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News Release — June 8, 2007

Ransom Center, Region XIII Team Up For Teaching Workshops

The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin and Region XIII Education Service Center announce a series of four workshops for teachers interested in learning more about the United States in the 1920s.

The workshops take place Monday, July 23, and Tuesday, July 24, at the Ransom Center. The workshops are presented in conjunction with the Ransom Center's exhibition "The American Twenties," and a web-based K-12 teacher resource, "Teaching the American Twenties," available at hrc.utexas.edu/teachingthetwenties.

Each three-hour workshop features a virtual tour of pertinent materials on the web site, a historian to provide content background and context of the topic and a walkthrough of at least one lesson plan per session. Teachers will receive all materials needed to implement the lesson in their classrooms.

Teachers who sign up for one or more of the sessions can earn up to 12 hours of staff development credit. Registration for the sessions will be through the Region XIII Ecampus system. There is a limit of 30 attendees for each session, and sessions are open to all teachers.

The session schedule is as follows:

Monday, July 23

"Small Town, Big City"   9 a.m.-noon
Changing concepts of modern city life created cultural stereotypes, dramatic conflicts and the evolution of an urban state and nation.
Speaker: Judge Ken Anderson, 277th District Court, Williamson County.

"Big Debates: Women's Rights"   1-4 p.m.
The aftermath of World War I, conflict between capital and labor and Prohibition found uneasy or perhaps compromised resolutions as the 1920s began, tempering the era. The Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the vote, was one of the key events of the decade.
Speaker: Dr. Carolyn Eastman, History Professor at The University of Texas at Austin.

Tuesday, July 24

"Defining American Culture: The Harlem Renaissance"   9 a.m.-noon
During the 1920s, Americans found new ways to define "American." One of the richest new definitions was found in the Harlem Renaissance.
Speaker: Dr. Danielle Brune Sigler, American Studies Scholar at the Harry Ransom Center.

"Americans Encounter the Modern: Architecture and Art"   1- 4 p.m.
Americans developed their own styles of music, literature, art and photography by embracing new forms or preserving various regional heritages, and in response to change in the culture itself.
Speaker: Dr. Kate Holliday, Assistant Professor of Art History at Southwestern University.

The "Teaching the American 20s" project was made possible with funding from the university's UTOPIA program, an initiative designed to share the university's knowledge and resources with the public. The Region XIII Education Service Center provided guidance and financial support through a Teaching American History grant from the United States Department of Education.

For questions about the workshop registration, please contact Oliver Franklin, Curator of Public Programs at the Harry Ransom Center.

A tour of the Ransom Center's exhibition "The American Twenties" will be offered to all participants.

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Ashley Park
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ashley.park@austin.utexas.edu
512-471-2972