Organization description
Established in 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University has taken very seriously its mission to identify, preserve, interpret, and sensitively promote and sustain our historic environment. Through “best practices” programs and activities in academic scholarship, field work, and experiential learning, the Center continues its initial and long-standing commitment to shape the careers of historic preservation practitioners through community-based projects that enhance the quality of life in the region. To learn more about the Center, visit https://www.mtsuhistpres.org/.
Project description
In 2008, the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP) at MTSU joined the consortium and began serving Tennessee educators. TPS-MTSU seeks to link current state-focused educational initiatives to larger national themes and to emphasize the student exploration of history, science, arts, and culture through the use of primary sources available from the Library of Congress.
TPS-MTSU reaches out to all Tennessee educators: K-12 teachers as well as undergraduate and graduate students in education, faculty and administrators of collegiate departments of education, school and institutional librarians and media specialists, and educators at museums and cultural institutions and heritage organizations. TPS-MTSU offers a wide variety of workshops, institutes, webinars, and presentations. We welcome invitations to partner with school districts, universities, museums, and cultural institutions across the state.
We focus on professional development. We offer educator workshops on two primary areas: the content theme – “Expanding Citizenship: What Is an American” and a strategy theme – improving student skills level with the social studies practice skills.
We are also creating a new curriculum in FY22: the World War II Homefront in Tennessee. This curriculum begins with the impact of New Deal programs like the Tennessee Valley Authority and Civilian Conservation Corps which provided infrastructure that proved vital for the war effort in the state and nation. It explores Tennessee’s role in military operations, the role of civilians and changes in the economy, and how life changed during and immediately after the war. The curriculum incorporates place-based strategies to help students draw connections between the content and the places in their communities that connect to this era.
TPS-MTSU is also committed to creating educational materials such as lesson plans, primary source sets, and newsletters to support our program areas. The materials and resources found on our Web site were designed to meet Tennessee curriculum standards and were written by our staff and Tennessee educators.
