Oregon Council for the Humanities

Teacher Institutes

Program Overview

The Oregon Council for the Humanities has designed its Teacher Institutes to spark teachers' intellectual curiosity and satisfy their ongoing needs for new information, ideas, and academic approaches. Currently, most of the professional development opportunities that exist for teachers are focused on curriculum development, classroom management skills, and guidance for meeting state achievement standards; and, while OCH recognizes the absolute importance and relevance of such information, it strongly believes that teachers simply need more time to be immersed in ideas and active in an intellectual community.

Each year, for the past twelve years, twenty-five Oregon teachers have gathered on the campus of Reed College to explore exciting and relevant topics in the humanities such as "Ethnicity, Race, and National Identity," "Regional Culture in the Pacific Northwest," and "Technology." Over the course of the week, teachers come together with a team of scholars to examine the topics at-hand through a number of perspectives and disciplines including history, literature, ethnic studies, the arts, and geography. Daily activities include lectures, discussions, films, and readings.

Listen to the guest panel from the June 2007 Teacher Institute, Twenty-first Century Citizen: The transformation of American public life, which took place at Reed College in Portland. Three panelists--a human resources officer from the U.S. Navy, a professor of youth/educational ministeries at Multnomah Bible College, and a representative from the political group the Oregon Bus Project--discuss how to successfully engage young people in civic life.

Past Summer Teacher Institutes

Crossroads of Knowledge: Science and the Human Experience: A weeklong institute for Oregon teachers in all science and humanities subject areas; Eastern Oregon University, La Grande; August 6-10, 2007

Twenty-first Century Citizen: the Transformation of American Public Life: A weekend institute for Oregon secondary school teachers; Reed College, Portland; June 29-July 1, 2007

Summer 2008 Teacher Institute

Decoding Class: Money, mobility, and the American dream

Oregon State University, Cascades Campus

Bend, Oregon

July 18-20, 2008

Registration is closed.

Class, or social status, is one of the least discussed but most significant forces at work in American culture today. Class shapes our identities and our institutions in profound ways, is closely tied to success in school, and unites and divides us within our communities and as a nation. What lies behind the terms we use when we talk about class (e.g., blue collar, ghetto, working class, cultured, elite), and why is it so difficult to talk candidly about how class shapes our shared culture?

In a series of articles exploring class in America, the New York Times noted that though the country has "gone a long way toward an appearance of classlessness," class remains a powerful force in our lives. Class markers and boundaries have shifted drastically over the last century, and even inthe last generation, making it a complex and dynamic subject of study.

Decoding Class is a free, weekend institute for Oregon secondary school teachers interested in exploring class in literature, history, and popular culture; social and economic mobility as the basis of the "American Dream"; the role of class in contemporary culture; and the intersections of class with religion, race, and gender.

Room and board are provided and continuing education hours and graduate credit are available.

Spaces are limited and preference is given to full-time Oregon secondary school teachers.

Continuing Education and Graduate Credit

Institute participants earn thirty hours of continuing education credit. Two graduate credits are available through our host institution for a per credit fee.