Yale National Initiative®

The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute has concluded plans for its 2005 program of seminars for New Haven Public School teachers to be led by Yale faculty members beginning on March 8 and meeting through mid-July.

The faculty include one who has led a prior Institute seminar: Dudley Andrew. A Professor of Comparative Literature and of Film Studies, Andrew will lead a seminar on "Stories around the World in Film and Literature." This offering follows his well-received 2003 seminar on "Geography through Film and Literature" and promises to give participating teachers opportunities to connect global cinema and storytelling to their students' classroom needs.

Andrew said he was "very glad" to be returning to the Institute and "look(s) forward" to working with a group of Fellows "as vibrant as the one I had last time." He plans to "look closely at films (and tales) coming from Africa, Asia, and Europe, putting these in contrast with the more familiar types of stories we know about in the United States."

Four new seminar leaders will be participating in 2005: Sarbani Basu, Associate Professor of Astronomy, will lead a seminar on "The Sun and Its Effects on Earth"; Ange-Marie Hancock, Assistant Professor of Political Science and of African American Studies, will lead a seminar on "The Challenge of Intersecting Identities in American Society: Race/Ethnicity, Gender and Nation"; Dolores Hayden, Professor of Architecture and of American Studies, will conduct a seminar on "Architecture in the Imagination: Place, Memory, Poetry"; and Oswald Schmitz, Professor of Population and Community Ecology, will lead a seminar on "Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation."

Seminar topics are determined annually by teacher Representatives, leaders of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute drawn from public schools throughout New Haven. An open house for prospective Fellows, teachers who are considering attending Institute seminars, will be held January 11 with the Yale faculty members. The deadline for applications is February 1. A number of the teacher Representatives serving as seminar Coordinators will comprise an admissions committee to review the applications, to determine applicants' eligibility, and to make recommendations concerning the composition of each seminar. All Fellows must complete a curriculum unit as part of their seminar participation that they will teach in the coming school year.

The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute is a member of the League of Teachers Institutes within the Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools. From 1997 to 2002, the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute conducted a National Demonstration Project to show how the approach developed in New Haven could be implemented in other cities with different educational needs and resources. Building on the success of the Demonstration Project, the Initiative seeks to establish Teachers Institutes in states around the country.