News release Public Information Office  SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu summer 05 news releases Public Information home News archive Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 8/12/05   SOUTHEASTERN OFFERS TUITION-FREE LOUISIANA HISTORY GRADUATE COURSE TO QUALIFIED SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS        HAMMOND – Qualified social studies teachers can earn three hours of graduate credit tuition-free at Southeastern Louisiana University this fall through a Louisiana history seminar offered on campus and on the Southeastern and Louisiana Public Broadcasting television channels.         “Seminar on Louisiana History for Teachers” (History 655) is being offered through the “Louisiana in Traditional American History Project,” funded by a three-year U.S. Department of Education grant, said William Robison, head of Southeastern’s Department of History and Political Science and academic coordinator for the project.         Taught by Southeastern history instructors Charles Elliott and Keith Finley, the course  will provide instruction and supplementary materials for using LPB’s award-winning video, “Louisiana: A History,” in the classroom.         The class will meet on campus from 5 to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and will be broadcast live on the Southeastern Channel, Southeastern’s educational access channel on Charter Cable Channel 18. It will be rebroadcast on the Southeastern Channel and LPB’s Channel 11 at 4-5 p.m. Thursdays and 9-10 p.m. Fridays.        The tuition-free class is open to social studies teachers in the grant’s 14 school districts: East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Washington, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana, and Tangipahoa parishes, and the cities of Bogalusa, Baker, and Zachary.        Other teachers throughout Louisiana may register to earn three hours graduate credit or 45 hours of continuing learning units. Any viewer may register to participate on a non-credit basis and obtain all course materials.        To register, teachers should contact Southeastern’s Office of Continuing Education, 985-549-2301 or 1-800-256-2771, or e-mail at pdykes@selu.edu. More  information about the Teaching American History Grant program is available at www.lpb.org/education/tah.         Robison said History 655 is being offered “by popular demand.”         “We offered the course last spring on campus and via compressed video,” he said. “The 20 graduate students it attracted raved about the course and the instructor, Charles Elliott, who is an authority on early Louisiana history. All summer long we have received requests to offer it again.”        Elliott will be joined this fall by Finley, an authority on recent Louisiana history and the assistant director of the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies. “Both are really outstanding historians and teachers,” Robison said.        Robison said the course can also be viewed on the Southeastern Channel’s 24-hour webcast at www.selu.edu/tv and on LPB’s digital channel. Information on accessing the digital channel is available through local cable operators.        The three-year “Louisiana in Traditional American History Project” grant was awarded last year to Southeastern, the Tangipahoa Parish School System and LPB by the U.S. Department of Education. The grant provides teachers with high quality American history content, improve student achievement in history, and help teachers meet certification standards. Ann Trappey, a veteran social studies teacher from Kentwood High School, is the project director.        “Last year we brought over 300 teachers to campus for graduate classes, Saturday workshops, and two-week summer institutes,” Robison said. “In the second and third years, we expect even more. It has been a truly delightful experience for all of us.”