Idaho Council for History Education Announces Conference: Main Currents of the 20th Century

We've received news from the National Council for History Education (NCHE) that the Idaho Council for History Education is presenting a conference this autumn.

'Main Currents of the 20th Century' is scheduled for October 6-7, 2011 at historic Boise High School in Idaho. Proposals are due by May 27, 2011. All proposals will be sent notification of status by June 6, 2011. Email Russ Heller with questions or requests for extensions at russ.heller@boiseschools.org.

Invited keynote and plenary session speakers include Paul Boyer, Jennifer Burns, Cathy Gorn, James W. Loewen, Fredrik Logevall, Lisa McGirr, Thomas Alan Schwartz, Sam Wineburg, Shelton Woods, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Jack Rakove.

In addition to a dedicated TAH strand, our program will include topics and sessions on United States history, world history, Idaho/regional history, politics, law, economics, geography, and effective teaching strategies in history and the social sciences.

This Call for Proposals is directed to those who wish to present content and successful instructional strategies in history and the social sciences. Conference planners especially welcome TAH project presentations and session topics that address developments, events, individuals, decisions, or consequences that bear significant relationship to the conference theme. Proposals may include lectures, panels, roundtables, or workshops. Each proposal will be judged on its merits and contribution to a balanced program.

Conference planners offer the following theme-related topics as illustrative only: Modernism; modern art and architecture; Postmodernism; the Great War; mass mobilization, mass consumerism, and marketing; World War II; mass politics and culture/counterculture; totalitarianism and other "isms"; the Jazz Age; the Cold War; the Great Depression; the American Century; Civil Rights; Progressivism; liberalism and conservatism in the 20th century; competing economic systems and theories; constitutional benchmarks; the Holocaust; the three-world order; the rise and collapse of the Soviet Union; European Union; anti-colonialism and decolonization; making a Chinese nation; questions of race; lives of women; international cartels; the nuclear age; the space race; migrations; transportation revolutions; the Information Age; globalization; remapping the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe; key figures/biographical sketches in the 20th century; nationalism, politics and economics in Latin America; and bridging the 19th - 20th and 20th - 21st centuries.

ICHE encourages presentations on: the use of archives, artifacts, literature, and other arts to inform historical study; local/regional history; academic applications of technology; instruction in document/source analysis; and instruction that demonstrates the integrative nature of historical studies.

Proposal Guidelines Proposals for fifty-minute, concurrent sessions must include:

• Name, title, and institutional affiliation (please be sure to include the names of all team members for group presentations

• Contact information, including ground and email addresses as well as phone numbers (please include summer contact information -facilitators may need to contact presenters and request further information)

• Session title and 50-100-word abstract of the presentation

• Intended audience (e.g., secondary or elementary teachers, general)

• A-V equipment needs (in detail) Presenters should provide their own laptops, or bring flash drives with needed material (Apple users must bring their own laptops). ICHE can assist with LCD projectors, screens, and other equipment, provided we have timely notice. Internet access in breakout sessions is by ethernet cable only; presenters in the auditorium will have wireless access.

• Brief biographical notes to be used by ICHE for introducing the presenter(s) and for inclusion in the conference program (one paragraph, please; curricula vitae are welcome but not required)

• Schedule preference (e.g., Thursday am, Friday pm, requests for two time blocks, etc.). Planners will do their best to accommodate requests but cannot guarantee specific placements on our conference schedule.

Speakers should be prepared to distribute copies of their remarks/lessons to conference attendees. Electronic copies should be made available to ICHE. Individual teachers, panels and collaborative teams of teachers, Teaching American History grant (TAH) project directors, National Council for History Education state councils, historians, and social science professionals are encouraged to submit proposals. Presenters intending to promote commercial materials, including textbooks and supplemental resources, must indicate this in the proposal.

The Conference Planning Committee especially invites session proposals that deal with history instruction in elementary and secondary schools and sessions that address district, state, or national history/social sciences standards. All presenters must pre-register for the conference.

Address proposals to:

Idaho Council for History Education c/o Linda Barker
Boise Schools District Services Center
8169 West Victory RoadBoise, Idaho 83709

Email proposals to linda.barker@boiseschools.org (Word attachments preferred) or fax proposals to Attention: Linda Barker (208) 854-4012.

Proposals are due May 27, 2011. All proposals will be sent notification of status by June 6, 2011.