In every generation, Americans have asked, "Who may live among us?" and "What does it mean to be an American?" The way we have addressed these questions throughout history is central to understanding of the nation's past and can guide people in the choices they make today as individuals and as a nation committed to democracy. Participants will tour "Becoming American: Teenagers and Immigration" and receive resources to explore this exhibition and its companion exhibition created by Facing History students, "The Way We See It: L.A. Teens on Immigration."

"An NCHE team will explore the topic of the 19th Century at this Teaching American History colloquium."

"An NCHE team will explore the topic of The Gilded Age and Reform Era at this Teaching American History colloquium."

"An NCHE team of Tom Connors, Cindy Stout, and Chris Sink will explore the topic of the Industrialization and America's Rise to World Power at this Teaching American History colloquium."

"An NCHE team of Elliott West, Ted Green and Susan Dangel will explore the topic of the 19th Century Through WWI: Civil War and Reconstruction, the Urban/Industrial Revolution, America's Rise to World Power at this East Meets West: Traditional American History for New Mexico Teachers colloquium."

"An NCHE team of Greg Smoak, David Byrd, and JoAnn Fox will explore the topic of Frontiers: Homesteaders, Native Americans, Immigrants, and Settling the West at this Frontiers of History colloquium."

"This 2008 summer workshop was created for high school history teachers interested in developing a deeper understanding of the forces that shaped America in the Industrial Age. Using Pittsburgh as a model for the forces that shaped the Industrial Era, participants will hear guest lectures from some of the foremost scholars of the period. Participants will also visit a number of historical sites from Gilded Age mansions to steel mills to the location of the Homestead Strike to get a firsthand look at the region. Teachers will leave with a better sense of the time period and ways to bring the issues alive for students in any part of the country."

This seminar, led by Dr. Ed O'Donnell of the College of the Holy Cross, will explore immigration in the nineteenth century, offering "in-depth exploration of historic personalities, themes, and events and intensive work with primary source materials."

"In the last decades of the 19th Century, the United States took decisive steps away from its rural, agrarian past toward its industrial future, assuming its place among world powers. This course examines that movement, covering such topics as business-labor relations, political corruption, immigration, imperialism, the New South, and segregation and racism."

"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 we can, focusing especially on Tocqueville's account of the love of equality (and its dangers) and his prescriptions for the preservation of liberty."