Seeking Applications! National Endowment for the Humanities 2025 K-12 Educators Summer Institute:  Reimagining the US Mexican Border Through Multimodal Storytelling

Image of Children's Artwork of the US/Mexican border. Courtesy of Child Parent Centers, Tucson, AZ https://childparentcenters.org/

The University of New Mexico Art Department, Latin American & Iberian Institute, and ECHO for Education are seeking K-12 grade educators to participate in the virtual and in-person 2025 Summer National Endowment for the Humanities Institute. Please see more information below. 

About

In Person at the University of New Mexico: June 23-27, 2025
Virtual Sessions: June 6, 13, and TBD one day in August, September, and October 2025 organized with UNM ECHO for Education

The U.S.-Mexican border encompasses many aspects of human and non-human lives—migration, home, dislocation, environmental change, and possibilities for seeing the world in diverse ways. Because of this, border issues can be difficult to grasp fully and understand, even for adults. ​

In this 2025 NEH Summer Institute, K-12th grade educators representing diverse contexts will use the power of storytelling to investigate the U.S.-Mexico border. By interweaving multimodalities - visual, sound, and movement and by reading children’s literature deeply, participants will create complex narrative tapestries of experience and empathy on the border that they will, in turn, use to support student conversations and conceptions.​

This institute is open to all primary and secondary educators working in:

• formal Prek-12th grade school settings (including classroom teachers, visual arts, theater, and music educators)
• museums,
• libraries,  
• community organizations

NEH summer institute educators will engage with the content in a hybrid format equivalent to two weeks of participation, spread into three sections.

1. Two virtual pre-residency workshops (June 6 and 13 2025)
2. In-person sessions at the University of New Mexico and interactions with the Border Door exhibition project (UNM Masley Gallery) and the Graphic Art and Revolution: Latin American Political Posters 1968–2000 exhibition (UNM Art Museum) Albuquerque, NM (June 23-27, 2025)
3. Two virtual workshops utilizing UNM ECHO community of practice structure for educators to reflect on their implementation strategies (August and September 2025)
4. Final ECHO virtual session is for a broader audience (October, 2025)

Apply

The stipend for this institute is $2,200 per participant. You will be responsible for booking your own transportation and accommodation during the in-person institute in Albuquerque. This stipend is taxable as income.

To apply, please fill out this form. 

20% of available spaces are reserved for early-career educators (those who have been teaching for five years or fewer). If this is your level of experience, please note this in your application. 

The deadline for application is March 5, 2025.

Participants will be notified of the status of their application on April 2, 2025.

The deadline for participants to accept or decline their acceptance is April 16, 2025.

Please see below for further information.

• Participant Eligibility Criteria 
• Participant Expectations 
• Applicant and Participant FAQs 
• Principles of Civility for NEH Professional Development Programs  

Faculty

The faculty for the Reimagining the US/Mexico Border through Multimodal Storytelling includes internationally recognized artists, educators, librarians, and children's book authors. The faculty's work will be shared through presentations and hands-on workshops for institute participants. Please see the attached flyer with more information about the faculty lineup.

What to Expect

The institute’s aim is for educators to work towards creating a multimodal inquiry project based on action research that can be implemented within their own educational contexts and to develop skills in using children’s literature as material for extending understanding of border issues. 

During the in-person institute, facilitators, scholars, and artists will provide opportunities for educators to engage with the content through intentionally designed multi-modal experiences, small and large group reflection and discussions, and brainstorming applications for constructing an action research-based inquiry for their contexts. 

Please see the attached syllabus for further details, including the institute’s schedule and reading. 

Logistics

For the virtual portion of the institute, we will meet through a virtual video call (Zoom). You will need access to a computer with Zoom capability and access to an email address through which to receive project materials. All calls will be recorded, live captioned, and transcribed. 

The in-person institute will take place on the campus of the University of New Mexico’s Albuquerque campus at Masley Hall and the Latin American and Iberian Institute. 

• UNM has a variety of campus resources, including libraries and athletics facilities.
• Albuquerque is also a vibrant and sunny city, with local community amenities.

There are multiple options for places to stay near the UNM campus. All participants are responsible for booking their own housing for the in-person institute and are free to stay wherever they wish.

• Details are forthcoming regarding a block of rooms at a hotel near campus, a short free bus ride away from campus, although staying here is not required.
• We are also in the process of arranging the option of staying in a dorm on campus, although this option is also not required.

Albuquerque has a bus public transport, including the free Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART)buses. Ride-share services (Uber, Lyft, etc.) are also available. For those with their own car, parking is available on a daily or weekly basis. Short-term visitor parking is available in the Visitor’s Structure for $1.50/30 minutes.

The institute will provide lunch, snacks, and drinks. Further dining options are available a walk, bus ride, or drive away with many restaurants and cafes located in the Nob Hill area. Festival Flamenco will also be occurring at the same time as our institute.

 Albuquerque is served by air, road, rail, and bus.

• Its airport is the Albuquerque Sunport, which daily flights to major national airport hubs.
• Albuquerque sits at the intersection of I-40 and I-25. It is about a 7-hour drive from Denver (to the north) and Phoenix (to the west).
• The city also has an Amtrak station, which sits on the Southwest Chief line that runs from Chicago to Los Angeles.
• This station in downtown Albuquerque also serves the RailRunner train, which runs from Belen (south of Albuquerque) to Santa Fe (north of Albuquerque).
• Next to the train station is the Greyhound bus station.

Albuquerque is a major US city and safe to visit, keeping in mind the precautions one would take in any urban area. 

Contact

Do you have any questions about the institute? Wish to contact our organizing team? 

You can reach out to us using this form.

Acknowledgments

This institute has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

NEH does not condone or tolerate discrimination or harassment based on age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), genetic information, national origin, race, or religion. Nor does NEH condone or tolerate retaliation against those who initiate discrimination complaints (either formally or informally), serve as witnesses, or otherwise participate in the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) process, or oppose discrimination or harassment. For further information, write to the Equal Opportunity Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. TDD: 202-606-8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).