Join us this summer for the best professional development TAH offers! We still have room in some graduate classes—both online and on campus.

Our summer experience on campus can’t be beat. With each class lasting one week and with teachers coming from all over the country, it’s a bit like a summer camp for social studies teachers!

Fans of game-based learning or historical simulations will have two options during the first week of on-campus classes, as Progressive Era and Indian Assimilation, Resistance, and Removal are both using a Reacting to the Past game alongside our more standard method of seminar discussions.

Our online classes meet more frequently in the summer than during the school year, and we have some great options for teachers looking to build their expertise and teach dual enrollment classes.

If you’re interested in giving us a try, email Charles Martindell at [email protected] or click here to learn more!

On Campus Classes

505: The Progressive Era (June 23 – 28)
The transition to an industrial economy posed many problems for the United States. This course examines those problems and the responses to them that came to be known as progressivism. The course includes the study of World War I as a manifestation of progressive principles. The course emphasizes the political thought of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and their political expression of progressive principles.
Instructor: John Moser (Ashland University)
Course Materials: Syllabus, Course Packet, Game Book

610: American Foreign Policy (June 23 – 28)
Students examine events and issues in the foreign policy of the American republic. Topics include the major schools of thought and approaches, the connection between domestic and foreign politics, and the connection between the principles of the American regime and its foreign policy.
Instructor: Christopher Burkett (Ashland University)
Course Materials: Syllabus and Course Pack

660: Indian Assimilation, Resistance, and Removal (June 23 – 28)
During the first decades of the nineteenth century, the tribes of what is today the southeastern United States took steps toward assimilation and accommodation of American culture, becoming known as the Five Civilized Tribes. During the same period, pressure mounted on them to remove to the trans-Mississippi West. Events culminated in the 1830s with open conflict and the forced removal often called “The Trail of Tears.” Often these events are portrayed as inevitable and depicted in simplistic terms. This class will help students understand the complexities and nuances of a pivotal time in American history.
Instructor: Jace Weaver (University of Georgia)
Course Materials: Syllabus and Course Pack

602: European Discovery and Settlement (June 30 – July 5)
An examination of the motives behind and the consequences of the expansion of European power beginning in the sixteenth century. The course focuses on the European settlement of North America and the interactions between Europeans and indigenous peoples.
Instructor: David Tucker (Ashbrook Center at Ashland University) and Paul Otto (George Fox University)
Course Materials: Syllabus and Course Pack

621: Race and Equality in America (June 30 – July 5)This course explores the history of black Americans as they strove to secure their dignity as human beings, and rights as American citizens, in the face of racial prejudice. Students will examine the writings of leading black intellectuals and activists about human equality, slavery, self-government, the rule of law, emancipation, colonization, and citizenship. The course will also review laws, constitutional amendments, court cases, and social criticism addressing civil and political rights in America.
Instructor: Charissa Threat (Chapman University)
Course Materials: Syllabus and Course Pack

503: Sectionalism and Civil War (July 7 – July 12)
A study of the sectional conflict beginning with the nullification crisis. The course will not only examine the political, social and economic developments in the period leading to the civil war, but will emphasize the political thought of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, and John C. Calhoun.
Instructors: Eric C. Sands (Berry College) and Robert Colby (University of Mississippi)
Course Materials: Syllabus and Course Pack

501: The American Revolution (July 14 – July 19)
This course focuses on three topics: political developments in North America and the British empire and the arguments for and against independence, culminating in the Declaration of Independence; the Revolutionary War as a military, social and cultural event in the development of the American nation and state; and the United States under the Articles of Confederation.
Instructor: Adam Seagrave (Arizona State University)
Course Materials: Syllabus and Course Pack

507: Lincoln (July 14 – July 19)
This course provides an in-depth study of Abraham Lincoln’s political thought and action. Students will study Lincoln’s most important speeches, as well as study various aspects of his political leadership, including his role as the leader of the Republican party and as commander in chief. The course will also provide opportunities for students to analyze Lincoln’s rhetoric and political argumentation.
Instructor: Joseph R. Fornieri (Rochester Institute of Technology)
Course Materials: Syllabus and Course Pack

603: Colonial America (July 14 – July 19)
This course focuses on the development of an indigenous political culture in the British colonies. It pays special attention to the development of representative political institutions and how these emerged through the confrontation between colonists and King and proprietors. The course also considers imperial politics through a study of the Albany Plan of Union.
Instructor: Robert M.S. McDonald (United States Military Academy)
Course Materials: Syllabus and Course Pack

Online Classes

507: Lincoln (June 3 – 27)
This course provides an in-depth study of Abraham Lincoln’s political thought and action. Students will study Lincoln’s most important speeches, as well as study various aspects of his political leadership, including his role as the leader of the Republican party and as commander in chief. The course will also provide opportunities for students to analyze Lincoln’s rhetoric and political argumentation.
Instructor: Peter C. Myers (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
Schedule: Mondays & Wednesdays, 6:15 pm to 9:30 pm ET
Course Materials: Syllabus and Course Packet

633: The American Presidency II – Johnson to the Present (June 3 – 27)
This course is an examination of the political and constitutional development of the office of president from Reconstruction to the present. It focuses on how changing conceptions of the presidency have shaped American political life in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially as America has become a global power.
Instructor: Adam Carrington (Hillsdale College)
Schedule: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:15 pm to 11:30 pm ET
Course Materials:Syllabus and Course Packet

506: The Rise of Modern America, 1914-1945 (June 17 – 27)
With the exception of the Civil War era, it is difficult to find another thirty-year period in U.S. history during which the nation underwent such dramatic change. In 1914 the United States was no more than a regional power, with a primarily rural demography and a relatively unobtrusive federal government. Thanks to the experience of two world wars, a major cultural conflict (the 1920s), and a disastrous economic crisis the country was transformed into the global economic and military power that it remains to this day. This course will examine the cultural, economic, military, and diplomatic events and trends of the period 1914-1945.
Instructor: David F. Krugler (University of Wisconsin-Platteville)
Schedule:  Monday through Thursday, 6:15 pm to 9:30 pm ET 
Course Materials: Syllabus & Course Packet

502: The American Founding (July 29 – August 8)
This course is an intensive study of the constitutional convention, the struggle over ratification of the Constitution, and the creation of the Bill of Rights. It will include a close examination of Federalist and Antifederalist writings.
Instructor: Jason W. Stevens (Ashland University)
Schedule: Monday through Thursday, 6:15 pm to 9:30 pm ET 

Learn more about what makes us the best graduate program for social studies teachers.