The New York City Department of Education's Teaching American History Grant, The American Dream,  includes the 2011–2012 American History Film Club, a collaboration with The Paley Center for Media’s education department designed to provide teachers with strategies to effectively use mainstream movies in conjunction with American history curriculum.   

Participating American History teachers will meet for a series of four evening sessions from November 2011 to April 2012 to examine themes, content, and historical accuracies and inaccuracies in some of Hollywood's cinematic interpretations from the American Revolution through the Civil War. Participants will receive and view film selections prior to each session and attend all four American History Film Club meetings. Facilitators will lead historical and pedagogical sessions on strategies for utilizing each film in the classroom and will share primary media documents from the Paley Center collection. 

Teachers will be admitted to the series on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information or to register, contact Julie Vitulano, Teaching American History Project Director a jvitulano@schools.nyc.gov.

Film Club Meeting Dates

All sessions: 4:30 to 6:30 pm
The Paley Center for Media, 25 West 52nd Street, New York City

November 3, 2011: John Adams (HBO miniseries)
January 12, 2012: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
February 16, 2012: NightJohn
April 5, 2012: Glory

American Dream is a federally funded Teaching American History grant. Grant partners include: the NYC Department of Education, the Brooklyn Historical Society, City Lore, the Gotham Center for New York City History, Henry Street Settlement, Historic House Trust, The Paley Center for Media, the New-York Historical Society, and the Scarsdale Group.

Teaching American History