We have extended the deadline to apply for the 2013 Summer Institute for Oregon Middle and High School teachers to APRIL 15, 2013.
Summer Institute 2013 Invitation Letter
Understanding the Many Faces of Latin America through Art and History: Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism
We are excited to invite Oregon teachers to apply to participate in our 2013 Summer Institute for Oregon Middle School and High School Teachers titled, Understanding the Many Faces of Latin America through Art and History: Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism. The Institute will take place at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon, from June 23-28, 2013. Completed applications are due by April 15, 2013. We anticipate selecting around 20 teachers to whom we will offer a modest stipend of $250 for their participation, room (for out of town participants who have to travel more than 60 miles) and board, as well as 30 hours of professional development credit. We will let selected teachers know by May 1, 2013.
Oregon’s population has become increasingly diverse in terms of race and ethnicity over the past two decades. These changes are reflected in more diverse classrooms, particularly through the 21 percent of Oregon public school students who are now Latino. The Summer Institute for Middle School and High School Teachers will provide participants with pedagogical tools, knowledge, and lesson plans to allow them to effectively transmit knowledge about Latin America to their students with a focus on art and history and thus better engage all students in their classrooms.
The University of Oregon has a long history of successfully providing workshops for middle and high school teachers and will engage the expertise of faculty and staff at the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS), the Latin American Studies (LAS) Program, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) in a collaborative effort. We are very excited to have this diverse group of participants involved in the Summer Institute. Our teaching staff includes:
- Visiting Artists from Asamblea Revolucionario de Artistas de Oaxaca [(ASARO) Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca, Mexico];
- Amalia Gladhart, Chair and Professor of Spanish, Department of Romance Languages;
- Simone Da Silva, Instructor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies;
- Gabriela Martinez, Associate Professor of Journalism and Communication, Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Women in Society;
- Lisa Abia Smith, Director of Education at the JSMA;
- Lynn Stephen, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies;
- Lauren Suveges, Museum Educator for K-12 and Studio Programs at the JSMA;
- Dr. Merrill Watrous, 20 years in K-12 education, instructor for the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Writing Program, and Faculty Instructor, Cooperative Education at LCC;
- Stephanie Wood, Adjunct Professor of Latin American History, Principal Investigator: Center at Oregon for Research in Education, three-time director of NEH summer institutes for teachers.
We welcome your interest in Latin America and Latin American Studies. We are especially interested in working with middle and high school teachers who want to develop and use new materials in their classes to provide their students with a deeper understanding of the historical origins of the diverse Latino and Latin American communities in Oregon. Therefore, we will consider applicants who are committed to incorporating this knowledge (including the lesson plans developed in the Summer Institute, which will be uploaded to the Institute’s blog, into their own classes) and demonstrating that commitment in their teaching during the academic year following the Summer Institute.
SCHEDULE
The institute will officially take place over six days (June 23-28, 2013). The working schedule is as follows:
Day 1 (Sunday, June 23rd)
Introductions
Arrival mid-day. Settle into Collegian 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Introduction to the Institute, expectations, and organization. Initial evening reception following meal with LAS instructors, JSMA educators, and participants.
Day 2 (Monday, June 24th)
Race and Colonialism in the Caribbean and Brazil.
This day will focus on indigenous societies before the arrival of Columbus in the Caribbean and in Brazil, documents and maps of the “discovery” of the Caribbean and Brazil, the creation of the racial category “Indian,” and the initial and subsequent importation of African peoples as slave laborers. Simone da Silva and Lynn Stephen will be in charge of the lectures.
Day 3 (Tuesday, June 25th)
Indigenous Identities in the Americas
This day will focus on the ways in which indigenous identity categories were shaped by colonialism as well as nationalism in Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico. We will use indigenous maps drawn prior to and during the colonial period as well as contemporary posters and art created for and by indigenous movements in Bolivia, Peru, and Mexico. At a larger level we will use this day to link past colonial and state constructions of indigenous identities to contemporary self-definitions of particular ethnic groups as well as of pan-indigenous identities and movements. Stephanie Wood and Gabriela Martínez will conduct the lectures on these topics.
Day 4 (Wednesday, June 26th)
Nationalism and Mestizaje in Art and Culture: Mexico and Andean Nations
From the work of muralists such as Diego Rivera (1886-1957) in Mexico to the work of Peruvian painter José Sabogal (1888-1956), artists have been key to the consolidation of nationalism and national identities in Latin America. Through art, racial and ethnic categories can get reworked, questioned, or reified. The standard separation between “folk art” and “high art” has led to the undervaluation of the work of indigenous, afro-descendent, and rural artists, who occupy a more marginal space in the way that ideologies of nationalism are deployed, particularly in relation to the promotion of tourism. Stephanie Wood and Gabriela Martínez will be in charge of Day 4 lectures.
An informal dinner that evening will allow participants to share their initial lesson plan ideas.
Day 5 (Thursday, June 27th)
African Diasporas and Nationalism, in Latin America.
Since the beginning of colonialism in Latin America, African peoples and cultures have been present. There are almost four times as many people of African descent in Latin America and the Caribbean as indigenous people, yet many countries sought to erase, ignore, or assimilate the presence of Afro-descendents in national histories. Lectures for this day will explore the history of this attempted erasure and the contemporary cultural and political response of Afro-descendent Latin American artists, musicians, and cultural workers with an emphasis on Brazil. Simone da Silva and Lynn Stephen will lecture on these topics.
Day 6 (Friday, June 28th)
Transnational Currents as Reflected in Revolutionary and Movement Art and Culture.
This day will focus on how art reflects social movements and the shifting identities that accompany such movements. Looking at the case of revolutionary art in Cuba from JSMA’s collection as well as prints produced by ASARO artists, we will explore how movement art captures the hybridity of contemporary Mexican and Cuban life as well as transnational themes such as indigenous and afro-descendent rights, environmental and social justice, and concepts of alliance and solidarity. The evening will conclude in a dinner and reception where faculty will share at least one of their new lesson plans.
Daily structure of the Summer Institute will be as follows:
9:00 – 10:15 am Initial lecture and discussion
10:15 – 10:30 am Break
10:30 – 11:45 am Follow-up lecture
11:45 am – 1:00 pm Lunch
1:00 – 2:30 pm Workshop with JSMA arts educators, Lisa Abia-Smith and Lauren Suveges, focused on a particular object, map, set of materials, and images
2:30 – 2:45 pm Break
3:00 – 4:30 pm Lesson plan development—group or individual work in consultation with arts education specialists, creation of draft lesson plan, posting on Institute Blog for feedback
METHODOLOGY
Teachers will be exposed to lectures, discussions, multi-media presentations, and hands-on workshops with specific art objects and maps. They will spend two hours per day working on lesson plans that will be posted that evening to an Institute website for comments and feedback, and ideally will take way five distinct lesson plans.
ACCOMODATIONS
The classes will take place in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, located at the University of Oregon. Out-of-town participants will stay in double-rooms at The Collegian, an off-campus residence located just two blocks from the JSMA and the University of Oregon campus. The Collegian will also provide two meals per day for participants who stay there.
APPLICATION
The Summer Institute application consists of two parts. In the first part, applicants will provide the following items:
- the completed application cover sheet with basic information;
- a résumé or brief biography detailing educational qualifications and professional experience (this should be no longer than four double-spaced pages);
- an application essay (this should be no longer than two single-spaced pages, see below);
- two recommendation reports from colleagues with whom the applicant has worked closely. Please share the following link with your references. This is a separate form from the application form.
The most important part of the application is the essay, which should include reasons for applying to the Institute; an outline of the applicant’s interests, both academic and personal, as they relate to the topics to be discussed at the Institute; the relationship between the Institute’s particular line of study and the applicant’s teaching or professional responsibilities; relevant academic qualifications and experiences that equip the applicant to do the work of the Institute and make a contribution to a learning community. Some of the questions that will need to be addressed in your essay are:
- What is your current area of emphasis and how do you believe that this institute will help you in that pedagogical area?
- What are your specific curricular needs in relation to the topic of the institute and what kinds of materials do you hope to develop?
- What kind of preparation and experience do you have inside and outside of your classroom which make you a good candidate to participate in this institute?
- What student clubs, organizations, or other programs at your school could be a resource for you in carrying out the lesson plans you develop and building on them?
- What specific class(es) will you be teaching after the institute where you will use and integrate your new lesson plans? When will you be teaching that class(es) next?
Please review the daily themes mentioned above and look for specific connections you might mention in your essay. Application forms can be completed by clicking on the following link (or cutting and pasting it into your internet browser):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDY5UXlOM0xpQUUwckFlVmxkdXVYd2c6MQ
Applications and application materials can be submitted by email (summerinstitute2013@gmail.com) or mail to:
Center for Latino/a & Latin American Studies (CLLAS)
6201 University of Oregon
Eugene OR 97403-6201
(541) 346-5286
Application materials should be submitted or postmarked no later than March 15, 2013. The selection committee will announce its decision in the first week of April 2013.
We expect that selected applicants will compose a diverse group that considers different levels of experience, and specializations. We particularly welcome bilingual and bicultural applicants. We look forward to receiving your application materials.
Sincerely,
Lynn Stephen
Director, Summer Institute for Oregon Middle and High School Teachers
Director, Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS)
Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences
Professor of Anthropology
C0sponsored by:
Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL)
Program, International Studies Division
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/iegpsugisf/index.html