Educator Programs

From civic learning to core curriculum, we’ve got you covered. Our professional development programs provide rich and unique experiences with history. Connect with the Museum’s exhibitions and resources. Engage with staff and experts.

Teacher Seminar | Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s

Saturdays, October 5 and 19, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Earn up to 6 PD hours; recommended for teachers of grades 6–12
Free; advanced registration required

Art is a powerful tool for social change. In this seminar, we will take a deep dive into the new exhibition Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s to learn the important role art played in the Chicago Freedom, Black Power, anti-Vietnam War, women’s liberation, and early gay rights Movements.

The first session will feature a presentation by exhibition curator, Libby Mahoney, and we will make protest buttons. In the second session, teaching artist Jomo Cheatham will lead us in a Printmaking with Purpose workshop, where you can try your hand at block printing, a popular technique used by many artists of the era. During both sessions we will spend focused time in the exhibition, model teaching strategies from the exhibition learning guide, and share ways your students can participate in civic life through their own artivism (art + activism).

The seminar includes free resource materials and field trip planning assistance. Each session can stand alone, but they do build on one another, so we encourage you to attend both!

Teacher Workshop | Folded Map Project

Saturday, November 16, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Earn 3 PD hours; recommended for teachers of grades 6–12
Free; advanced reservation required

Social Justice artist Tonika Lewis Johnson’s Folded Map Project visually connects residents who live at corresponding addresses on the North and South Sides of Chicago. Johnson investigates what urban segregation looks like and the impact it has on Chicago residents. From a photographic study to a multimedia exploration with video interviews, the Folded Map Project now also includes a student curriculum.

In this interactive session, you will discover how to center your student’s experiences in Chicago to explore and understand the historical and contemporary forces that created and perpetuated racial segregation. The Folded Map Project curriculum provides a tool for discussing big systemic issues with your students in a way that is personal and inspires action.

Starting with Johnson’s 30-minute animated movie about her childhood experience with Chicago’s segregation, students are guided through a series of reflections and activities that culminate in an action plan to help disrupt the cycle of segregation in their own lives.

The session will include free copies of the Folded Map Project curriculum, related resources from the Chicago History Museum, and time in the exhibition Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s.

Save the Date | Virtual Teacher Book Club

Saturdays, January 25 and March 1, 9:00 a.m.–noon, with asynchronous engagement between
Earn up to 21 PD hours
$50, cost includes 2 books

Engage with teachers as we read and discuss The Rock and The River by Kekla Magoon and The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson. Online engagement will draw on the Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s exhibition and highlight some of CHM’s other classroom resources.

Registration opens November 1!

In-Service Programs

Are you interested in a custom in-service experience?
We’re happy to plan with you. To get started, email Heidi Moisan, senior school programs manager, at moisan@chicagohistory.org.