West Coast Immigration
2026-08-05 17:00 - 2026-08-07 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Angel Island, CA, CA, United States
This seminar will focus on immigration to the West Coast of the United States from the mid-to-late 1800s to the present day. Using a mixture of primary source documents, memoirs, and short fiction, we will study topics such as Chinese immigration and exclusion, Japanese immigration and internment during World War II, refugees from Southeast Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, and Mexican-American immigration throughout the 20th century.

Historic Site: Angel Island Immigration Station
Hotel: The Lodge at Tiburon
This seminar is part of our CA Initiative!

Gather with a small group of teachers from around the country for three days immersed in discussion and exploration of a single topic in American history. Multi-Day Seminars are a free opportunity for teachers hosted near an important historical site. Teachers will prepare ahead of time for seminars by reading selected historical documents in the provided course packet. Once the seminar begins, the discussion leader guides a peer-to-peer, text-based conversation among all participants. Meals, materials, single-occupancy rooms, and historical site visits are 100% covered by Teaching American History. At the end of each course, every teacher receives a letter of participation for fifteen contact hours of continuing education and a stipend of $600 to help defray travel costs.

Modern Social Movements
2026-08-06 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Oregonia, OH, Oregonia, OH, 45054, United States
Beginning with the upheavals of the 1960s, the United States saw a diverse set of groups pushing for social change. These included African Americans, Native Americans, women, and gays and lesbians. This seminar will focus on the legacy of the 1960s, the intersection of personal behavior with political movements and battles won and lost by various groups. Please join us for a lively discussion of the primary sources that tell the story of these movements, the players and the key events.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Westward Expansion
2026-08-12 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Chicago) | Menominee, MI, Menominee, MI, United States
This seminar will focus on America’s westward expansion and its “Manifest Destiny” to expand from sea to shining sea. This seminar will consider the purposes for westward expansion, Jackson’s Indian Removal Policy and westward expansion’s impact on slavery.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Nationalism and Imperialism in the Gilded Age
2026-08-13 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Chicago) | Menominee, MI, Menominee, MI, United States
Great fortunes were made in the late 19th Century and with this growth of industrialism came a desire to expand markets. How did nationalism inform the pro-imperialist arguments of Theodore Roosevelt? Were these arguments consistent with American principles? What were the arguments against imperialism and protectionism? This seminar will analyze these questions and consider the policies of Theodore Roosevelt.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

The Constitution and Limited Government
2026-08-13 08:30 - 14:45 (America/New_York) | Buffalo, NY, NY, 14216, United States
This seminar will examine how the Constitution seeks to create a limited government, and how that government is supposed to function within defined restraints. The complexity of defining such constraints will be a special focus of the readings and discussions, with an emphasis on the ideas described in specific documents of the Founding, and how ideas put into action through the government those documents instituted.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. All attendees will receive a Letter of Attendance at the end of the seminar.

The American Founding
2026-08-21 17:00 - 2026-08-23 13:00 (America/New_York) | Valley Forge, PA, PA, United States
This seminar offers an overview of the principles of the American Founding and the documents that embody them, especially the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. These principles will be illuminated through a close study of the events of the American Revolution and the struggle over ratification of the Constitution.

Historic Site: Valley Forge National Historic Park
Hotel: The Alloy King of Prussia-a Doubletree by Hilton

Gather with a small group of teachers from around the country for three days immersed in discussion and exploration of a single topic in American history. Multi-Day Seminars are a free opportunity for teachers hosted near an important historical site. Teachers will prepare ahead of time for seminars by reading selected historical documents in the provided course packet. Once the seminar begins, the discussion leader guides a peer-to-peer, text-based conversation among all participants. Meals, materials, single-occupancy rooms, and historical site visits are 100% covered by Teaching American History. At the end of each course, every teacher receives a letter of participation for fifteen contact hours of continuing education and a stipend of $600 to help defray travel costs.

Three Dead Guys Walk into a Bar: Franklin, Twain, Rogers and the Heritage of American Political Humor
2026-08-28 17:00 - 2026-08-30 13:00 (America/New_York) | Hartford, CT
This seminar explores how three iconic figures in American history—Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, and Will Rogers—utilized wit, satire, and humor to navigate and critique pivotal eras of political and social change. Participants will examine Franklin’s pioneering political cartoons and essays targeting tyranny and corruption in the Revolutionary era, Twain’s incisive commentary on Frontier life and the growth of America’s industrial economy, and Rogers’s folksy humorous take on Congress, presidents, and economic policies during the Roaring Twenties and Great Depression. Through a survey of American political humor across a number of historical periods, the seminar will examine how satire and wit served as powerful tools for political expression, civic engagement, and social critique, shaping American attitudes toward power, democracy, and public life.

Historic Site: Mark Twain House & Museum
Hotel: Hartford Marriott Downtown

Gather with a small group of teachers from around the country for three days immersed in discussion and exploration of a single topic in American history. Multi-Day Seminars are a free opportunity for teachers hosted near an important historical site. Teachers will prepare ahead of time for seminars by reading selected historical documents in the provided course packet. Once the seminar begins, the discussion leader guides a peer-to-peer, text-based conversation among all participants. Meals, materials, single-occupancy rooms, and historical site visits are 100% covered by Teaching American History. At the end of each course, every teacher receives a letter of participation for fifteen contact hours of continuing education and a stipend of $600 to help defray travel costs.

Supreme Court Cases that Changed America
2026-09-01 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Charlestown, IN, Charlestown, IN, United States
While many Supreme Court cases have shaped American policies and history, this seminar explores cases that focus on the Constitution and Federalism, the Constitution and the Commerce Clause and Civil Rights Cases.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Civil Rights in America
2026-09-18 08:30 - 14:30 (America/Chicago) | Jefferson City, MO, Jefferson City, MO, 65101, United States
The Civil Rights Movement in America has endured a difficult and tumultuous path. The Emancipation Proclamation ended the Institution of slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment should have guaranteed freedoms, equality and civil rights for all men; however, it would take many generations of hardships and court cases for that reality to be achieved. This seminar addresses the complicated road endured by African Americans.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with Professor Krugler facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

The First Three Presidents
2026-09-19 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Frankfort, KY, Frankfort, KY, 40601, United States
The presidencies of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson established precedents and dealt with issues of executive power. This seminar will examine documents from the Washington, Adams and Jefferson administrations including topics like the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Louisiana Purchase.
This program will be conducted as a Socratic discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

The Cold War in the 1950s
2026-09-30 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Chicago) | Wheaton, IL, Wheaton, IL, United States
The rise of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union is a story that has often been told. This seminar will focus on Truman and Eisenhower’s policies on postwar anti-communism, containment, nuclear buildup, The Korean War, issues in Vietnam, and the Soviet Union. Join us at the table for an intriguing conversation.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Black Wall Street: African American Entrepreneurship
2026-10-03 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | San Anselmo, CA, San Anselmo, CA, United States
Following the Civil War, African American businessmen and women began to invest, build, and thrive despite white controlled financial and commercial networks. But what happened in the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma? Why will it become a target of racial massacre in 1921? Using primary documents we will read the stories of these entrepreneurs.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Supreme Court Cases that Changed America
2026-10-09 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Canton, OH, Canton, OH, United States
While many Supreme Court cases have shaped American policies and history, this seminar explores cases that focus on the Constitution and Federalism, the Constitution and the Commerce Clause and Civil Rights Cases.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. All attendees will receive a Letter of Attendance at the end of the seminar.

Mr. Madison’s War - 1812
2026-10-10 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Frankfort, KY, Frankfort, KY, 40601, United States
The War of 1812 represented the first instance that the young republic declared war on another nation. This seminar will explore the causes and events that led to the war, President James Madison’s policies and the aftermath of this Second American Revolution.
This program will be conducted as a Socratic discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Westward Expansion
2026-10-29 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Charlotte, MI, 1790 Packard Highway, Charlotte, MI, United States
This seminar will focus on America’s westward expansion and its “Manifest Destiny” to expand from sea to shining sea. This seminar will consider the purposes for westward expansion, Jackson’s Indian Removal Policy and westward expansion’s impact on slavery.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. All attendees will receive a Letter of Attendance at the end of the seminar.

African Americans: Culture, Art, and Politics
2026-10-29 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Charlotte, MI, 1790 Packard Highway, Charlotte, MI, United States
This seminar explores major themes in the African American tradition by considering speeches, essays, and literature at several key inflection points across history. Participants will reflect upon different forms of literary and political expression in order to learn how African Americans navigated the challenges posed by slavery, emancipation, modernity and civil rights. Throughout, the readings will consider the role that gender plays in the evolution of African American identity.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. All attendees will receive a Letter of Attendance at the end of the seminar.

America at 250: The Legacy of the Declaration of Independence
2026-11-07 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Kokomo, IN, 2501 S. Berkely Rd, Kokomo, IN, 46902, United States
Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. both argued that the proper foundation for civic education is the belief that America has a moral essence derived from the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and that America’s history and purpose—its past, present, and future—is the story of our struggle to live up to those principles. In this seminar, we will read three documents–the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and the “I Have a Dream” Speech”– that demonstrate that an American is not just a citizen or an abstract concept, but a certain kind of human being, a person whose mind and heart have been profoundly shaped by the principles contained in the Declaration, especially the truth of the proposition that all men are created equal. That understanding of an American still resonates with teachers, students, and citizens today, 250 years after Thomas Jefferson first wrote the words that made America: “We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal.”
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

The Constitutional Convention
2026-11-13 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Chicago) | Enid, OK, Enid, OK, United States
This seminar offers an overview of the debates at the Constitutional Convention. We will examine the purposes of the American political order, the defects of the Articles of Confederation, the debates over the reform of the Confederation government and squaring the institution of slavery. In our study, we will attempt to understand the interests and principles that divided the members of the Convention and how they arrived at a compromise that defined the Constitution of 1787.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with Professor Estes facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

African American Women: Gender & Equality
2027-02-06 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Vancouver) | San Anselmo, CA, San Anselmo, CA, United States
This seminar will examine the lives of African American women from Reconstruction through the latter twentieth century. Using primary source materials from leading African American female intellectuals, activists, and organizations, we will concentrate on African American women’s experiences in politics, the workplace, race and social movements, and on historical debates about men and women’s private and public roles in society. We will explore the diverse ways that African American women have engaged with questions on human and gender equality, equity, and “rights” broadly defined. Some topics covered may include Reconstruction and Jim Crow, Suffrage, Domestic labor movements, religion and civic organizing, the civil rights movement, and the U.S. Women’s Movement.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Lincoln and Shakespeare
2027-02-19 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Chicago) | Enid, OK, Enid, OK, United States
From a young age Abraham Lincoln was a voracious reader, especially of the writings of William Shakespeare. He was known to carry a worn-out pocket-sized copy of Macbeth while law circuit riding and later campaigning. Why was Lincoln so interested in Macbeth, a play about tyranny? Join us as we consider Shakespeare passages, writings of Lincoln, and other documents to see what they can teach us about the threat tyranny poses to selfgovernment.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with Professor Tucker facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Women in American History
2027-03-04 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Charlestown, IN, Charlestown, IN, United States
Women’s political, social, and economic status has undergone several transformations in American history. This seminar will explore readings and documents in those stages: Women of Reform and Revolution, Women in the Progressive Era and Voting Booths and Is Suffrage Enough – the Lasting Impact.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.
