Sussex Tech teacher Lisa Swan attends 9/11 seminar in NYC

Sussex Technical High School social studies teacher Lisa Swan of Laurel recently traveled to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City to attend a weeklong seminar titled “9/11 and American Memory.”

Led by renowned historian David W. Blight of Yale University, the seminar included 28 teachers from across the nation selected by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in a competitive process.

Headed by Blight and cosponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, this seminar investigated the historical causes and background, the immediate impact and the developing legacies of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, while also helping participants develop teaching practices that they can bring back to their own classrooms.

The seminar examined the history of how Americans and other cultures have faced and coped with similar episodes of great violence (full-scale wars as well as specific traumatic events) such as the American Civil War, the Great War in Europe, or the attack on Pearl Harbor. The collections of the September 11 Museum as well as the historic site and memorial itself were utilized throughout the seminar.