History gets a boost: $855,000 grant to energize history teaching
Alumni & Friends, Winter/Spring 2004

Knowledge of American history has been on a well-publicized decline, but a UW-Whitewater project intends to counter the trend locally with an $855,000 teacher-training grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The goal will be to provide more than 50 teachers in the 4th to 10th grades with an infusion of history content that will refresh their curriculum and lead to broader changes in how history is taught. The Cooperative Educational Service Agency 2 (CESA 2) has partnered in the project with UW-Whitewater and the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Nikki Mandell, history professor and project director of “Dialogues with Democracy,” said she expects to see tangible benefits from training a generation with a better grip on history and democracy, such as greater participation in voting and civic life. She also said history teaches strong analytical skills that are valuable in other walks of life.

The program will feature summer teaching institutes taught at historical sites in Wisconsin. Knowledge of historical events will be promoted in content areas such as immigration, war and democracy, and economic opportunity.

“History is actually a study of the past, and study is the key word here,” said Mandell. “You bring in new information, see things in a different light, gain from analysis and interpretation. It’s a lot more fun to learn this way.”