INFORMATIONAL

The Virginia Department of Education, Old Dominion 
University, and the World Affairs Councils of America 
announce the 1999 History and Social Science Teachers'  Study
Seminar in Turkey.  This program offers middle and  high school
teachers and administrators a unique  opportunity to focus on
Virginia's History and Social  Science Standards of Learning
through on-site lectures  and official meetings in Turkey.
Besides site visits,  seminar participants will attend talks
arranged by the  Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Turkish- American Association, and travel to Istanbul, Ankara,
Cappadocia, Ephesus, Troy and Gallipoli.  The seminar 
will concentrate on four major themes in the History and 
Social Science Standards of Learning: ancient 
civilizations, the Crusades, the Byzantine and Ottoman 
Empires, and modern Turkish politics and geography.  
Participating teachers will return to Virginia's school 
divisions with fresh insights to carry out a demanding 
curricula. 

The Virginia study seminar is an eleven-day trip 
scheduled to leave the United States on July 1, 1999, and 
return on July 11, 1999.  Fifteen middle and/or high 
school teachers and administrators will be selected to 
travel as representatives of the Commonwealth of 
Virginia.  Applicants must complete an application form 
to be eligible for the study seminar.  An announcement of 
the seminar and an application form will be mailed to all history
and social science contact persons in February.  Selected
participants must agree to attend two one-day training seminars in
Richmond before the departure date.  The training seminars provide
essential orientation and background materials for the trip.

The costs to participants, including airfare, will be 
approximately $1,900 per person.  Some scholarships may be 
available.  Costs may vary slightly because negotiations for 
meals and lodging have not been completed.

Thank you for your support of the study seminar.  If you have 
questions regarding this program, please do not hesitate to 
contact Dr. Beverly Thurston, Specialist for History and Social 
Sciences, at (804) 225-2893.

PDS/BT/pc