Student & Teacher Programs
Reader's Retreat Summer Camp at the Rosenbach
Retreat to the Rosenbach this July, where middle and high school students can dive into their summer reading in an inspiring setting! Participants will explore rare books and manuscripts, join engaging discussions and activities, and make meaningful connections with their summer reading, all while supporting their love of literature!
July 27-30, 2026, 2 to 4 pm $250
Programs for Middle & High School Students
The Rosenbach is pleased to offer a menu of carefully-crafted virtual and in-person experiences for middle and high school students. These hands-on programs will give students the chance to page through rare editions and pore over personal letters and participate in discussions that reveal the ways that an author’s life experience shapes their writing.
Adventures in the Archives programs have been developed with AP and honors English curriculum in mind. However, each of the following experiences can easily be tailored to fit the needs of your group. In addition to high school English students, we welcome book clubs and homeschool groups.
Lit Lives: The Story Behind the Story
This introductory program gives students the opportunity to explore the lives of a wide variety of authors. Your experience can include any of the following: Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, James Joyce, Herman Melville, Toni Morrison, Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, and Oscar Wilde.
Shakespeare: Power and Prejudice
We’ll take a focused look at 17th, 18th, 19th & 20th century editions of King Lear, Merchant of Venice, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, and Romeo and Juliet to discover the ways that they adapt to shifts in society. We will also learn that, while the plays do change over time, there are threads that endure. Shakespeare’s work has remained relevant throughout the centuries because he shows us a human struggle which resonates with us no matter what era we inhabit.
The Literary Circle: Bonds and Breaks Among Writers
This experience helps students to discover the ways in which authors draw upon or respond to the works of earlier writers, tracing the evolution of themes and styles across generations. By exploring the Rosenbach’s extraordinary collection of primary resource material, we will explore the ways that authors within a specific movement (e.g., Romanticism, Modernism) share characteristics and respond to similar social and cultural concerns.
Oscar Wilde: Creativity and Controversy
This experience helps students to discover the ways in which authors draw upon or respond to the works of earlier writers, tracing the evolution of themes and styles across generations. By exploring the Rosenbach’s extraordinary collection of primary resource material, we will explore the ways that authors within a specific movement (e.g., Romanticism, Modernism) share characteristics and respond to similar social and cultural concerns.
Onsite Experience Cost: $15 per student
(no charge for teachers and chaperones)
Virtual Experience Cost: $150 flat fee
(limit of 100 students per presentation)
Register: complete this form to choose an experience and our educators will be in touch within three business days. Together, we will curate a visit that meets the unique needs of your students.
To arrange a visit for a group of college students, please contact our Director of Education
Programs for Middle and High School Educators
The Rosenbach’s educator programs help teachers to incorporate primary source material into their curriculum to both support and extend learning. Programs always include practical takeaways so educators can simply “plug and play” when they return to the classroom.
In Person | Doers of Democracy: A Three-Part Teacher Workshop
How have individuals and communities challenged, reshaped, and redefined democracy in the United States? Join educators from
We are offering a three-part workshop series designed to support teachers as they engage students in the America 250 commemoration.
Together, we’ll explore how artists, writers, and everyday people—often from the margins—have moved democracy forward. Through close engagement with primary sources, teachers will leave with classroom-ready resources to help students connect past and present democratic movements—and imagine their own roles in shaping the future.
There are three separate sessions to this workshop series. You have the option to purchase a ticket for one session, two sessions, or all three. You can select which sessions you are choosing to attend with your purchase in the following section.
At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, we’ll examine how marginalized individuals and communities have challenged systems of exclusion and built pathways toward justice and belonging. We’ll explore the Philadelphia Black Metropolis, a city within a city built by more than 20,000 free Black people in Philadelphia, consider how Japanese Americans, unjustly incarcerated during WWII, preserved community identity, and discover how educator Leonard Covello built bridges between Italian immigrant families and broader democratic participation.
At the Rosenbach Museum & Library, we’ll explore how writers have used literature to expand civic imagination, give voice to the voiceless, and protest injustice. From the earliest American authors, like Anne Bradstreet and Walt Whitman, to voices of the Harlem Renaissance and immigrant experience, this workshop traces the ways writing has served as both reflection and catalyst for democratic change.
At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, we’ll uncover the ways in which artists like Horace Pippin, Diego Rivera, and Ben Shahn used their work to address inequality and injustice. Participants will explore how artists like Winslow Homer, Zoe Leonard, Cy Twombly, and Man Ray combine creative expression with advocacy, and protest.
Cost: $10 for 1 session, $20 for 2 sessions, $25 for 3 sessions
Three Act 48 Credits available for attendance at each workshop
In-Service Workshops
We can arrange an in-service workshop based on any of the above teacher or adventures in the archives programs or a topic of your choosing. In-service workshops can be held at the Rosenbach or at your school. We charge a flat fee of $250. PA Act 48 credit is available.
Cost: $250
Register: email Emilie Parker at eparker@rosenbach.org for more information.
The 2026 season of Education programs is made possible by support from the Pine Street Foundation. Additional support provided by Karen and Thomas Parker.