St. Francis Joins American Historical Association's &Quot;history Gateways" Program
Two St. Francis College professors will lead a campus-wide redesign of introductory history courses thanks to a $1.65 million grant awarded to the American Historical Association's (AHA) "History Gateways" program by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Associate Professors of History Dr. Eric Platt and Dr. Sara Rzeszutek will be leading campus-wide efforts, which are set to start in January 2019. Divided among 11 institutions, the grant funds the revision of introductory college-level history courses to better serve a diverse student body and align more effectively with modern college curriculums.
"We're excited to work with the AHA to further increase the effectiveness of our introductory history courses," said Platt. "As we and our colleagues from the ten other participating colleges and universities examine the best ways to teach these courses, we hope to be able to create a model that will help many additional students from across the country as well."
The AHA will coordinate researchers and professional development specialists from the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (Gardner Institute) with each institution's chosen faculty to rethink what it means to study history at the post-secondary level. This will include what is needed to implement curricular change that accurately reflects social and cultural values, as well as focus on inclusiveness.
Drawing on the successful AHA's Tuning project and the Gardner Institute's Gateways to Completion (G2C) program, this initiative will work closely with a select group of two-year and four-year institutions in Chicago, Houston, and New York, including:
New York Metro Area
Houston
- Houston Community College
- University of Houston
- University of Houston Downtown
- Texas Southern University
Chicago
- Roosevelt University
- Waubonsee Community College
- University of Illinois at Chicago
- Purdue University Northwest
About The American Historical Association (AHA)
The American Historical Association is the largest professional organization serving historians in all fields and all professions. Founded in 1884, the AHA has become a trusted voice for history education, the professional work of historians, and the critical role of historical thinking in public life.
About The Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education
The Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education is a non-profit organization dedicated to partnering with colleges, universities, philanthropic organizations, educators, and other entities to increase institutional responsibility for improving outcomes associated with teaching, learning, retention, and completion. It is dedicated to advancing higher education's larger goal of achieving equity and social justice.