*Due to staffing changes, the next Oklahoma Summer Institute for Teachers will take place in summer 2025. Please check back here in spring 2025 for updates.
The Department of History at the University of Oklahoma runs an annual Summer Institute for Teachers on Oklahoma History. Funded through the generous estate of an endeared member of the history teaching profession in the state, the Summer Institute is for high school teachers of Oklahoma History on how they can change/improve/add to what they teach, and how teachers and students can look critically at the state’s history and how it has been interpreted. Concepts will include new and innovative ways to teach about Oklahoma’s:
• geography and environmental history
• Native American past and present-day experiences
• history of newcomer settlers
• history of natural resources (coal, oil, natural gas, agriculture)
• history of race and the Civil Rights movement
• 20th-century urban history
• diverse popular culture history
Emphasis will be on promoting the use of oral history and primary research in the classroom. Participants will get hands-on experience using OU’s exceptional resources at the Western History Collections, the Charles M. Russell Center, and the Carl Albert Center.
The Institute consists 4 days of instruction with 4 nights of lodging provided on campus. (Participants from Norman or the OKC metro area usually choose to stay at home and commute.) It will include a field trip and several guest speakers. It is designed to be for a select group of 15 teachers, each of whom will all have all lodging, meals, and expenses (excluding their own transportation to and from Norman) paid. In addition, each participant will receive a stipend of $225.00 per day ($900 total) for their time to attend the Institute. Admission will be based on the following criteria (but if not admitted one year, it is certainly encouraged to apply another):
• Geographical mix from around the state
• Mixed variety of teaching experiences
• A 500- to 700-word essay explaining how participants could benefit from the Summer Institute. Your letter should also address how you might use what you learned at the Institute to benefit your school or community.
Institute Director
The director of the Summer Institute is Dr. Jennifer Holland of the O.U. Department of History. Dr. Holland came to Norman with graduate degrees from Utah State University and the University of Wisconsin. At O.U., her responsibilities include teaching the History of Oklahoma course (mainly to future teachers) as well as undergraduate and graduate courses in histories of the American West; gender, sexuality and race; and 20th century America. The daughter of teachers and a product of pulic schools, Dr. Holland is excited to help Oklahoma teachers enhance the classroom experience.
Photos provided by the Western History Collections at the University of Oklahoma
