Courses

With the nation marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026—and Ken Burns' landmark documentary series bringing the American Revolution to a new generation—there has never been a more apposite moment to reimagine how we teach America's founding document. This nine-part, asynchronous microcredential invites K-12 educators to explore the Declaration not as a relic of the past, but as a living challenge that speaks directly to the questions students carry into your classroom every day.

Going beyond the familiar story of Founders and battlefields, this program centers the voices, struggles, and aspirations of the many people—across race, gender, and circumstance—who heard the Declaration's promises and dared to imagine what they might mean for themselves. That tension between the ideals of liberty and the reality of who was included is not simply a historical debate. It is the defining American conversation, and it is still unfolding.

Throughout the microcredential, you will develop strategies for teaching the Revolutionary era in ways that feel immediate and meaningful—connecting the founding generation's debates about power, participation, and self-determination to the civic questions students face today. You will leave with tools to help young people see themselves not as passive observers of history, but as participants in it.

Because the promise of the Declaration has never belonged only to the past. It belongs to every generation that chooses to engage with it—including yours.