Event Details

End: March 23, 2023
Contact: OUteachingconf@oakland.edu
More Info: https://forms.gle/JpRSAKsX8Yg9MqbN8

Teaching Race in America: A Professional Development Conference (August 9, 2023)
Oakland University 

How do we discuss our nation’s racial past and present in our classrooms and communities?  How do we honestly examine and confront the history of race in the United States in today’s  contentious environment? How should teachers respond to those who want to exclude any discussion of systemic racism in our history, culture, institutions, and economy? 

On August 9, 2023, Oakland University will host a conference that brings together secondary  and university educators to discuss pedagogical methods for teaching race in America.  “Teaching Race in America: A Professional Development Conference” is a collaborative effort  by high school educators and Oakland University faculty. Our keynote presenter will be Nikole  Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize-Winning investigative reporter for the New York Times and creator  of the 1619 Project. Lunch-time presenters will include Roy Finkenbine (Director of the Black  Abolitionist Archive and Professor of History, University of Detroit-Mercy) and Carlin  Borsheim-Black (Professor of English Language and Literature, Central Michigan University  and author of Letting Go of Literary Whiteness: Antiracist Literature Instruction for White  Students). 

We are seeking proposals for workshops aimed at sharing effective classroom strategies.  Possible subjects include approaches to teaching historical events and issues (such as native  dispossession, abolition, the legacy of slavery, lynching, and immigration); literary and  cinematic texts (Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and other newly banned books); contemporary  movements and social protests (Black Lives Matter, Land Back); legal and political  developments (border security, the assault on voting rights), and more. We welcome proposals  that address the conference’s focus on Social Studies and English Language Arts. Collaborative  proposals are strongly encouraged. 

Sessions will be 45 minutes long and may take many forms: panel presentations, roundtable  discussions, workshops highlighting specific strategies or materials, “lightning” sessions, or  other creative formats. Whatever the case, all sessions should focus on curricular development,  sharing practical strategies and resources, and/or fostering conversation and dialogue between  secondary teachers, university faculty, and community members in a spirit of shared inquiry and  learning. Presenters should plan to provide concrete supporting materials (bibliographies, text  sets, archival material, instructional activities, etc.) and practices (lesson plans, discussion  questions, in- or out-of-class activities, and more). Regardless of format, we recommend that all  sessions reserve time for questions, comments, and discussion. 

Proposals for interactive presentations, workshops, and roundtables should include:

Title 

Teaching Area 

Target Audience

Content 

Structure/Format 

Outcomes/Takeaways 

Access the submission portal at: https://forms.gle/JpRSAKsX8Yg9MqbN8 Deadline for submissions: March 23, 2023. 

If you have any questions, please contact, OUteachingconf@oakland.edu.