Heart Mountain to Hold Educator Workshops on Japanese American Incarceration
November 1, 2019
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation is now accepting applications for two week-long workshops for educators to be held in Wyoming this summer. The workshops, entitled “Heart Mountain, Wyoming, and the Japanese American Incarceration,” are supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and will take place during the weeks of July 19-24 and July 26-31. The Foundation is currently accepting applications for participants.
During the workshops, participants will learn about the history of Japanese American incarceration from a renowned group of experts from around the country. The faculty also includes former incarcerees from the camps, such as Sam Mihara, who was confined at Heart Mountain as a child. In 2018, Mihara received the Paul E. Gagnon Prize from the National Council of History Education for his presentations about his incarceration.
Workshops are open to full-time or part-time teachers and librarians in public, charter, independent, and religiously affiliated schools, as well as home schooling parents. Other 5-12 school-system personnel, such as administrators, substitute teachers, and curriculum developers, are also eligible to participate. Teachers at schools in the United States or its territorial possessions or Americans teaching in foreign schools where at least 50 percent of the students are American nationals can also participate in this program. If accepted, applicants will receive a $1,200 stipend to assist with travel expenses.
The Foundation’s executive director, Dakota Russell, said that the workshops would not be possible without a grant from the National Endowment for Humanities. “The NEH and Heart Mountain share a common belief in the power of place,” Russell said. “Their Landmarks of American History and Culture program focuses on getting teachers to the sites where history happened. We are extremely honored they have selected us as a participant this year.”