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 Teachers will prepare ahead of time for seminars by reading selected historical documents in the provided course packet.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, double-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 to cover travel costs.

The American west was both an alluring vision and a place of intense conflict. America was to be a new order of the ages; the west was where Americans would build it. As Americans streamed west, however, the same age-old conflicts over land, religion and ways of life recurred. Americans fought native Americans and among themselves over how best to live on the land and develop and protect its resources. The seminar will examine early visions of the west, the conflicts that arose there during the nineteenth century, and the rise of the conservation and environmental movements in the twentieth century. Along with primary documents, seminar participants will examine visual images, some from the nineteenth century Hudson River school of landscape painting, to explore the issues the seminar addresses.

Please note: The Multi Day Application period is April 9-30, 2024