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This spring, Humanities Texas will hold professional development workshops throughout the state for Texas social studies and language arts teachers.

Critical Reading and Engaged Writing

On February 1 and 2, 2018, Humanities Texas will hold one-day workshops in Houston and San Antonio on teaching critical reading skills, designing engaging writing assignments, and improving students' media literacy. The Houston workshop faculty includes Brian Bremen (The University of Texas at Austin), Kirsten Ostherr (Rice University), Lisa Falkenberg (Houston Chronicle), and Cathy D'Agostino, a former high school teacher who now serves as a consultant with teacher programs organized by the College Board. The San Antonio workshop faculty features Bremen, D'Agostino, and Coleman Hutchison and Susan Schorn of The University of Texas at Austin.

The Civil War Era

In February 2018, Humanities Texas will hold one-day teacher workshops in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Lufkin, Houston, and Austin, focusing on slavery, secession, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. The workshop faculty includes Michael Les Benedict (The Ohio State University), Daina Berry (The University of Texas at Austin), Albert S. Broussard (Texas A&M University), Daniel Feller (University of Tennessee), James Sidbury (Rice University), Andrew Torget (University of North Texas), and Jennifer L. Weber (the University of Kansas).

Landmark Supreme Court Cases

On February 7 and 8, 2018, Humanities Texas will hold one-day teacher workshops in Dallas and San Antonio, focusing on landmark Supreme Court cases. The workshop will focus on milestone cases in Supreme Court history related to civil liberities, civil rights, defining federal power, and criminal procedure. The workshop faculty includes Michael Les Benedict (The Ohio State University), Joseph Kobylka (Southern Methodist University), Cullen Macbeth (federal public defender in Las Vegas), and William E. Forbath, H. W. Perry, and Jordan Steiker of The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

Teaching Shakespeare

On April 5 and 6, 2018, Humanities Texas will hold workshops in Austin and San Antonio for secondary-level language arts teachers on teaching the plays of William Shakespeare. Faculty lectures will address the historical and cultural contexts of Shakespeare's works, approaches to commonly taught comedies and tragedies, and teaching using performance-based strategies. Workshop faculty includes J. Dennis Huston (Rice University) and Paul Sullivan and Elizabeth Richmond-Garza of The University of Texas at Austin.

Teachers at all workshops will receive books and other instructional materials and be trained in the examination and interpretation of primary sources. Content at all of our spring workshops will be aligned with the TEKS. For details on eligibility, substitute and travel reimbursements, and venues or to apply online, visit the Upcoming Institutes page on the Humanities Texas website.

Kirsten Ostherr, professor of English at Rice University, leads a seminar at the "Post-War America, 1945–1960" institute in Austin.
Inauguration of President Lincoln, 1861. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Title page of Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies with copper engraving of the author by Martin Droeshout. Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection.