting a long war for American independence, and then relate these experiences to the wider Atlantic world of revolutionary contagion. Participants will visit some of the historical places Philadelphians would have known more than 200 years ago, many of which are within blocks of the Library Company.

This 3-week seminar led by James Akerman (The Newberry Library) and Gerald Danzer (Emeritus, The University of Illinois at Chicago) is designed to develop cartographic literacy and encourage effective use of map documents in the classroom through study in the history of cartography. A program of seminars based on recent scholarship in the history of cartography and guided individual research will allow teachers to explore the relevance of map study to their own interests and curricular needs. Workshops will serve as forums for refining and applying the skills necessary to read maps as products of science, artistic creations, storytellers, wayfinding tools, and expressions of power; and as representations of worldviews and local landscapes.

During this one-week workshop, workshop fellows will walk the streets and alleys that Benjamin Franklin walked, step through the doorways that he knew, sit in the churches where he worshiped, and stroll around the houses and public buildings where he helped to found the United States. Fellows will also explore the many rooms of Benjamin Franklin's mind: writer, printer, civic leader, politician, diplomat, scientist, revolutionary, founder. They will read Franklin's words—published and personal—and those of other men and women who lived in the era. They will examine the key aspects of gender, of race, of social class, and diverse other topics.

During this one-week workshop, workshop fellows will walk the streets and alleys that Benjamin Franklin walked, step through the doorways that he knew, sit in the churches where he worshiped, and stroll around the houses and public buildings where he helped to found the United States. Fellows will also explore the many rooms of Benjamin Franklin's mind: writer, printer, civic leader, politician, diplomat, scientist, revolutionary, founder. They will read Franklin's words—published and personal—and those of other men and women who lived in the era. They will examine the key aspects of gender, of race, of social class, and diverse other topics.