Next week I will be at Princeton University to lead a Gilder-Lehrman Institute seminar of the “Colonial Era” for history teachers. This is the fourth year that I have joined my partner in crime, 2010 National Teacher of the Year Nate McAlister, in leading this seminar. The Princeton Seminar (as we call it) has become one of the professional highlights of my year.
Stay tuned for updates as the week progresses. In the meantime, here are some pics from previous Princeton seminars:
The 2015 Princeton Seminar at Welcome Park in Philadelphia
George Boudreau of LaSalle University, the man who many believe to be the greatest tour guide of colonial Philadelphia that has ever lived, will be back in 2017!
Nate likes to take the teachers into Einstein’s old classroom
There is plenty of time for impromptu tours of the 18th-century Princeton campus
Teachers spend a lot of time working with primary sources
The teachers read The Way of Improvement Leads Home. The ghost of Philip Vickers Fithian (Princeton class of 1772) hovers over the events of the week
Our visit to the Princeton Cemetery (Aaron Burr, Jonathan Edwards, John Witherspoon, etc.) is always a highlight–rain or shine.
One my favorite moments of the week is when we take the teachers to Firestone Library to look at rare 18th-century books
And yes, there is the occasional lecture