Institutes and Seminars
Our teaching institutes and seminars engage the participants in scholarship on the topic and provide opportunities to explore ways to incorporate the Choices Program’s resources and approach to make these topics come alive for students in their classrooms. They usually take place at Brown University. Below is a sampling of recent institutes and seminars.
2011 Summer Leadership Institute - The United States in Afghanistan
July 11-15, 2011
Choices invited applicants for its 2011 Summer Leadership Institute on The United States in Afghanistan. Participants will received an academically rigorous introduction to the foreign policy debates and historical underpinnings of the complex situation in Afghanistan today. Using Choices curriculum, participants explored effective instructional strategies for engaging adolescents in the study of this important region of the world.
The Slave Trade and Slavery in New England
June 21-25, 2010
This Choices Summer Institute was part of a Teaching American History grant. Teachers explored the history of slavery in New England, its ramifications for today's society, and ideas about how to engage high school students in this topic.
Summer Leadership Institute: Competing Visions of Human Rights
July 6-9, 2010
The 2010 Choices Summer Leadership Institute examined the concept of human rights and the challenges of enforcing human rights at an international level. Using the Choices curriculum, participants also explored effective instructional strategies for engaging adolescents in the topic. Major themes covered included cultural relevance vs. the universality of human rights, state sovereignty vs. international institutions and expanding international law, humanitarian law and humanitarian intervention, and the role of human rights in foreign policy.
The Haitian Revolution
April 27, 2010
The Choices Program is offering an afternoon seminar focusing on the Haitian Revolution. Participants will explore the history of Haiti from its precolonial past to the aftermath of the Revolution, focusing on issues such as the role of Europe in the Caribbean and the social and economic development of French Saint-Domingue (the colony that became Haiti). Participants will consider the future of Saint-Domingue in 1801—at a point when slavery had been abolished but Saint-Domingue was still a colony—from the perspectives of people on the island and in France.
Democracy and Protest in Iran
October 22, 2009
The Choices Program is offered a one-day institute for secondary level teachers to explore the political forces giving shape to contemporary Iran. Participating teachers explored effective instructional strategies for engaging students in Iranian history and the roots of the current political unrest, and heard from Shiva Balaghi, Cogut International Humanities Fellow at Brown University.
Living in a Nuclear Age: Facing the Challenges
July 7-10, 2009
The Choices Summer Institute will give participating teachers an opportunity to explore the challenges posed by nuclear weapons and introduce them to effective instructional strategies for engaging adolescents in the topic. Major themes covered during this institute include the status of the non-proliferation regime, nuclear terrorism, policies toward states at risk, and U.S. nuclear policy and its global implications.
The Revolution at 50 and the Future of Cuba
April 16, 2009
The Choices Program offered an afternoon seminar focusing on Contemporary Cuba. Participants considered the historical forces that have shaped this island nation and explore the challenges and choices that lie ahead.
Slavery in New England
October 2, 2008
During this daylong Institute we explored the history of slavery in New England, its ramifications for today’s society, and ideas about how to engage high school students in this topic. This teaching institute offered the latest scholarship and teaching strategies to address this important and often difficult to teach topic.
Iran Through the Looking Glass - Perceptions and Misperceptions
June 29 - July 2, 2008
This summer institute gave participating teachers an opportunity to deepen their understanding of Iranian culture and politics, and explore critical issues in Iranian-U.S. relations. Major themes covered during this institute included Islam and Iranian society, the role of Islam in politics, democratic forces in Iran, the history of Iranian-U.S. relations, and current pressing issues in Iranian-U.S relations, including nuclear proliferation and Iran’s involvement in the Iraq conflict. Participants heard from leading scholars on the subject.
China on the World Stage
May 6, 2008
The Choices Program and the Five College Center for East Asian Studies offered an afternoon teacher seminar focused on teaching about issues in China today. Topics included Taiwan, Tibet, and U.S.-China relations.
The U.S. and Iran: An Institute for Teachers
April 11, 2008
The Choices Program offered a one-day institute for that explored the history of Iranian-U.S. relations, looked at the evolution of their acrimonious relationship, and considered current issues surrounding Iran's nuclear program.
Challenges to National Security
July 23-26, 2007
This summer institute gave participating teachers an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the major security challenges facing our nation and introduced them to effective instructional strategies for engaging adolescents in an exploration of international policy and national security.
Age of Imperialism to the Second World War
June 24-30, 2007
This summer institute was part of a multi-year program in collaboration with the Omaha Public Schools. The program was funded under a Teaching American History grant. Year two of this program focused on the rise of America as a world power from the Spanish-American War to America’s entrances into World War II. The major themes addressed over the course of the institute were: expansion and imperialism in the Americas and the Pacific, engagement vs. isolationism, idealism vs. realism, domestic sources and impact of U.S. foreign relations; and exceptionalism. Participating teachers had the opportunity to hear from distinguished scholars in the fields of U.S. history and foreign policy.
Dimensions of the Cold War
March 21, 2007
"Dimensions of the Cold War" was a full-day teaching institute for secondary level teachers. Participating educators heard from leading scholars and explored various teaching strategies aimed at engaging adolescent learners and bringing this critical period in history to life.
Slavery In New England Seminar Series
September 21 and December 8, 2006
The Choices Program and the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery & Justice invited teachers to participate in a workshop and seminar series focused on New England's involvement in the slave trade and slavery. Two full-day programs took place on September 21, 2006 and December 8, 2006. The programs included scholar presentations and classroom activities addressing various topics surrounding slavery and the slave trade in New England.