Landmarks of American History and Culture: Workshops for School Teachers

As part of NEH's We the People program, the Landmarks of American History and Culture program supports series of one-week residence-based workshops for K-12 educators that use historic sites to address central themes and issues in American history, government, literature, art history, or other related subjects in the humanities. The goals of the workshops are to: provide teachers with training and experience in the use and interpretation of historical sites and the material resources and archival evidence of American history and culture, increase knowledge and appreciation of places significant to American history and culture, and encourage historical sites to develop greater capacity and scale for professional development programs. Workshops should be held at or near sites important to American history and culture (e.g., presidential residences or libraries, Colonial-era settlements, major battlefields, historic districts, and sites associated with major writers or artists). Applicants should make a compelling case for the historical significance of the site, the material resources available for use, and the ways the site will enhance the workshop. Workshops should be academically rigorous and focus on key primary sources, documents, and works relevant to major themes of American history and culture. Leading scholars should serve as lecturers or seminar leaders. Workshops should also include interactions with master teachers to help participants work with primary documents and develop lesson plans, classroom resources, or a research paper. Institutions or organizations that may host workshops include community colleges, universities, four-year colleges, learned societies, libraries or other repositories, centers for advanced study, cultural organizations, or professional associations. NEH expects host institutions to provide facilities conducive to scholarly research, discussion, and interaction. Host institutions should arrange adequate housing for participants, which participants pay for from the stipends provided to them as part of the Landmarks Workshop grant. Workshops, which should be repeated two to three times during the summer, should accommodate forty teachers at each one-week session.