"The role of St. Augustine and Florida is often overlooked in the study of US colonial history, a study that often begins with the founding of Jamestown. Participants in this seminar explore the history and the cultures that created this fascinating colonial city. They examine the role the sea played in the city’s founding and development; the nature of the relationship between Spanish colonists and Native Americans; the role of the military in the founding, development, and everyday life of colonial Spanish St. Augustine; the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in shaping the colonial experience of the Spanish settlement; how women, native peoples, and people of color fit within the colonial social hierarchy. They reflect on the question of who writes history and how it is disseminated and the larger role that Spanish exploration and colonization played in America’s development."

Designed for high school social studies teachers who teach United States history and government, this intensive week-long workshop will immerse participants in early American history "on location" in Williamsburg, the restored capital city of 18th-century Virginia, and nearby Jamestown and Yorktown. 25 teachers and a returning mentor teacher will be selected for each session. Participants will be involved in an interdisciplinary approach to teaching social studies with colonial American history as the focus. Teachers will have the opportunity to exchange ideas with noted historians, meet character interpreters, and take part in reenactments of 18th-century events. They will review various interactive teaching techniques with a mentor teacher and with each other. Instructional materials in a variety of media will be provided to participants to use in their classrooms. Together with Colonial Williamsburg staff, teachers will prepare new instructional materials for use in their own classrooms.

Designed for elementary social studies teachers who teach United States history and government, this intensive week-long workshop will immerse participants in early American history "on location" in Williamsburg, the restored capital city of 18th-century Virginia, and nearby Jamestown and Yorktown. 25 teachers and a returning mentor teacher will be selected for each session. Participants will be involved in an interdisciplinary approach to teaching social studies with colonial American history as the focus. Teachers will have the opportunity to exchange ideas with noted historians, meet character interpreters, and take part in reenactments of 18th-century events. They will review various interactive teaching techniques with a mentor teacher and with each other. Instructional materials in a variety of media will be provided to participants to use in their classrooms. Together with Colonial Williamsburg staff, teachers will prepare new instructional materials for use in their own classrooms.