K-12 Educators Across the Country May Apply for Programs
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02/08/2021
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. – The city of Lowell’s significance in U.S. history will be the focus of two new workshops for K-12 teachers, giving them the tools they need to develop engaging lesson plans on the American Industrial Revolution for their students.
Open to educators across the country, the week-long professional development sessions will be held virtually this summer by the Tsongas Industrial History Center as part of the Landmarks of American History and Culture program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
A partnership of UMass Lowell’s College of Education and Lowell National Historical Park, the Tsongas Industrial History Center provides programs for educators and schoolchildren that illustrate Lowell’s place in the country’s industrial past, present and future.
Both summer workshops are open to K-12 teachers in all subject areas. Educators may choose between two weeks to attend either program and will receive a $1,300 stipend for their participation. Teachers may apply for both programs but may only attend one, in accordance with NEH guidelines. The application deadline is Monday, March 1.
The workshops are:
- “Labor and Landscape: Lowell as 19th-Century Crucible,” which examines labor and meaning of landscape for Native Americans, enslaved people, New England farm families and workers in Lowell’s mills – from “mill girls” to immigrants. The workshop explores the origins of American environmental concern, social protest and regulatory policy in the reaction to the disruption and pollution associated with textile and other factories. The workshop will be offered the weeks of June 27 and July 11.
- “Social Movements and Reform in Industrializing America: The Lowell Experience,” which offers virtual lectures and tours, discussion and a dramatic performance, as well as primary, secondary and literary sources to provide participants content knowledge and new pedagogical approaches. Lowell, Old Sturbridge Village and Walden Pond are used as “classrooms” to examine changes in work, society and culture between 1820 and 1860, changes that led to demands for labor reform, women’s rights and abolition of slavery. The workshop will be offered the weeks of July 25 and Aug. 1.
“Both workshops will address teachers’ content needs and help them master standard topics and themes in a fresh way. Our presenters are skilled at modeling best practices for teaching with archival resources, material artifacts and historic places,” said Tsongas Industrial History Center Director Sheila Kirschbaum. “Past participants have said these programs have boosted their enthusiasm and invigorated their teaching.”
Up to 36 educators may participate in either week-long workshop. All sessions are designed to permit lively interactions and investigations – including at-home, hands-on activities – to help educators bolster their classroom teaching using Lowell as a case study.
More application information is available at www.uml.edu/tsongas/NEH.
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.
About the Tsongas Industrial History Center
The Tsongas Industrial History Center is an education partnership of the University of Massachusetts Lowell College of Education and the National Park Service at Lowell National Historical Park. The center encourages the teaching of industrial history in an experiential way through virtual, on-site and in-school educational programs for more than 40,000 students and teachers annually and through teacher professional development programs. www.uml.edu/tsongas
About Lowell National Historical Park
The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage. Lowell National Historical Park tells the story of America’s first planned industrial city and the Industrial Revolution. The Park includes historic cotton textile mills, 5.6 miles of canals, operating gatehouses, and worker housing. For more information on public programs, call 978-970-5000, 978-970-5002 (TTY), or visit the website at www.nps.gov/lowe.
About UMass Lowell
UMass Lowell is a national research university offering its more than 18,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu