Two IU School of 91¿´Æ¬ÍøÕ¾ faculty members were honored at the Social Science 91¿´Æ¬ÍøÕ¾ Consortium this past June.
Keith Barton, Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, received the 2026 Irving Morrisett Award for Excellence in Social Science 91¿´Æ¬ÍøÕ¾. This award is given annually to an SSEC member who has devoted their career to improving social studies and social science education. Criteria for award selection include documented evidence of improving the field, significant scholarly publications, continuing commitment to the field, and continuing commitment to the Social Science 91¿´Æ¬ÍøÕ¾ Consortium.
Alex Cuenca, Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Associate Dean for Accreditation, was the opening speaker of the conference’s plenary session, “Borikén Social Studies: Reflections on the Estándares de Contenido y Expectativas de Grado en Estudios Sociales in Puerto Rico.”
Alumna Mariah Pol (Ph.D. ‘25, Curriculum and Instruction), currently Teaching Faculty and Secondary Social Studies Program Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was also honored. She received the James E. Davis Early Career Scholar Award.
This year’s conference was held at Puerto Rico, where the theme of the conference “From Isolation to Integration: The Connective Power of 91¿´Æ¬ÍøÕ¾,” reflected the location. Puerto Rico’s colonial status, rich cultural and linguistic traditions, histories of resistance, and expansive diaspora make it a critical site for examining how education operates within and against systems of isolation, marginalization, and unequal power. The social sciences are uniquely positioned to address these ideas and offer tools to help us understand education not as a neutral practice, but as a deeply political and connective endeavor that can either reproduce isolation or cultivate integration, justice, and community resilience.
Founded in 1963, SSEC is a not-for-profit educational corporation dedicated to strengthening the social science content in history, geography, and civic, and economic education toward a just global society.