SSTARC (Social Studies Through Authentic and Relevant Content): Promoting Humanities Learning in Elementary Schools
Project Leadership: Dr. Joy Esquierdo (Principal Investigator) and Dr. Stephanie Alvarez (Mexican American Studies)
Sponsor: National Endowment for the Humanities
Funding Amount: $99,991.00
Project Description: The Center for Bilingual Studies in collaboration with the Center for Mexican American Studies was awarded a $99,991 grant rom the National Endowment for the Humanities titled Project SSTARC (Social Studies through Authentic and Relevant Content). This grant was written in partnership with PSJA ISD and Harlingen CISD to design and organize culturally relevant Social Studies curriculum in English and Spanish for kindergarten through fifth grade students. The NEH grant will support workshops for in-service teachers, together with humanities scholar and researchers, to align the state standards (TEKS) with culturally relevant pedagogy and the use of historical artifacts from the local community. The grant will also support a conference where the instructional units will be disseminated to a larger number of elementary teachers.