Professional Development Programs for Educators

Professional Development opportunity for summer 2022!

Living on the Edge of Empire: Alliance, Conflict and Captivity is a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for K-12 teachers and librarians hosted by the Deerfield Teachers' Center of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield, MA. The workshop will be presented the week of July 10 through July 15 and again the week of July 24 through July 29, 2022. The workshop places the Deerfield Raid of 1704 in the broader context of the history of Colonial New England. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2022 and the notification of acceptance is emailed on March 25, 2022. Go to http://edge-empire.deerfield-ma.org/ for a description of the program and instructions on how to apply. NEH Summer Scholars who are chosen for these workshops will be awarded a $1300 stipend to help defray travel and accommodation costs.

For a century from 1660 to 1760 the bucolic New England village of Deerfield was a crossroads where differing visions and ambitions of diverse Native American Nations and European colonial empires interacted peacefully and clashed violently. During a memorable three-hour span in the early 1700s, the town stood at the center of the struggle to control the continent. The 1704 Raid on Deerfield is a doorway to a fascinating and important part of American history. It was an event rooted in religious conflicts, personal and family retribution, alliance, and kinship ties. The Raid on Deerfield and the colonial world that produced it, helped to create a distinctive American identity and world view that became a backdrop for the American Revolution.

Workshop Summer Scholars will explore global issues while also considering ways in which this history can offer a compelling entry point for teaching the complexities of the early American colonial period and the many cultural groups who comprised it – Native nations, enslaved Africans, and the French and English settlers.