This seminar will be "organized around ten commonly taught topics in American history, including: Native Peoples; The Colonial Period; The American Revolution; The Making of a Country; Slavery and Abolition; The Civil War; The Industrial Revolution; Immigration; and The Civil Rights Movement. Teachers will use maps, biographies of important figures, document and activities booklets, as well as multimedia materials such as contemporary music to develop classroom activities and lessons."

This institute will focus "on abolitionism and the Underground Railroad, using upstate New York as a case study."

This seminar will focus on "close study of key scholarly readings and primary documents on the abolitionist movement, examining the evolution of the abolitionist movement from its beginnings during the Revolutionary era in Philadelphia through its radicalization in the years leading to the Civil War." The seminar will include examination of primary teaching resources, visits to historical sites, readings, discussion, journal writing, lesson planning, and lectures.

"Dr. Tera Hunter, professor of history at Princeton University, will speak on the impact of slavery on African-American marriages and the struggles of slaves and freedpeople to resist family separation and reunite family members."

This seminar will "enhance participants' knowledge of Africa, the Middle Passage, and the people who arrived here in North America in slavery. They will do so by developing projects of their own choosing involving early Atlantic history, literature, or culture up to and including the early nineteenth century." Topics, week by week, will include "Organization: African Understandings," "More African Meanings," "Embarkation, Exile," "Remembering Africa in America," and "Research Results and Teaching Applications."

This workshop will "explore the clash of cultures and differing definitions of liberty that played out on the Missouri-Kansas border in the decade before the firing on Fort Sumter and throughout the Civil War. Workshop presenters and participants will consider the forces and events that precipitated “Bleeding Kansas” and led to the abandonment of the understandings reached in the Missouri Compromise, the rejection of popular sovereignty in the Kansas Territory, and the establishment of the shadow “Free State” government. They will also examine the nature and intensity of the struggles between the Kansas Jayhawkers and Missouri Bushwhackers during the Civil War and the general mayhem these vicious disputes and guerrilla activities engendered. Perspectives of gender, race, class and ideology will be examined and analyzed." The workshop will include examination of teaching resources, visits to historic sites, discussions, lectures, readings, and lesson planning; specific topics will include "Contested Visions of Freedom," "Fault Lines of Freedom: Slavery and Freedom on the Border," "Commerce at the Crossroads: The Conflict of Transition," "Conflicting Visions of Freedom: The Failure of Popular Sovereignty," "From Contention to Warfare: The Uncivil Society," and "The Border Wars in History and Memory."

This workshop will "explore the clash of cultures and differing definitions of liberty that played out on the Missouri-Kansas border in the decade before the firing on Fort Sumter and throughout the Civil War. Workshop presenters and participants will consider the forces and events that precipitated “Bleeding Kansas” and led to the abandonment of the understandings reached in the Missouri Compromise, the rejection of popular sovereignty in the Kansas Territory, and the establishment of the shadow “Free State” government. They will also examine the nature and intensity of the struggles between the Kansas Jayhawkers and Missouri Bushwhackers during the Civil War and the general mayhem these vicious disputes and guerrilla activities engendered. Perspectives of gender, race, class and ideology will be examined and analyzed." The workshop will include examination of teaching resources, visits to historic sites, discussions, lectures, readings, and lesson planning; specific topics will include "Contested Visions of Freedom," "Fault Lines of Freedom: Slavery and Freedom on the Border," "Commerce at the Crossroads: The Conflict of Transition," "Conflicting Visions of Freedom: The Failure of Popular Sovereignty," "From Contention to Warfare: The Uncivil Society," and "The Border Wars in History and Memory."

This workshop "will explore Abraham Lincoln’s life in Springfield, Illinois and the political and historical challenges he faced as President. Educators will hear from outstanding Lincoln scholars drawn from universities in the St. Louis area," visit local historical sites important to Lincoln's life, attend pedagogical sessions, complete readings, and create lesson plans. Major themes discussed will be "Lincoln and American Nationalism," "Lincoln and Power," "Lincoln and Freedom," and "Lincoln and Race."

This workshop "will explore Abraham Lincoln’s life in Springfield, Illinois and the political and historical challenges he faced as President. Educators will hear from outstanding Lincoln scholars drawn from universities in the St. Louis area," visit local historical sites important to Lincoln's life, attend pedagogical sessions, complete readings, and create lesson plans. Major themes discussed will be "Lincoln and American Nationalism," "Lincoln and Power," "Lincoln and Freedom," and "Lincoln and Race."

"Leading American scholars Harold Holzer and Robert F. Engs offer two perspectives on the Emancipation Proclamation, considered the most important document of arguably one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history."