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Institute on Congress and American History
On June 13-18, 2004, forty-six high school social studies, history, and government teachers from every Congressional district in the state of Texas participated in the five-day "Institute on Congress and American History."
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) spoke about his experiences representing Texans in the U.S. Senate at the opening program, joined by Emily Reynolds, Secretary of the U.S. Senate; Thomas Duncan, Deputy Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives; and Bruce Cole, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Throughout the week, teachers heard presentations and participated in workshops given by former members of Congress, Congressional scholars, and journalists.
The institute explored the most recent scholarship on Congress and considered innovative classroom methods to translate those findings to high school audiences. Teachers selected for this institute received housing, materials, a travel allowance, a stipend, and continuing professional development credit.
Final report |
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Institute schedule |
Sponsors and Partners
The institute was supported in part through a National Endowment for the Humanities We the People grant. Other sponsors include Humanities Texas (formerly the Texas Council for the Humanities), the National Archives and Records Administration, the Center for American History and the College of Liberal Arts of The University of Texas at Austin, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, where the institute was held.
Questions
Please direct questions about Humanities Texas teacher institutes to Eric Lupfer, Director of Grants and Education, at 512.440.1991 or education@humanitiestexas.org.
Dr. Joseph Cooper on the origin and powers of Congress
In this video clip Dr. Joseph Cooper, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the origins and power of Congress under Article One of the Constitution at the Institute on Congress and American History on Monday, June 14, 2004. Cooper's publications include several books and numerous articles on the development of congressional structures and processes, congressional elections, party voting in Congress, legislative-executive relations, changing patterns of congressional elections, and the decline of trust in Congress.