For the sixth year, Delta State University has received major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks in American History and Culture program. Funding will allow the Delta Center for Culture and Learning to offer two week-long workshops focusing on the Delta\u2019s rich cultural heritage in June and July of 2015. Each workshop will serve\u00a040 K-12 teachers who will come from Mississippi and across\u00a0the U.S.<\/p>\n
Dr. Luther Brown, former DCCCL said,\u00a0\u201cEvery time we offer this workshop we have over 400 applications coming from all 50 states. This is a very exciting workshop, and we hope to draw applicants from all of Mississippi and the rest of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Classroom teachers in public, private, parochial and charter schools, as well as home-schooling parents and school librarians, are eligible to participate. They will receive a stipend to assist with expenses and gather with leading humanities scholars and Delta State staff to develop powerful lesson plans relating to the Delta\u2019s heritage and the heritage of their own home regions.<\/p>\n
The workshops are titled \u201cThe Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, History and Culture in the Mississippi Delta.\u201d Participants will travel throughout the Delta as they visit sites where significant events occurred.<\/p>\n
Discussions will focus on\u00a0civil rights and political leadership, immigrants\u2019 experiences in the Delta, the blues, the great migration, agriculture, the Mississippi River and more. Participants will sample Delta foods, visit local museums and listen to the blues. Field trips will roam as far as Greenville, Greenwood, Indianola, Ruleville, Mound Bayou, Clarksdale, Memphis and stops in between.<\/p>\n
Brown will return to the DCCL\u00a0to direct the workshops between June 21-27 and July 12-18, 2015. Each workshop begins on Sunday evening and runs through the following Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Participants can earn five graduate semester hours upon completion of the workshop.<\/p>\n
The DCCL at Delta State\u00a0promotes the understanding of the heritage of the Mississippi Delta. The center will be assisted during the workshops by Delta State\u00a0faculty members along\u00a0with faculty from the University of Mississippi, Sam Houston State University, Jackson State University, the University of Memphis and other institutions of higher learning. Local Delta citizens will also tell their own stories and experiences.<\/p>\n
There are only 21\u00a0Landmarks in American History and Culture topics offered during 2015. The topics range from the transcontinental railroad, mining in the far West, the American Revolution in the Northern Frontier\u00a0and\u00a0several workshops focusing on the civil rights movement. A complete list can be found at http:\/\/www.neh.gov\/divisions\/education\/summer-programs<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n