Event Type

AHA Regional Conference, Conference

AHA Topics

Academic Departmental Affairs, K–12 Education, Teaching & Learning, The History Major, Undergraduate Education

Location

  • San Marcos, TX

Event Description

The 2024 Texas Conference on Introductory History Courses will take place Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5 at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. This statewide conference will focus on issues, challenges, and opportunities associated with introductory courses in US and world history that many students will encounter at several stages in their education, whether in middle and high schools, community colleges, or four-year universities. Attendees will be able to participate in workshops, network with colleagues from across the region, and hear from leading history educators. We invite educators at all levels to join us in discussing our shared interest in student success.

The conference is free to attend and meals are provided.

Register here


View Program

Assignment Workshop

An assignment workshop will take place at the conference on the morning of Saturday, October 5. This event offers any attendee the chance to workshop an assignment with other instructors. Participants read each other’s teaching assignments in advance and then meet in small groups at the conference, with an experienced facilitator. Each participant gets time to present their assignment orally, discuss with others how the assignment works with students, and receive written feedback to take home. Workshop attendance requires separate registration.Submit your materials by September 25 to participate. Confirmation of your workshop participation will be made by September 29.

Featured Speakers

Rebecca Bell-Metereau teaches film and English at Texas State University, where she directs Media Studies Minor, which she developed. She earned her BA, MA, and PhD from Indiana University. She and her husband served from 1973-75 in Peace Corps K-12, and as interpreter for Air Force relief to Chad, Fulbright scholar Senegal, and taught at University of Nebraska. She produced educational videos titled Children & Pregnant Women, Worth the Wait, and has written four books, 18 chapters, 32 articles, 12 references, over 100 papers. She served as Special Assistant to the President at Texas State University, directed a Ford Foundation grant on diversity, media literacy, K-12 workshops, received presidential teaching and service awards, served as Faculty Senator, and Texas Faculty Association board member. She and her husband raised two daughters, and she volunteered at San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District, for interdisciplinarity, diversity, critical thinking, civics, research, vocational education, art, and climate science teaching. She serves on the Committee for School Initiatives of Texas State Board of Education, representing District 5. She represents Bastrop, Blanco, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Hays, Travis counties, and parts of Williamson county.

Kyle Longley is the Henry Salvatori Professor of American Values and Traditions and Professor of History at Chapman University as well as the Executive Director of the Society of Military History. He is the author of nine books including Grunts: The American Combat Soldier in Vietnam (2008), LBJ’s 1968: Power, Politics, and the Presidency in America’s Year of Upheaval (2018), and prize winning, The Sparrow and the Hawk: Costa Rica and the United States during the Rise of Jose Figueres and The Morenci Marines: A Tale of Small Town America and the Vietnam War. His new works include the forthcoming The Forever Soldiers: Americans at War in Afghanistan and Iraq (University of North Carolina Press in 2025) and The Death of LBJ: Days in the Life (for Cambridge University Press in 2026). He is also a prize-winning teacher and has received numerous awards including the Associated Students for Arizona State University Professor for outstanding teacher and the Zebulon Pearce Teaching Award for Outstanding Professor in the Humanities.

Elizabeth Mayer joined the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in May 2020 as its Director of Policy and in February 2022, became its Assistant Commissioner for Academic and Health Affairs. Ms. Mayer leads the Academic Health Affairs (AHA) Division, which provides leadership, guidance, expertise, and resources to improve the efficiency and quality of higher education in Texas. The AHA Division promotes the goals of the agency’s refreshed strategic plan, Building a Talent Strong Texas, and facilitates collaborative solutions with Texas higher education institutions. Under her leadership, the division develops new degree and certificate programs that are responsive to workforce needs, encourages quality and equity across the higher education landscape, and drives student completion. AHA is also responsible for the administration and management of more than $200 million in grant funding to support Texas public higher education. Ms. Mayer began her career in higher education at the Coordinating Board in 2008 as a Program Director. In 2013, she joined the staff at UT System where she served as a Senior Research and Policy Analyst focusing on issues of affordability, dual credit, transfer, and educator preparation. Ms. Mayer has a Master’s in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from Seton Hall University.

Conference Features

  • Leading History Educators: Attend presentations and workshops led by leading history educators.
  • State of History Education in Texas: Learn about the current state of Texas’s K–12 history and social studies standards and higher education policies.
  • Break Out Discussions & Resource Sharing: Participate in break out discussions and share resources with instructors teaching US, European, world, and other introductory history courses in middle and high school and college classrooms.
  • Course Reimagining: Hear from colleagues who will present tangible examples of how they reimagined their introductory courses.
  • Student Support: Learn how you can better support students transitioning from high school to college settings.
  • Equity and Diversity: Engage in conversations about how history educators can promote equity and diversity in their classrooms.
  • AHA Initiatives for History Educators: Gain insights into AHA initiatives, such as our History and Policy Education Program, designed to support history educators.

Resources

History Teaching and Learning in the Age of Artificial Intelligence presentation by Theresa Case

Tiptoeing through the Minefields in Texas and Beyond: Teaching Modern US History in a Divided World presentation by Kyle Longley

Introductory History Courses presentation by Elizabeth Mayer

Texas State Univ. Library Guide

Sponsors

We are grateful for our sponsors, whose generous support make this conference possible.

Department of History, Texas State University

 

Cambridge International Logo

Cambridge University Press & Assessment

 

The Portal to Texas History

 

Texas General Land Office Archives and Records

 

Advanced Placement Program of the College Board

 

William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies

 

Department of History, The University of Texas at Austin

 

Center for the Study of the Southwest, Texas State University

 

The OER Project

 

College of Liberal Arts, Texas State University

 

Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities

Questions?

For more information, email Rachel Wheatley at rwheatley@historians.org