TAS: Art and Exploration in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century American Culture

This special, three-day seminar will take advantage of the Newberry’s extraordinarily rich holdings to focus on the art and visual culture of exploration. The first two days of the program will be organized into thematic modules—Exploring the Missouri River, Representing the Yellowstone Valley, Finding and Imagining Mexico, and Picturing the Poles—which teachers can easily adapt to serve a range of curricular needs. In each module, the teachers will study original works of art and related visual material such as maps and travel ephemera, with seminar readings drawn from primary sources in the Newberry’s collections. The third session in June will provide teachers the opportunity to examine strategies for and share their experiences with incorporating seminar materials into their humanities classrooms.

Note: Participants are asked to attend all three sessions. A stipend will be paid for attendance at the June 20 session.

Access Readings

Seminar led by Diane Dillon, Newberry Library

This seminar is sponsored by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Teachers as Scholars is a program exclusively for Chicago Public Schools teachars.