Department News - 2005

Department to Partner on Second Teaching American History Grant

The Department of History is proud to announce it will partner with the San Marcos CISD through a Teaching American History grant in the amount of $676,559. It is the second such partnership for the department and an area school district; the department is currently collaborating with the Hays CISD on a Teaching American History grant awarded last year. The grants are awarded to support “three-year projects to improve teachers' knowledge, understanding and appreciation for American history through intensive, ongoing professional development,” as U.S. Secretary of Education Page noted last year.

History faculty are to provide in-depth training in American history content and pedagogy for thirty Hays CISD teachers annually during the three-year program. During 2005-07, the Department of History will host week-long summer Institutes, participate in monthly professional development sessions provided for the school teachers, and create and maintain a discussion list and web site dedicated to the exchange of lesson plans and ideas between faculty and San Marcos CISD teachers. Other professional development experiences and the adoption of the History Alive! curriculum are included in the project.

The summer Institutes will be devoted to three chronological periods of American history: Year One 1500 to 1763; Year Two 1763 to 1877; and Year Three 1877 to Present. Each day will focus on a different historical theme–political/governmental; socio-economic; cultural; legal/constitutional–with afternoons dedicated to pedagogy and integration of primary source materials in lesson plans. Fridays will be used for immersion activities at historical sites, including trips to the San Antonio Missions National Park and Institute for Texan Cultures. In 2005 and 2006, Hays CISD and SMCISD teachers will attend the summer institutes together.

Department of History faculty participants in the three-year program include Dr. Gregg Andrews, Mr. Alan Atchison, Dr. Mary Brennan, Dr. Vikki Bynum, Dr. Frank de la Teja, Mrs. Trace Etienne-Gray, Dr. Jeff Mauck, Dr. Jimmy McWilliams, and Dr. Dwight Watson. Dr. Gene Bourgeois is PI for the Texas State component of the grant and spearheaded the collaborative effort on behalf of the Texas State Department of History. We are very happy to join our colleagues in the SMCISD in embarking on this exciting professional development experience.

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