June 5-6, 2004

New Perspectives on the Genesis of the USA

Teaching Colonial and Early American History

A History Institute for Teachers

Sponsored by the Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education
A Division of the Foreign Policy Research Institute
At the Gregg Conference Center, American College
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

In conjunction with the publication of Walter McDougall’s new book Freedom Just Around the Corner, 1585-1828: A Candid History of the United States, Vol. 1 (HarperCollins, forthcoming 2004), the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education held its 2004 History Institute for Teachers on Teaching Colonial and Early American History. Specially designed for secondary school teachers and curriculum supervisors, the weekend-long program featured a series of lectures by leading scholars in several fields, including a keynote address by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Gordon Wood.

Jump to …

• Topics and Speakers
• What Participants Receive
• How to Apply
• About FPRI’s History Institutes

Topics and Speakers

The Making of the Constitution (Keynote address)
Gordon Wood, Brown University

The Origins of American Identity (see video)
Walter A. McDougall, Chairman, History Academy, FPRI

Migration and Colonization in British North America
Daniel Richter, Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania

Liberty and Religion in American Society
J.C.D. Clark, University of Kansas

Struggle for Mastery in North America
Jeremy Black, University of Exeter and Senior Fellow

Whigs vs. Democrats: Competing Visions of American Politics
Allan C. Guelzo, Eastern University

Classroom Strategies for Teaching U.S. History
Moderated by Paul Dickler, AP US History Teacher, Neshaminy High School, and Senior Fellow, FPRI’s Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education

The conference begins 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 5, and concludes at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 6.

What Participants Receive

Social studies and history teachers, curriculum supervisors and junior college faculty are invited to apply for participation in the History Institute. Forty participants will be selected to receive:


How to Apply

To apply, please send a résumé and a short statement describing your current teaching or professional assignments, your reasons for wanting to attend, and how your students or school district will benefit from your participation. IMPORTANT NOTE: At the time of application, you are asked to make a commitment either to prepare a curriculum unit based on the weekend or to do in-service activities based on the weekend.

SUBMIT ALL MATERIALS BY MARCH 15 BY E-MAIL TO:

Alan H. Luxenberg, Director, Wachman Fund
Foreign Policy Research Institute
1528 Walnut Street, Suite 610
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Tel. 215-732-3774, ext. 305
Fax 215-732-4401
E-mail fpri@fpri.org

SPECIAL NOTE: Schools with a school membership in FPRI’s Marvin Wachman Fund are guaranteed one place at the annual History Institute.

Space is limited; so please apply early. If you cannot attend but would like to be on our mailing list, please let us know by phone, fax, or e-mail.


About FPRI and the Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education

Founded in 1955, FPRI is an independent, nonprofit organization devoted to advanced research and public education on international affairs. It brings the insights of scholarship to bear on the development of policies that advance U.S. national interests abroad. Its Marvin Wachman Fund for International Education sponsors public lectures and programs for high school teachers designed to promote understanding of America’s role in world affairs. FPRI publications include Orbis, a quarterly journal of world affairs, and E-Notes, a weekly bulletin disseminated by email to 25,000 key people in 85 countries.

The History Academy

In 1996, FPRI inaugurated a series of weekend history institutes, chaired by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Walter McDougall. Eight history institutes have been held to date, with keynote addresses by the nation’s leading historians, including William McNeill on “What We Mean By the West” and William McNeill, again, on “Multiculturalism in World History”; Gordon Wood on “The Lessons of History”; John Lewis Gaddis on “What We Now Know about the Cold War”; George Herring on “The Lessons of Vietnam,” Walter McDougall on “The Roots of U.S. Foreign Policy,”; Paul Griffiths on “What is Religion and Can It Be Taught?”; and Jeremy Black on “Mapping: Past and Present.” Materials from each of the history institutes are being made available on this website.