Professional Development Opportunities: Spring and Summer

Save the Date!  The Fourteenth Annual Indian Education for All Best Practices will be held in Billings May 3-5, 2020. This is one of my favorite conferences--I always learn so much!

If you prefer your learning online, the Western Montana Professional Learning Collaborative is offering two Indian Education For All Online Book Club Courses this semester:

• American Indian Literature (for use in grades K-8)
  ​February 17 - April 20, 2020 ($250 plus $155 for semester credits)
• American Indian Sovereignty (a self-paced course that must be completed by May 15, 2020 ($350 plus $150 for UM Credits).

If you are interested in traveling farther afield, consider applying to attend an NEH workshop, institute or seminar this summer. The NEH "offers tuition-free opportunities for K-12 educators ... to study a variety of humanities topics. Stipends of $1,200-$3,300 help cover expenses for these one- to four-week programs." Deadline to apply is March 1 and the application is competitive and requires a letter of recommendation, so start early!

Here are a few that caught my eye:

• Mesa Verde National Park and Pueblo Indian History
• Becoming US: The Immigrant Experience through Primary Sources
• Voices of the Ancients: Archaeology and Oral Tradition in the American Southwest
• Mapping Nature across the Americas
• Heart Mountain, Wyoming, and the Japanese American Incarceration
• Wide-Open Town: Kansas City in the Jazz Age and Great Depression (nothing to do with Montana history--but it sounds fun!)

There are many other topics--from Shakespeare to the 1970 Kent State shootings. Check out the full list and consider applying!

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History also offers free (including room, board, and a $350 stipend) Teacher Seminars for K-12 Educators who teach at a Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School (it's free to become an affiliate). Applications for these seminars, which include "Native Americans in American History" (led by Colin Calloway!) and "The West and the American Nation" (led by Elliott West!) Excuse the excessive punctuation, but these guys are history rock stars! Learn more here.

Finally, the Montana Historical Society is pleased to announce the availability of the 2020 Dave Walter Research Fellowship.  The Fellowship will be awarded to two Montana residents involved in public history projects focused on exploring local history. The award is intended to help Montanans conduct research on their towns, counties, and regions using resources at the Montana Historical Society. Research can be for any project related to local history, including exhibit development, walking tours, oral history projects, building history or preservation, county or town histories, archaeological research, and class projects. Awards of $1,250 each will be given to two researchers annually.  For additional information and application instructions, please visit https://mhs.mt.gov/research/about/fellowships/walter.

Applications must be sent as one PDF document to mhslibrary@mt.gov no later than March 15, 2020. Announcement of the award will be made in mid-April. Questions should be directed to Molly Kruckenberg, Research Center Manager, at mkruckenberg@mt.gov.