ISSUED: 5 February 2016
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Public school teachers interested in attending Shepherd University’s National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar July 10-30 have until March 1 to apply. The seminar, titled “Voices from the Misty Mountains,” will partner with the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) to bring public school teachers from across the country to the Eastern Panhandle to study Appalachian culture, literature, art and music, and see CATF plays.
The seminar will feature playwright Silas House, poet and activist Frank X Walker, and storyteller Adam Booth. Ed Herendeen, CATF founder and producing director, will also take part in the seminar, and participants will receive CATF theater tickets, special programs, workshops, and lectures that will bring the contemporary theatrical arts into the study of Appalachian literature and culture.
Participants will study the literature of House and Walker, as well as authors Lee Smith, Denise Giardina, Fred Chappell, Ron Rash, and Nikki Giovanni. In addition to theater and literary events at Shepherd, NEH Summer Seminar participants will have access to musical events and will take a road trip around the region to visit places discussed in the seminar.
Any public school teacher or graduate student considering public school teaching may apply for the seminar. Application information can be found at www.shepherd.edu/neh/. Seminar participants and alternates will be notified in early April. For more information, contact Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt at sshurbut@shepherd.edu.
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