From the Middle Tennessee State University website:

"The Hermitage: Home of President Andrew Jackson is uniquely positioned to interpret many of the changes in America from the dawning of westward expansion to the eve of the Civil War. Andrew Jackson, as both an agent and a product of change, was one of the most important, and most controversial, individuals during this period of turmoil and transition. As a political and military leader, as a businessman, and as a slave-owning cotton planter, he was at the center of important national issues. To many people in his day, Andrew Jackson was a symbol for American democracy, and he remains so in our own time. During the Jacksonian era, government moved from the republican system envisioned by the founding fathers to a democracy. Jackson also was a contentious president, touched by scandal, who took unpopular stands. His military and political careers are well known, but during his time democratic ideals were translated into religious life, reform movements, architecture, and the decorative arts. Daniel Feller, editor of the Papers of Andrew Jackson at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a visiting scholar for each workshop, points out that, at the time, Americans exuded a great deal of optimism about the future. Our goal is to present multiple perspectives that allow teachers to draw their own conclusions about Jackson's role in shaping the politics and political ideals of American society. No single historical perspective can adequately or definitively interpret Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage, or an entire period of history. Participants will be encouraged to weigh historical and archaeological evidence, react to multiple interpretations, and draw their own conclusions to deepen and enrich their knowledge of history."

From the Middle Tennessee State University website:

"The Hermitage: Home of President Andrew Jackson is uniquely positioned to interpret many of the changes in America from the dawning of westward expansion to the eve of the Civil War. Andrew Jackson, as both an agent and a product of change, was one of the most important, and most controversial, individuals during this period of turmoil and transition. As a political and military leader, as a businessman, and as a slave-owning cotton planter, he was at the center of important national issues. To many people in his day, Andrew Jackson was a symbol for American democracy, and he remains so in our own time. During the Jacksonian era, government moved from the republican system envisioned by the founding fathers to a democracy. Jackson also was a contentious president, touched by scandal, who took unpopular stands. His military and political careers are well known, but during his time democratic ideals were translated into religious life, reform movements, architecture, and the decorative arts. Daniel Feller, editor of the Papers of Andrew Jackson at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a visiting scholar for each workshop, points out that, at the time, Americans exuded a great deal of optimism about the future. Our goal is to present multiple perspectives that allow teachers to draw their own conclusions about Jackson's role in shaping the politics and political ideals of American society. No single historical perspective can adequately or definitively interpret Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage, or an entire period of history. Participants will be encouraged to weigh historical and archaeological evidence, react to multiple interpretations, and draw their own conclusions to deepen and enrich their knowledge of history."

From the Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville website:

"[This one-week workshop] will explore Abraham Lincoln's life in Springfield and New Salem Village, Illinois and the political and historical challenges he faced as President. Join us as we hear from outstanding Lincoln scholars drawn from universities in the St. Louis area."

From the Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville website:

"[This one-week workshop] will explore Abraham Lincoln's life in Springfield and New Salem Village, Illinois and the political and historical challenges he faced as President. Join us as we hear from outstanding Lincoln scholars drawn from universities in the St. Louis area."

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History:

"This seminar will explore a controversial era shrouded in myths and memories. Among the topics it will examine are the presidencies of John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon; the civil rights movement; the Vietnam War; the New Left; the counterculture; the women's movement; the gay movement; the conservative movement; the international dimension of youth protest; and the legacies of the 1960s. The aim of the seminar is to provide a balanced history of a turbulent time that continues to influence American politics, society, and culture.

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History:

"Professor Matthew Pinsker will lead an exploration of Lincoln's life and presidency. Discussion topics include Lincoln's self-made rise to power and the leading national challenges of the wartime period, including emancipation, civil liberties and military strategy. Participants will hold selected discussions on location at the Gettysburg battlefield and the Lincoln Cottage in Washington."

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History:

"When Americans are asked to rank their presidents, Abraham Lincoln almost always comes out at the top. But why? Sometimes, the reason is that he freed the slaves . . . or that he saved the Union . . . or that he was a great war president . . . or that he was a master of words. All of these are true, but these truths don't get at the man behind these truths. Although Lincoln had next-to-nothing in the way of formal education, he possessed a natural intellectual curiosity, a voracious appetite for reading, and a passion for ideas. He was a lawyer, a politician, a fixer. But he was more than just a lawyer, a politician, or a fixer. Lincoln's curiosity . . . his reading . . . his ideas . . . led him into the vortex of the great clashes of ideas in the nineteenth century about religion, politics, Romanticism, race, and slavery. In this seminar, we will see how Lincoln was shaped by three important issues in his day:

• The clash of religion and the Enlightenment
• The offense of slavery
• The fight for the survival of democracy

This seminar will be an exploration of Lincoln's mind—of the great intellectual problems he faced, of the books he read, of the ideas he defended, and of the kind of democracy he thought was worth saving. And at the end, we will come to know Lincoln, not just as the greatest of presidents, but as a man of great ideas as well."

From the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website:

"This seminar will focus on the personal and political partnership between Abigail and John Adams during the American Revolution and the creation of the infant republic. Readings will include My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams, edited by Margaret Hogan and James Taylor, and John Adams by David McCullough. Joseph Ellis will share draft chapters from his forthcoming book on Abigail and John for comments and criticism. Participants will visit the Adams Homestead at Quincy. Students will also create a packet of teaching materials for classroom use on the question: was Abigail a feminist?"