Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
Summer Institutes for
CALCASIEU 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 and enrich your knowledge of the subject you teach, plus receive a $1,000 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 Calcasieu Public Schools and McNeese State University, will provide advanced study opportunities for public school American history teachers in southwestern Louisiana. 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 and Louisiana history, as well as the origins and evolution of American democracy, the Constitution, civic rights and responsibilities. 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 its people, both past and present.

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 or Louisiana history. While the careful study of American and Louisiana history is the main focus, the Institutes will also focus on how materials may be integrated into your classroom lesson plan.

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: $1,000 stipend, institute books and teaching materials to take back to the classroom

Eligibility: Priority will be given to Calcasieu public school teachers who teach U.S. or Louisiana history at the elementary, middle, or high school levels. Public school U.S. and Louisiana history teachers in other parishes also will be considered if space is available. Also, applicants must be eligible to be admitted in good standing to the Graduate School at McNeese State University.

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

Tuition & Other Benefits: Teachers will not pay tuition or fees. McNeese State 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 CLU’s, 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 17 teachers per Institute

Where: McNeese State University

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: Howard Hunter
Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
938 Lafayette Street, Suite 300
New Orleans, LA 70113
Fax: 504-529-2358
For questions: (504) 620-2627; hunter@leh.org

From June 2 to June 26, 2008, four institutes will be offered. All Institutes will run Monday through Thursday (some Friday and afternoon field trips may be scheduled).

For Elementary & Middle School Teachers
Louisiana History
9 am to Noon
John Keeling, Ph.D., McNeese State University, Department of History

This institute will examine chronologically and topically the history of Louisiana from the colonial era to the present. The institute will provide a wealth of background information for elementary teachers, linked to our state’s Grade Level Expectations. Adding content on our state’s political history and special emphasis on our multicultural heritage will enhance the course. Not only will we focus on those factors that make Louisiana unique, but we will also place this state’s history within the context of national and international events. The overall design of the course offers intellectual stimulation, background knowledge and the application of historical thinking. The use of art, music, films, lectures and discussions will highlight our state’s unique history. Participants will be required to generate lesson plans applicable to their teaching.

For Elementary School Teachers
Colonial America and the Atlantic World to 1776
9 am to Noon
Derek W. Blakeley, Ph.D., McNeese State University, Department of History

This institute provides a clear description of the required content for Colonial America and the Atlantic World as outlined in our Grade-level Expectations. Economics, geography and civics are embedded in the content, while exploring the Atlantic World that united European, African and American peoples. This encounter between cultures created the diversity that characterized the colonies. Exploring individual rights and freedom and American self-government will be addressed as core themes, along with the introduction and spread of slavery. Learning about history through a variety of creative strategies provides the foundation for teaching meaningful content. Teachers will have the opportunity to build on content knowledge and in-depth understandings of the factors that affected our past and opportunities for historical thinking. The participants will be able to teach American History with even more vitality and credibility. Participants will be required to generate lesson plans applicable to their teaching.

For Middle School Teachers
American Revolution through Reconstruction
9 am to Noon
Michael T. Smith, PhD., McNeese State University, Department of History

This course is designed for middle school teachers. It will focus on providing an enhanced understanding of American history from the nation's founding through 1877, with special attention to the interpretations and arguments posed by modern historical scholarship. Issues to be addressed will include the nature and impact of cultural diversity in early American history; the contested meanings and evolution of the critical American concepts of freedom and equality; the creation and early evolution of American political, economic, and cultural institutions and trends; and understanding events and trends in the United States in the larger context of world history. Class projects will focus on the development of lesson plans.

For High School Teachers
U. S. History from the Gilded Age to the Modern Era
9 am to Noon
Janet Allured, Ph.D., McNeese State University, Department of History

Designed for high school teachers, this institute will examine the major themes of American history from the period following Reconstruction to the end of the Cold War. Using a topical as well as a historiographical approach, participants will investigate major events, issues and figures of the modern age, including John D. Rockefeller, Huey Long, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Ray Croc and Betty Friedan. Also emphasized is the art of historical detection through use of primary sources. A field trip to the World War II Museum in New Orleans is included in this program. Participants will be required to develop lesson plans.