Fall 2020 Course: Decolonizing the Curriculum

The course is offered by the Flow of History in collaboration with the Hood Museum of Art. It is a methods course especially for both U.S. and World History teachers (we will gear the presentations to the participants) in grades 5 – 12 to work with art to recenter the curriculum, elevate underrepresented cultures and voices, learn how to use art to prompt courageous conversations, and develop skills in interpreting art with students. Participants develop a final project developing or reworking a unit using art to elevate underrepresented voices or make connections to the present day.

This course will be delivered in a mixed format of in-person Zoom sessions, independent work, and individual mentoring through scheduled office hours.

Number of Credits: 3

Level: Graduate

Registration Fee: $975 (includes 3 graduate credits from Castleton University)

Dates & Times:?

• October 20, 27; November 10 Zoom sessions: 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
• November 11– November 20 Asynchronous discussions
• November 30 Final Project Due

REGISTER HERE

Course Goals:

1. To learn and practice visual thinking strategies with art
2. To learn how to use art to spark inquiry
3. To learn how to use art to prompt courageous conversations

Course Objectives:

• Consider how to re-center the history curriculum, elevating underrepresented voices
• Consider how to help students become engaged citizens, empathetic leaders, and agents of change.

Required Readings/Texts:

• Eric Beckman, Moving from Globalizing to Decolonizing World History
• Jon Rosinbum, Decolonizing the US History Survey
• Murray White, At Hood Museum of Art, Changing Stories and Choosing Sides
• Shari Tishman, Four Ways of Seeing
• Matthew R. Kay, Demystifying the Safe Space

Course Schedule:

October 20: Overview of Using Art to Decolonize the Curriculum

• Zoom Session: 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
• What does it mean to decolonize?
• How can art play a role in amplifying voices?

Readings:

• Eric Beckman, Moving from Globalizing to Decolonizing World History
• Jon Rosinbum, Decolonizing the US History Survey
• Murray White, At Hood Museum of Art, Changing Stories and Choosing Sides

Independent Work:

• Identify a unit that you would like to rework to elevate underrepresented voices or to make more connections to the present day.

October 27: Using Art to Prompt Courageous Conversations

Zoom Session: 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.

• Project Sharing
• How can art play a role in sparking courageous conversations and help us to confront difficult histories?

Readings

• Shari Tishman, Four Ways of Seeing
• Matthew R. Kay, Demystifying the Safe Space

Independent Project Time: Course instructors will be available during office hours to assist in finding sources and considering the skills students will need to analyze them.

November 10: Work-in-Progress Session

Zoom Session: 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. (if we have a big group there may be a choice of dates/times)

Participants present work-in-progress with structured feedback

November 11 – 20 On-Line Asynchronous Session

Final discussion of projects in office hours or as needed with instructors

Assignments:

1. Actively participates in all in-person sessions (20%)
2. Completes all independent work between in-person sessions (40%)
3. Final Project Due November 30, 2020 (40%)

Final Project:

Participants develop a final project using art to elevate underrepresented voices or make more connections to the present day.

The project should include the compelling questions, at least one piece of art, and the supportive materials students will need to successfully complete a summative assessment. These might take the form of specific visual thinking strategies, discussion protocols, or graphic organizers.

Summer 2020 Online Course

Creating C3 Inquiries for Students

Dates & Times:​

June 23, 25 and July 9            Zoom sessions: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

                      

July 10 - 24                             Asynchronous discussions

August 1                                 Final Project Due

This is a methods course for teachers in grades 5 - 12 to work with the C3 Inquiry Framework developing compelling questions, identifying and investigating primary sources, applying disciplinary concepts and tools, and sharing new understandings. Participants develop a full inquiry project or a series of inquiry-based lessons on a topic of their choice for their students. This is course will be delivered in a mixed format of in-person Zoom sessions, independent work, and individual mentoring through scheduled office hours.

Registration Fee (includes 3 graduate credits from Castleton University): $975

Click Here to Register

Required Readings/Texts:

●      Nokes, Barriers to Historical Thinking

●      Swann, Grant and Lee,  Questions that Compel and Support

●      Gonzalez, Boost Higher Order Thinking through Curation

Course Schedule:

June 23: Engaging Students in Inquiry and Asking Questions

Zoom Session: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Overview of the Inquiry Method

Developing Compelling Questions

Independent Work: Identify a topic for your students to investigate; develop a list of scaffolded skills your students will be working on and an appropriate summative assessment.

June 25: Historical Thinking Skills and Tools

Zoom Session: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Finding primary sources online and in your community

Developing historical thinking skills with primary sources

           

Independent Work: Find relevant primary sources that provide the evidence students will need for your summative assessment. Course instructors will be available during office hours to assist in finding sources and consider the skills students will need to analyze them.

                       

July 9: Work-in-Progress Session

Zoom Session: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

            Participants present work-in-progress with structured feedback

July 10 – 24 On-Line Asynchronous Session Taking Action

Final discussion of projects and brainstorm for supporting students in taking action

Assignments:

1. Actively participates in all in-person sessions (20%)
2. Completes all independent work between in-person sessions (40%)
3. Final Project                Due August 1, 2020 (40%)

Projects:

Final Project Instructions:

1) Develop an inquiry for your students that includes a compelling question, summative assessment, and the primary sources and supportive materials students will need to complete the inquiry. See rubric at end of this document.

                   or

2) Choose a dimension within the C3 framework and identify the skills your students will develop and an appropriate summative assessment.  Include primary sources and supportive materials students will need to successfully explore the identified skills.

2020 Summer Institute

The Past is Present

Flow of History Summer Institute, 2020

Due to Covid-19, the institute has been postponed. More information will be coming by early April.

June 22-25, 2020

Grafton, VT

How do communities help people in need?

How does human activity affect the natural and built environment?

What are ways people stand up for what they believe in?

Who has immigrated to our communities? How welcoming have we been?

During the four days we will work with these questions and along the way explore how nearby history can shed light on contemporary issues. Topics to explore include:

Welfare and Poverty

Climate Change

Social Activism

Immigration

During the week we will practice discussion protocols and activities that support development of transferrable skills, including clear and effective communication, informed and integrative thinking, and responsible and involved citizenship.

Registration Fees:

This is a 4-day residential institute held at the Grafton Inn. Meals and the cost of single-room lodging at the Grafton Inn are included in the $900 registration fee. 
Commuter registration fee is $600. 
Graduate credit (3 credits) is available from Castleton State University for an additional $425. Limited scholarships are available. 

Register at: http://flowofhistory.org/registration

Many thanks to the support and partnership of The Windham Foundation.

1st Wednesday Book Discussions and Dinners

Confronting Social Inequalities

Join Flow of History for an after-school book discussion followed by an evening talk that further illuminates the topic. Choose from three different dates and locations. These workshops are aligned with First Wednesday programs sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council and in collaboration with Vermont Alliance for the Social Studies.

Each session will include a reading and discussion component, as well as a short primary source inquiry. A light dinner will be provided, with the evening speakers invited to join workshop participants as available. See below for the list of dates and locations with the associated reading and evening presentation. Workshops run from 4:00 - 6:30 p.m. and include dinner. The First Wednesday talks begin at 7 p.m.

Books will be mailed to participants upon registration.

November 6; St. Johnsbury, VT 

Teacher Workshop Time:
4:00 - 6:30 p.m. (including dinner)

Workshop Location:
St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 1171 Main Street



Book: Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law. Learn how American cities became racially divided as federal, state and local governments systematically imposed policy-driven residential segregation.

First Wednesday Talk: "The Racially Fragmented City" with Richard Wright.  America’s growing diversity is changing its ethnic and racial demography for decades to come, with significant implications for human geography. Dartmouth professor Richard Wright discusses emerging patterns of diversity and segregation on national, state, and local levels.

December 4; Montpelier, VT

Teacher Workshop Time: 
4:00 - 6:30 p.m. (including dinner)

Workshop Location: Kellogg-Hubbard Library, 135 Main Street


Book: Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy (YA edition)
"Just Mercy is every bit as moving as To Kill a Mockingbird. [It] demonstrates the extent to which brutality, unfairness, and racial bias continue to infect criminal law in the United States."

First Wednesday Talk: "Policing and Community in Vermont" with Brandon del Pozo. Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo explores issues of criminal justice, health, and safety in the Queen City, and how citizens and police can work together innovatively to create safer and healthier communities.

March 4: Norwich, VT

Teacher Workshop Time: 
4:00 - 6:30 p.m. (including dinner)

Workshop Location: Norwich Historical Society, 277 Main Street



Book: Katherine Paterson, My Brigadista Year, the story of a Cuban teenager who volunteers for a national literacy campaign to teach others how to read.

First Wednesday Talk: "Read to Live" with Katherine Paterson. National Book Award winner Katherine Paterson speaks on the importance of literacy and developing a love for reading which was the inspiration for her latest novel My Brigadista Year.

Registration Fee:
$75 for single workshop (includes dinner and a copy of the book); First Wednesday talks are free


REGISTER HERE

In collaboration with:

C3 Historical Inquiry Course

Helping Students Construct Understanding: a C3 Inquiry Course

The Inquiry method teaches students how to ask and investigate important social studies questions. Those skills are necessary for students to develop the critical thinking skills that are the foundation for engaged citizenship.

This course will focus on the first two dimensions of the C3 framework: Asking Questions and Applying Disciplinary Concepts. We will provide ample opportunity for participants to try activities that encourage students in thinking routines that support historical questioning and analysis.

Primary sources will be drawn from the women's suffrage movement. Embedded in the day-long session will be opportunities for participants to develop their own inquiry or part of an inquiry on a topic of their choice that connects to their curriculum. The first after-school session will be a work-in-progress session. The second session will feature completed projects.

Dates and Times:

February 6: 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

March 12: 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.

Location: Norwich Historical Society, 277 Main Street, Norwich, VT

Costs:

Registration Fee: $350

1 graduate credit from Castleton University: $150

Register online here

2019 Book Group

Jill Lepore looks at America through the lens of the promises America has made to itself, and whether we've kept them. 

This six-session book discussion program will explore the question that forms the heart of this book: Has America lived up to the ideals of the founders of this country? How do "these truths" measure up to the "course of events?" This book offers a great launching point for innovative thinking about how we teach history.

Each session will include related primary sources to connect to the U.S. history curriculum.

Session 1: The origins of the American Experiment
Session 2: The Constitution, Slavery, and Representative Government
Session 3: Who are "the People"?: Race, Gender, Citizenship, and Populism
Session 4: Modernization: Industrialism, a Communications Revolution, and an Unfinished Reckoning with Race
Session 5: "The Machine," the "Great Acceleration," and Postwar Anxieties
Session 6: Conservatism vs. Liberalism: How American Society Became Polarized Again

Location: Hartford Middle School, Hartford, Vermont
Dates and Times: Thursdays, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
       October 24, November 21, December 12, January 23, February 13, March 26

Location: Randolph High School, Randolph, Vermont
Dates and Times: Tuesdays, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
       October 22, November 19, December 10, January 21, February 11, March 24

Registration Fee:  $350 -including book.
1 Graduate Credit through Castleton University: $150

Register Online Here

2019 Summer Institute

History, Race, and Inclusive Education

June 25 - 28, 2019

Grafton, Vermont

Social Justice Graphic Organizer 

How do we have courageous conversations about race?

How do our own perceptions of identity influence our teaching?

How do we use history to prompt meaningful discussions about race and identity with students?

How do we help students become empathetic leaders and agents of change?


During the four days we will work with these questions and along the way explore stories that connect the enduring human condition to lessons that can be applied today. Historical sources will be drawn from:

• The Underground Railroad
• Vermont's African American Heritage Trail
• Daisy Turner's Family History in Grafton, VT
• Monuments and Memorials in our Communities

We will focus on numerous discussion protocols to support courageous conversations around challenging topics like race and diversity. All teaching levels are welcome, although it is most suited toward middle and high school curricula.

Registration Fees:
This is a 4-day residential institute held at the Grafton Inn. Meals and the cost of lodging at the Grafton Inn are included in the $750 registration fee (Single room + $150). Commuter registration fee is $550. Graduate credit is available from Castleton State University.

Note: Due to contracts with the Inn and food vendors, there are no refunds after May 12.

REGISTER HERE