Past Institutes

Texas: From Republic to Mega-State

On June 24–27, 2019, Humanities Texas partnered with The University of Texas at San Antonio and the Witte Museum to hold a professional development institute for Texas teachers covering Texas history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Curriculum

The institute curriculum aligned with TEKS standards for the state's Texas history curriculum. Topics covered included the Republic and early statehood periods, Mexican Americans and Native Americans in nineteenth-century Texas, Texas in the Civil War, cattle and railroads, the Populist and Progressive Movements, women's suffrage, efforts to secure civil rights for African American and Latinx Texans in the twentieth century, LBJ's Texas, the state's oil industry, and the rise of two-party Texas. Participants also had the opportunity to tour the exhibition The Art of Texas: 250 Years and attend a lecture by exhibition curator Ron Tyler.

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

Distinguished author Stephen Harrigan, author of Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas (2019), delivered the institute's keynote lecture. The program faculty also included Alwyn Barr (Texas Tech University), Juliana Barr (Duke University), Jessica Brannon-Wranosky (Texas A&M University-Commerce), Carolina Castillo Crimm (Sam Houston State University), Sean Cunningham (Texas Tech University), Michael Gillette (Humanities Texas), Gabriela González (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Max Krochmal (Texas Christian University), Deborah Liles (Tarleton State University), Joseph Pratt (University of Houston), Andrew J. Torget (University of North Texas), Ron Tyler, and Susannah J. Ural (The University of Southern Mississippi).

Location and Schedule

The institute took place at City Education Partners, the Witte Museum, and on the campus of The University of Texas at San Antonio from June 24–27, 2019. The schedule is available here.

Sponsors

The institute was made possible with major funding from the State of Texas and the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, with ongoing support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.