Welcome!

Welcome to Hudson Valley Social Studies! This website has information for students, teachers, and others interested in social studies and international education: Certification information and images from our program; Lesson and unit plans; and Laura Dull’s publications. Our site features the image of a famed Hudson Valley resident, Sojourner Truth, who was born in Tillson, NY and became known as a great abolitionist and women’s rights advocate.

In Fall 2020, Prof. Dull’s methods class wrote blogs on how history might help us understand the the many events swirling around us: from the impeachment of President Trump, the Covid-19 pandemic, and related economic collapse, to the spread of Black Lives Matter protests to the 2020 elections and controversies over voter suppression. Professor Laura Dull and her students posted brief, weekly posts on how history could help us understand and teach about the present (here is Prof. Dull’s blog on the book Freedom Summer).  Just before he died, civil rights activist and US Congressman John Lewis wrote that “Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.”  Honoring his call, we hoped to contribute to the ongoing work of democracy.