Past Institutes

The U.S. Constitution in American History: 1750–1877

On June 21–24, 2022, Humanities Texas partnered with Southern Methodist University to hold a professional development institute for Texas teachers covering the U.S. Constitution in early American history.

Curriculum

The institute curriculum aligned with TEKS standards for the state's high school U.S. history curriculum and covered significant constitutional history in the United States from the founding period through the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Presentation topics included antecedents of American national government; the Constitutional convention; the arguments of Federalists and the Anti-Federalists; the Bill of Rights; Jefferson, Jackson, and democratizing the Constitution; contending visions of Chief Justices John Marshall and Roger Taney; the Constitution and women; the Constitution and Native Americans; the Constitution, slavery, and the Court; Lincoln, the Civil War, and the evolution of Presidential power; emancipation, the Thirteenth Amendment, and the shifting meaning of the Civil War; the Civil War Amendments; and the rise and fall of Reconstruction.

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

The program faculty included Christopher Bonner (University of Maryland), Charles Flanagan (National Archives and Records Administration), Lorri Glover (Saint Louis University), Hilary Green (Davidson College), Brian Luskey (West Virginia University), Bill Meier (Texas Christian University), and Joseph F. Kobylka, Ken Hamilton, and Andrew Graybill of Southern Methodist University.

Location and Schedule

The institute took place at Southern Methodist University from June 21–24, 2022. The schedule is available here.

Sponsors

The institute was made possible with major funding from the Hearst Foundations. Additional support was provided by the State of Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities.