Minnesota Humanities Center

Online - Truth, Equity, & Justice: How We Make Our Way Forward (Again) Together Conference
2022-10-06 09:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | MN, United States
Due to unforeseen circumstances the Truth, Justice, and Equity conference will be held virtually. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we hope that you will be able to join us virtually for these important conversations.
Generations of scholars have argued that America will never be whole until reparations are provided for the moral debt created by slavery, Jim Crow laws, and the vestiges of the caste system it created. The international cry for justice after the murder of Mr. George Floyd and the stark racial disparities lead bare by the pandemic have renewed the sense of urgency around reparations and truth and reconciliation commissions.
The Center for the Study of Black Life and Law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, the Minnesota Humanities Center and the Minnesota Justice and Equity Partnership invite you to join us for a day filled with song, poetry, and conversation about how we move toward justice with:

International renowned scholars and lawyers involved in securing reparations and creating Truth and Reconciliation commissions outside of the United States,
Community advocates pursuing reparations and the creation of Truth and Reconciliation commissions in Minnesota, and

Scholars and lawyers sharing insights concerning federal legislation involving reparations and the formation of truth and reconciliation commissions.

Invited guests include Virginie Ladisch, Senior Expert, Programs, at the International Center for Transitional Justice, Marcella Naidoo, former Regional Director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa and Executive Director of the Black Sash, and Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison. This is a beginning, not an end. The event partners are planning a series of events in 2023 to continue this focus and work to transform our collective future.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. This event will be available to rewatch until October 30, 2022. Continuing Legal Education credits will be applied for post-conference for lawyers seeking such credits.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

Online - Teaching Bdote
2022-11-05 09:00 - 12:00 | Online
Teaching Bdote: Tools for Teaching American Indian Content is designed for educators who have attended, or are planning to attend, Learning from Place: Bdote. This workshop is especially useful for developing unique classroom content to align with Minnesota State Social Studies Standards.
Offered in collaboration with Saint Paul Public Schools, this workshop will address the concerns and anxieties that non-indigenous educators may have around teaching Dakota content. A panel of teachers will share their experiences and learnings of leading their own Bdote tours with students. Educators will leave with new resources and content, deeper understanding, and ideas for how to lead a Bdote trip or to bring the experience into the classroom.
Teaching Bdote will be facilitated and presented by Ramona Kitto Stately, Ethan Neerdaels, and the Saint Paul Public Schools Center for Equity and Culture.
Registration
To ensure that cost is not a barrier, we have a limited number of complimentary spaces available for Minnesota residents. If you would like to receive a complimentary spot, please register with the promo code FEEWAIVER (must be a Minnesota resident).
If you are a Saint Paul Public Schools educator, please register with promo code SPPS22.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
Registration Deadline: Friday, November 4, 2022
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

Onamia and Online – Dakota and Ojibwe Languages Symposium
2023-02-09 08:00 - 2023-02-10 17:00 | Grand Casino Mille Lacs, 777 Grand Avenue, Onamia, MN, 56359, United States
The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council’s Language Revitalization Working Group, partnering with the Minnesota Humanities Center, is hosting a two-day Dakota & Ojibwe Languages Symposium! The goal of the symposium is to bring people working in Dakota & Ojibwe language revitalization together. We want to use this time to celebrate successes of what some groups have done in the past, highlight what is currently going on in the field, and help shape future language revitalization efforts. We also want to elevate the visibility of Indigenous languages throughout the state of Minnesota. By bringing people together, we hope this symposium serves as an opportunity for individuals to network with other Dakota & Ojibwe language professionals. The event will be in-person and broadcasted virtually!
Breakfast and lunch are included for those attending in person. Participants are responsible for booking overnight accommodations if needed (rooms are available at Grand Casino Mille Lacs). CEU’s are available for educators attending the symposium.
To submit your proposal to lead a presentation or activity, complete the online form. Proposals are being reviewed on an ongoing basis.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 1: Book Bans and the Freedom to Read
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
Books continue to be banned or challenged across the nation, and Minnesota is not exempt in that respect. Book bans have risen by a third over the past year in public schools, and many of these bans are targeting LGBTQ+ characters, themes, and intersectional identities. This session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series will examine the controversy over sexuality and book bans and provide an opportunity to hear directly from authors whose work has been challenged. Quatrefoil Library, a library and queer gathering space in the Twin Cities, will be in conversation with J.J. Austrian, author of Worm Loves Worm, Trung Le Nguyen, author of The Magic Fish, and Junauda Petrus, author of The Stars and the Blackness Between Them.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 2: Transgender Justice
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
In this session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series, our speakers will help to set the stage on the current landscape of transgender rights and issues nationally, and what is happening specifically within Minnesota. Brittany Stewart from Gender Justice, a Minnesota based organization advancing gender equity through the law, will be joined by Máel Embser-Herbert, professor emeritus, U.S. Army Veteran and an editor of With Honor and Integrity: Transgender Troops in Their Own Words, which shares personal stories from transgender people fighting for their right to serve in the U.S. military.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Online - Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series
2024-02-27 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Session 3: Detoxing Masculinity
Issues related to gender and sexuality continue to be paramount in many areas, including politics, law, health care, parenting, identity, and social justice. In this three-part discussion series, we will consider how gender and sexuality are refracted, or how their meaning and social expression are changing and moving as we think through the topics of book bans, transgender rights, and masculinity.
Many experts agree that the men and boys of the United States are not ok. By many measures they are falling behind and many of the impacts are less widely talked about. This session of Refraction: A Gender and Sexuality Discussion Series will seek to pull apart the term toxic masculinity and look instead at detoxing masculinity. Hamline Professor Ryan Jerome LeCount will talk about masculinity and its social expression, particularly in the area of politics and social change in Minnesota and the United States. He will be joined by author Jeremy Norton, who recently published Trauma Sponges, a first-hand account of his experience working as an EMT in the emergency response sector, and what it means for a male-dominated industry to be both full of bravura heroics and deal with intense trauma on a daily basis.
What you can expect from this series:

Scholars, experts, community members, and authors will share what the landscape looks like nationally and in Minnesota, as well as talk about their personal experiences and perspectives.
Each session will have a resource list of articles, books, and organizations to help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.
Engage in small and large group discussions as well as exploring ways to effect change and take action.

Registration
Registration is required. There is no cost to attend; sign up for one or all three sessions. Each session will take place virtually; a zoom link will be sent closer to the date of the session.
Educators can receive CEU’s for attending.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Dakota and Ojibwe Languages Symposium
2024-02-29 - 2024-03-01 | Treasure Island Resort, 5734 Sturgeon Lake Rd, Welch, MN, 55089, United States
The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council’s Language Revitalization Working Group, partnering with the Minnesota Humanities Center, is hosting the 3rd annual Dakota & Ojibwe Languages Symposium! This two-day symposium will be held on Thursday, Feb. 29th and Friday, March 1st at Treasure Island Resort and Casino. The goal of the symposium is to bring people working in Dakota and Ojibwe language revitalization together. We will use this time to celebrate successes, highlight the current state of the field, shape future language revitalization efforts, and elevate the visibility of Indigenous languages throughout the state of Minnesota. By bringing people together, we hope this symposium serves as an opportunity for individuals to network with other Dakota and Ojibwe language professionals. The symposium will be held in-person and virtually for participants.
Registration
Breakfast and lunch are included for those attending in person. Participants are responsible for booking their own overnight accommodations if needed and can call Treasure Island Resort at 1-888-867-7829.
CEU’s will be available for educators attending the symposium.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
In-person spots have been filled. There are still spots available to attend virtually.
Register Now
Exhibitor Application
If you’re interested in tabling at the symposium, please complete the online application. We are willing to accommodate as many as we can. Priority will be given to those focusing on language revitalization. The final decision on selection will be determined by the Working Group.
Please note: No sales will be allowed at symposium. This application is meant for informational/educational booths that are handing out free information and literature, not selling items.
If you have any questions, please email skyler.kuczaboski@state.mn.us or call/text 651-304-4149.
Apply Online

Online - Resistance, Resilience & Reimagination Information Session
2024-07-22 16:00 - 17:00, 2024-07-22 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-08-05 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-08-05 16:00 - 17:00 | Online
Join teachers of color and American Indian teachers from across the state in a year-long program designed to engage participants in navigating education systems with resistance, resilience, and reimagination. A partnership between Intermediate School District 917, Metro State University, and MHC, this PELSB (Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board) funded program provides free of cost and paid stipend opportunities for participants.
Register for one of four information sessions to learn more about this opportunity for teachers of color and American Indian teachers.

Monday July 22, 2024, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Monday July 22, 2024, 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Monday August 5, 2024, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Monday August 5, 2024, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Online - Teaching Bdote: Tools for Teaching Dakota Content
2024-11-02 09:30 - 12:00 | Online
Teaching Bdote: Tools for Teaching Dakota Content is designed for educators who have attended, or are planning to attend, Learning from Place: Bdote. This workshop is especially useful for developing unique classroom content to align with Minnesota State Social Studies Standards.
Offered in collaboration with Saint Paul Public Schools, this online workshop will address the concerns and anxieties that non-Indigenous educators may have around teaching Dakota history. Educators will leave with new resources and content, deeper understanding, and ideas for how to lead a Bdote trip or to bring the experience into the classroom.
Teaching Bdote will be facilitated and presented by Ramona Kitto Stately, Ethan Neerdaels, and the Saint Paul Public Schools Office of Teaching and Learning.
Registration
If cost is a concern, we have a limited number of complimentary spaces available for Minnesota residents. To request a complimentary spot, please register with Discount Code WAIVE24.
Through our partnership with Saint Paul Public Schools, the fee is waived for all SPPS educators. Please register with Discount Code SPPS24.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
Register Now

Online - Building Bright Futures: Support Student Growth and Success as a National History Day Judge!
2025-01-23 16:00 - 18:00, 2025-01-29 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Join us as a 2025 Regional History Day Judge and help shape the future of Minnesota students! This rewarding volunteer opportunity allows you to engage directly with young scholars as they explore historical topics, develop critical research and writing skills, and discover their voices.
Your role as a judge goes beyond evaluating projects—it’s about fostering confidence, curiosity, and a sense of accomplishment in students. By offering thoughtful feedback and celebrating their efforts, you empower them to grow as learners, thinkers, and creators.
The Minnesota Humanities Center, in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society, is committed to ensuring students see themselves in the mentors and evaluators they encounter throughout their educational experience. We especially welcome judges from Minnesota’s richly diverse communities, including African American, Asian, American Indian, Latino/e/x, East African, and Greater Minnesota residents. Your unique perspective can make a lasting impact!
No experience? No problem! This online training session, led by Sammi Jo Papas of the Minnesota Historical Society, provides everything you need to know. All you need is an interest in history and a willingness to connect with students.

Event Details:

Who Should Attend: Anyone interested in history and student success
Format: Online training
Stipend: Workshop attendees who commit to judging at a Regional History Day competition will receive a $50 stipend

Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now
Join us in nurturing the next generation of leaders, innovators, and citizens. Learn more and sign up as a History Day judge to make a difference: mnhs.org/historyday.
Support young historians and help shape the next generation of leaders—sign up today!
Support for this project comes in part from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) “National History Day” initiative, an effort to extend NHD outreach to educators and students in hard-to-reach communities and to recruit, in collaboration with NHD and NHD affiliates, a more diverse pool of NHD judges from minority-serving institutions, community colleges, and underserved communities.

Online Content Session - Era One: Indigenous Histories
2025-09-09 16:00 - 17:30 | Online
Explore the histories of America’s first peoples before European contact and connect them to the lived experiences of Indigenous communities today. Led by Dr. Brenda Child and moderated by Dr. Katharine Gerbner, this session will provide deep historical context, source analysis, and thematic framing.

View Dr. Brenda Child’s Bio

Brenda J. Child is Northrop Professor of American Studies and former chair of the Departments of American Studies (2016-19) and the Department of American Indian Studies (2009-12).

She is the author of award-winning books of American Indian history, including Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940, (1998), which won the North American Indian Prose Award; Holding Our World Together: Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community, (2012); Indian Subjects: Hemispheric Perspectives on the History of Indigenous Education (with Brian Klopotek, 2014). Her 2014 book My Grandfather’s Knocking Sticks: Ojibwe Family Life and Labor on the Reservation won the American Indian Book Award and the Best Book in Midwestern History. Child’s book for children, Bowwow Powwow (2018), won the American Indian Youth Literature Award for best picture book.

Child served as a member of the board of trustees of the National Museum of the American Indian-Smithsonian and was President (2017-2018) of the Native American & Indigenous Studies Association. She was born on the Red Lake Ojibwe Reservation in northern Minnesota where she served as a member of a committee writing a new constitution for the 12,000-member nation.

All Content Sessions will be conducted via Zoom and a Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)-hosted Canvas learning community. Each session’s lectures and discussions will be recorded and registered participants will receive access to the Canvas course with session recordings, curated resources, and collaborative planning tools.

High school U.S. History teachers and 5th and 7th grade educators are invited to participate in companion Pedagogy Sessions.

Registration

Content Sessions are open to all K–12 educators interested in historical content and source-based instruction. Educators are welcome to register for individual sessions that align with their interests and schedules. Join us for one or more sessions throughout the year.

This event is free but registration is required. Separate registration is required for each offering.

Registration Questions: Brittany.Rawson-Haeg@state.mn.us

Register Now

This offering is part of Navigating the U.S. History Eras: Content, Pedagogy, and Inquiry in the Classroom is a yearlong professional learning opportunity supporting implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies presented by MHC and MDE.

Online Content Session - Era Two: Settler Colonialism and Atlantic Slavery
2025-10-07 16:00 - 17:30 | Online
Dive into the development of the institution of slavery and multiple perspectives on European colonization and early American society. Led by Dr. David Aiona Chang and Dr. Katharine Gerbner, this session will provide deep historical context, source analysis, and thematic framing.

View Dr. David Aiona Chang’s Bio

I am a Native Hawaiian historian of Indigenous people, colonialism, borders and migration in Hawaii and North America, focusing especially on the histories of Native American and Native Hawaiian people. My work moves between hyperlocal and global scales while centering the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous people and integrating close textual analysis, granular social history, theoretically informed analysis of race, gender, sexuality and nationalism, and Indigenous epistemologies and methodologies.

My second book, The World and All the Things Upon It: Native Hawaiian Geographies of Exploration was published in 2016 by the University of Minnesota Press. It speaks to a foundational imperative in Indigenous studies: the need to not just understand Indigenous people from their own perspectives, but to understand the world from their perspectives as well. It traces the ways that Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) explored the outside world and generated understandings of their place in it in the century and half after James Cook stumbled on their islands in 1778. In doing so, this book examines indigenous people as the active agents of global exploration, rather than the passive objects of that exploration, broadening our understanding of geographical knowledge production and power in the context of colonialism.

My first book, The Color of the Land, argues for the central place of struggles over the ownership of Native American lands in the history of racial and national construction by Creeks, African Americans, and whites in the Creek Nation and eastern Oklahoma. The Color of the Land was awarded the 2010 Theodore Saloutos Prize for best book in agricultural history from the Agricultural History Society and was granted Honorable Mention in the competition for the American Studies Association’s 2011 Lora Romero First Book Prize.

View Dr. Katharine Gerbner’s Bio

My research explores the religious dimensions of race, authority, and freedom in the early modern Atlantic world. My book, Christian Slavery: Conversion and Race in the Protestant Atlantic World (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018), shows how debates between slave-owners, black Christians, and missionaries transformed the practice of Protestantism and the language of race in the early modern Atlantic World. I am currently at work on a few different projects. One, entitled “Constructing Religion, Defining Crime,” examines how some non-European religions—particularly those that were practiced under slavery—have been excluded from the category of religion and criminalized over the past three centuries. A related project investigates the religious and medical practices of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean, paying particular attention to obeah. I am interested in how Afro-Caribbean ideas about healing, prayer, and worship influenced the construction of European categories such as religion and medicine. I have also been working on an article about Missionaries and Maroons, which takes a micro-historical look at how and why maroon leaders sought to create alliances with Christian missionaries.

All Content Sessions will be conducted via Zoom and a Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)-hosted Canvas learning community. Each session’s lectures and discussions will be recorded and registered participants will receive access to the Canvas course with session recordings, curated resources, and collaborative planning tools.

High school U.S. History teachers and 5th and 7th grade educators are invited to participate in companion Pedagogy Sessions.

Registration
Content Sessions are open to all K–12 educators interested in historical content and source-based instruction. Educators are welcome to register for individual sessions that align with their interests and schedules. Join us for one or more sessions throughout the year.

This event is free but registration is required. Separate registration is required for each offering.

Registration Questions: Brittany.Rawson-Haeg@state.mn.us

Register Now

This offering is part of Navigating the U.S. History Eras: Content, Pedagogy, and Inquiry in the Classroom is a yearlong professional learning opportunity supporting implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies presented by MHC and MDE.

Online - Building Questioning Across the Social Studies Disciplines
2025-10-22 07:30 - 08:30 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-building-questioning-across-the-social-studies-disciplines/
Develop strategies for fostering strong questioning skills across the five strands of social studies. Examine a discipline-specific question and how it supports deeper inquiry and critical thinking. We will consider strengthening both teacher questioning and supports for developing student questioning in the inquiry process, as well.
The Minnesota Department of Education in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Center will host virtual and in-person sessions to support planning for and implementation of the 2021 K-12 Academic Standards in Social Studies monthly during the 2025-26 school year. These monthly sessions are open to anyone with building or district-level responsibilities for curriculum planning and development in all social studies content areas, including curriculum directors, department leads, and teachers. Pre-registration is required for in-person sessions.
Virtual sessions will have content similar to in-person sessions, and whenever possible will feature the same speakers.
In-person sessions will be an hour longer than virtual sessions and will allow time for supported collaborative work and networking.
While districts are encouraged to have a representative at each monthly session, either in-person or virtual, participants do not need to commit to attending all nine sessions. Participants are also welcome to attend either session type throughout the year, as is best suited to their needs and schedule.
K-12 educators will receive 1 clock hour.
Registration
Registration Questions: brittany.rawson-haeg@state.mn.us
Register Now

Pedagogy Session – Eras 1 & 2: Indigenous Histories, Settler Colonialism, and Atlantic Slavery
2025-10-30 16:00 - 17:30 | Online
This pedagogy session will draw on content and sources from both Era 1 and Era 2 of the Navigating U.S. History Eras series. Participants will explore the histories of America’s first peoples before European contact, as well as the development of the institution of slavery and multiple perspectives on European colonization and early American society. Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Social Studies Specialist Brittany Rawson-Haeg and experienced classroom educators will lead this hands-on workshop supporting high school U.S. History teachers in designing inquiry-based, standards-aligned units.
All Pedagogy Sessions will be conducted via Zoom. Educators who participate in all Pedagogy Sessions will leave the year with a complete U.S. History course aligned to the new standards.
Educators are invited to participate in companion Content Sessions.
Registration
Pedagogy Sessions are designed for high school U.S. History teachers and may also be relevant for 5th and 7th grade educators. Educators are welcome to register for individual sessions that align with their interests and schedules. Join us for one or more sessions throughout the year.
This event is free but registration is required. Separate registration is required for each offering.
Registration Questions: Brittany.Rawson-Haeg@state.mn.us
Register Now
This offering is part of Navigating the U.S. History Eras: Content, Pedagogy, and Inquiry in the Classroom is a yearlong professional learning opportunity supporting implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies presented by MHC and MDE.

Online Content Session - Era Three: Freedom, Unfreedom, and Revolution
2025-11-05 16:00 - 17:30 | Online
Analyze revolutionary movements and founding documents to understand how ideas of freedom and justice evolved in the United States. Led by Dr. Daina Ramey Berry and moderated by Dr. Katharine Gerbner, this session will provide deep historical context, source analysis, and thematic framing.

View Dr. Daina Ramey Berry’s Bio

Dr. Daina Ramey Berry is Professor of History and Michael Douglas Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She came to Santa Barbara in August 2022 after serving as the Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professor and Chair of the Department of History and Associate Dean of the Graduate School at The University of Texas. She is an internationally recognized scholar of the enslaved and a specialist on gender and slavery and Black women’s history in the United States. Professor Berry completed her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in African American Studies and U.S. History at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Berry is the award-winning author and editor of six books and numerous scholarly articles. Her most recent book, A Black Women’s History of the United States, won the 2021 Susan Koppelman Award for the Best Book in Feminist Studies, was a 2021 NAACP Finalist for Literary Non-Fiction, and received honorable mention for the 2021 Darlene Clark Hine Book Award sponsored by the Organization of American Historians. Her other book, The Price for their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation, received the Phyllis Wheatley Award for Scholarly Research from the Sons and Daughters of the US Middle Passage, the 2018 Best Book Prize from the Society for the History of the Early American Republic, and the 2018 Hamilton Book Prize from the University Co-op for the best book among UT Austin faculty. Berry’s book was also a finalist for the 2018 Frederick Douglass Book Prize awarded by Yale University and the Gilder Lehrman Institute. She is completing two other contracted books, The Myths of Slavery (Beacon Press) and a biography of Anna Murray Douglass (Yale University Press).

All Content Sessions will be conducted via Zoom and a Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)-hosted Canvas learning community. Each session’s lectures and discussions will be recorded and registered participants will receive access to the Canvas course with session recordings, curated resources, and collaborative planning tools.

High school U.S. History teachers and 5th and 7th grade educators are invited to participate in companion Pedagogy Sessions.

Registration
Content Sessions are open to all K–12 educators interested in historical content and source-based instruction. Educators are welcome to register for individual sessions that align with their interests and schedules. Join us for one or more sessions throughout the year.

This event is free but registration is required. Separate registration is required for each offering.

Registration Questions: Brittany.Rawson-Haeg@state.mn.us

Register Now

This offering is part of Navigating the U.S. History Eras: Content, Pedagogy, and Inquiry in the Classroom is a yearlong professional learning opportunity supporting implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies presented by MHC and MDE.

Online - Beyond Learning from Place: Featuring Native Governance Center
2025-11-13 12:30 - 15:00 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-beyond-learning-from-place-featuring-native-governance-center/
Beyond Learning from Place workshops offer participants supplemental learning opportunities after attending a Learning from Place experience. This session is designed to support Bdote trip participants as well as anyone seeking guidance in developing authentic, respectful relationships with Native Nations.
We are excited to partner with Native Governance Center to host this Beyond Learning from Place online workshop.
Workshop Overview:
Action Planning and Engagement for Accomplices
Join Native Governance Center, a Native-led nonprofit, for a practical and interactive session on building authentic partnerships and taking actionable next steps. This workshop will equip participants with tools for creating supportive action steps using Native Governance Center’s action planning framework. Attendees will also learn how to prepare themselves and understand protocol before partnering with Native Nations. While rooted in working with Native Nations and communities, these tools can also support meaningful engagement with other groups.
Expect real-life examples and plenty of opportunities for discussion in a welcoming, beginner-friendly space.
Learning Objectives
Participants will:

Deepen their understanding of how to prepare for and approach partnerships with Native Nations, with principles that can inform engagement in other contexts.
Gain practical tools for developing personal or organizational action steps using NGC’s action planning framework.
Exchange ideas with fellow participants in small groups to refine and inspire their own action steps.

Native Governance Center Presenters:

Cree Rose Dueker (Chippewa Cree Tribe): Program Manager for Community Engagement
Jessica Glidden (Boise Forte Band of Chippewa): Program Manager for Leadership Development

K-12 Educators will receive 2.5 clock hours.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Online Pedagogy Session - Era Three: Freedom, Unfreedom, and Revolution
2025-11-13 16:00 - 17:30 | Online
Analyze revolutionary movements and founding documents to understand how ideas of freedom and justice evolved in the United States. Using content and sources from Dr. Daina Ramey Berry, Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Social Studies Specialist Brittany Rawson-Haeg and experienced classroom educators will lead this hands-on workshop supporting high school U.S. History teachers in designing inquiry-based, standards-aligned units.
All Pedagogy Sessions will be conducted via Zoom. Educators who participate in all Pedagogy Sessions will leave the year with a complete U.S. History course aligned to the new standards.
Educators are invited to participate in companion Content Sessions.
Registration
Pedagogy Sessions are designed for high school U.S. History teachers and may also be relevant for 5th and 7th grade educators. Educators are welcome to register for individual sessions that align with their interests and schedules. Join us for one or more sessions throughout the year.
This event is free but registration is required. Separate registration is required for each offering.
Registration Questions: Brittany.Rawson-Haeg@state.mn.us
Register Now
This offering is part of Navigating the U.S. History Eras: Content, Pedagogy, and Inquiry in the Classroom is a yearlong professional learning opportunity supporting implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies presented by MHC and MDE.

Online – Teaching Bdote Educator Workshop
2025-11-15 09:30 - 11:30 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-teaching-bdote-educator-workshop/
The Teaching Bdote Educator Workshop is designed for educators who have attended Learning from Place: Bdote and are preparing to incorporate the experience into their classroom or lead their own classroom field trip. Whether you are looking for a refresher or preparing for your first teacher-led trip, this workshop will provide the guidance, resources, and confidence you need.
Offered in collaboration with Saint Paul Public Schools, this interactive session supports educators in aligning Bdote field trips with the 2021 Minnesota Social Studies Standards and the inquiry-based model of learning. Facilitators will also address the common questions and anxieties that non-Indigenous educators may experience when teaching Dakota history, grounding the work in Dakota voices and perspectives.
Facilitators include current classroom educators who have recently led Bdote field trips and Ramona Kitto Stately (Santee Dakota). Ramona, MHC’s primary lead for Learning from Place: Bdote, provides cultural expertise and guidance on teaching Dakota history with care.
Participants will:

Learn from classroom teachers who have recently led Bdote field trips.
Hear candid reflections from non-Indigenous educators about teaching Bdote.
Gain insights from Ramona Kitto Stately on centering Dakota knowledge and perspectives.
Access resources and lesson materials to support both classroom learning and field trip planning.

Intended Audience: While all are welcome, this workshop is especially geared toward teachers in grades 4–7.
K-12 Educators will receive 2 clock hours.
Registration
SPPS teachers: Register using discount code SPPS25 to waive the fee.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
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Online - Digging Into Disciplinary Sources K-12
2025-11-19 07:30 - 08:30 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-digging-into-disciplinary-sources-k-12/
Learn how to identify, evaluate, and integrate disciplinary sources effectively. This session will provide strategies for engaging students with primary and secondary sources to develop their disciplinary literacy skills.
The Minnesota Department of Education, in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Center, will host virtual and in-person sessions to support planning for and implementation of the 2021 K-12 Academic Standards in Social Studies, held monthly during the 2025–26 school year. These sessions are open to anyone with building or district-level responsibilities for curriculum planning and development in all social studies content areas, including curriculum directors, department leads, and teachers. Pre-registration is required for in-person sessions.
Virtual sessions will have content similar to in-person sessions, and whenever possible will feature the same speakers.
In-person sessions will be an hour longer than virtual sessions and will allow time for supported collaborative work and networking.
While districts are encouraged to have a representative at each monthly session, either in-person or virtual, participants do not need to commit to attending all nine sessions. Participants are also welcome to attend either session type throughout the year, as is best suited to their needs and schedule.
K-12 educators will receive 1 clock hour.
Registration
Registration Questions: brittany.rawson-haeg@state.mn.us
Register Now

Online Content Session - Era Four: Imperial Expansion and Native Dispossession
2025-12-02 16:00 - 17:30 | Online
Trace the effects of U.S. expansion on Native nations and examine how policies of land seizure and sovereignty denial shaped the 19th century. Led by Dr. David Aiona Chang and moderated by Dr. Katharine Gerbner, this session will provide deep historical context, source analysis, and thematic framing.

View Dr. David Aiona Chang’s Bio

I am a Native Hawaiian historian of Indigenous people, colonialism, borders and migration in Hawaii and North America, focusing especially on the histories of Native American and Native Hawaiian people. My work moves between hyperlocal and global scales while centering the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous people and integrating close textual analysis, granular social history, theoretically informed analysis of race, gender, sexuality and nationalism, and Indigenous epistemologies and methodologies.

My second book, The World and All the Things Upon It: Native Hawaiian Geographies of Exploration was published in 2016 by the University of Minnesota Press. It speaks to a foundational imperative in Indigenous studies: the need to not just understand Indigenous people from their own perspectives, but to understand the world from their perspectives as well. It traces the ways that Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) explored the outside world and generated understandings of their place in it in the century and half after James Cook stumbled on their islands in 1778. In doing so, this book examines indigenous people as the active agents of global exploration, rather than the passive objects of that exploration, broadening our understanding of geographical knowledge production and power in the context of colonialism.

My first book, The Color of the Land, argues for the central place of struggles over the ownership of Native American lands in the history of racial and national construction by Creeks, African Americans, and whites in the Creek Nation and eastern Oklahoma. The Color of the Land was awarded the 2010 Theodore Saloutos Prize for best book in agricultural history from the Agricultural History Society and was granted Honorable Mention in the competition for the American Studies Association’s 2011 Lora Romero First Book Prize.

All Content Sessions will be conducted via Zoom and a Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)-hosted Canvas learning community. Each session’s lectures and discussions will be recorded and registered participants will receive access to the Canvas course with session recordings, curated resources, and collaborative planning tools.

High school U.S. History teachers and 5th and 7th grade educators are invited to participate in companion Pedagogy Sessions.

Registration
Content Sessions are open to all K–12 educators interested in historical content and source-based instruction. Educators are welcome to register for individual sessions that align with their interests and schedules. Join us for one or more sessions throughout the year.

This event is free but registration is required. Separate registration is required for each offering.

Registration Questions: Brittany.Rawson-Haeg@state.mn.us

Register Now

This offering is part of Navigating the U.S. History Eras: Content, Pedagogy, and Inquiry in the Classroom is a yearlong professional learning opportunity supporting implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies presented by MHC and MDE.

Online - From Page to Practice: The Native American Lives Series in the Classroom
2025-12-04 07:30 - 08:30 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-from-page-to-practice-the-native-american-lives-series-in-the-classroom-morning/
Join us for an introductory professional development session on the Native American Lives Series—a vibrant new collection of biographies designed to support grades 1–8 educators in bringing Indigenous voices, histories, and perspectives into the classroom. This session will introduce the first four books in the series, each centering the life and legacy of a Native changemaker. Developed with Native authors, illustrators, and editors, these books provide culturally grounded content that supports both literacy development and inclusive social studies instruction.
Educators will have the opportunity to:

Engage with Minnesota Department of Education content specialists integrating indigenous content with current academic standards
Learn about classroom ready resources and educator guides
Hear from series co-editor Heid E. Erdrich and highlights about the series

K-8 Educators will receive 1 clock hour.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. This session is also available at 4:00 p.m. on December 4, 2025.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Online - From Page to Practice: The Native American Lives Series in the Classroom
2025-12-04 16:00 - 17:00 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-from-page-to-practice-the-native-american-lives-series-in-the-classroom-evening/
Join us for an introductory professional development session on the Native American Lives Series—a vibrant new collection of biographies designed to support grades 1–8 educators in bringing Indigenous voices, histories, and perspectives into the classroom. This session will introduce the first four books in the series, each centering the life and legacy of a Native changemaker. Developed with Native authors, illustrators, and editors, these books provide culturally grounded content that supports both literacy development and inclusive social studies instruction.
Educators will have the opportunity to:

Engage with Minnesota Department of Education content specialists integrating indigenous content with current academic standards
Learn about classroom ready resources and educator guides
Hear from series co-editor Heid E. Erdrich and highlights about the series

K-8 Educators will receive 1 clock hour.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required. This session is also available at 7:30 a.m. on December 4, 2025.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Online - Building Summative Tasks for Social Studies
2025-12-17 07:30 - 08:30 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-building-summative-tasks-for-social-studies/
Gain insight into designing summative tasks that align with the inquiry arc. Participants will explore ways to assess students’ understanding through authentic performance-based assessments aligned to both the content and the skills of social studies benchmarks.
The Minnesota Department of Education, in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Center, will host virtual and in-person sessions to support planning for and implementation of the 2021 K-12 Academic Standards in Social Studies, held monthly during the 2025–26 school year. These sessions are open to anyone with building or district-level responsibilities for curriculum planning and development in all social studies content areas, including curriculum directors, department leads, and teachers. Pre-registration is required for in-person sessions.
Virtual sessions will have content similar to in-person sessions, and whenever possible will feature the same speakers.
In-person sessions will be an hour longer than virtual sessions and will allow time for supported collaborative work and networking.
While districts are encouraged to have a representative at each monthly session, either in-person or virtual, participants do not need to commit to attending all nine sessions. Participants are also welcome to attend either session type throughout the year, as is best suited to their needs and schedule.
K-12 educators will receive 1 clock hour.
Registration
Registration Questions: brittany.rawson-haeg@state.mn.us
Register Now

Online Pedagogy Session – Era Four: Imperial Expansion and Native Dispossession
2025-12-18 16:00 - 17:30 | Online
Trace the effects of U.S. expansion on Native nations and examine how policies of land seizure and sovereignty denial shaped the 19th century. Using content and sources from Dr. David Aiona Chang, Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Social Studies Specialist Brittany Rawson-Haeg and experienced classroom educators will lead this hands-on workshop supporting high school U.S. History teachers in designing inquiry-based, standards-aligned units.
All Pedagogy Sessions will be conducted via Zoom. Educators who participate in all Pedagogy Sessions will leave the year with a complete U.S. History course aligned to the new standards.
Educators are invited to participate in companion Content Sessions.
Registration
Pedagogy Sessions are designed for high school U.S. History teachers and may also be relevant for 5th and 7th grade educators. Educators are welcome to register for individual sessions that align with their interests and schedules. Join us for one or more sessions throughout the year.
This event is free but registration is required. Separate registration is required for each offering.
Registration Questions: Brittany.Rawson-Haeg@state.mn.us
Register Now
This offering is part of Navigating the U.S. History Eras: Content, Pedagogy, and Inquiry in the Classroom is a yearlong professional learning opportunity supporting implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies presented by MHC and MDE.

Online Content Session - Era Five: Slavery, Civil War, and Reconstruction
2026-01-15 16:00 - 17:30 | Online
Explore the causes, course, and consequences of the Civil War, and evaluate the transformative potential and limitations of Reconstruction. Led by Dr. Rebecca Brückmann and moderated by Dr. Katharine Gerbner, this session will provide deep historical context, source analysis, and thematic framing.

View Dr. Rebecca Brückmann’s Bio

Rebecca Brückmann (pronounced “Brookman”) is an associate professor of History at Carleton College, who specializes in African American History. She completed her Ph.D. in Modern and Contemporary History at Free University Berlin, Germany, in 2014. She is the author of the monograph “Massive Resistance and Southern Womanhood: White Women, Class, and Segregation” (University of Georgia Press, 2021), which analyzes whites supremacist women’s resistance against Black Freedom activism in Arkansas, Louisiana, and South Carolina from the 1940s to the 1960s. Her research on the Black Freedom Movement, the history of the Black Diaspora, Southern history, and the history of white supremacy has been published, e.g., in the Southern Quarterly, the South Carolina Historical Magazine, the European Journal of American Studies, and “Picturing Black History.” She is currently an Academic Leadership Fellow of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest. At Carleton, she teaches courses on Black and African American history from the 14th through the 21st centuries, including “Black Perspectives on the Civil War and Reconstruction,” “Slavery in the Atlantic World,” and “Freedom Then, Freedom Now: Reconstruction to #BlackLivesMatter.”

All Content Sessions will be conducted via Zoom and a Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)-hosted Canvas learning community. Each session’s lectures and discussions will be recorded and registered participants will receive access to the Canvas course with session recordings, curated resources, and collaborative planning tools. High school U.S. History teachers and 5th and 7th grade educators are invited to participate in companion Pedagogy Sessions.
Registration
Content Sessions are open to all K–12 educators interested in historical content and source-based instruction. Educators are welcome to register for individual sessions that align with their interests and schedules. Join us for one or more sessions throughout the year.

This event is free but registration is required. Separate registration is required for each offering.

Registration Questions: Brittany.Rawson-Haeg@state.mn.us

Register Now

This offering is part of Navigating the U.S. History Eras: Content, Pedagogy, and Inquiry in the Classroom is a yearlong professional learning opportunity supporting implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies presented by MHC and MDE.

Online - Repeatable Routines: Building Formative Tasks for Social Studies, Session One
2026-01-21 07:30 - 08:30 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-repeatable-routines-building-formative-tasks-for-social-studies-session-one/
Begin a three-part series on developing effective formative assessment routines. This session will introduce strategies for using formative tasks to gauge student learning and adjust instruction in real-time.
The Minnesota Department of Education, in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Center, will host virtual and in-person sessions to support planning for and implementation of the 2021 K-12 Academic Standards in Social Studies, held monthly during the 2025–26 school year. These sessions are open to anyone with building or district-level responsibilities for curriculum planning and development in all social studies content areas, including curriculum directors, department leads, and teachers. Pre-registration is required for in-person sessions.
Virtual sessions will have content similar to in-person sessions, and whenever possible will feature the same speakers.
In-person sessions will be an hour longer than virtual sessions and will allow time for supported collaborative work and networking.
While districts are encouraged to have a representative at each monthly session, either in-person or virtual, participants do not need to commit to attending all nine sessions. Participants are also welcome to attend either session type throughout the year, as is best suited to their needs and schedule.
K-12 educators will receive 1 clock hour.
Registration
Registration Questions: brittany.rawson-haeg@state.mn.us
Register Now
