Yale University’s Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER) will sponsor several institutes during July 2010. The PIER institutes are intensive, interdisciplinary programs which include lectures and seminars by leading scholars and experts from Yale and other institutions, films, workshops, field trips and site visits, hands-on cultural activities, teaching resource and strategy sessions, and sessions on technological resources for teaching about different areas of the world. Information can be found online at www.yale.edu/macmillan/pier/ institutes.htm.
Ecuador: A Land of Diversity -- July 6-9, 2010 (at Yale) / July 11-22, 2010 (Ecuador)
How should educators conceive of and teach about Ecuador? With the focus of providing a general overview of the nation, this institute will discuss important current events, and explore Ecuadorian geography, politics, history, and economics. Experts on Ecuador will share their expertise during this dynamic, intensive, interdisciplinary week. Apart from learning about the amazing natural diversity found in this nation we will also learn about its cultural richness. Educators in the Northeast will find this four-day institute useful because of the growing number of migrants from Ecuador to the U.S., especially to New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Educators and members of the media and business communities are welcome to register for this institute to improve their understanding of Ecuador and Ecuadorian communities in the United States. The New Haven portion of this institute will be complemented by an optional field study (July 11-22), “The Indigenous Peoples and Cultures of Ecuador,” and will include orientation tours, site visits to museums, meetings with various cultural groups, and lectures. The group will be based in Quito, but will also travel to various locations in the Andean highlands. Applicants who apply for and complete the New Haven portion of the institute will be given preferential admission. The registration fee for the New Haven program is $150, and includes all texts, materials, and more. Sponsored by the Council on Latin American & Iberian Studies, the MacMillan Center, and the U.S. Department of Education through a Title VI National Resource Center grant, this institute is also co-sponsored by the Connecticut Geographic Alliance. Please contact Elena Serapiglia, PIER Director, for more information at 203-432-5605 or elena.serapiglia@yale.edu.
The Teaching of Africa -- July 6-16, 2010
Teaching about Africa is a challenge in the classroom today. Educators and other professionals face a new and often daunting task of knowing how to learn or teach about Africa. If you are an educator, curriculum specialist, librarian, or a business or media professional, “The Teaching of Africa” will transform your perspective and equip you with ideas and practical approaches to the teaching and understanding of Africa. This intensive introductory course in African Studies is designed to help educators learn about Africa in a way that they can then teach confidently about its peoples, civilizations, and cultures. The course is also developed to enable participants to identify and access unique resources about the continent. The program includes several hands-on cultural and artistic projects complemented by a full-day field trip to cultural sites in New York City. Participants are required to attend four Saturday follow-up sessions during the fall and spring to transform the summer institute content into viable classroom materials. The registration fee for the program is $350, and includes all texts, materials, and more. This institute is sponsored by the Council on African Studies, the MacMillan Center, and the U.S. Department of Education through a Title VI National Resource Center grant and co-sponsored by the Connecticut Geographic Alliance. Please contact Maxwell Amoh, PIER Director, for more information at 203-432-3438 or maxwell.amoh@yale.edu.
Immigration, Ethnicity, and Religion in Europe— July 6-12, 2010 (Yale) / July 13-30, 2010 (Germany & UK)
The 29th annual Yale-Hopkins Summer Seminar (YHSS ’10) will be held at Yale and in Germany and the UK and will take as its theme “Immigration, Ethnicity, and Religion in Europe.” An intensive six days of seminars and workshops in New Haven (July 6-12) will be followed by a two-week (July 13-30) tour of London and Berlin. Participants may attend either or both parts of this unique YHSS. All three weeks will examine the political, cultural, economic, and social consequences of immigration in an increasingly secular Europe that is struggling to both maintain its various national identities and to become a more unified economic and cultural space. Comparisons with immigration in America will be enlightening. The registration fee for the one-week New Haven program is $200, and includes all texts and materials. The European tour, including tuition and airfare, will cost about $4,000. The institute is sponsored by the Council on European Studies, the MacMillan Center, and the U.S. Department of Education through a Title VI National Resource Center grant and co-sponsored by the Connecticut Geographic Alliance. Please contact Brian Carter, PIER Director, for more information at 203-432-3424; brian.carter@yale.edu.
Ethnicity and Social Change in Silk Road Regions of Western China — July 6-9, 2010 (Yale) / July 10-30 (China)
When it comes to ethnic relations, China is a paragon of contradictions that have existed for millennia. The dramatic events in Tibet and Xinjiang since 2008 have highlighted deep-rooted ethnic tensions and challenges to China’s ethnic policies. This intensive four-day Institute explores both the complex history of the Silk Road regions of Western China and the interactions of various ethnic groups with the Han Chinese, as well as the current social, political, economic, and environmental conditions in Western China. It is designed to help college and K-12 faculty to develop enlightening curricula, to transform other professionals’ perspectives about China, and to enable participants to identify and access unique resources about China. The program also provides an extensive packet of resource and teaching materials, as well as the opportunity to meet scholars from a wide range of disciplines who concentrate on China and Silk Road Studies. The New Haven program (July 6-9) will be followed by an optional three-week field study (July 10-30) in Western China (Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan Provinces). The registration fee for the New Haven Program is $150, and includes all texts and materials. The optional three-week field study for educators in Western China will be approximately $2,500 per person. The institute is sponsored by the Council on East Asian Studies, the MacMillan Center, and the U.S. Department of Education through a Title VI National Resource Center grant and co-sponsored by the Connecticut Geographic Alliance. Please contact Abbey Newman, Executive Director, Council on East Asian Studies, for more information at 203-432-9382 or abbey.newman@yale.edu.
NCSS-PIER Conference - Innovative Approaches to Teaching World History — July 14-16, 2010
Participants in this intensive three-day workshop will discuss and experience innovative approaches to both the content and the pedagogy of the teaching of world history. This is the second world history workshop co-sponsored by the National Council for the Social Studies and the Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER) of the MacMillan Center at Yale University. Faculty from Yale and other universities and master high school and middle school teachers of world history will discuss the most recent research information and teaching techniques relating to the teaching of world history and world cultures at both high school and middle school levels. Michael Yell, past-president of NCSS, will present incredibly imaginative social studies teaching strategies that are effective in all history and social studies classes. The registration fee for the three-day conference is $350, and includes tuition, materials, breakfast, and coffee during the day. For lunch, there are numerous excellent, fast, and inexpensive canteen trucks near Luce Hall, specializing in international foods; and for dinner, participants are encouraged to sample one or more of the numerous international restaurants in New Haven. This workshop is sponsored by PIER, the MacMillan Center, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the U.S. Department of Education through Title VI National Resource Center grants. Please contact Stephen Armstrong, Conference Co-Chair, West Hartford Public Schools, for more information at 860-878-1941 or Steph17895@aol.com OR Maxwell Amoh, Conference Co-Chair, Yale University at 203-432-3438 or maxwell.amoh@yale.edu.
