Summer Teacher Institutes

The Idaho Humanities Council will host a weeklong summer teacher institute, July 20–24, 2026, at Boise State University and the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, bringing together up to 40 K–12 educators from across the state. Like a well-crafted mix tape, this institute explores the dynamic history, culture, and civic transformations of the 1970s—a decade when the nation asked hard questions, pushed for change, and discovered that the times were indeed a-changin’.

Participants will examine key events and themes from the American experience at home and abroad, including Watergate, the end of the Vietnam War, economic crises that left many stayin’ alive, environmental activism, Indigenous and civil rights movements, and expanding women’s and LGBTQ rights. Alongside political and social upheaval, the institute will explore the era’s music, media, and pop culture—when artists urged Americans to imagine new possibilities and reminded them that what’s going on mattered deeply. Together, educators will consider how the struggles, creativity, and hopes of the 1970s continue to shape society today—proof that it has been a long, strange trip, and one still unfolding.

Through lectures, primary source analysis, discussion, and hands-on classroom strategies, teachers will deepen their understanding of this complex decade while gaining practical tools for the classroom. Participants will engage with multiple perspectives and voices, learning how to help students make sense of a time when the nation was learning to fly amid uncertainty and change.

All participants will receive room, board, materials, and a travel stipend, with the option to earn continuing education credits. The institute seeks applicants from every region of Idaho and aims to balance teaching disciplines, grade levels, gender, and experience levels. By the end of the week, educators will leave with enhanced historical knowledge, classroom-ready resources, and a professional network—ready to help students see how the past speaks to the present, because we are family when it comes to teaching the humanities and connecting history to today’s world.

Questions?  Please contact Johanna Bringhurst, Associate Director, at johanna@idahohumanities.org.