Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Thirty social studies teachers from across the state will be the first to take part in a new Social Studies Teachers' Summer Institute at Mississippi State.
Participants will be selected on a first-come basis for the June 19-24 workshop designed to assist history and social studies educators in teaching the relevancy of the American Civil War, whose 150th anniversary observance begins this year.
April 15 is the deadline for applications, which may be completed at http://library.msstate.edu/content/templates/usgrant/Summer Institute Brochure.pdf.
Held in Mitchell Memorial Library, the institute is sponsored by the National Park Service's Vicksburg and Shiloh national military parks, along with MSU Libraries and campus-based Ulysses S. Grant Association.
The six-day program includes lectures by Civil War scholars, along with visits to battlefields in Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg.
On-campus housing, some meals and all transportation to off-campus locations also are being provided through support from the NPS's Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative and MSU Libraries.
"Teachers are always working hard to present the best information possible to their students, and this institute will give those who teach social studies the opportunity to interact with leading historians of the Civil War and improve their effectiveness in the classroom," said John F. Marszalek, Grant Association executive director and retired MSU faculty member.
Three continuing education unit credits are available for $20.
"It is going to be an exciting week, which will affect history learning in the state for a long time," added Marszalek, a nationally recognized Civil War scholar.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.