E-UPDATES from the NEHTA January 25, 2010

NEHTA: WEBMASTER WANTED The NEHTA is looking for an enthusiastic and innovative person to serve as Web Master. This position offers an exciting opportunity for an individual passionate about history to interact with and shape the larger professional community.

The NEHTA Web Master will manage the creative and technical aspects of the NEHTA website (www.nehta.net). This includes, but is not limited to: • Developing and maintaining pages • Regularly reviewing and updating content • Troubleshooting technical issues

This position is a volunteer position that reports to the NEHTA’s Executive Board of Directors. The commitment is approximately 5 to 8 hours a month. Please e-mail a resume and a letter of interest highlighting your related skills to Laura Noon at lauranoon@yahoo.com no later than February 24.

NEHTA LASKA AWARD APPLICATIONS DUE 1/31 The annual Vera and Andrew J. Laska Award will be presented at NERC in March. The award consists of a $2000 cash prize and a certificate confirming the award. Any undergraduate college or university student, who is a United States citizen, majoring in or concentrating in United States History, and enrolled for the academic year 2009-2010 in a college or university in New England is eligible for the award. The money is to be used to further the recipient’s study of United States History. For more details, please visit the Awards page at www.nehta.net.

NERC 2010: PROGRAM AVAILABLE The conference program for NERC 2010 in Sturbridge is now available! If you did not receive a print copy in the mail, download one at http://www.masscouncil.org/node/234. We hope to see you there!

SUMMER INSTITUTES AT THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER June 28-July 2, 2010 Annenberg Summer Teacher Institute: “Changing the Constitution: Politics and Law in American Constitutional Development.” For teachers of grades 7-12; includes a stipend of $1300 to cover hotel, travel, and other costs.

July 26-30 Annenberg Summer Teacher Institute: “America’s Constitution and the World.” For teachers of grades 7-12; includes a stipend of $1300 to cover hotel, travel, and other costs.

July 12-16 or July 19-23 NEH Landmarks of American History Workshop: “A Revolution in Government: Philadelphia, American Independence and the Constitution, 1765-1791.” For teachers of grades K-12; includes a stipend of $1200 to cover hotel, travel, and other costs.

TO APPLY, VISIT: www.constitutioncenter.org/summer. APPLICATIONS MUST BE POSTMARKED BY MARCH 2.

TEACHER SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FRENCH & INDIAN WAR SEMINAR Fort Ticonderoga provides four scholarships for teachers at the middle or high school level to attend the Fifteenth Annual War College of the Seven Years’ War from May 21-23. The application deadline is March 15. More information about the War College and a PDF of the application form is available at http://www.fort-ticonderoga.org/events/war-college.htm.

SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON COLONIAL AMERICA FOR EDUCATORS Fort Ticonderoga hosts the Second Annual Conference on Colonial America for Educators on Friday, May 21. Conference sessions will be led by historians and authors, educators, and staff members from Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and the New York State Archives. Additional information is available at http://www.fort-ticonderoga.org/education/educators.htm.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND THE TROUBLES IN NORTHERN IRELAND Presented by the Castleton State College and the Southeast Vermont Learning Collaborative. Adjunct faculty William Holiday will offer a six graduate credit course in Belfast, Londonderry, Omagh and Portadown, Northern Ireland from July 6-14. Participants will reside at Farset International in Belfast. The cost is $2,600, which includes accommodations, breakfasts, transportation in Northern Ireland, and daily field studies. Registrations are due April 2. For further information call Bill at 802 257 4900 or email at bill_holiday@wsesu.org.

SUMMER WORKSHOPS AT THE BARD INSTITUTE FOR WRITING AND THINKING Among workshops being offered this July is “Thinking Historically through Writing: The Challenge of Overcoming Pop Culture Images of the Sixties” (July 11-16).

Although nearly a half a century in the past, the 1960s evoke excitement in the contemporary imagination and in the minds and hearts of many of our students. As teachers, we might imagine that, given students’ familiarity with the period and its continued relevance to the present day, teaching this period in American history would be a pleasure. Yet study of “the 1960s” presents its own challenge to teachers concerned with introducing students to how historians develop knowledge of the past. How can we address understanding, raising awareness about conflicting evidence about a historical period much more complex and dynamic than it is usually portrayed in popular culture? This workshop examines the historiography of the period; the work of diverse historians who paint a complex, contradictory, and layered picture of the ‘60s; and explores evidence from this period.

Working with case studies, documentary as well as literary texts, and excerpts from texts by contemporary historians, this workshop considers practices that help us teach an understanding of history. Writing is a versatile approach, since it allows the student to discover a world very different from the present and to appreciate different—and often conflicting—interpretations of key moments in the past, as well as causes and consequences. Participants also pay attention to writing that appears in textbooks, to developing good questions, and to creating writing assignments for inside and outside the classroom. The workshop will be led by an Institute associate who teaches history for Bard’s Master of Arts in Teaching Program. For more information email Teresa Vilardi, vilardi@bard.edu.

2010 AMERICAN CIVIC EDUCATION TEACHER AWARDS The Awards are given annually to elementary and secondary teachers of civics, government and related fields who have demonstrated exceptional expertise, dynamism and creativity in motivating students to learn about Congress, the Constitution, and public policy.

Each year the ACETA program selects and showcases three teachers who are doing exemplary work in preparing young people to become informed and engaged citizens. Applicants must be full-time classroom teachers of grades K-12. The honored teachers receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington , D.C. , in July to participate in an educational program that includes observing floor sessions and committee hearings in Congress, meeting members of Congress and other key officials, and visiting sites such as the National Archives and the U.S. Supreme Court. The winners also are recognized at a national conference of civic educators.

Applications for the 2010 Awards must be postmarked no later than Tuesday, Feb. 16. There is no fee to apply. In addition to a two-page “self-portrait” essay, applicants must submit three letters of recommendation — two from teaching peers and one from their school principal. The application form is at www.centeroncongress.org.

GILDER LEHRMAN 2010-2011 RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS FOR HISTORIANS The Gilder Lehrman Institute invites doctoral candidates, postdoctoral scholars, college and university faculty at every rank, and independent scholars to apply for Research Fellowships in American history. For 2010-11, ten Fellows will receive $3,000 to support research within an American history archive in the New York City metropolitan area. Research must be completed within one year of the Fellowship award. Past Fellows have pursued and enjoyed access to the holdings of the Gilder Lehrman Collection, the New-York Historical Society, the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, or the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, among others.

Applications must be postmarked or submitted online by May 1, 2010. To read the complete guidelines and begin your application, visit www.gilderlehrman.org/historians/scholar4.html. For questions, email: fellowships@gilderlehrman.org.