Join us for a deep dive into tools that help students connect with and analyze photography, in this session led by educators from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Use thinking routines and slow-looking to examine historic photos from varied perspectives, then place them in conversation with contemporary student photography to trace continuity and change over time on issues of local and national significance — such as identity, family, and community. Leave with classroom-ready resources to lead rich discussions and empower your students to find their civic voices.

Image 1 (Left): Shayla, CPoC, Kansas, 2024

Image 2 (Right): Robert K. Hower, July 4, 1976, Louisville, KY, 1976, gelatin silver print, sheet: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm); image: 8 3/4 in. × 13 in. (22.2 × 33.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.789, ©1976, Robert K. Hower