Project Overview

PROJECT 1776: The Shaping of the American Democratic Republic is a three-session professional development program for American History Teachers of all grade levels. Funded by a Teaching American History Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the program will provide area teachers with intensive intellectual seminars to broaden and deepen their knowledge of traditional American history. The program also includes an array of professional resources and experiences that aim to enrich and improve student literacy in traditional American history. Project 1776 is broken into three academic sessions:

* Year One: 2007-2008
* Year Two: 2008-2009
* Year Three: 2009-10

The Project will feature a three-week summer conference for each of these academic sessions in which participants will immerse themselves in traditional American History. Two weeks of each summer conference will be held at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM, and the other week at a specified History on Location site (Philadelphia & New Mexico Sites). The American constitutional order will serve as the focus for these lectures and seminars, with the Constitution serving as a lens through which to better understand the series of events, ideas, documents, and personalities that have shaped out nation.

Other aspects of the project include a teacher support network, a speaker community lecture series, and a long-term school district impact strategy.