SESSION A SESSIONS 

(in alphabetical order)

 A1: American Partisan Politics of the 1790s Thomas Barden, US History Teacher, Marcuis Whitman H.S., Rushville, NY, Former Adjunct Professor of History, SUNY Geneseo  The decade of George Washington's Presidency also gave us the start of our partisan politics. This mirrored not just the differences our leaders had in political theory, but also the advent of "dirty" American politics. Although Washington sought to prevent this from happening, even he could not do so.  After examining the 1790s, we find they do not look very different from the 2000s.

A2: Brief Trip to Vietnam and Cambodia Chuck Coon taught and was an administrator for 34 years in Baldwinsville, followed by teaching in retirement at OCC, SUNY Oswego and SUNY Cortland.  He has presented for NYSCSS, CNYCSS,  Elderhostel and Oasis.  The presenter will comment on his observations on his trip to Vietnam and Cambodia in January 2013, where he visited Saigon, the tomb of Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City, the so-called "Hanoi Hilton" and various remnants of French Indochina, and(in Cambodia) Siem Reap, several Hindu/Buddhist temples dating back 800 years including Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom,and the notorious "killing fields" of the 1970s and 80s.The trip also included a Cambodian High School and 8 days on the Mekong River.

A3: Between Tawhid and History: Explaining Islamic Diversity Howard Eissenstat, St. Lawrence University The ideal of unity is central to much of Islamic thought: one God, one community of believers, one faith. Yet this reality does not diminish fundamental diversity that represents intellectual challenge of believers and schools of Islam alike. The presentation aims to offer a framework for understanding the relationship between Islamic norms and Muslim practice, with the goal of facilitating more sophisticated conversations about one of the world's great religions, starting in our classrooms. 

A4: Common Core Interdisciplinary Units for 7th and 8th Grade ELA and Social Studies Marilyn Natke, Chittenango M.S. Library Media Specialist; Sarah Schultheis,Chittenango M.S., Social Studies: Sarah Rife Chittenango M.S., ELA  The presenters will describe their two inter-disciplinary units for 7th and 8th grade, which are centered on the books, UPRISING and GIVE ME LIBERTY,  with alignment to Common Core.

  SESSION B SESSIONS 

(in alphabetical order)

 B1: Behind the Headlines: Africa Today & Tomorrow  Matthew Carotenuto, St. Lawrence University Following up on his presentation to us in 2010, the presenter will seek to clarify developments on this fast-changing continent, which often reach us only in the form of bloody headlines via the World News segments of our news media. With enormous economic and political implications for the entire world community, the diversity and complexity of modern-day Africa deserve our informed attention.

B2: The Confederate South: Myths and Realities    Dr. Douglas Egerton, Le Moyne College   This presentation counters the pervasive myth that the Civil War was due to sectional conflicts over tariffs and states' rights. Modern Confederate apologists point out that most Southern whites did not own slaves and now argue that African-Americans also fought for the Confederacy. They ignore the fact that the men who voted for secession in special state conven-tions were, on average, 86 percent slaveholding planters and that the South also had the first draft in our Hemisphere. 

B3:  The George Washington Teacher’s Summer Institute Mary Duffin,  JD Educator &  Erica Martin, Chittenango Educator  The CNYCSS team of Duffin and Martin will report on the George Washington Teacher's Institute, and the historical information and materials the Institute provides. They will demonstrate how this material can be used in Elementary and in Middle School classrooms, and how they relate to Common Core. In an age hungry for real heroes, the material helps students understand Washington's description as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

B4: GETTING STUDENTS INVOLVED IN NATIONAL HISTORY DAY FM Educators Mary Anne Silvernail and Paul Muench  Our presenters share their experiences with History Day as an extremely successful extra-curricular activity at FM High School.  In the past four years, this activity has produced numerous winners at the Regional and State levels, and has sent two entrants to represent New York State in the National Competition.  Find out how you can involve your students in this excellent experience, while developing skills in historical research, presentation and 21st century learning.

  SESSION C SESSIONS 

(in alphabetical order)

C1:  The Algerian War: How, What and Why We Should Teach About It John W. Langdon, Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities, Le Moyne College The Algerian War of Independence from France (1954-1962) was big news 55 years ago, yet is seldom mentioned today. The issues is raised, however, are back with us.  It was a 1950s version "Arab Spring" complete with debates about torture, terrorism, and Islamist fundamentalism. Studying it helps students understand the roots of these contemporary concerns.

C2:  Rethinking Reconstruction: America’s First Progressive Era Dr. Douglas Egerton, Le Moyne College This presentation reflects on the positive impact that Reconstruction reforms had on the North and New York State. Three times between 1860 and 1868, white New York Yorkers in popular referendums and in the Assembly, defeated attempts to remove the $250 property qualification imposed only on black voters. Working-class black Syracusans finally got the vote with the 1870 ratification of the 15th Amendment.

C3: Women in the U.S. Today: Comparing Perception to Reality Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, Executive Director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation and Members of the Girl Ambassadors for Human Rights Team The presenters will discuss their work exploring the position of women in the United States as compared to the condition of women internationally, with surprising results.  While the perception is that we lead the world in women's rights, the reality is that women in the US fall far below much of the world in important areas. 

C4: The Year That Was: Highlights of the 2012-2013 Supreme Court Term Dr. Keith J. Bybee, Syracuse University College of Law and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs The presenter will follow up to last year's introduction to the Roberts Court, with an analysis of the decisions rendered by the Supreme Court year which began on the first Monday in October 2012 and concluded with a quartet of June decision days applauded and denounced by people on all sides of the political divide.