The Souls of Black Folk and the Foundations of African American Studies
NEH Teacher’s Institute
June 22- July 3, 2025
Explore African American Studies
The Souls of Black Folk and the Foundations of African American Studies is a two-week residential institute from June 22-July 3, 2025 for 25 high school teachers. It is designed to support teachers of grades 9-12 with an expressed interest in preparing to offer the new Advanced Placement African American Studies course or expanding their content knowledge and pedagogy in African American Studies more generally.
Excursions
Participants in the institute will have the unique opportunity to visit the W. E. B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite in Great Barrington, MA. This excursion includes a guided tour that delves into the life and legacy of W. E. B. Du Bois, one of the most influential figures in African American history and sociology. The homesite, now a National Historic Landmark, offers an intimate look at Du Bois’s formative years and how the landscape of Great Barrington shaped his early understanding of race, society, and justice.
Apply now to join the Souls of Black Folk Institute!
Applications due by March 5, 2025
Participants will receive a taxable stipend of $2,200 over the course of the two-week institute, June 22- July 3, 2025.
Institute Venue
Founded in 1863, The University of Massachusetts, Amherst is the largest public research university in New England and the flagship campus for the University of Massachusetts system. The campus and resources of the university, along with its status as the largest institution in the Five Colleges Consortium (including U Mass, and Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and Hampshire colleges) make it the perfect institution to host this institute. Additionally, the university houses the W.E. B. DuBois Center and is the proud home of the W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, which are housed on the 25th floor of the library in Special Collections University Archives. In addition, the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, established in 1970, is among the earliest of a small number of departments of Black Studies and the second department to establish a doctoral program in Black/Africana Studies.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Souls of Black Folk Institute has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.