Past Institutes
Founding a New Nation
On June 5–8, 2017, Humanities Texas partnered with the LBJ Presidential Library and the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin to hold a professional development institute for Texas teachers covering U.S. history during the founding period.
Curriculum
The institute covered topics central to the founding period of U.S. history, including the American Revolution, George Washington’s military leadership and presidency, the Articles of Confederation, Native Americans and African Americans during the Revolution, medicine in early America, the development of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the rise of political parties, the role of women during the founding period, Alexander Hamilton and the development of the U.S. economic system, the establishment of the federal judiciary, and American foreign policy from Washington to Monroe.
Like all Humanities Texas teacher programs, the institute emphasized close interaction with scholars, the examination of primary sources, and the development of effective pedagogical strategies and engaging assignments and activities.
Faculty
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jack N. Rakove (Stanford University) delivered the institute’s keynote lecture. The program faculty also included Zara Anishanslin (University of Delaware), Carol Berkin (Baruch College), Albert S. Broussard (Texas A&M University), Denver Brunsman (George Washington University), Jesús F. de la Teja (Texas State University), Woody Holton (University of South Carolina), Joseph F. Kobylka (Southern Methodist University), James Kirby Martin (University of Houston), Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David M. Oshinsky (New York University), and Alan Tully (UT Austin).
Location and Schedule
The institute took place at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin from June 5–8, 2017. The schedule is available here.
Sponsors
The institute was made possible with major funding from the State of Texas, with ongoing support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Call 512.440.1991 or email institutes@humanitiestexas.org.
Questions about Teacher Institutes
Carol Berkin, Presidential Professor of History Emerita at Baruch College and the Graduate Center at City University of New York, provides insight on primary documents with workshop participants in Corpus Christi.
Denver Brunsman, associate professor of history at George Washington University, leads a seminar on primary sources in Austin.
Albert S. Broussard, former Humanities Texas board member and professor of history at Texas A&M University, discusses primary sources at a seminar in Austin.
“Founding a New Nation” workshop participants gather in the LBJ Presidential Library.
David M. Oshinsky, professor of history and director of the Division of Medical Humanities at New York University, conducts a lecture on “Medicine and Mayhem in the Early Republic” in Austin.
Jack N. Rakove, William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and professor of political science at Stanford University, entices educators with a lecture on the Founding Fathers and the American Revolution in Austin.