Local Teacher Studies With Distinguished Scholars

A Los Fresnos teacher was selected to attend “American Presidents and the Nation, 1970–2000,” a professional development institute sponsored by Humanities Texas, the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) and the LBJ Presidential Library.

Pedro Cano, who teaches U.S. history and world history at Los Fresnos High School, traveled to Austin to attend the program, which took place from June 7–10.
“American Presidents and the Nation, 1970–2000” drew fifty-five Texas teachers to the LBJ Presidential Library for three and a half days of dynamic presentations and small-group seminars, studying U.S. history through the presidencies of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

H. W. Brands, the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at The University of Texas at Austin and author of Reagan: The Life, delivered the institute’s keynote presentation on Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

Other faculty included James T. Patterson of Brown University; Janet Davis, Donna Kornhaber, Mark A. Lawrence and Jeremi Suri, all of The University of Texas at Austin; Michael Brandl of The Ohio State University; Albert S. Broussard of Texas A&M University; Jeffrey Engel of Southern Methodist University; Martin Melosi of the University of Houston; Steve Murdock of Rice University; Luke A. Nichter of Texas A&M University; Chase Untermeyer, former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, and Mark Updegrove of the LBJ Presidential Library.

“I will use the content that I learned along with the primary sources to create more engaging lessons for my students,” said Cano.

“Humanities Texas was pleased to cosponsor ‘American Presidents and the Nation, 1970–2000,’” said Executive Director Michael L. Gillette. “Giving talented teachers the opportunity to interact with their peers and leading scholars will enable them to engage students with exciting new perspectives on our nation’s history.”

“American Presidents and the Nation, 1970–2000” was made possible with support from the State of Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Humanities Texas is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its mission is to advance education through programs that improve the quality of classroom teaching, support libraries and museums and create opportunities for lifelong learning for all Texans.

For more information about Humanities Texas, visit www.humanitiestexas.org. For information about The University of Texas at Austin, visit www.utexas.edu. For more information about the LBJ Presidential Library, visit www.lbjlibrary.org.