PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Information about the Humanities Center's workshops
The Humanities Center offers high-quality, content-rich professional development opportunities for Minnesota’s teachers. These are rigorous opportunities for early literacy and K-12 educators. Through in-depth presentations by leading local and national scholars, educators gain content knowledge they can use to help their students achieve academic excellence in English literature, American history, world history, civics, world languages, and social studies. View current offerings.

Schedule
One- and two-day workshops are organized around a specific content area, and are designed to connect educators with both research-based classroom resources and high-quality scholarship. Every workshop provides educators with more knowledge about subjects they teach every day. Educators who attend these workshops find that their improved understanding and skills help them to challenge and motivate both their students and their colleagues.

Workshop schedules are kept flexible in order to make use of local museums, research collections, and cultural organizations. Typically, the first day of a seminar begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. The second day generally begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m.

Lead Teachers
The Humanities Center is always looking for experienced educators to particpate in presenting at two-day workshops as lead teachers. Lead teachers are required to attend and present at workshops, as well as participate in pre-planning meetings with Humanities Center staff. Generally, one lead teacher is needed per two-day workshop. This is a paid opportunity.

For more information, please contact Casey DeMarais, Director of Programs, at 651-772-4278 or casey@minnesotahumanities.org.

Fees
The registration fee for a two-day workshop is $75 provided by special funding. The registration fee for a one-day workshop is $90. Fees include meals and materials. Lodging is available for the first night of two-day workshop. Because of limited availability for workshops at the Humanities Center’s St. Paul location, priority for lodging will be given to those traveling from outside the seven-county metro area. For workshops that take place outside of the metro area, additional nights' lodging is sometimes available and will be noted in the workshop description. Participants receive workshop confirmation materials generally via e-mail, including a schedule, one to two weeks before the program begins.

Participants and their schools are responsible for travel expenses and substitute teachers unless otherwise noted in the workshop description.

Graduate credits
The Minnesota Humanities Center is pleased to be associated with Hamline University in offering graduate credits for all two-day workshops or programs. The cost for one semester graduate credit is $115 in addition to, and seperate of, any workshop or program registration fee. Additionally, participants must register and pay for the graduate credit in full on the first day of the workshop or program. Participants will receive a registration form and the applicable graduate credit assignment, a teacher-developed activity, at the workshop or program.

Teacher Developed Activities (T-DAs)
Teacher-developed activities or T-DAs are classroom activities developed by teachers who have participated in the Humanities Center's two-day workshops.The purpose of the T-DA is to generate supplemental activities that enhance or enrich a unit already in place. The Humanities Center seeks teachers with experience in curriculum writing to create T-DAs for two-day workshops. In exchange for these T-DAs, the registration fee for the two-day event will be waived.

Please note: Those seeking graduate credit are not eligible for this promotion, as T-DAs are required in order to obtain graduate credit for a workshop or seminar..

Click here to see an Example of a T-DA
Click here for T-DA guidelines
Click here for the T-DA submission form

Location
Unless otherwise noted, the Humanities Center’s programs are held at its full-service meeting and event center in St. Paul, just north of downtown. Portions of some workshops may take place at area museums or cultural centers and often bus transportation is provided for these special sessions.

Some workshops take place in other locations throughout the state at regional hotels, conference centers, or cultural centers. Be sure to check workshops descriptions to confirm their locations.

Overnight lodging information
(for workshops at the Minnesota Humanities Center in St. Paul)
Workshops participants who have reserved lodging will be housed in single occupancy rooms with private baths located on the lower level of the Humanities Center. In case of larger workshops, some participants may be asked to share one of our double occupancy rooms. Linens, pillows, towels, soap, and shampoo are provided. There is a comfortable reading chair and desk in each room. Each room has a clock radio with a wake-up alarm. Meeting, dining rooms, and sleeping rooms are in the same building. Each room is equipped with wireless Internet access.

The Minnesota Humanities Center is located within walking distance of Lake Phalen, a city park with a golf course, running and walking paths, cross country ski rental and an outdoor skating rink in the winter and a public beach area and boat rental in the summer. There is a guest lounge in the Humanities Center with a television and DVD player, a computer with Internet access, and a guest kitchen with a refrigerator. Books to borrow during your stay are available in the Library.

Workshop partners
The Minnesota Humanities Center partners with national organizations, such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of the American Indian; local cultural organizations such as The Bakken Museum and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts; special research collections, such as the Kerlan Collection and the Givens Collection; and special research institutions such as the Immigration History Research Center and the Center for Medieval Studies. Many workshops are also cosponsored by subject-content organizations, such as the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English and Minnesota Association of Geography Educators.

Cancellation policy
Request for refunds must be made in writing. A full refund, less a $25 service charge, will be made for requests postmarked 10 days prior to the seminar. No refunds will be made thereafter.