We'd like to invite you to join us for the TAH Symposium:

What Has TAH Wrought? The Impact of Teaching American History Projects on Historians and the Historical Community

This will be an all-day symposium held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians (a co-sponsor of this listserv) on Wednesday, 19 April 2006. More information is available in the Annual Meeting program available at the OAH website: http://www.oah.org. There is a modest $15 fee to cover meeting set-up and facilities rental since we did not want to make OAH registration a requirement although we certainly invite all of you to stay for the OAH meeting as well. :-)

Many of us have presented and attended sessions at history, education, and social studies conferences that discuss what TAH grants are doing. Some sessions have even looked at the impact they are having on teachers. However, a deeper and broader analysis of the impact of these grants on historians and the historical profession has yet to take place and so H-TAH and H-Net in conjunction with the OAH proposed this symposium to jump-start that discussion on a national level.

Historians who have directed TAH programs or otherwise been intimately involved with them will serve as discussion leaders for each of the sessions listed below. As mentioned at the end of the session descriptions, we hope that this symposium will only be the beginning of a long-term discussion among the larger community of those involved in H-TAH programs, including but not limited to to the teachers themselves (both participants and mentors) and the educational community.

If you like, we can begin raising some of the issues we want to discuss in person on 19 April via H-TAH. In the meantime, here is a short description of each discussion session and the discussion leaders:

What Has TAH Wrought? The Impact of Teaching American History Projects on Historians and the Historical Community

Session #1: Critical Evaluation of the Impact of TAH Grants Panel Chair: Dr. Peter Knupfer, Michigan State University Dr. Cary Wintz, Texas Southern University Dr. Robert Rook, Towson State University Dr. Martha Pallante, Youngstown State University Dr. Nikki Mandell, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

The over half a billion dollars allotted to the Teaching American History grant program is an unprecedented infusion of money into history and history education. But the question remains -- what type of impact are these programs being conducted throughout the nation having on the history profession and history education? Furthermore, what will happen after funding ends? Historians who have been active participants in TAH grants will identify critical questions and begin the discussion to answer these questions.

Session #2: Professional Development for Teachers Panel Chair: Dr. Kelly Woestman, Pittsburg (KS) State University Dr. Rich Loosbrock, Adams State College Ms. Lori-Cox Paul, NARA CPR-Kansas City Dr. Gus Seligmann, University of North Texas

Helping teachers become “Novice Expert Historians” is one of the paradigms utilized by some Teaching American History grants. Are TAH grants succeeding in enhancing teachers’ historical thinking skills? Or does curriculum development quickly become the overreaching goal as it does with many other professional development programs? Historians who serve as history content experts and those that serve as history education specialists will begin the discussion to answer these questions.

Session #3: Are TAH Grants Changing the Way Historians Research and Teach? Panel Chair: Dr. Robert Cherny, San Francisco State University Dr. Allida Black, George Washington University Dr. Kelly Schrum, George Mason University Dr. Kurt Leichtle, University of Wisconsin-River Falls

As more historians become more active participants in Teaching American History grants, some are finding that their involvement not only involves teaching but also involves learning more history and/or enhancing their own teaching strategies. Standards at the K-12 level throughout the nation are increasingly leaning toward the inclusion of primary sources. Is this sea of change impacting college and university history classrooms as well? Furthermore, have TAH grants created a more closely-knit community of historians? Historians who have been active participants in TAH grants will identify critical questions and begin the discussion to answer these questions.

Session #4: Wrap-Up (Where Do We Go From Here?) Panel Co-Chairs: Dr. Peter Knupfer and Dr. Kelly Woestman Dr. Maris Vinovskis, University of Michigan

This wrap-up session will focus on questions presented in earlier symposium discussions and then turn to where do we go from here. What future do we see for Teaching American History grant programs? How should we continue the discussion started today among historians and with the larger TAH community that includes education professionals, mentor teachers, and participating teachers?