This conference will examine the Underground Railroad, its legacies, and how it has affected communities still existing today. Scholars, students, artists, educators, historians and community members will explore how the Underground Railroad shapes history and identity, locally and nationally, to this day; how the memory of the Railroad has been constructed and reconstructed; how the Railroad influenced subsequent and contemporary social movements; and what it teaches modern U.S. citizens as advocates of democracy and citizens of the world.

The theme for this conference is Globalizing Historiography. The program includes over 200 sessions, encompassing the varied geographical, chronological, and topical interest of historians today, as well as a special series of sessions on teaching sponsored by the AHA and affiliated societies. A Teaching Workshop for the National History Education Clearinghouse will be held on Jan. 3. This workshop is specifically designed for K–12 teachers and will have a variety of speakers and presentations, as well as lunch provided. Workshop registration must be done in advance.

This conference will cover topics including "Why Study Local History?," "NYS Standards and Local History," "How Can the Lower Hudson Valley Be Used as a Resource?," "Transportation and the Westchester Ecology," "Hudson River Art: Window into the American Culture," "Queen City of the Sound," "Integrating Local History Resources into the Classroom, The Somers Experience," "The Mourning Bell: The Bell President-Elect Lincoln Rung," and "The Queen City and the Classroom."

The mission of the Association of Teachers of Social Studies/United Federation of Teachers is to provide a network wherein social studies educators and other related professionals can advocate for social studies education and share scholarship, information, strategies, and practices related to those issues that are both important and relevant to social studies instruction. This conference is the organization's annual meeting.

The theme for this conference is "Democracy, Diversity and the Social Studies Classroom." Topics covered will include "Analyzing Elections in American History," "Social Studies, History and the Elementary Classroom," "Teaching About Genocide and the Holocaust," "Technology in the Social Studies Classroom," "The Scoring Process on AP Examinations," "Literacy Strategies in Social Studies Classes," "Teaching about Foreign Policy and Presidential Decision Making," "Writing in the Social Studies," and others.

The U.S. Department of Education and the Teaching American History program presents this Project Directors Conference for Teaching American History grantees who received grants from 2005 through 2008.