CTLE Professional Development Workshops for Educators
The New York State Museum is an approved provider of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE). Through NYSM Workshops, participants gain access to real-world applications, authentic research, and thoughtful lessons that accelerate an understanding of the natural sciences. Since 2001, our PhD-level researches have provided excellent educational opportunities for teachers.
Teacher workshops at the Museum:
- Are aligned with New York State Learning Standards;
- Are led by leading science and history research professionals;
- Encourage hands-on and inquiry-based training opportunities;
- Assist teachers in renewing educational material with current content; and
- Provide CTLE Professional Development clock hours.
Anthropology Teacher Workshop
This workshop is a professional-development opportunity for science teachers, especially those who teach biology and environmental science to middle and high school students. Participants will gain valuable insight into the forefront of scientific research happening right here in New York State.
DH Cadwell Earth Science Workshop
Join State Museum geologists at the DH Cadwell Earth Science Workshop and learn more about Earth Science and New York's unique geology. Real world applications of current research address the New York State Learning Standards. Varied presentations, discussions, exercises and field trips will be led by staff geologists. Topics include sedimentary and glacial geology, paleontology, mineralogy, metamorphic and igneous petrology, geological influences on ecology, and more.
Evolution and Ecology Workshop
This workshop is designed for high school and middle school science teachers and addresses New York State Learning Standards. Teachers will learn about current evolutionary theory, recent discoveries, and resources and ideas for effective classroom exercises.
Online CTLE Credit
Educators can earn CTLE credit by watching any of the following webinars and completing the surveys linked below each video. Please allow up to two weeks to receive confirmation of completion.
Sanctuary at Fort Ontario: The Story of America’s Only World War II Emergency Refugee Shelter
1 CTLE credit hour
Explore the history of Fort Ontario, the only U.S. government-established shelter for Holocaust refugees during World War II, featuring insights from historian Paul Lear and author Ann Allen, moderated by Aaron Noble.
War on the Water: Looking Beneath the Surface to a Revolutionary Past
0.5 CTLE credit hours
Join Dr. Daria Merwin, Co-Director of the Cultural Resource Survey Program, as she uncovers New York’s maritime history and the hidden archaeological sites of naval battles and waterborne skirmishes that shaped the Revolutionary War and reveal untold stories of America’s struggle for independence.
Opportunities of Dating an Older Woman: Lucy and the Beginnings of Humankind 3.18 Million Years Ago
1.5 CTLE credit hours
Join Dr. Jim Aronson at the New York State Museum for a captivating lecture on the 50th anniversary of Lucy’s discovery, as he recounts the groundbreaking expedition to Hadar, Ethiopia, and reveals how sedimentology helped reconstruct the ancient world of our early ancestors.
The Intersection of Archaeology and Genealogy (3 Part Series)
1.5 CTLE credit hours
Archaeology and genealogy are critical components for understanding our past. Learn how Dr. Paul Huey and Dr. Michael Lucas use these components to help create a more accurate picture of the material culture, architecture, and people of New York.
When the City Stopped: A Lecture with Robert W. Snyder
0.5 CTLE credit hours
Join Manhattan Borough Historian Robert W. Snyder for a powerful lecture on When the City Stopped, his new book that captures the resilience of New York City through firsthand stories of essential workers who faced the early COVID-19 crisis with courage, solidarity, and humanity.
War on the Water: Looking Beneath the Surface to a Revolutionary Past
0.5 CTLE credit hours
Join Dr. Daria Merwin, Co-Director of the Cultural Resource Survey Program, as she uncovers New York’s maritime history and the hidden archaeological sites of naval battles and waterborne skirmishes that shaped the Revolutionary War and reveal untold stories of America’s struggle for independence.
BrainFood: Exploring Mussels in the Adirondack’s Hudson River
0.5 CTLE credit hours
Dr. Denise Mayer takes you on a journey into the world of freshwater mussels, showcasing recent survey efforts in the upper Hudson River from Lake Henderson to Queensbury. Through fieldwork footage, she reveals the crucial role mussels play in maintaining healthy waterways and shares discoveries about their populations in the Adirondacks and downstream.
Warrior of the Revolution: Colonel Louis Cook of the Seven Nations of Canada
1.5 CTLE credit hours
Author Darren Bonaparte explores the remarkable life of Colonel Louis Cook (Akiatonharónkwen), a pivotal yet often overlooked figure of the American Revolution, whose complex alliances and rivalry with Joseph Brant helped shape New York State history.
Culinary Crossroads: A Flavorful Journey with Culinary Historian Lavada Nahon
0.5 CTLE credit hours
Lavada Nahon explores the diverse culinary heritage of New Netherland and early New York, where Dutch, Indigenous, African, English, Jewish, and other traditions merged to create a unique colonial food culture.
The Tuck High Co. Store: From Mott Street to the New York State Museum
0.5 CTLE credit hours
At the time of its closure in 1980, the Tuck High Co. store was the oldest continuously operating business in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Join NYSM Senior Historian and Curator Ashley Hopkins-Benton and Archives specialist Arabella Goodrich to learn more about the store’s history, how and why it came to the NYSM as an exhibition, and about current work to clean and conserve the collections inside.
All That Has Disappeared: Latinxs & Urban Redevelopment, 1937-1962 - Dr. Pedro A. Regalado
1.5 CTLE credit hours
Pedro A. Regalado is an Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University, specializing in race, immigration, planning, and capitalism in urban America. Here, he discusses topics from his book, Nueva York: Making the Modern City, which explores the 20th-century history of New York City’s Latinx community and their role in shaping the city’s democratic ideals amid economic and social transformations.
Art and Photography with Shinnecock Artist Jeremy Dennis
1 CTLE credit hour
Join Shinnecock photographer Jeremy Dennis in this recorded presentation from the artist speaker series, where he explores Indigenous histories on Long Island and the connections between people, land, and nature, coinciding with the New York State Museum exhibit Each One Inspired: Indigenous Art Across the Homelands.
Jack Kelly Presents: God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man
1 CTLE credit hour
Explore the history behind Benedict Arnold’s treason and the events leading up to the capture of Major John André with historian Jack Kelly. Kelly goes beyond Benedict Arnold’s most famous act, treason, to explore his psychology and character, arguing that Arnold was essential to the patriots’ victories before he was a traitor.
Dr. Christopher Minty Presents: Unfriendly to Liberty: Loyalist Networks and the Coming of the American Revolution in New York
1 CTLE credit hour
Discover the complicated history of New Yorkers who remained loyal to Britain during the American Revolution with author Dr. Christopher Minty. Dr. Minty will explore the local politics, factions, institutions, and behaviors that governed Loyalist’s political activities in the buildup to the American Revolution. Minty analyzes these factors to show how New York Loyalists came together to form an organized, politically motivated, and diverse political group.
Dr. Scott Manning Stevens Presents: Paths Forward: Native America and Museums
1.5 CTLE credit hours
Rethink the complicated issues around Native American nations, their histories, and their relationships with museums with Dr. Scott Manning Stevens. Professor Stevens considers the many challenges for museums in overcoming the legacy of misappropriation and misrepresentation of Indigenous cultures.
Panel Discussion: The Continuing Revolution for All New Yorkers
1 CTLE credit hour
Not all New Yorkers experienced the freedoms promised by the American Revolution. Join panelists Paul and Mary Liz Stewart of the Underground Railroad Education Center (UREC), New York State Museum Chief Curator Dr. Jennifer Lemak, and Senior Historian of Social History Ashley Hopkins-Benton as they discuss the ongoing work needed to bring equal rights to all communities. Recorded October 22, 2023. Huxley Theater, New York State Museum.
The Bodega: Place, Urban Redevelopment, and Political Power in Postwar New York with Historian Pedro A. Regalado
1 CTLE credit hour
New York City’s Latinx small-business owners were frequent victims of urban renewal “slum clearance” during the 1950s. By the next decade, they wielded the federal War on Poverty to reimagine the relationship between government and Latinx New Yorkers, brokering between them to address hunger, public health, and the plight of credit-starved entrepreneurs. This lecture explores the history of Gotham’s Latinx storefronts—especially bodegas—during this transition. It reveals what their overlooked experiences teach us about the power of place in shaping community. It also offers new insights into how Latinx business owners helped to transform the trajectory of postwar New York.
Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument
1 CTLE credit hour
Learn about the groundbreaking monument, Women’s Rights Pioneers, the first statue of real women in Central Park, NYC. Made possible through the work of Monumental Women, the monument depicts three historic women’s rights leaders—Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth—all hailing from New York State. Learn about breaking the bronze ceiling in Central Park from Monumental Women president Pam Elam and discover the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument's process of creation from the monument's sculptor, Meredith Bergmann.
Highlights from the NYSM History Collection: Focus on African American-related Collections
0.5 CTLE credit hours
Join Chief Curator of History Dr. Jennifer Lemak to learn about some of the artifacts in the Museum’s collection that relate to African American history.
Thomas Powell Farmstead: A Virtual Tour of an African American Heritage Site
0.5 CTLE credit hours
This presentation by Dr. Mike Lucas, divided into five segments, provides an overview of the Thomas Powell Homestead site located in Colonie, New York. Dr. Lucas describes the history, layout, and archaeology of the Powell family farmstead through an on-site tour.
Exploring African American Contexts in New York Archaeology
1.5 CTLE credit hours
Although information about the lives of enslaved people in New York is too often missing from the written record, archaeology can provide important insight into the daily life, values, and traditions of enslaved people. Recent investigations show there are ways of “seeing” enslaved African Americans in diverse households, even when they did not live in separate quarters from their enslavers. In partnership with the New York Archaeology Council and the New York State Museum, visiting archaeologists present new research based on their work within plural households and communities in New York.
Agency & Identity: Cherry Hill’s Would-Be Sisters
1 CTLE credit hour
Through the clothing, photographs, possessions, and accounts left behind by two Gilded Age women, Historic Cherry Hill’s director of education, Shawna Reilly, explores the lives of Kitty Putnam and Minnie Knapp in terms of their plights, identities, relative vulnerabilities, opportunities, and the choices they made within their prescribed social roles. Each came to Cherry Hill after her mother’s death to be raised by Van Rensselaer descendant Harriet Maria Elmendorf. Both wards, but not quite sisters, Kitty was herself a Van Rensselaer descendant while Minnie was likely descended from an enslaved woman named Dinah Jackson. Each called Harriet Maria “Ma,” but Minnie was raised as a servant, while Kitty would one day become the mistress of Cherry Hill. (Recording of December 1, 2022, presentation at the NYSM.)
Three New York Chinatown Stories at Tuck High
1.5 CTLE credit hours
The Tuck High Company store, sold to the New York State Museum in 1980, embodies tens of thousands of stories about what Chinatown was truly about. Jack Tchen, cross-cultural historian and co-founder of the Museum of Chinese in America, shares three stories interweaving the lives of a tea merchant, a “laundryman,” and the Irish “Mayor of Chinatown” in this Museum presentation.
Way Beyond Seneca Falls: Women’s Suffrage, an Unfinished Revolution, and the Power of Place in NY
1 CTLE credit hour
This presentation highlights the importance of grassroots action by women and men, both Black and white, in New York State’s historic movement for woman suffrage. It challenges us to consider whether community-based organizing remains a powerful tool in the unfinished revolution for voting rights today.
You Are What You Eat: How Chemistry Informs About Ancient Ecosystems
0.8 CTLE credit hours
Dr. Robert S. Feranec, Curator of Pleistocene vertebrate paleontology, will discuss how he uses different chemicals in fossilized teeth and bones to understand how and where ancient animals lived, and how that may have changed over time.
Every Prison Is Attica: A Short Documentary Film by David Kuhn
0.5 CTLE credit hours
This online screening of Every Prison Is Attica, a short documentary film directed and produced by David Kuhn, is followed by a question-and-answer session led by New York State Museum Senior Historian Aaron Noble, curator of the Museum’s exhibit, Open Wounds: The 50-Year Legacy of the Attica Prison Uprising.
The Lives of Enslaved People through the Objects They Left Behind
1.5 CTLE credit hours
Join Dr. Michael Lucas as he explores how artifacts excavated at the 18th-century John Bogart House site in Albany provide insight into enslaved individuals and how they claimed some power and control over their own lives through the manipulation of material objects.
Video Presentation: The Jessup Family: A Free African American Household in Early NY, 1790–1830
0.5 CTLE credit hours
In this video presentation, NYSM archaeologist Michael Lucas discusses artifacts recovered from excavations of the late 18th-century Jessup house in Brookhaven, NY, and what they can tell us about the choices made by the Jessup family as they confronted economic inequality and racism in New York.
A Conversation with Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Beadwork Artist Karen Ann Hoffman
1 CTLE credit hour
Virtually meet artist Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin) and learn about her artwork in the NYSM Contemporary Native Art collection, including a new acquisition, “Bernard, the Buzzard Bag.” Join NYSM Curator of Ethnology Dr. Gwen Saul for a lively conversation on Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) beadwork and how Karen Ann uses beadwork artistry to address issues of sovereignty and human rights, as well as honoring and illustrating Haudenosaunee stories and philosophies.
New Netherland Research and Collections in the Office of Cultural Education
0.8 CTLE credit hours
Join Dr. Charles Gehring, Director of the New Netherland Research Center, Dr. Michael Lucas, State Museum Historic Archaeologist, and Dr. Jennifer Lemak, State Museum Chief Curator of History, as they discuss their research and highlight important documents and artifacts in their respective collections.
Field Trip to the NYSM Entomology Collection
0.5 CTLE credit hours
Join New York State Entomologist, Dr. Timothy McCabe, as he reveals more incredible insects and fun facts on a tour of the NYSM Entomology collection.
360 Gallery Tour: Votes for Women
1 CTLE credit hour
Learn about the history of the suffrage movement in New York State through artifacts on display and highlighted women who led this equal rights movement. Viewers can navigate throughout the space using their touchscreen or mouse.
360 Gallery Tour: A Spirit of Sacrifice: New York State in the First World War
1 CTLE credit hour
Join Senior Historian and Curator Aaron Noble for a tour of the New York State Museum’s World War I Centennial exhibition, “A Spirit of Sacrifice: New York State in the First World War.”
A New York Minute in History Podcast
CTLE Credit (.5 hours)
A New York Minute In History is a production of the New York State Museum, WAMC, and Archivist Media, with support from The William G. Pomeroy Foundation. The podcast is produced by Jesse King and Jim Levulis of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. CTLE is offered for a select number of podcast episodes as listed below:
- Listen: New York’s Anti-Rent Wars
Complete: Online CTLE Form for Anti-Rent Wars - Listen: Radio Cloak and Dagger
Complete: Online CTLE Form for Radio Cloak and Dagger
- Listen: Aaron Mossell and the Struggle to Integrate Lockport’s Schools
Complete: Online CTLE Form for Aaron Mossell, School Integration
- Listen: Ithaca’s Tuskegee Airman
Complete: Online CTLE Form for Tuskegee Airman - Listen: Discovering the Nation’s “Founding Fossils”
Complete: Online CTLE Form for Founding Fossils
- Listen: The Persistence of Dr. Mary Walker
Complete: Online CTLE Form for Dr. Mary Walker