Click HERE to access the on-line application
Yale University’s Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER), the Council on Latin America and Iberian Studies (CLAIS) and the Peabody Museum of Natural History invite secondary school educators to apply for a unique summer institute designed to help educators enhance curricula and access primary teaching resources—including museum artifacts—about indigenous histories and cultures of the Americas. The institute will be interdisciplinary in nature, and teachers of all subjects are encouraged to apply. Partial scholarships are available for housing, travel and the optional field study trip to Mexico.
Led by Dr. Megan E. O’Neil, the 2012 Summer Institute will study Maya cultures across time, from the ancient Maya of the first millennium A.D. to the diverse Maya people living in Mexico, Central America, and elsewhere in the world today. We will study ancient traditions as well as continuities and innovations in later periods, and we will explore connections between Maya people and other indigenous groups of the Americas.
In an intensive week-long workshop in New Haven, educators will learn about histories, arts, languages, and other aspects of Maya cultures. Educators also will gain access to artifacts from Mesoamerican cultures in Yale’s museum collections, especially those of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and consider ways of using these collections in their teaching. In daily presentations, Yale faculty, graduate students, and other expert educators will provide in-depth understanding of the latest research on international subjects and discuss with participants how to incorporate this content into their classroom teaching. A maximum of 4.0 CEUs will be awarded for completion of the Institute in New Haven.
The Institute is interdisciplinary and is designed to appeal to high school teachers of various subjects, including art, history, modern languages, math and sciences, and social studies. The Institute crosses a range of time periods, from the 1st century A.D. to the present, and we will think about how Maya people have interacted with other groups of people at various times in history.
For the ancient Maya, guest speakers will address topics related to writing and mathematics, conceptions of history and political relations among kingdoms, mural painting and stone sculpture, and mythology.
For the colonial period, speakers will address how Maya people responded to the Spanish incursion through the recording of family and political histories, as well as what the first Spanish-Maya dictionaries can reveal about the intersection of Spanish and Maya cultures.
For the 19th-century, we will look both at the history of southern Mexico after independence from Spain and at the writing and images of explorers traveling to the ancient Maya ruins.
For the 20th and 21st centuries, speakers will address Maya women artisans and their creations, the participation of women in the Zapatista uprising, the use of Pre-Columbian imagery by Chicana/o artists in the United States, and contemporary migration of Guatemalan people to the United States, among other topics.
We recognize that many high schools currently do not cover these topics, and thus we will dedicate workshop and discussion sessions to talking about how to integrate these subjects into high school curricula of various disciplines. All participants will receive guidance and support from the Teacher Advisor and outreach staff to prepare lesson plans and other teaching materials. Workshop sessions will include lectures, films, discussions, activities, curriculum development and new tools for use in lesson planning.
The Optional Field Study Trip will travel to the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The trip will provide opportunities for educators to gain new insights and perspectives about Mexico and both ancient and contemporary Maya peoples. Participants will visit archaeological sites, tour art museums, and meet native Maya speakers in contemporary communities. Through lectures, discussions, tours, and guided visits, they will learn more about the languages, cultures, and experiences of today's Maya people and their rich history of art, architecture and writing. To ensure that everyone has adequate background knowledge of the region, only those who have completed the Institute in New Haven will be eligible for this field experience. As travel plans have been firmed up, the cost of the field study has been reduced to approximately $1200 not including airfare.
An on-line application is available; the early submission deadline is March 31. Candidates who submit an application and supporting documents by March 31 will be notified about selection by April 15. Applications received after March 31 will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Successful applicants from this round will be notified before May 15. Applicants selected to participate in the Institute will be charged a reimbursable registration fee of $160. This fee will be reimbursed upon completion of the Institute’s requirements (see below).
The following will be required of all Institute participants:
1. Actively participate in all sessions of the Summer Institute in New Haven. For those attending the Optional Field Study Trip, participants are expected to attend and actively participate in the entire trip.
2. Develop curricular materials or other educational resources that are based on content from the Summer Institute and share these materials locally and nationally.
3. Pilot curricular materials developed at the Institute in your classroom.
4. Assess the impact and effectiveness of these materials.
All Institutes are designed in accordance with nationwide Continuing Education Units standards. Yale is an authorized CEU provider (no. 716). A maximum of 4.0 CEUs will be awarded upon the completion of the Summer Institute in New Haven, while an additional 4.0 CEUs can be earned on the field study trip.
Besides the reimbursable registration fee, there are no charges for the Institute in New Haven, thanks to generous funding from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Personal expenses may include travel to New Haven, housing, some meals, and ground transportation. Please note, financial assistance is available to cover some of these expenses.
Funding is available to assist with travel and hotel accommodations for successful applicants both for the institute in New Haven and the travel to Mayan sites in Mexico. Stipends of up to $1000 are available to those traveling from a distance and staying in the New Haven area the week of the institute. Stipends of up to $500 are available for the field study trip to Mexico.
Dr. Megan E. O'Neil, Institute Director
Megan E. O’Neil received her B.A. in Archaeological Studies from Yale College, her M.A. in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin, and her Ph.D. in History of Art from Yale. Presently, she is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the College of William and Mary. Her research is in ancient Maya art history and archaeology, with a particular interest in how the ancient Maya interacted with monumental stone sculptures over time. She has participated in archaeological projects in Belize, Mexico, and Guatemala. This spring, the University of Oklahoma Press will publish her book, Engaging Ancient Maya Sculpture at Piedras Negras, Guatemala.
Elise Weisenbach, Teacher Advisor
Elise Weisenbach received her BA and MA in Latin American Studies from Tulane University with concentrations in anthropology and history. She has studied in Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia and has traveled to a variety of other Latin American countries. She received a MAT from Quinnipiac University and currently teaches Spanish at Branford High School. Elise has volunteered at the Yale University Peabody Museum of Natural History and participated in many CLAIS Outreach Programs.
The 2012 Summer Institute is made possible by generous support from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the United States Department of Education.
Sponsored by:
Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER) at the MacMillan Center
Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies (CLAIS)
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Tom Parlapiano, Institute Coordinator
(203) 737-3065
