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This summer, Humanities Texas will conduct in-person teacher professional development programs throughout the state as well as a number of online institutes and webinars. In-person programs include three-day institutes in Lubbock on twentieth-century Texas history (June 6–9), in Dallas on the U.S. Constitution (June 21–24), and in Austin on teaching literature (June 21–24). One-day workshops in San Antonio on teaching Shakespeare (June 14), teaching poetry (July 13), and critical reading and engaged writing (July 19) will also take place in person. We will also offer online programs on teaching reading at the sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade levels (June 28–30), implementing the Stanford History Education Group's Reading Like a Historian curriculum (July 5–7), and using digital humanities in the classroom (July 11–12).

Program partners include Texas Tech University, Southern Methodist University, The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas at San Antonio, the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at UT Austin, and the Stanford History Education Group.

All programs will emphasize close interaction with scholars, the examination of primary sources and texts, and the development of effective pedagogical strategies and engaging assignments and activities.

Texas in the Twentieth Century (In-Person Institute)

"Texas in the Twentieth Century" will take place in Lubbock at the National Ranching Heritage Center on the campus of Texas Tech University from June 6–9, 2022. Faculty presentations will cover Texas and the U.S. in 1900, the Progressive Era in Texas, women's suffrage, World War I, the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, civil rights, and the rise of a two-party Texas.

Teaching Shakespeare (In-Person Workshop)

"Teaching Shakespeare" will take place on the campus of The University of Texas at San Antonio on June 14, 2022. Faculty presentations will focus on Shakespeare's relevance to today's teachers and students, Shakespeare's global contexts, and performance-based strategies for the classroom.

The U.S. Constitution in American History (In-Person Institute)

"The U.S. Constitution in American History" will take place in Dallas at Southern Methodist University from June 21–24, 2022. The institute will cover significant constitutional history in the United States from the founding period through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Presentation topics include 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, 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.

Teaching Literature (In-Person Institute)

"Teaching Literature" will take place in Austin at The University of Texas from June 21–24, 2022. Faculty presentations will provide teachers with resources and strategies for helping students to become better readers of fiction, poetry, drama, and expository prose, among other written genres, while also addressing the critical reading and writing skills necessary for success at the post-secondary level.

Teaching Evidence-Based Reading Practices at the Secondary Level (Online Institute)

"Teaching Evidence-Based Reading Practices at the Secondary Level" will take place online via Zoom from June 28–30, 2022, with a follow-up session focused on integration and planning held on July 7, 2022. Sessions will include interactive presentations on research-based approaches to teaching reading and content-area literacy with an emphasis on social studies texts. Faculty presentations will focus on developing students' word study, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

Reading Like a Historian with the Stanford History Education Group" (Online Institute)

"Reading Like a Historian with the Stanford History Education Group" will take place online via Zoom from July 5–7, 2022. The institute will introduce participants to SHEG’s Reading Like a Historian curriculum, explore strategies for modeling historical thinking, identify approaches to facilitating discussion, and consider best practices for formative assessment with SHEG’s Beyond the Bubble assessments.

Using Digital Humanities in the Classroom (Online Institute)

"Using Digital Humanities in the Classroom" will take place online via Zoom from July 11–12, 2022. The institute will introduce teachers to various digital humanities resources, tools, and strategies to support effective, engaging teaching in the secondary-level classroom. Detailed topics are forthcoming.

Teaching Poetry (In-Person Workshop)

"Teaching Poetry" will take place at The Witte Museum on July 13, 2022. Faculty presentations will focus on providing multiple approaches for generating student interest in and understanding of poetry.

Critical Reading and Engaged Writing (In-Person Workshop)

"Critical Reading and Engaged Writing" will take place at The University of Texas at San Antonio on July 19, 2022. Faculty presentations will focus on providing strategies for improving students’ critical reading skills and developing engaging writing assignments that extend students’ understanding of a variety of literary and informational texts.

The institutes are open to all middle and high school social studies, language arts, and humanities teachers but will focus on topics and skills central to the state's secondary U.S. history, Texas history, and language arts curricula. Priority consideration will be given to early-career teachers in low-performing schools and districts.

More information about each program is available in the Education section of the Humanities Texas website. Teachers interested in attending should submit an application as soon as possible, as admissions are rolling and space is limited.

Participants will receive CPE credit and a wealth of curricular materials. CPE hours will be based on attendance and adjusted if a participant misses any portion of the program.

Please note that due to space limitations, you must be a registered participant to attend any of the in-person institutes.

These programs are made possible with support from the State of Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities. "The U.S. Constitution in American History" institute in Dallas is made possible in part with a grant from the Hearst Foundation.

Patricia M. García, associate professor in the department of English at The University of Texas at Austin, leads a seminar at a teacher institute in Houston in June 2019.
Goose Creek Oil Field by Frank J. Schlueter, 1919. Gelatin silver print. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Senate revisions to House-passed amendments to the Constitution (Bill of Rights), September 9, 1789. Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration.
Joseph F. Kobylka, associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, gives a presentation on defining federal power at a teacher workshop in Dallas in February 2018.
Oscar Cásares, professor of English at The University of Texas at Austin, signs books after reading and discussing his fiction during a 2017 teacher institute in Austin.
Interior of dome in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, DC. Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.