Letter to Participants

NEH Application Materials

Seminar Details for Participants

Assignments

Syllabus

Appalachian Heritage Writer's Project

Contemporary American Theater Festival

Silas House

Appalachian Culture and Study Links

Anthology of Appalachian Writers

National Endowment for the Humanities

Shepherd University

Shepherd University NEH Summer Seminar for Teachers

"Perhaps one of the most misunderstood parts of the country, Appalachia has produced a veritable renaissance of extraordinary writers and artists in the past several decades. These "Voices from the Misty Mountains" will serve to enlighten and enthrall participates in Shepherd University's NEH Summer Seminar for Teachers. Over the course of the seminar, participants will take part in an Appalachian storytelling workshop led by an award-winning storyteller. They will explore Appalachian music, important in the cultural heritage and in much of the literature we will explore. A fieldtrip that includes an extraordinary Appalachian road-trip to the Culture Center in Charleston, West Virginia, and to the Hawks Nest Industrial Disaster site at Hawks Nest State Park, which figures prominently in Denise Giardina's Saints and Villains, will further provide experiential learning and exploration of the Appalachian themes and works gaged to enrich the understanding and experience of NEH participants. Perhaps the most stimulating part of the summer seminar will be the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF), which will feature a stage reading of Long Time Traveling, a play by one of the rising stars in Appalachian and Southern literature, Silas House, winner of Appalachian Book of the Year, the Chaffin Award, and Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award, among others. Seminar participants will be on campus during the July 2013 season of CATF and will have the opportunity to attend all season plays as well as mingle with the actors, playwrights, and array of talented people that come to Shepherdstown for this national theater event. To be in Shepherdstown, the oldest town in West Virginia producing the newest contemporary American theater, will present a lasting intellectual and cultural experience for participants in this NEH Summer Seminar for Teachers, particularly as they experience CATF's first premier of an Appalachian playwright's work. The CATF summer series is known for its cutting-edge theater that challenges public prejudice, stereotyping, issues of class and racial intolerance, and the status quo, all ideas explored through the literature studied in the seminar. The intended outcomes for the seminar will be the following:

1) to explore the range and variety of literature created by Appalachian writers, both classic and contemporary;

2) to achieve an understanding of the culture, history, and heritage of a region often stereotyped and misunderstood;

3) to provide professional development opportunities for participants so that they can become better educators;

4) to encourage participants to engage in critical thinking and interaction with colleagues across the country from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines in order to expand the intellectual depth and experience of all participants;

5) to broaden participants' experience and understanding as they are challenged through the literature explored in the seminar, through the contemporary American plays presented in the 2013 CATF season, and through the activities and events encountered during the three-week seminar. "