Past Institutes

The U.S. Constitution


In September 2012, Humanities Texas held a series of one-day teacher workshops for two hundred teachers throughout the state focusing on the U.S. Constitution.

Curriculum

Topics addressed included the drafting and adoption of the Constitution, teaching the Bill of Rights, and significant constitutional issues in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Content was aligned with the TEKS, with particular emphasis placed on the standards associated with Celebrate Freedom Week. The workshops emphasized close interaction with scholars, the examination of primary sources, and the development of effective pedagogical strategies and engaging assignments and activities.

Faculty

Workshop faculty included Pulitzer Prize-winning historians Gordon S. Wood (Brown University) and Jack N. Rakove (Stanford University), Michael Les Benedict (The Ohio State University), Charles Flanagan (National Archives and Records Administration), U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson, Gabriela González (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Laura Muñoz (Texas A&M Corpus Christi), and Kenneth Stevens (Texas Christian University).

Program Resources

Our September 2012 newsletter included a slideshow of images from the workshops.

Locations and Schedules

The workshop overview details the workshop's schedule and participants

LaredoSeptember 10Texas A&M International UniversityOverview
Corpus ChristiSeptember 11ESC 2Overview
DallasSeptember 12Dallas Institute of Humanities and CultureOverview
Fort WorthSeptember 13Fort Worth Museum of Science and HistoryOverview

Sponsors

These workshops were made possible with major funding from the State of Texas, with ongoing support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support was provided by the Sid W. Richardson Foundation and the Carl B. and Florence E. King Foundation.

Questions about Teacher Institutes

Call 512.440.1991 (press 2) or email institutes@humanitiestexas.org.

Jack N. Rakove, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and professor of political science at Stanford University, leads a small group discussion in Corpus Christi.
Michael Les Benedict, professor emeritus of history at The Ohio State University, analyzes the Constitution with teachers in Dallas.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Gordon S. Wood, who is Alva O. Way University Professor and professor of history emeritus at Brown University,  shares insights with teachers in Fort Worth.