2017 Summer Seminar Dates are June 13-21

Daily Schedule 

More information coming soon.

Established in 1989, the Common Ground Teachers Institute is an educational collaboration of teaching faculty at the University of Houston and teachers of English from secondary schools throughout the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Common Ground, which follows a seminar model, affords teachers the pleasure of reading significant multicultural works and discussing them with fellow colleagues and teachers. We invite you to spend two weeks this summer discovering new literature and revisiting the classics with professors, educators, and friends. 

Since 1997, the Institute has been supported by The John P. McGovern Foundation. Teachers participating in the Institute's seminars explore the American literary tradition by studying classic works from the "canon" alongside significant works by minority writers. Each seminar takes place over two weeks each summer in the Honors College on the University of Houston campus. Morning seminar meetings, which are devoted to study and small-group discussion, are followed in the afternoon by a light lunch and readings by poets and writers.  

Teachers complete 30 hours of professional development credit applicable to Gifted/Talented certification from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented. Underwriting by the McGovern Foundation allows the Honors College to offer the Common Ground Teachers Institute absolutely free of cost to participating teachers, who also receive a stipend for books and on-campus parking.