Colorado State University – Pueblo to host one-day history conference for K-12 teachers

Pueblo- Colorado State University – Pueblo will host the first annual Summer History Conference, hosted by the Southeastern Colorado American History Project (SECAHP), from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8 in the Occhiato University Center. The conference is FREE to all participants, and the keynote speeches are open to the public.

The one-day event is the first of at least three scheduled annual conferences for K-12 teachers of American history under the federally funded Teaching American History grant that the University received last summer. Partners are D-70 as Lead Educational Agency (LEA), CSU-Pueblo, and the Southern Colorado Teacher Education Alliance (SCTEA). SCTEA is a partnership among CSU-Pueblo, four community colleges including PCC, and 16 K-12 districts in southern Colorado - including D-60. Jonathan Rees, CSU-Pueblo associate professor of history, and Ginger Andenucio, Director of Instruction and Special Programs at D-70, are the co-directors of SECAHP.

The conference will feature keynote addresses by two nationally renowned American History experts. Neil Foley, associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, focuses his research on the changing constructions of race, citizenship, and national identity in the American Southwest, and comparative civil rights politics of African-Americans and Mexican Americans. He will present “The Changing Face of the American West: 1800 – Today” from 8:30 - 10 a.m.

Maria Montoya, associate professor and director of Latino Studies at the University of Michigan, will discuss "Work, Women and Wobblies: Home and Labor in the Colorado Coal Fields" from 1:30 - 3 p.m. A Denver native, Montoya has Pueblo connections as her uncle, Joe Ulibarri, is a retired Pueblo municipal judge. Her research interests include CF&I.

Break-out Sessions on history content, curriculum, and local resources will be presented by representatives of School District 70, the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, the Bessemer Historical Society, and El Pueblo Historical Museum at 10:10 & 11:10 a.m. For more information, please contact Scott Whited, project coordinator, at 549-2179.

Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.