Happy Pride!

While the Trump administration has continued in its campaign to expunge queer people and their histories from federal websites and monuments in recent months, this year’s Pride Month celebrations show that the LGBTQ+ community will not be quietly erased or sidelined. Celebrating the history of trans and queer resistance is more important than ever, and Professor Wendy Rouse of San Jose State University has written an excellent new blog on the subject for Pride Month. 

“We have been here before and we have survived.” This popular phrase is once again making its rounds on social media. It is an important reminder of continuity in history. But in teaching history, we often focus much more on oppressive systems while neglecting the stories of people who survived them. This is especially relevant in our present moment of virulent attacks on LGBTQ+ rights. It is an important time to reflect on how we as history educators teach about how past people persisted and resisted during times of intense oppression.

Originally posted on UC Davis: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion  

A historic collaboration between the UC Davis Department of History, Middle East/South Asia Studies Program, and the California History-Social Science Project (CHSSP) is helping bring academically grounded lessons about Middle Eastern history into K-12 classrooms—at a time when teachers say the need for context and accuracy has never been greater.

In 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill No. 800, which designates the first week of May as “Workplace Readiness Week” in California high schools. AB800 requires that all California eleventh and twelfth-grade students be taught their rights in the workplace. This type of instruction is incredibly important.

Happy Women’s History Month! 

February is Black History Month, and, at UC Davis, Black Futures Month, which represents the “campus community’s commitment to remembering, celebrating, and learning from the proud history of Black Americans and the promising future of all scholars who continue to bring innovation and excellence to our society.” 

Did you know that the California Education Code stipulates that all students should have access to standards-based arts education in dance, music, theatre, visual, and media arts, and yet only eleven percent of California schools meet this requirement?  In fact, twenty-one percent of California schools do not offer any form of formal arts instruction.

Happy holidays to all who celebrate — and happy holiday break to all the teachers in our network! We hope you can all take the break you deserve and spend some downtime relaxing or enjoying the company of family and friends. 

In the spirit of spending time with loved ones, we’ve chosen to focus this month’s newsletter on community history. Listed below are some teaching resources and reading recommendations that center family and community stories. Click on any of the links to learn more!

To our CHSSP Network:

In the coming days, the electoral process is going to play out in ways that may be all-consuming for many Americans.  This will deeply affect some students and not others.  The 2016 and 2020 elections were surprising and tumultuous in ways that left some of us scrambling for how to help our students understand the quickly shifting political landscape and government.  While this election will likely bring to light many new questions and uncertainties, we do know that our students will be engaged.  We have created and curated a number of resources that may be of help as yo

The CHSSP has welcomed a new executive director. Dawniell Black assumed the statewide leadership role at UC Davis in early August. Dawniell is no stranger to history-social science leadership in California. Prior to her CHSSP appointment, Dawniell worked at the Elk Grove Unified School District for 20 years, first as a History-Social Science (HSS) teacher and then as a Program Specialist in HSS and Physical Education.

Over the past two years, the California Subject Matter Project (CSMP) has been helping design professional development for the rollout of UTK, or Universal Transitional Kindergarten.

This summer, teachers in California can collaborate online and in-person at a variety of summer institutes.  Teachers can visit UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Davis, and even Yosemite to discover new approaches to teaching history-social science.  Below, you'll find an overview of the summer institutes, but click through the links to learn more about each institute.

Happy Earth Day & Happy Environmental History Week! 

Environmental history is the often inherently interdisciplinary study of how human beings have interacted with and shaped the natural world around us over time. It grew largely out of the conservation and environmental movements in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, and it continues to grow and adapt to respond to present-day climate concerns and science.  

As part of the California History-Social Science Project’s (CHSSP) ongoing partnership with California Revealed (CA-R), we are excited to announce our 2024 Educator Fellows, Mary Lane and Eunice Ho.