Peter T. Strand

Strand believes that meaning and substance should be infused into American history. So, he designed "Windows Into the Past" to have students imagine and grasp the world in which nine significant Americans, including Ben Franklin and Harriet Tubman, handled challenges, accomplished goals and dealt with defining moments. Strand is organizing instruction in a way that personalizes history. Each month, his students are asked to put themselves in the shoes of one of the historical figures and delve deeper than what's known by most. Students must consider things like what the person ate, wore, argued about and believed. The answers provide a window through which to view a major historical era. This investigation requires online research of photographs, personal letters, maps and works of art. Students visit historical monuments and landmarks to help bring richness to a subject that has been characterized by dry irrelevance because it is presented as a disjointed collection of information. Strand resides in Bozeman.