Teacher Workshop on the Shakers

I had the pleasure of serving on the Board of the Shaker Heritage Society and now have the pleasure of passing on this great opportunity for teachers at Siena College.


      Heaven on Earth: Shakers, Religious Revival and Social Reform in America, a NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for School Teachers will take place at Siena College in two separate sessions this summer. The first session will run from July 7 to July 13. The second session will run from July 14 to July 20.

      The drive to construct a model society has played a vital role in the making of American culture ever since the English Puritans set out to build a “city upon a hill.” This NEH Landmark Workshop examines the Shaker movement as a model for understanding this utopian impulse.  

     K-12 educators are invited to undertake their own fieldwork in the history of American Shakerism. Participants will engage in interactive seminars with scholars; investigate Shaker artifacts and primary documents at the New York State Museum and New York State Library, and tour three historic Shaker sites: Hancock Shaker Village, Shaker Museum Mount Lebanon and Watervliet Shaker Historic District. Workshop participants will brainstorm with the workshop faculty and each other on how to apply their discoveries to curriculum that will bring the fascinating history of American Shakerism to life for contemporary students. 

For more information about Heaven on Earth, please contact Jennifer Dorsey directly at shakerworkshop@siena.edu or 518-782-6947.