Richest Hills: Mining in the Far West and Other Summer PD from the NEH

It's cold outside (-9 this morning in Helena)--so what better time to start thinking about summer!

Next July, the Montana Historical Society is once again offering an NEH  Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers workshop: “The Richest Hills: Mining in the Far West, 1862-1920.”

Teachers (scholars, in NEH parlance) will travel to Montana  from across the country to spend a week visiting Bannack, Virginia City, Butte, Anaconda, and Helena to learn about  the mining West and ways to better teach with historic places and primary sources.  Instruction and materials are free and NEH provides a $1,200 stipend to help pay travel expenses, including hotel rooms, meals during the week, and travel to and from Helena. 

“The Richest Hills” offered an amazing week of learning last time around (you can read what past scholars have said about the experience here and see some of the lesson plans they created here). Each time we offer the workshop we fine tune it, and we expect that 2015 will be the best year yet. 

We encourage applications from Montana teachers—but you should know that the application process is very competitive (we had 250 applicants for 80 slots last time). Additionally, NEH requires that equal access be given to applicants coming from out of state and encourages projects to consider geographic diversity as part of their selection process. The good news is that there are LOTS of really cool, free offerings this summer in addition to “The Richest Hills.”

Through various NEH summer programs for teachers, you can spend a week in Atlanta studying the Civil Rights movement or in New York City studying the Gilded Age. There are longer programs too: imagine spending five weeks in Madrid, Spain, learning about Spanish art and literature (stipends are higher for longer programs to help cover costs.) Programs that include Indian Education for All content include

• From Mesa Verde to Santa Fe: Pueblo Identity in the Southwest (a three-week course in Cortez, CO)
• Following in Ancient Footsteps: The Hopewell in Ohio (Columbus, Ohio)
• Literatures of Indigenous Peoples (a three-week course in Missoula)
• Mesoamerican Cultures and Their Histories: Focus on Oaxaca (a four-week course in Oaxaca, Mexico)
• Native Americans of New England: A Historical Overview (a three-week course in Amherst, MA)

Please help us spread the word about “The Richest Hills” and take a look at all the other NEH workshops available. 

Applications are due March 2, 2015.

A full list of summer 2015 courses is available here.