Social Studies Educators Can Apply for Summer Workshop
This summer, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH) will host the fourth-annual Institute for Louisiana Culture and History (ILCH) intensive workshop, a national award-winning program for Louisiana social studies K-12 educators.
June 22–24, 2026, in New Orleans, this ILCH workshop will focus on French and Spanish Colonial Louisiana Era history in alignment with the Louisiana Department of Education’s (LDOE) latest sixth-grade social studies standards and America’s semiquincentennial.
The summer intensive workshop will provide Louisiana public school social studies educators with the opportunity to build their content knowledge by engaging with nationally known scholars, taking field trips promoting experiential learning, and participating in social studies working sessions exploring how to use expanded, standards-aligned content found on 64parishes.org in the classroom.
Applications close April 15.
COMPENSATION AND ACCOMODATIONS
The institute will provide a $250 stipend to all participants on completion of the three-day workshop and paid, secure parking. The institute will also provide private hotel accommodation and mileage reimbursement for participants traveling more than 60 miles from New Orleans.
ABOUT THE 2026 WORKSHOP
The workshop will feature lectures on both French and Spanish Colonial Louisiana and their lasting effects, as well as Louisiana’s involvement in the Revolutionary War.
Field trips include a tour of Colonial-era sites in New Orleans, exhibit tours, and archival visits to examine Colonial-era documents and artifacts.
Louisiana social studies curriculum specialist Lindsay Bardes will lead hands-on teaching sessions each day.
ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION
Social studies educators, teacher coaches, and specialists employed by public schools in Louisiana, with a preference for those working with sixth-grade social studies content, are encouraged to apply below. This includes sixth-grade social studies teachers as well as eighth-grade teachers responsible for sixth-grade content review before LEAP testing.
Application time is approximately 15 minutes. Applications close April 15 at 11:59 p.m., and applicants will be notified via email of acceptance, waitlist, or rejection, by 5 p.m. on April 24.
Questions about the Institute for Louisiana Culture and History? Email Program Manager Clare Shelburne at shelburne@leh.org.
ABOUT 64 PARISHES
Encompassing an award-winning quarterly print magazine, website, encyclopedia, and K–12 resources, LEH’s 64 Parishes explores Louisiana history and culture. 64 Parishes Encyclopedia hosts more than 1,300 entries about Louisiana accompanied by thousands of archival images, documents, and audio files. Each year, more than 50,000 students and educators access the encyclopedia as part of their Louisiana social studies classes. The institute has expanded encyclopedia content by adapting and grade-leveling encyclopedia content for the classroom and developing a new search function that allows students and teachers to find content aligned with Louisiana social studies standards.
The LDOE, one of LEH’s partners on the 64 Parishes Encyclopedia expansion, introduced new social studies standards rolled out in the 2023–24 school year. This course framework expanded the study of Louisiana history and culture in the state’s public schools from third and eighth grade to nearly every grade. Together, LEH and LDOE mapped these new social studies standards to the content on 64parishes.org, creating resources for teachers and students, including grade-level adaptations of key texts.
The ILCH workshops are made possible by the State of Louisiana. Additional support for this summer’s workshop is provided by the Gustaf W. McIlhenny Foundation.
