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This fall, Humanities Texas will hold nine workshops for social studies and language arts teachers across the state.
On September 26, 2014, Humanities Texas will hold a workshop in San Marcos for secondary-level language arts teachers on the literature of the American Southwest. Faculty lectures will address the characteristic themes and motifs of Southwestern literature, with a special focus on the region’s fiction, nonfiction, and poetry of the past century. Workshop faculty includes Mark Busby and Steve Davis of Texas State University, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith (The University of Texas at Austin), and Carmen Tafolla (The University of Texas at San Antonio). The workshop is held in partnership with the Texas State University Center for the Study of the Southwest and the Wittliff Collections.
In October, workshops on teaching the U.S. Constitution will take place in Wichita Falls (October 1), Fort Worth (October 2), Dallas (October 3), Edinburg (October 8), Corpus Christi (October 9), and San Antonio (October 10). Topics to be addressed include the Articles of Confederation, the drafting and adoption of the Constitution, teaching the Bill of Rights, and significant constitutional developments in the nineteenth century. Workshop faculty includes Thomas Pangle (UT Austin), Elizabeth Alexander (Texas Wesleyan University), Michael Les Benedict (The Ohio State University), Steven Boyd (UTSA), Zachary Elkins (UT Austin), Charles Flanagan (National Archives and Records Administration), and Joseph Kobylka (Southern Methodist University).
On October 17, 2014, Humanities Texas will hold a workshop in Huntsville for Texas history teachers titled Texas History: From Revolution to Republic. Faculty lectures will address the path to rebellion, the struggle for independence, Tejanos in the Texas Revolution, and the Republic of Texas. Workshop faculty includes Caroline Castillo Crimm (Sam Houston State University), Raúl A. Ramos (University of Houston), and Andrew J. Torget and Richard B. McCaslin of the University of North Texas.
On October 24, 2014, Humanities Texas will hold a workshop in Dallas 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 James Loehlin, Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, and John Rumrich 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 nine 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.