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Bridging History and Preservation for Future Generations through the UCLA History-Geography Project

Join the California Preservation Foundation for a special one-hour online program highlighting the impactful work of the UCLA History-Geography Project (UCLA HGP). Key members of their team will showcase their efforts in bringing history and historic preservation into the classroom, demonstrating how they “[c]ollaborat[e] with teachers to make history relevant and empowering for students.”

Through their innovative approach, UCLA HGP bridges the gap between education and preservation, inspiring the next generation to value and protect historic places. This session will provide an inside look at their program, explore ways preservationists can support and collaborate with educators, and offer insights into how this work can strengthen preservation efforts and engage the next generation of preservationists.

About the UCLA History-Geography Project

The UCLA History-Geography Project is dedicated to supporting history and social science educators through professional development, curriculum design, and community partnerships. Their work emphasizes critical thinking, historical inquiry, and place-based learning, helping students engage with local and global histories in meaningful ways.

Speakers

Danny Diaz, Ed.D
Director, The UCLA History-Geography Project
danieljd@ucla.edu
Danny Diaz is the Director of UCLA History-Geography Project and a former high school history teacher, as well as the former director of Project Deviate, Inc., a non-profit he founded to support foster youth in the San Gabriel Valley. As Director of the UCLA History-Geography Project, Danny provides professional development opportunities, workshops, and institutes for K-12 history-social science and ethnic studies teachers that emphasize local history and are guided by social justice and cultural responsiveness. Danny’s research interests include the impact of local history on student engagement, the K16 continuum, and how to best support history teachers new to ethnic studies.

Peta Lindsay, M.Ed.
Associate Director, The UCLA History-Geography Project
petalindsay@ucla.edu
Peta Lindsay is the new Associate Director of the UCLA History-Geography Project and a former high school history and ethnic studies teacher in Los Angeles. In addition to teaching, Peta has an extensive background in grassroots organizing that began with the Philadelphia Student Union when she was just 12 years old. As a teen, she became a leader in the national anti-war movement, and over the next decade, she played a key role in various local and national campaigns for justice, organizing around issues like police brutality, reproductive rights, anti-LGBTQ bigotry, and more. She holds a BA in history and African American studies from Howard University and a Master’s in Teaching from USC. Lindsay’s experiences as a youth organizer are what led her to become a social science educator, understanding that young people can be effective agents for change, and social science classes must empower them with the skills and knowledge they need to transform their communities and our world.

Amparo Chavez-Gonzalez
Lead Facilitator and Coach
amps729@ucla.edu
Amparo Chavez-Gonzalez grew up in East Los Angeles after emigrating to the US from Mexico.  After graduating from high school she went to college on the East Coast, where she stayed to teach in New York City.  As a teacher for nine years, she taught elementary, middle and high school students in inner city New York.  She was lucky enough to work at Central Park East Secondary School in the 90’s while attending Teachers College, Columbia, before going to work at various non-profits working with teens and families.  After a short time working in Washington, DC for StreetLaw, Amparo returned to Los Angeles.  She joined Center X in 2004 as an ELA and History coach in Schools throughout Los Angeles.  Her interests include developing Historical writers and ways of making history interactive, exciting, and rigorous.

Ben Wong
Facilitator and Coach
benjaminwong@ucla.edu
Ben Wong has worked as a History-Social Science educator for over twenty years. Most recently, Ben was the Academic Program Coordinator for the UCI History Project.  He also worked as a History-Social Science Curriculum Specialist with a Los Angeles-area charter network for seven years. In that role, Ben provided instructional coaching, professional development, and curriculum support to teachers across twenty-one schools. Ben began his teaching career in 2002 at a middle school in Manhattan’s Chinatown and has taught high school in the Bronx and across Southern California. Ben earned his MA in Teaching of Social Studies from Teachers College and his BA in History from UC Berkeley.

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