Minnesota Humanities Center

Hampton - Learning from Place: Watt Munisotaram (Cambodian Temple)
2025-07-25 13:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Watt Munisotaram, 2925 220th St E, Hampton, 55031, United States
Join us for an immersive cultural learning experience at Watt Munisotaram, the largest Cambodian Buddhist temple in the United States, located in the serene countryside of Hampton, Minnesota. Hosted in collaboration with the Cambodian American Partnership of Minnesota, this event offers a rare opportunity to explore the intersection of history, spirituality, and community within one of Minnesota’s most vibrant cultural landmarks.

Event Highlights

Historical Context: Gain insight into Cambodia’s complex history, including the impact of the Khmer Rouge genocide and the Vietnam War, which led many Cambodians to seek refuge in Minnesota.
Temple Origins & Architecture: Discover the origins of Watt Munisotaram and explore its stunning architecture. Learn how the temple was established and how it continues to serve as a spiritual and cultural anchor for the Cambodian American community.
Guided Tour: Walk the temple grounds with community members who will share their knowledge and experiences, offering a deeper understanding of the site’s cultural and religious significance.
Community Voices: Listen to personal stories from Cambodian Americans and hear directly from temple monks about their spiritual practices and daily lives.
Cambodian Cuisine: Enjoy a tasting of traditional Cambodian treats—an essential part of the cultural experience.

Minnesota is home to the fifth-largest Cambodian population in the United States, with approximately 12,000 Cambodian Americans—most residing in the Twin Cities metro area.

This event offers a powerful way to engage with community while learning about Cambodian history, culture, and spirituality in a welcoming and enriching environment.

Learn about Watt Munisotaram in the first segment on Buddhism from Prayers on the Prairie: Asian-Pacific Minnesota Religious Practices, an educational video produced in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Center and the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans.

K-12 educators will receive 3 clock hours

Registration
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Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org

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Staples - K-8 Social Studies Standards Workshop
2025-07-29 09:00 - 15:00 | Sourcewell, 202 12th Street NE, Staples, MN, 56479, United States
We invite K-8 social studies educators to a workshop that will provide an overview of the new 2021 Minnesota social studies standards. This workshop includes time for teachers to work together to bundle benchmarks into cohesive, interdisciplinary instructional units. Participants will also have work time to start aligning these units with existing resources and primary sources.
A collaboration between Sourcewell and the Minnesota Humanities Center, this workshop will be led by Sourcewell education consultant Jen McLachlan and will feature Brittany Rawson Haeg, Social Studies Content Lead for the Minnesota Department of Education.
Workshop Leader
Jen McLachlan serves as an education consultant at Sourcewell, lending her expertise to programs such as ElevatePD, New Teacher Academy, and the Social Studies Network. With a background as a middle-level educator in both math and social studies, as well as serving on a school board, she is deeply passionate about empowering teachers to become innovators and catalysts for change.
Workshop Presenter
Brittany Rawson Haeg is the Social Studies Content Specialist at the Minnesota Department of Education. She began her teaching career as a high school social studies teacher in Brooklyn, New York. She taught middle and high school social studies in the Twin Cities. Prior to teaching, she was a staff assistant in the New York City Department of Education Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. She believes in the power of social studies education to help students develop greater empathy and understanding.
For more information and to register, visit the Sourcewell event listing.

St. Paul - Learning for Sovereign Futures: Native Education for All Institute
2025-08-04 08:00 - 2025-08-08 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The National Indian Education Association (NIEA) is excited to share an upcoming professional learning opportunity in collaboration with the Tribal Nations Education Committee, Minnesota Department of Education’s Office of American Indian Education, and the Minnesota Humanities Center.
Applications for the NIEA’s Learning for Sovereign Futures: Native Education for All Institute are now open! This free, five-day workshop, taking place from August 4-8, 2025, in the Twin Cities, is designed for educators, leaders, and advocates focused on supporting Indigenous Education for All (IEFA) in K-12 classrooms.
This opportunity is open to any educators or leaders working in or with a Minnesota K-12 school or district and ideal for those who plan professional development activities in their roles.
Apply Now
THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR THIS EVENT HAS CLOSED

St. Paul - Leading Elementary Social Studies Inquiry Institute
2025-08-12 08:00 - 2025-08-14 15:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Learn how to do more with less! In partnership with the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota Humanities Center proudly presents the Leading Elementary Social Studies Inquiry (LESSI) Institute. This innovative program equips K-5 curriculum and instruction leaders across Minnesota to integrate English Language Arts and Social Studies Standards into cohesive, interdisciplinary lessons that maximize impact with limited resources and time.
Designed for curriculum and instruction leaders, this six-session Institute empowers participants to develop inquiry-based lessons that seamlessly integrate disciplinary literacy and social studies. Learn effective bundling of curriculum elements, create engaging model lessons, and gain skills to design high-quality professional development within districts.
Goals:

Support districts in implementing standards-based disciplinary literacy instruction.
Provide hands-on training in bundling standards for interdisciplinary teaching.
Develop and share adaptable, inquiry-based model lessons.
Establish a train-the-trainer approach for sustainable district-wide impact.

Key Details:

Participation requires attendance on all six dates.
Participants will leave with model K-5 social studies lessons integrating ELA elements.
Expect preparation between sessions for resource identification and lesson development.
Due to limited space, interested curriculum and instruction leaders must complete a short application. Final selections will prioritize geographic diversity and statewide reach.

Dates/Agenda:

June 25-27: Orientation, Bundling Foundations, Inquiry Lesson Development.
August 12-14: Model Lesson Construction, Presentation & Feedback, Train-the-Trainer Setup, Program Evaluation & Reflection.

Speakers:

Kristin Bauck, ELA Specialist, MDE
Mychi Nguyen, K-8 Ethnic Studies Integration Specialist, MDE
Brittany Rawson-Haeg, Social Studies Specialist, MDE

Provided:

Light breakfast and lunch
BOSA clock hours available
Lodging – a limited number of overnight rooms will be available for those traveling from outside of the Metro area.

Join this cohort to collaborate, gain expertise, and drive meaningful change in K-5 education across Minnesota. Learn to deliver high-quality, standards-aligned instruction efficiently and effectively by focusing on how to “do more with less.”
Registration
While intended for educators who have influence in their buildings and districts, K-5 classroom teachers are welcome to register.
The registration deadline is Friday, June 13.
Note: You must commit to attending all six sessions to participate.
Register Now

St. Paul - History Fest
2025-08-14 08:30 - 15:30 | Minnesota History Center, 345 W Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, MN, 55102, United States
Get ready for the 2025-2026 school year with a choice of educator-led sessions focusing on state, national and world history, as well as assessments, primary sources, and more. Connect with your history peers from around the state! This workshop has sessions for elementary, middle, and high school levels. The Minnesota Humanities Center will be tabling in the vendor area – stop by to view MHC’s educator resources and learn more about our work with educators.
Registration
History Fest is organized by the Minnesota History Center. Registration and payment through MNHS for the full conference are required to attend.
Registration Questions: Email Jessica McMahon at jessica.mcmahon@mnhs.org.
Register Now

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.

St. Paul – Learning from Place: Bdote
2025-09-13 08:30 - 14:30 | Fort Snelling State Park, 101 Snelling Lake Road, St. Paul, MN, 55111, United States
Learning from Place: Bdote is an immersive experience that brings participants to sites of great significance to Dakota people in the Twin Cities. Participants will learn from Dakota community members through stories and histories that have often been left out of our state’s history. This experience is open to the public and is particularly beneficial for educators who want to include new perspectives in their history curriculum.
Learning from Place: Bdote will begin at Fort Snelling State Park (parking permit is required). After a break for “lunch on your own,” we will meet at Wicaḣapi (pronounced we-CHA-ha-pee; formerly Indian Mounds Regional Park), followed by a visit to the Oȟéyawahe/Pilot Knob Preservation Site (pronounced oh-HAY-ya-wa-hee). We will be outside the entire time. Participants need to provide their own transportation, lunch, snacks, and beverages.
There will be about 1.5 miles of walking throughout the day, sometimes on unpaved paths, as well as standing for periods of time. We will provide audio headsets for amplification of the tour guides. For specific inquiries about accessibility, please contact Eden Bart at eden@mnhum.org or 651-772-4261.
Your co-leads: Ramona Kitto Stately and Fern Naomi Renville
Ramona Kitto Stately is an enrolled member of the Santee Sioux Dakhóta Nation. She has a BA in Dakota Art and Culture and a MAE in Teacher Leadership. She is Project Director for We Are Still Here Minnesota and serves as chairperson of the Minnesota Indian Education Association. Ramona was the Recipient of the 2021 Ron McKinley Award from Minnesota Education Equity Partnership, currently serves as 2023’s Indigenous Elder in Residence for Carleton College, and McKnight Culture Bearers Award Recipient in March 2023.
Fern Naomi Renville is an artist, storyteller, enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and seventh-generation descendant of Chief Gabriel Renville. Born on the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota, Fern currently lives and works in Saint Paul as an educator sharing music, story, and land-based learning to promote greater understanding and knowledge of Dakota people.
K-12 educators will receive 5 clock hours.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org | MHC Cancellation Policy
Registration for this event has SOLD OUT.
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Want to know more about Learning from Place: Bdote?
Learn more about the Learning from Place: Bdote offering.

Learn More
Watch Learning from Place: Bdote, a video produced to celebrate 10 years of this powerful program.
Watch Now

Fort Snelling - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-09-13 13:00 - 14:30 | Fort Snelling State Park, 101 Snelling Lake Road, St. Paul, MN, 55111, United States
To understand the challenges African Americans still face in being seen as full citizens in America today, it is important for us to understand the origin story of the path of formerly enslaved people becoming citizens. The past is not dead; it is not even really the past.
This film, created with our movie production partner OMG Studios, features Federal Minnesota District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell, author of Just Mercy and prominent civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, Macalester University Professor Duchess Harris, and a cameo by Minnesota’s First Lady of Civil Rights, Dr. Josie Johnson.
K-12 educators will receive 2 clock hours.
Registration
Registration Questions: ftsnelling@mnhs.org
Register Now

Online Pedagogy Session – Foundations and Framework
2025-09-18 16:00 - 17:30 | Online
This opening pedagogy session will provide a brief overview of the new Minnesota K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies, followed by an introduction to the structure and goals of the Navigating U.S. History Eras pedagogy sessions. Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Social Studies Specialist Brittany Rawson-Haeg will guide participants in understanding how the series is designed to support inquiry-based, standards-aligned approaches to teaching U.S. History.
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.

Fergus Falls - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-10-02 18:00 - 19:30 | Westridge Theater, 2001 West Lincoln Ave, Fergus Falls, 56537, United States
To understand the challenges African Americans still face in being seen as full citizens in America today, it is important for us to understand the origin story of the path of formerly enslaved people becoming citizens. The past is not dead; it is not even really the past.
This film, created with our movie production partner OMG Studios, features Federal Minnesota District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell, author of Just Mercy and prominent civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, Macalester University Professor Duchess Harris, and a cameo by Minnesota’s First Lady of Civil Rights, Dr. Josie Johnson.
K-12 educators will receive 2 clock hours.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

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.

Duluth - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-10-10 15:00 - 16:30 | Zeitgeist Center for Arts, 222 East Superior Street, Duluth, MN, 55802, United States

Edina - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-10-21 18:30 - 20:30 | Edina Mann Theatre, 3911 W. 5th St., Edina, MN, 55424, United States
To understand the challenges African Americans still face in being seen as full citizens in America today, it is important for us to understand the origin story of the path of formerly enslaved people becoming citizens. The past is not dead; it is not even really the past.
This film, created with our movie production partner OMG Studios, features Federal Minnesota District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell, author of Just Mercy and prominent civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, Macalester University Professor Duchess Harris, and a cameo by Minnesota’s First Lady of Civil Rights, Dr. Josie Johnson.
K-12 educators will receive 2 clock hours.
Registration
This screening is part of the Twin Cities Film Festival (TCFF). Tickets must be purchased through TCFF.
Register Now

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

Minneapolis - Building Questioning Across the Social Studies Disciplines
2025-10-23 09:00 - 11:00 | Minnesota Department of Education, 400 NE Stinson Blvd, Minneapolis, MN, 55413, United States
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 2 clock hours.
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.

Rochester - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-11-01 13:00 - 14:30 | Historic Chateau Theater, 15 1st Street Southwest, Rochester, MN, 55902, United States

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.

St. Cloud - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-11-08 13:00 - 14:30 | Atwood Memorial Center, St. Cloud University, 720 4th Ave. South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States

St. Paul - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-11-09 13:00 - 14:30 | Wilder Foundation, 451 Lexington Pkwy N., St. Paul, 55104, United States

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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Staples - K-8 Social Studies Standards Workshop
2025-11-18 08:30 - 14:30 | Sourcewell, 202 12th Street NE, Staples, MN, 56479, United States
We invite K-8 social studies educators to a workshop that will provide an overview of the new 2021 Minnesota social studies standards. This workshop includes time for teachers to work together to bundle benchmarks into cohesive, interdisciplinary instructional units. Participants will also have work time to start aligning these units with existing resources and primary sources.
A collaboration between Sourcewell and the Minnesota Humanities Center, this workshop will be led by Sourcewell education consultant Jen McLachlan and will feature Brittany Rawson Haeg, Social Studies Content Lead for the Minnesota Department of Education.
Workshop Leader
Jen McLachlan serves as an education consultant at Sourcewell, lending her expertise to programs such as ElevatePD, New Teacher Academy, and the Social Studies Network. With a background as a middle-level educator in both math and social studies, as well as serving on a school board, she is deeply passionate about empowering teachers to become innovators and catalysts for change.
Workshop Presenter
Brittany Rawson Haeg is the Social Studies Content Specialist at the Minnesota Department of Education. She began her teaching career as a high school social studies teacher in Brooklyn, New York. She taught middle and high school social studies in the Twin Cities. Prior to teaching, she was a staff assistant in the New York City Department of Education Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. She believes in the power of social studies education to help students develop greater empathy and understanding.
Registration
$60 per participant from districts in the five-county service area and partner schools; Comprehensive Package pricing: $6 per participant; $80 per participant from all other schools; Lunch provided.
For more information and to register, visit the Sourcewell event listing.

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

Minneapolis - Digging Into Disciplinary Sources K-12
2025-11-20 09:00 - 11:00 | Minnesota Department of Education, 400 NE Stinson Blvd, Minneapolis, MN, 55413, United States
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 2 clock hours.
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.

St. Paul - From Mountains to Lakes: The Museums We Carry
2025-12-03 08:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Across mountains, oceans, generations, and borders, the Hmong people have carried songs, textiles, and rituals that tell the stories of their identity for hundreds of years. Elders serve as living museums, passing knowledge from one generation to the next. Yet what happens when that transfer is disrupted, when younger generations reach for knowledge through the internet or AI, without understanding that Hmong truths live in many forms, shaped by clan, dialect, nationalism, and landscapes across the globe?
From Mountains to Lakes: The Museums We Carry is a daylong retreat that brings together Hmong cultural bearers, educators, and community leaders to examine the dangers of cultural extinction and explore collective ways to preserve identity. Held at the Hoċokata Ti Cultural Center, participants will engage in a guided learning experience led by members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, reflecting on how Indigenous peoples sustain culture, language, and identity across generations. The retreat concludes with a collective reflection on the challenges ahead and a call to action to carry these living museums forward together.
Agenda:

8:00am Check-in at Minnesota Humanities Center, light continental breakfast will be served (8:00am – 8:45am)
8:45am Load Bus
9:00am Travel to Hocokata Ti Culture Center (Shakopee, MN)
9:45am Culture & Exhibit Tour (indoor & outdoor)
Noon Indigenous Lunch & Culture Exchange Panel Discussion
2:00pm Depart Hocokata Ti Culture Center and return to MHC
3:00pm Reflection
4:00pm Adjourn

K-12 Educators will receive 4 clock hours. Participants are welcome to wear traditional clothing.
Registration
Registration for this event has SOLD OUT.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org

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
