Survey Course Conference in D.C., June 2014

In June, the Community College Humanities Association will run a workshop on teaching a college-level U.S. history survey course on “From the American Revolution to the American Jubilee 1776-1826.” This is the first of what the organization calls its “Survey Courses Project,” designed to improve the experience of introductory history classes for all concerned.

The goal of this conference is to:

provide college and university faculty members an intensive learning experience that will enable them to gain immediately fresh insights and rich content to enhance their survey courses and scholarship. . . . Participants will hear presentations and interact with exceptional scholars of the Revolution and Early Republic at key historical and cultural institutions in Washington, D.C. so as to infuse their survey courses with insights into recent scholarship surrounding this period of American history. Moreover, it will feature research opportunities at the Library of Congress.

Among the scholars involved:

• Peter Onuf, author of Jefferson’s Empire: The Language of American Nationhood
• Fergus Bordewich, author of Washington: The Making of the American Capital
• Pamela Scott, author of Temple of Liberty: Building the Capitol for a New Nation
• William Seale, author of The White House: The History of an American Idea
• William Bushong, author of Inside the White House
• Elizabeth Dowling Taylor, author of the A Slave in the White House
• William Allman, White House Curator
• Julie Miller, Historian, Early America, Library of Congress
• Dorothy Moss, Historian and Assistant Curator, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
• Steve Livengood, US Capitol Historical Society’s Chief Capitol Guide

The White House Historical Association and the United States Capitol Historical Society are co-sponsoring this project.

The first workshop is scheduled for 22-27 June 2014 in Washington, D.C. The deadline for registration is 1 May. The registration fee is $799, and “low-cost apartment housing” has been arranged at George Washington University at approximately $50 per night per person. The costs of meals and travel to Washington are not included. Visit the Community College Humanities Association’s website for more information and the registration form.