C1. "Constitutional Law and Discrimination"

Keith Bybee, Syracuse University College of Law

Our favorite expert on the Supreme Court, fresh from his classes at the Maxwell School and the Syracuse University College of Law, Keith takes a look at a Court in a state of flux. The Supreme Court often decides politically controversial issues, and we often think about case outcomes in partisan terms.  Yet it is important to remember that the high bench still operates as a court and that the justices ground their decisions in constitutional doctrine. Using same-sex marriage and affirmative action as examples, Professor Bybee will outline and explain the legal doctrines used by the Court to analyze discrimination.  Comparing and contextualizing the modern Court with the historic, educators especially in grades 7, 8, 11, and 12 can examine with Keith the future of this co-equal branch of government.  Keith is the Paul E. and the Hon. Joanne F. Alper '72 Judiciary Studies Professor at SU. His most recent book is How Civility Works.

C2. "Writing to Learn in the Social Studies Classroom"

Jenny Fanelli, OCM BOCES

Jenny is a literacy specialist by training who caught the "History Bug" through the Teaching American History grant. Recently retired from OMC BOCES, she is still working with Social Studies teachers in Central New York, teaching pre-service teachers at SUNY Cortland and writing curriculum for the Syracuse City School District.  In this session she will help teachers with this question: How do we get our students to write more frequently and fluently about social studies?  Not every writing assignment has to be a polished essay. Frequent, short, writing-to-learn strategies can help students not only build up their writing stamina, but also help them to express their thinking in writing. Several handy writing strategies will be demonstrated for use at all levels K-12.  These strategies will build students' capacity for the Six Social Studies Practices outlined in the framework and will cultivate student ability to synthesize information and communicate it according to the framework's writing standards.

C3. "Is NATO Obsolete?"

John Langdon, LeMoyne College

This compelling question is a driving force in our current Presidential campaign, as the candidates make cases for both isolationism and globalism in our foreign policy.  John will help us as citizens and educators consider how to present this question to our students and what the implications are beyond Election Day.  Teachers of grades 8, 10, 11 and 12 will find specific value in this session, but even grade 3 teachers might find this a useful paradigm for exploring the links we form in global communities.  John will help us to understand the chronology and causes of the development of NATO, the role it plays globally today and potential outcomes if NATO ceased to function or exist.  Join the authentic conversation about the enduring issues of war and peace in our modern world.  This session will be conducted jointly by John W. Langdon and the ghost of George F. Kennan.  John W. Langdon, Professor of History at Le Moyne College, has been a member of CNYCSS since 1985 and serves on our Board. He was named the Distinguished Social Studies Educator of the Year in 2011 by CNYCSS, and the New York State Distinguished Educator of the Year in 2012 by the NYSCSS.

C4. "Slave Coffles and the Antebellum South"

Chuck Coon, Conference Co-Chair

Historians are routinely asking new questions about the past. In this session , veteran educator Chuck Coon will consider how we enrich our students' understanding of American History by looking at the role of slavery and the internal slave trade which brought slavery to the so-called 'black belt" of the deep South - Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.  These did not become States until the international slave trade to the United States ended in 1808, only to be replaced by the INTERNAL slave trade from the Upper South -including Virginia, Maryland and the Coastal Slave States. This immense internal trade is the focus of this presentation, with material that draws upon practices including chronological reasoning, geographic reasoning, and economics and economic  systems, particularly in grades 7 and 11, but all will appreciate Chuck's rich ability to consider how a case study like this asks all students to take a "deep dive" into History.  Chuck taught Social Studies and was an Administrator in Baldwinsville Central Schools for 34 years. Since his retirement, he has taught at Onondaga Community College, SUNY College at Oswego, and SUNY College at Cortland. Now an instructor for OASIS (a program "enriching the lives of mature adults"), he is Past President of CNYCSS & NYSCSS, and was the Newsletter Editor for both CNYCSS and NYSCSS.

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