Faculty

Adam Laats

Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education
Assistant Professor, Department of History (Harpur College)
Director, Center for the Teaching of American History

Office: AB-231
Phone : 607-777-3329
Fax : 607 - 777-3587
E-mail : alaats@binghamton.edu

Center for the Teaching of American History website: http://ctah.binghamton.edu/

Educational Background

• PhD, History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• MAT, History, Washington University in St. Louis
• BA, English Literature, Northwestern University

Awards and Honors

• National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, 2009 

• Blattburg Writing Award, University of Wisconsin Department of History, 2002

• Hansen Excellence in Teaching Award, Marquette University High School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2001 

Teaching Profession
Courses regularly taught

• Issues in American History
• History of American Education
• Race, Class, and Social Justice
• History of Conservatism in the United States

Current Research Interests

• American Educational History
• Twentieth Century American History
  • Religious History
  • History of Conservatism
• History Education

I study the history of American education, particularly the history of cultural conflicts over curriculum and educational philosophy.  Most of my work has concerned the role of conservative evangelical Protestants in education during the twentieth century.  Now I am working more broadly in the history of twentieth-century conservative activism in education. 

I also study the teaching of history.  I am interested in teacher professional development, connections between university and K-12 history education, and changing ideas about morality in history education.

Sample Presentation

• "'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Huckabee:' Creationism in Historical Perspective," a talk at the Evolutionary Studies Program, Binghamton University, November 7, 2011. To hear this lecture, see the EVOS post: http://vimeo.com/31851749

Selected Publications

Book

• Fundamentalism and Education in the Scopes Era: God, Darwin, and the Roots of America's Culture Wars, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

                               o For more info, see the webpage: http://us.macmillan.com/fundamentalismandeducationinthescopesera  

Articles and Book Chapters

• "Our Schools, Our Country: American Evangelicals, Public Schools, and the Supreme Court Decisions of 1962 and 1963," Journal of Religious History (Australia),36:3 (September 2012): 1-16.
• “Red Schoolhouse, Burning Cross: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and Educational Reform,” History of Education Quarterly, 52:3(August 2012).
• “Monkeys, Bibles, and the Little Red Schoolhouse: Atlanta’s School Battles in the Scopes Era,” Georgia Historical Quarterly,95:3 (Fall 2011): 335-355.
• “Many Educational Pasts: Conservative Visions and Revisions of the History of American Education,” Teachers College Record, 114; 3 (2012): http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 16300, Date Accessed: 1/26/2011
• "Forging a Fundamentalist ‘One Best System:' Struggles over Curriculum and Educational Philosophy for Christian Day Schools, 1970-1989," History of Education Quarterly, 50 (February 2010):55-83.
• “Inside Out: The Transformation of Conservative Protestant Educational Activism, 1962-1990,” in Inequity in Education: A Historical Perspective , edited by Debra Meyers and Burke Miller, Lexington Books, Rowman and Littlefield Press, 2009, pp 183-209.
• "The Quiet Crusade: The Moody Bible Institute's Outreach to Public Schools and the Mainstreaming of Appalachia, 1921-1966," Church History 75:3 (September 2006):565-593.
  
  

Articles (Non-Peer reviewed/Media):

• "To Teach Evolution, You Have to Understand Creationists," The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 19, 2012, http://chronicle.com/article/To-Teach-Evolution-You-Have/135832/.
• "The Real Wall of Separation in Public Schools," Washington Post's education blog, The Answer Sheet, 6 September 2012: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the-real-wall-of-separation-in-public-schools/2012/09/05/aaf3d766-f6b7-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_blog.html#pagebreak.
• "Does David Barton's Flameout Make This a Scopes Moment for American History?" History News Network, 20 August 2012: http://hnn.us/articles/does-david-bartons-flameout-make-scopes-moment-american-history.

Digital Publishing:

Founder/Contributing Editor: I Love You but You're Going to Hell: An Outsider's Guide to Conservatism in American Education, http://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org; a blog devoted to exploring news and ideas related to conservative education policy in the United States.

Book Reviews

• History of Education Quarterly
• Church History
• American Studies Journal
• H-Education Book Reviews
• Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
• Reports of the National Center for Science Education