11:00-11:50 A.M. SESSION B BREAKOUTS
B1: Political Violence in Central Africa: Africa's World War in Historical Context Matthew Carotenuto, St. Lawrence UniversityFrom Genocide in Rwanda to the violence gripping the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, much of central Africa has been historically characterized as a region of endemic warfare. This talk will distill some of the complex and multi-national dimensions of political violence in central Africa from the 1990s to present--focusing on how historians have come to view this period as "Africa's World-War."
B2: The Confederate South: Myths and Realities
Dr. Douglas Egerton, Le Moyne College This presentation counters the pervasive myth that the Civil War was due to sectional conflicts over tariffs and states' rights. Modern Confederate apologists point out that most Southern whites did not own slaves and now argue that African-Americans also fought for the Confederacy. They ignore the fact that the men who voted for secession in special state conven- tions were, on average, 86 percent slaveholding planters and that the South also had the first military draft in our Hemisphere.
B3: The George Washington Teacher’s Summer Institute Mary Duffin, retired Jamesville-Dewitt Educator & Erica Martin, Chittenango M.S. Educator The CNYCSS team of Duffin and Martin will report on the George Washington Teacher's Institute, and the historical information and materials the Institute provides. They will model how this material can be used in Elementary and Middle School classrooms, and how they relate to Common Core. In an age hungry for real heroes, the material helps students understand Washington's description as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
B4: Getting Students Involved in National History Day Fayetteville-Manlius Educators Mary Anne Silvernail and Paul Muench Our presenters share their experiences with History Day as an extremely successful extra- curricular activity at FM High School. In the past four years, this activity has produced numerous winners at the Regional and State levels, and has sent two entrants to represent New York State in the National Competition. Find out how you can involve your students in this excellent experience, while developing historical research and presentation skills as 21st century learners.
NOON - 1:25 pm LUNCH AND VENDORS
1:30-2:20 P.M. SESSION C BREAKOUTS
C1: The Algerian War: How, What and Why We Should Teach About It John W. Langdon, Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities, LeMoyne College The Algerian War of Independence from France (1954-1962) was big news 55 years ago, yet is seldom mentioned today. The issues raised, however, are back with us. It was a 1950s version "Arab Spring" complete with debates about torture, terrorism, and Islamist fundamentalism. Studying this conflict helps students understand the roots of these contemporary concerns.
C2: Rethinking Reconstruction: America’s First Progressive Era Dr. Douglas Egerton, LeMoyne College This presentation reflects on the positive impact that Reconstruction reforms had on the North and New York State. Three times between 1860 and 1868, white New Yorkers in popular referendums and in the Assembly, defeated attempts to remove the $250 property qualification imposed only on black voters. Working-class black Syracusans finally got the vote with the 1870 ratification of the 15th Amendment.
C3: Women in the U.S. Today: Comparing Perception to Reality Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, Executive Director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation and Members of the Girl Ambassadors for Human Rights Team The presenters will discuss their work exploring the position of women in the United States as compared to the condition of women internationally. The results are surprising. While the perception is that we lead the world in women's rights, the reality is that women in the U.S. fall far below much of the world in important areas.
C4: The Year That Was: Highlights of the 2012-2013 Supreme Court Term Dr. Keith J. Bybee, Syracuse University College of Law/Maxwell School-Citizenship & Public Affairs The presenter will follow up to last year's introduction to the Roberts’ Court, with an analysis of the decisions rendered by the Supreme Court which began on the first Monday in October 2012 and concluded with a quartet of June decision days applauded and denounced by people on all sides of the political divide.