Dr. Spiller and Dr. Kramer joined US historians from ten SUNY campuses, including Cortland, Potsdam, New Paltz, Fredonia, Brockport, Oswego, Geneseo, Plattsburgh, Buffalo State, and Tompkins Cortland Community College. These scholars spent a week at SUNY Cortland’s Camp Huntington, a National Historic Landmark site on Raquette Lake. SUNY Cortland professors Dr. Kevin B. Sheets and Dr. Randi Storch led this Humanities Initiative grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The project enabled SUNY scholars to participate in a week-long faculty study group focused on the late nineteenth century period often described as the Gilded Age and Progressive Era at Camp Huntington, a location closely connected to the historical period under investigation. Two visiting scholars. Dr. Kristin Hoganson, professor of history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Dr. Rebecca Edwards, professor of history at Vassar College, led workshops during the week. The project’s goals include developing new courses within SUNY and revising existing courses to better reflect the current state of the field.
In the second year of the grant, participating faculty will develop outreach efforts to local school districts across New York. They will provide professional development opportunities for middle and high school social studies teachers. The project will also produce a book and companion website designed to help teachers, community college instructors, and college professors incorporate recent scholarship and best teaching practices into their courses.