Athens State University creates Center for Social Studies Education
Center to promote teaching, learning and research in the social sciences

                 ATHENS, Ala. - Athens State University has recently created a Center for Social Studies Education (CSSE), the purpose of which is to promote teaching, learning, and research in the social sciences and their application to education.

                This Center will serve as a partnership between the University’s three colleges - Arts and Sciences, Business, and Education - to explore the interdisciplinary study of the human condition.   The events and programs organized by the Center are directed towards improving the state of social studies education in our public schools.

                “In the past decade we’ve seen an increasing emphasis on accountability and high stakes testing in education,” states Dr. Prentice T. Chandler, chair of the Center. “With the testing craze has come a de-emphasis on history and social studies education.”

                 Chandler continued, “The purpose of the CSSE is to improve the teaching of history and social studies in our public schools, to meet the professional development needs of local teachers, and to serve as a bridge between public schools and the academy in matters of civic education. In fact, the health of our democracy rests on effective, powerful social studies education.”

Events for the 2011-12 academic year include the district competition for the “We the People” program and professional development for local teachers in the summer of 2012.

For more information on the Center for Social Studies Education, visit the website www.athens.edu/socialstudies. 

 Guy McClure
Guy.McClure@athens.edu
256-233-8296
October 5, 2011
www.athens.edu