Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
Summer Institutes for
CADDO Public School History Teachers
Summer 2008

Are you looking for new and engaging ways to teach American history? Do you need credit to meet the Highly Qualified 90 CLU (Continuing Learning Units) requirements? Participate in a Teaching American History Summer Institute at Louisiana State University in Shreveport and enrich your knowledge of the subject you teach, plus receive a $1,500 stipend, 3 graduate credits in history and classroom materials. Teachers also will receive 45 CLUs.

Through a Teaching American History grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, in partnership with Caddo Public Schools and LSUS, will provide advanced study opportunities for Shreveport area public school American history teachers. These institutes are designed to assist teachers and their students in meeting all state and national standards, including the Grade Level Expectations, Graduation Exit Examination and iLEAP tests.

These are graduate-school level institutes in which participants will immerse themselves in intellectually challenging seminars and readings led by respected university history professors and nationally prominent guest scholars. Teachers will explore key documents, debates, philosophies and personalities that shaped American history, as well as the origins and evolution of American democracy. The Institutes will make use of the most current resources (both text and electronic), as well as introduce participants to local cultural resources and archives. Teachers will leave the Institutes armed with renewed proficiency in American history, and with new strategies, materials and technology to help students better understand the central issues that shaped our nation and people.

Through classroom discussions, readings, field trips and writing essays, each teacher Institute will provide elementary, middle and high school teachers with intellectual stimulation and advanced knowledge of American history. While the study of American history is the main focus, the Institutes will also focus on how historic documents can be integrated into your classroom lesson plans.

Term: Four weeks, Monday-Thursday, 3 classroom hours per day, institute syllabus may require fieldtrips on Fridays or days other than scheduled classroom hours.

Dates: 9 a.m. to Noon, Monday through Thursday, June 2 to June 26, 2008

Stipend: $1,500 stipend, plus institute books and teaching materials to take back to the classroom

Eligibility: Priority will be given to Caddo public school teachers who teach U.S. or Louisiana history. Public school U.S. and Louisiana history teachers in other parishes also will be considered if space is available. Teachers who attended a Teaching American History Institute in the summers 2006 and 2007 may submit applications to attend an institute in the summer 2008. Also, all applicants must be eligible to be admitted in good standing at LSUS.

Academic Credit: Teachers will receive 3 graduate credit hours in history from LSUS and 45 CLUs upon successful completion of the institute.

Tuition & Other Benefits: Teachers will not pay tuition or fees. LSUS has waived tuition for participating teachers. In addition, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities will pay for the remaining mandatory university fees and textbooks. Selected teachers will be eligible for consideration for an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. (A limited number will be selected)

Successful Completion: To receive the stipend, academic credit and CLUs, teachers must successfully complete the institute, which means they must receive a passing grade from the university and complete all institute requirements.

Enrollment: Limited to 30 teachers per Institute

Where: Louisiana State University in Shreveport

Registration: See application and requirements at the end of this brochure

Requirements: Completed application form, 2 references identified (one should be a principal and an assistant principal or department head), a letter of interest written by the applicant and letter or letters of recommendation from your department head or principal are helpful but not required,:

Deadline: March 20, 2008
Contact: John R. Kemp
Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
938 Lafayette Street, Suite 300
New Orleans, LA 70113
Fax: 504-529-2358
For questions: (504) 620-2481; kemp@leh.org

From June 2 to June 26, 2008, three Institutes will be offered. All Institutes will run Monday through Thursday (some Friday and afternoon field trips are required).

For Elementary School Teachers
Colonial Americans: Who Were They?
9 a.m. to Noon
V. Elaine Thompson, Ph.D.
Louisiana Tech University

From the earliest days, our country has been settled by people of every possible ethnic, religious, racial, and economic description. This Institute explores life in early America to understand the differences between masters and slaves, merchants and farmers, immigrants and Native Americans, men and women, rich and poor. How did climate affect New England’s Puritan culture and the plantation South? How did life differ in the English Chesapeake from French Louisiana and Spanish Florida? How did the perception of a classless society develop in British North America and did this perception fuel revolution? Did the Revolution effect changes in colonial attitudes toward gender and race? These and other questions will be examined. Teachers will receive leading books and read about Colonial America in the words of those who actually lived during those exciting times. Teachers will engage in group discussions, write lesson plans and work with master teachers to discuss how to translate academic content to their elementary classroom needs. They also will learn how to use historical documents to get students excited about early American history. Field trips to plantations will demonstrate differences between wealthy whites and enslaved Africans, and the Spring St. Museum in Shreveport will show how urban sites differed from agricultural areas.

For Middle & High School Teachers
American History from Secession to the Gilded Age
9 a.m. to Noon
Gary Joiner, Ph.D.
Louisiana State University in Shreveport

This Institute examines major events and issues in American society from the social and moral factors leading to secession to the landmark legal “separate-but-equal” case of Plessy v. Ferguson. The emphasis will focus on major trends and events – westward expansion, industrialization, changing economies, immigration, significant individuals, and, of course, Civil War and Reconstruction. The course structure will meet the needs of middle and high school history and social studies teachers. Participants will be exposed to methods of historical investigation, research methodology, the use of primary sources, and the proper use and misuse of Internet sources. Instruction will center on lecture, group discussion, and assignments, both for individual participants and groups within the institute. A portion of the class period work will be conducted in the LSUS library and archives. Field trips will be conducted to Coushatta and Colfax and to Magnolia Plantation or other regional antebellum sites.

For Middle & High School Teachers
The U.S. Constitution: Origins and Development
9 a.m. to Noon
William Pederson, Ph.D.
Louisiana State University in Shreveport

Utilizing a constitutional law approach to American history, this Institute opens with an exploration of the creation of the United States Constitution—the oldest and shortest written constitution in world history that is still in operation. Its success is due in large part to the contribution of two southerners: James Madison, the greatest political theorist in American history; and John Marshall, the greatest justice in Supreme Court history. Following the insight of Alexis de Tocqueville that all political issues eventually become judicial ones in American democracy, the Institute examines the interplay among its branches of government in dealing with issues such as state versus national power; slavery and secession; regulation of the economy; and civil rights and liberties. In addition to guest speakers, several mini-field trips will be made to the International Lincoln Center, the Federal Courthouse, and Noel Memorial Library.