"There is no period so remote as the recent past."
–Alan Bennett, The History Boys (2004)

TEACHING THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

This conference aims to make sense of the twenty-first century, contribute to scholarship about it, affect how it’s taught, and historicize events over its first two decades. Attendance is open to teachers, academics, school administrators, and policy makers.

Marked by terrorism and forever wars, extreme politics and extreme weather, weaponized misinformation, economic crises and income disparity, global pandemics, new frontiers in civil rights struggles, and the first major European war in nearly 80 years, the early twenty-first century rates as epochal.

Teachers at all levels have become first responders for helping students make sense of the crises shaping their lives. Practitioners of history find themselves called upon both to explain the larger meaning of events and respond to critics accusing them of presentism, bias, and political correctness. The discipline of history is simultaneously enjoying a popular renaissance and facing a crisis of confidence. This conference seeks to clarify how historical methodology can help students, teachers, and society at large find meaning in and perspective on the recent past.

Overview

Meet the conference directors

Director: Dr. Chris Doyle
Email: doylec@avonoldfarms.com

Co-Director: Dr. Bob Naeher
Email: naeherb@avonoldfarms.com

Registration

Registration is limited to 120 attendees. The registration fee is $75 and includes a light breakfast on both days, lunch on the 7th, and after-session refreshments on the 7th. Participants may attend all sessions as well as Q and A opportunities with panelists and keynote speakers. Avon Old Farms School has arranged for reduced rates at nearby hotels should participants require lodging.

Teaching the Twenty-First Century Registration

Keynote Speakers

Richard White

Richard White, historian of the American West, capitalism, the Gilded Age, and Native Americans, White is the Margaret Byrne Professor of American History, Emeritus, at Stanford University. He is a MacArthur Fellow, winner of the Mellon Distinguished Professor Award, and author of nine books. https://history.stanford.edu/people/richard-white

Ramita Navai

Ramita Navai is an Emmy-Winning documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on PBS’s Frontline and Britain’s Channel 4. Navai has reported on the Syrian civil war, “ISIS and the Battle for Iraq,” Afghan women under the Taliban, and a rape crisis in India. She has won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the British Journalism Award for Foreign Affairs as well as other honors. Navai is the author of City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death, and the Search for Truth in Tehran (2015). http://www.ramitanavai.com/bio

Conference Schedule

To View The Schedule For Friday, April 7 Click Here
To View The Schedule For Saturday, April 8 Click Here

To View The Schedule For Friday, April 7 Click Here

7:45 - 8:15 a.m.	Registration
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.	Brown Auditorium Richard White, Margaret Byrne Professor of American History, Emeritus, Stanford University, Keynote Address Jim Detora, Avon Head of School, welcome Chris Doyle, Conference Director, introduction
9:45 - 10:45 a.m.	Session One, Historicizing the Twenty-First Century Dr. Alexander Evans O.B.E., London School of Economics, “Historicizing Our Own Times” in the Brown Auditorium, moderated by Dr. Richard White Caitie Cotton, Loomis Chaffee School, “On Teaching ‘History of the Present’” in the Tiernan Room, moderated by Mr. Michael Murphy
11 a.m. - Noon	Session Two, Wars of the Century Charlie Goggin, AOF, The Ukraine War, and Dr. Matt Warshauer, Central CT State U, on teaching 9-11 in the Tiernan Room, moderated by Mr. Shelton Magee Ramita Navai, Channel 4 and PBS, documentary filmmaking in war zones in the Brown Auditorium, moderated by Ms. Lynette Freeman
Noon - 1 p.m.	Lunch
1:15 - 2:15 p.m.	Session Three, Politics and Power in an Age of Misinformation Renee Hobbs, University of Rhode Island, "Propaganda Education in a Digital Age" in the Brown Auditorium moderated by Mr. Ty Adams Tim Burns, AOF, “Religious Influences on the US Supreme Court,” Jennifer Dillon, Cheshire Academy, “Immigration to America, Past and Present” in the Commons Room moderated by Mr. Art Custer Jadon Subbu, AOF, “The Political Impact of Economic Developments,” Joaquin Acuna, AOF, “Nuclear Energy and Climate Change” in the Tiernan Room moderated by Mr. Luke Rumley
2:30 - 3:30 p.m.	Guest Q and A with Richard White, Panelists in the Brown Auditorium
3:30 - 4:15 p.m.	Refreshments

To View The Schedule For Saturday, April 8 Click Here

8 - 9 a.m.	“Breakfast with a Diplomat” in the Commons Room Former UK diplomat and OBE recipient Alexander Evans will talk with interested students about careers in diplomacy
9 - 10 a.m.	Keynote Address in the Brown Auditorium Ramita Navai (Emmy-Winning Documentary Filmmaker, author, Channel 4, PBS) Bob Naeher, Conference Co-Director, introduction Q and A
10:15 - 11:15 a.m.	Session Four, Teaching the 21st Century Graham Callaghan, AOF, “A.I., Essay Writing, and Ethics,” and Kate Doemland and students, AOF, “Research Based on Student Interest: English 4 Class and Name, Image, and Likeness Issues,” in the Brown Auditorium moderated by Mr. Brian Cugell Zolst Mate and Eszter Varga, University of Pecs, Hungary, “3D Printers and History Education” in the Commons Room moderated by Mr. Evan Sayles Dan Hodgson, AOF, “Reading as an Act of Compassion,” and Colin Lee, AOF, “Teaching ‘Controversial Subjects’ in History Classes” in the Tiernan Room moderated by Mr. Tim Roller
11:30 a.m - 12:15 p.m.	Wrap-Up Closing, summative remarks, Doyle/Naeher Keynotes, closing remarks Q and A

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