P Credit /A+Course: People of New York: How Individuals Shape History

About this Course

This in-person course for K-12 educators draws on the Museum’s groundbreaking exhibitions to examine the past, present, and future of New York through the lives of New Yorkers who have shaped and been shaped by the city they call home.

Course Dates: Monday, August 7 through Saturday, August 12, 2023, 9am-5pm daily

Course Syllabus: Click here to view the daily agenda, assignments, and course details, including standards alignment. 

This course covers subject matter relevant to history/social studies, civics, and the arts. Course participants will examine how the individual choices of New Yorkers have molded the city we live in, unpack how the urban environment has impacted people both past and present, and discover hidden voices that shine a light on New York’s array of diverse communities and neighborhoods. Through gallery experiences at the museum, hands-on art workshops, discussions, guest lectures, and writing exercises, educators will gain a deeper understanding of the city’s history and find connections between their students’ lives and those of New Yorkers past and present. 

This course is run by the Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center at the Museum of the City of New York and supported by the Museum’s groundbreaking exhibitions. The course will utilize the Hidden Voices project, a collaboration between the NYCDOE Social Studies Department and the Museum that was initiated to help NYC students learn about and honor the innumerable people, often “hidden” from the traditional historical record, who have shaped and continue to shape our history and identity. Hidden Voices allows students to find their voice as they become analysts of the past and make connections between the past and the present. This course will also explore the stories and struggles of activists in the Museum’s exhibition Activist New York; the efforts of food workers and labor organizers around sustainability, labor justice, and equitable access to food in Food in New York: Bigger Than the Plate; the making of home – both as a physical place and as a chosen family – for LGBTQ+ individuals in New York Now: Home, A Photography Triennial; the transformative art and collective action of South Asian Americans and other communities who have faced religious profiling and surveillance—particularly after 9/11— on view now in the exhibition City of Faith: Religion, Activism, and Urban Space; and, finally, the works of artists, authors, and filmmakers in This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture. 

Developed in alignment with culturally responsive and sustaining education principles (CR-SE), People of New York tells the story of our city through the lens of individuals and communities who mirror New York City students today. This course equips educators with the tools to recognize and affirm their students’ intersectional identities by centering and cultivating students’ experiences and expertise. Educators will leave this course understanding the central role culture plays in education and equipped to bring CR-SE principles to their own teaching practice.  

The Museum of the City of New York is a CTLE-certified provider. Participation in this program provides 45 hours of CTLE credit and 3 P Credits/A+ Credits.  

For registration instructions and information about P Credits through ASPDP, please scroll down to Registration below.  

Course Calendar & Details 

People of New York is an in-person course that runs from Monday, August 7 through Saturday, August 12, 2023. The course takes place at the Museum of the City of New York, located at 1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street in Manhattan.

Schedule: Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm daily

A light breakfast of coffee,bagels, and pastries will be provided daily. All course materials are provided.

Registration

Registration for People of New York is a two-step process for those taking the course for P Credit. (Educators interested in taking this course not for P Credit are welcome to do so and only need to complete Step 2.) All eligible educators receive CTLE credit for the course hours.  

Step 1:  Register through the ASPDP portal for Course P140-12326.1M23 - People of New York: How Individuals Shape History and pay the NYC DOE ASPDP course fee of $125. Registration for this course closes at midnight on Sunday, August 6, 2023. 

Step 2: Register with the Museum for People of New York using the blue "Register" button at the top of this page and pay the Museum's course fee of $300.

Participant Policies

The Museum of the City of New York ("the Museum") offers refunds for its educational partner fee for P Credit courses if a participant requests to withdraw from their registered course at least three (3) business days in advance of the registration deadline for that course. 

Participants must contact ASPDP to receive a refund for the ASPDP course fee. To view the policy for ASPDP course fee refunds, please click here.

If a participant must withdraw from a Museum P Credit course after the first day of the course, the Museum offers participants the value of the course as a credit for future MCNY education programming.  

The Museum follows ASPDP's academic integrity policy for all its P Credit courses. To view ASPDP's academic integrity policy, please click here.