Past Institutes

“I Hear America Singing”: Poetry, Patriotism, and These United States (Spring 2023 Webinar)

On April 4, 2023, Humanities Texas held a webinar for English language arts teachers on understanding and teaching a diverse set of patriotic poems.

Curriculum

This webinar, scheduled to coincide with the beginning of National Poetry Month, offered  ways of understanding and teaching a diverse set of patriotic poems. Since at least the late eighteenth century, poets have used their art to both celebrate and critique the United States of America. The program focused on the definition, form, and occasion of patriotic poetry; analyzed poems by writers like Walt Whitman, Emma Lazarus, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, E. E. Cummings, and Julia Alvarez; considered the inaugural verses of Robert Frost and Amanda Gorman; and highlighted the most important takeaways for middle and high school students. Content aligned with the TEKS for secondary-level English language arts

Like all Humanities Texas teacher programs, the webinar was content-based and teacher-centered, with an emphasis on developing effective pedagogical strategies.

Faculty

Coleman Hutchison  (The University of Texas at Austin) led the webinar.

Schedule

The webinar took place over Zoom on March 29. The schedule is available here.

Sponsors

The webinar was made possible with major funding from the State of Texas with ongoing support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.