Faculty

Adam Laats

Assistant Professor, School of Education
Associate Director, Center for the Teaching of American History
National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow

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

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

Educational Background

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

Teaching Profession
Courses regularly taught

• Issues in American History
• History of American Education
• Curriculum and Teaching in Social Studies

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. 

Selected Publications

Book

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

Articles and Book Chapters

• "Forging a Fundamentalist ‘One Best System:' Struggles over Curriculum and Educational Philosophy for Christian Day Schools, 1970-1989," History of Education Quarterly, forthcoming.
• “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.
• "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).
• “Lutheran Schools” & “Episcopal Schools,” Encyclopedia of Educational Reform and Dissent , edited by Thomas Hunt, James Carper, Thomas Lasley, II, C. Raisch, Fall 2009.

Book Reviews

• History of Education Quarterly
• Church History
• American Studies Journal