Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection, Harvard University, in partnership with Texas A&M University, hosted a three-week, residential NEH Summer Institute for Higher Education Faculty from June 12 to July 1, 2022, in which participants re-examined how we research and teach history through the lens of people in place with a focus on expanding critical spatial literacy.
During the three-week institute, participants collaborated to develop online, open-source curriculum modules that teach landscape-oriented social histories, centering Black and Indigenous historical narratives in the founding of the United States and the District of Columbia. The program was designed to accommodate 25 participants, including at least five non-tenured/non-tenure-track faculty and up to three advanced graduate students. Applicants from HBCUs, HSIs, and tribal colleges were strongly encouraged to apply. This Level 1 program was offered for the first time.
Overview
“This Institute interrogates histories of the nation’s founding by centering the cultural landscape of its capital, the District of Columbia. A People’s History of Landscape brings distinct bodies of knowledge together with a critical place studies approach that positions place at the center of the narrative.
Within this context, place is not only a geographical site but a critical agent in shaping human behavior and social/ environmental relationships as well as cultures broadly. In this Institute's approach land is considered in terms of the physical components that comprise the living systems and natural process in place as well as the cultural narratives and meaning of place. Institute participants will explore the lived experience in place of Black and Indigenous peoples and communities who imagined, constructed, used, and memorialized places.”
Field Trips
National Museum of African American History and Culture
National Museum of the American Indian
Piscataway Park
Monticello
Anacostia Community Museum