Bread Loaf School of English catalog, 1996

52 Pages·1996·3.8 MB·

by  Bread Loaf School of English

Middlebury College —
` Bread Loaf
School of English
1996 Summer Programs
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Administration
JOHN M. McCAR DELL, JR., President of Middlebury College
JOHN P. McWILLIAMSJ,R. , Vice President for Academic Affairs
JAMES H. MADDOX, Director of the Bread Loaf School of English
JOHN V. FLEMING, On-Site Director of Bread Loaf
at Lincoln College, Oxford
TILLY WARNOCK, On-Site Director of Bread Loaf
in New Mexico
Please address correspondence to:
Ms. Elaine Hall
Administrative Associate
Bread Loaf School of English
Middlebury College
Middlebury VT 05753-6131
Telephone:
[phone], ext. 5418 (through June 17)
[phone] (June 18—August 10)
Fax: [phone] (through June 17)
Front cover photograph by Jonathan Blake
Photographs by Erik Borg and Edward Brown
Middlebury College complies with applicable provisions ofs tate and federal law
which prohibit discrimination in employment, or in admission or access to its educa-
tional or extracurricular programs, activities or facilities, on the basis of race, color,
ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, place
of birth, Vietnam veteran status, or against qualified individuals with disabilities on
the basis ofd isability.
EU. D 49
Ihis publication was printed on recycled paper. LG
MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE
Bread Loaf
School of English
1996 Summer Programs
The Aim
Each summer the Bread Loaf School of English assembles a community of teachers
and learners at each of its three campuses: the Bread Loaf Mountain campus in
Vermont; Lincoln College, Oxford, in the United Kingdom; and the Native
American Preparatory School in Rowe, New Mexico. Students at each of these
campuses follow courses of study leading to the Master of Arts and Master of Letters
degrees in English. The Bread Loaf emphasis has always been upon close contact
between teacher and student in an intensive six-week course of study.
The Bread Loaf School of English at Bread Loaf, Vermont
june 25-August 11, 1996
Since 1920, the central location for these programs of study has been the campus
located outside Middlebury, in sight of Bread Loaf Mountain in the Green Mountains
of Vermont. Here, faculty members from many ofthe most distinguished colleges and
universities in the United States and the United Kingdom offer courses in literature,
literary theory, creative writing, the teaching of writing, and theater; students
normally enroll in two three-credit courses each summer. All of these courses benefit
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from the on-site presence of the professional Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble, which
visits classrooms and, along with actors drawn from the student body, appears in
theatrical productions during the summer. Each year approximately 250 students
come from all regions of the United States and several foreign countries to study at
the Bread Loaf campus.
The Bread Loaf School of English in Vermont is one of ten summer programs of
Middlebury College. Others are the Language Schools of Arabic, Chinese, French,
German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish, as well as the Bread Loaf Writers’
Conference. Middlebury College offers no graduate program in English during the
regular academic year.
l'he original mountain-and-forest area in which the School of English is located
was willed to Middlebury College in 1915 by Joseph Battell, breeder of Morgan
horses, proprietor of the local newspaper, and spirited lover of nature. Mr. Battell
acquired large landholdings, tract by tract, starting in 1866, until several mountains
were among his properties. In this striking setting Mr. Battell constructed the Bread
Loaf Inn and other buildings to house his summer guests. Modern improvements and
the addition of several buildings have enhanced the charm and conveniences of the
original Inn and the surrounding "cottages," but the nineteenth-century structures in
their Green Mountain site still make an unforgettable impression.
During the last seventy-six years Bread Loaf has counted among its faculty
members such distinguished teachers and scholars as George K. Anderson, Carlos
Baker, Harold Bloom, Cleanth Brooks, Reuben Brower, Donald Davidson, Eliza-
beth Drew, A. Bartlett Giamatti, Laurence B. Holland, Perry Miller, Martin Price,
John Crowe Ransom, Donald Stauffer, and Wylie Sypher. But no one has been
identified with Bread Loaf more indelibly than has Robert Frost, who first came to
the School on the invitation of Dean Wilfred Davison in 1921. Friend and neighbor
to Bread Loaf, Frost returned to the School every summer with but three exceptions
for forty-two years. His influence is still felt, in part because Middlebury College owns
and maintains the Robert Frost Farm as a National Historic Site near the Bread Loaf
campus.
The Bread Loaf School of English at Lincoln College, Oxford
june 24—-August 4, 1996
The Bread Loaf School of English enrolls about eighty students at Lincoln College,
Oxford, each summer. Bread Loaf has exclusive use of the accommodations of
Lincoln College during the summer session, so that the School of English has its own
identity. Located on the Turl in the center of the city of Oxford, Lincoln is one of
the smallest and most beautiful of the Oxford colleges.
Each student selects one seminar as a six-credit (two-unit) summer's program.
There are usually from four to six students in each seminar, which meets in a manner
determined by the tutor. For example, the tutor may meet all students together once
a week and then in tutorial for an hour. Oxford tutors place heavy emphasis on
independent study; students should expect to give oral reports and write weekly
papers. Seminars and tutorials are often held at the college with which the tutor 1s
affiliated.
m
The Bread Loaf School of English at the Native American Preparatory
School in Rowe, New Mexico
June 25-August 9, 1996
Bread Loaf will also offer courses in 1996 at its third site, the Native American
Preparatory School, Rowe, New Mexico, near Santa Fe. Bread Loafin New Mexico
enrolls approximately seventy students and offers a curriculum similar to those offered
in Vermont and at Oxford, but with an appropriate emphasis upon Native American
literature, American Hispanic literature, and writing of the Southwest. As in
Vermont, students typically enroll in two three-credit courses.
Admission
Admission is on the basis of college transcripts, three letters of recommendation, and
a writing sample. Because the program is designed to meet individual needs, there is
no set of requisites for admission, although an excellent undergraduate record in
English and strong recommendations are the surest admission criteria. Students are
accepted for one summer only and must reapply for each subsequent summer ofstudy.
Students whose work, in the judgment of the director and of the faculty, is marginal
and who may have difficulty completing the degree may be denied readmission. As
Bread Loafi s especially committed to increasing diversity in its commu-
nity, minority applications are encouraged.
Instructions for Application
New applicants should fill out and return the application form and supporting
materials along with a $40 application fee. Application forms are available from the
Bread Loafoffice in Vermont at the address listed inside the front cover of this bulletin.
All undergraduate and graduate transcripts should be forwarded to the Bread I oaf
office. The applicant is responsible for asking three teachers with whom he or she has
studied or colleagues to serve as references.
The Master of Arts (M.A.) Degree
Candidates must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college and be in
residence for at least one summer at the School of English in Vermont. To earn the
M.A., students must successfully complete the equivalent of ten units (thirty credits).
A grade of B- or better is required in order to receive course credit. The normal
summer program of study consists of two courses (two units) at Vermont or New
Mexico. or one course (two units) at Oxford. In Vermont and New Mexico, each
course meets five hours a week. Exceptional students may, with permission, take a
third course for credit at Vermont or New Mexico, or an additional three-credit
tutorial at Oxford, after the first summer.
The curriculum is divided into six groups: (I) writing and the teaching of writing;
(II) English literature through the seventeenth century; (III) English literature since
the seventeenth century; (IV) American literature; (V) world literature; (VI) theater
arts. Ordinarily the M.A. program includes a minimum of two courses each from
Groups II and III and one course each from Groups IV and V. A student may, in
consultation with the director, waive one of the six required courses.
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The Master of Letters (M.Litt.) Degree
The M.Litt. prograt 1 builds in a co ncentrated, specialized way on the broader base
of the M.A. in Engl sh, which is th e first prerequisite for this degree. Students may
concentrate, for exa nple, on a period such as the Renaissance, a genre such ast ale,
novel, or a field of study such as American literature.
The M.Litt. can ye earned in thi ree to five 51 miners by following a program of ten
ent Reading Pro jects. This program of studies is drawn up duri y
courses Or Independ (f
the student’s first or second sum ner in the deg 'ee program in consultation with the
director and appropr ate member s of the faculty. Ofthese ten courses, up to three may
be electives not directly related to the field of concentration. No thesis 1s required.
Candidates may undertake as ma ry as four Inde vendent Reading Projects during the
academic years intervening between Bread Loaf summers and must undertake at least
one such project. In the final sui nn lera studen must pass a comprehensive written
and oral examination, or the eqt ivalent, in his or her field of concentration. At least
one summer must be spent in residence at the School of English in Vermont.
Program in Continuing Graduate Education
Schoo allows students not seeking a degree to enroll for a sammer in a non-
l he
degree status in continuing graduate education. Upon the student’s successful
of a summer's study, Middlebury College will issue the student a
completion
n Continuing Graduate Education.
(Sent ificate
Undergrad luate Honors Program
'ptiona ly able undergraduates with strong backgrounds in literary study may be
Exce
admi tted to graduate study at Bread Loafand take up to six credits of course work after
thec omple ion of three years toward their bachelor's degree. Their courses may be
transferred o their home institutions or they may serve as the initial credits leading
to the M.A. degree at the Bread Loaf School of English.
The Program in Theater
Virtually since its beginnings, the Bread Loaf School of English in Vermont has pu
ama jor emphasis u yon the theater a rts. The Program in Theater provides formal anc
info mal instructio iin acting, direct ing, play writing, stagecraft, and design. While the
uctured as a pr fessional training school, it is oriented towarc
program IS not str
bringing students 1 ito. contact with theater professionals in all fields. A major aspec
oft l eater study at he Bread Loafp 'ogram in Vermont is the presentation of aw ide
varic 'ty of perform: ince projects.
Beginningin 1980, B read Loafs tarted bringing professional actors to the Vermon
cam 2115 to assist in t 16 mountinogf t esummer's major production. The participation
of P fi essional actors has increased to the point of there now being a professiona
com pa nyin Vermont eac summer , the Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble. The Ensemble
IS 1n til nately involved in many of the classrooms not only classes in dramatic
liter: itt re, but also classine otshe r forms of literstaudry yan d n the teachofi wrnitging .
In p: istsummers,t h e Ense nble has been central to a major p 'oduction as well as other,
smal ler productions. In 1996 we are planning a radical de rture from this pattern.
Seve >ra prominent contemporary playwrights will visit Bread Loaf, and at intervals
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throughout the summer both professional actors and actors drawn from the student
body will stage scenes from those playwrights’ work in progress. The playwrights will
hold seminar/discussions open to all members of the Bread Loaf community to discuss
their art, to elicit reactions to their current work, and to talk about contemporary
American drama.
New plays written by Bread Loaf students are often produced in the theater on
the Vermont campus, as are one-acts directed by advanced directing students. There
are opportunities for acting students to explore and present longer scenes and for all
interested students to act in informal presentations in the directing or playwriting
workshops.
NEH Institute: Acts of Collaboration
In 1996. the Bread Loaf School of English will offer at its campus in Vermont a
summer institute for twenty secondary school teachers of drama, funded by the
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Entitled “Acts of Collaboration:
The Way of the Playwright, the Way of the Actor,” the institute is designed for
teachers who seek to deepen their knowledge both of dramatic literature and of two
of the arts of the stage—playwriting and acting.
Participants will receive a full tuition scholarship, room and board on campus, a
book allowance, travel expenses, and a stipend of $250 per week. The courses will be
very intensive; they may be audited or taken for graduate credit, but all students are
expected to participate fully in class activities.
The cast of a student-directed production of The Second Shepherd’s Play
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Financial Aid
Be Cal se of he generosity of former and present Bread Loaf students and friends of the
Scl 10¢ oft inglish, the School has steadily increased ts financial aid resources. No
int e 'e sted a DP icant with strong credentials should fai to < ipply because of need.
I 1 nanci al aid may be in the fo -m of grants (at all th ree Bread Loaf sites) and/or
work-aid (in Vermont and New M exico). The aid is av y 1 rd ed on the basis of financial
neec and sc 10 astic achieveme nt. To be considered for al ty ‘pes of aid offered through
Mi ddlebury C ;ollege, a student mt st first file a Bread Loaf Financial Aid Form with
the > Middle Ju ry Financial Aid Off ice. Requests for aid sl 10uld be made when the
appl cation form is submitted to the School; all pertinen fc ms and information will
be sent when they become availa je. Students are adv sed to return all completed
rials as soon as possible a fter they are received.
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n addition, Bread Loaf offers he following scholarsh ips and awards.
DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fellowships for Rural Teachers. For the
foi rth year, in 1996, Bread Lo af wil offer up to thirty full fel lowships for rural teachers
fro n the following states: Alaska, Arizona, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina,
anc 1 Vermont. Only first-year Breac 1 Loaf students are eligib le for these awards. These
fel ]o wships, supported by a ge 16001 s grant from the DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest
EL id, will cover the costs of tuition, room, board, travel . and books. The DeWitt
W ows form the core of the Bread Loaf Rural Teacher
illace-Reader’s Digest Fel
Ne 'twork. Besides taking a ful load of courses at Bread Loa f, the fellows will also plan
fo ow-up projects among th eir home state groups and a mong the community of
fel ows as a whole, and they will receive grants to carry out telecommunications
pr yjects over the ensuing acac emic year. Those receiving I YeWitt Wallace-R eader's
(
D gest Fellowships in 1996 will be eligible to reapply for fellowships in their second
ye: ır at Bread Loaf.
The Educational Foundation of America Fellowships for Arizona and New
Mexico Teachers of Native American Students. In 1996, Bread Loaf will offer
fel owships to five Arizona and New Mexico teachers who teach in predominantly
Native American schools, to attend Bread Loafi n New Mexico. These fellowships,
ported by a generous grant from the Educational Foundation of America (EFA),
sup
1 cover the costs of tuition and books, and provide a gra ıt of $1,000 for classroom
W
jects during the following academic year; EFA fellows 1 ay also apply for financial
pre
aid from Middlebury College ift heir demonstrated financ ial need exceeds the costs
of tuition and books (see sect ion on financi al aid above). The EFA fellows will take
a full load of courses at Bread Loaf in New Mexico and receive training in
telecommunications, and will be invited to yecome membe rs of the Bread Loaf Rural
Teacher Network. Recipients will be el zl je to reapp we N 1997 and 1998 for
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fellowships for a second and third summer.
Orion Society Institute. In 1996 Breac Loaf will host an institute, “Literature,
Writing, and Nature,” sponsored by the Orion Society, publisher of Orion magazine.
Participants will enroll in a pair of linked courses: a seminar on the literature of place
and a workshop for nature writers. Hikes and other outings will complement written
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work. The grant will also bring several prominent writers into classes for residencies
and support lecture series at Bread L oafs Vermontand New Mexico campuses. Orion
fellows will receive $2,000 toward the cost ofthe summer program at Bread Loaf, and
a $500 stipend for use in their own land-based teaching in the following school year.
Orion fellows may also apply for additional financialaid from Middlebury College (see
section on financial aid above).
To receive more information about any of these special fellowship opportunities
(DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest, EFA, NEH, and Orion), write to James Maddox,
director, at the Bread Loaf School of English office.
Other Information
Independent Reading Projects
With the approval ofthe director and an appropriate member of the faculty, qualified
students may undertake an Independent Reading Project of reading and research
during the academic year. Students must have taken a course at Bread Loaf in the area
of their proposed Reading Project and have demonstrated their competence by
securing a grade of A- or higher in that course. Arrangements must be completed
session before the academic year in which the Reading Project
during the summer
istobeu idertaken. Each Reading Project culminates in a long essay, a draft of wh = zh
veginning of the summer following the academic year of reading
1s presen ed at the
and research. Students then work closely with a faculty member in revising and
bringing this essay to completion over the course of the summer. A Reading Project
succec ssfuol ly complJ eted is the equivalent ofa regular Bread Loaf course. Two c Readi^ ng
Projects in different years are permitted toward the M.A. degree and four toward the
uition fee of $1,390 is charged for each Reading Project.
M.Litt. degree. A
Independent Summer Reading Projects
Under exceptional circumstances, when the format of the norma I dependent
Reading Project is not appropriate (for example, in acting or direc ting projects),
students may design an Independent Summer Reading Project, which counts as the
equivalent of a regular Bread 1 oaf GO) urse. Studer is have the res vonsibility for
establishing the subject n iatter of the Sui nmer Projec t and for submitt ing a coherent
and well-conceived pros vectus for the su nmer’s wor no later than M ay 1. For M.A.
and M. Litt. candidates, t 1e Summer Pro ect must be in an area in whi ch the student
has previously taken a course at Bread Le if and recel ved a grade of A - or better; for
M.Litt. candidates, the Project must be n the stude Ys area of concentration.
In general, the stuc entis expected to work independently, meeting about an
hourevery week with his or her advisor. ' he studenatnd the faculty member together
determine whether the student will submit a series of short papers, or one or two
essays, equivalent to at least a thirty-page paper.
Oxford Tutorial Reading Projects
Students attending Bread Loafa t Lincoln College, Oxford, may propose a course of
study for a tutorial to be taken in addition to their regular Bread Loaf course. These
MEMMM. aoa AE ll c
tutorial projects receive three hours of cred t and should nvolve approximately the
amount of reading : ind writing contained within a three- 1our Bread Loaf course in
Vermont or New Mexico. Project proposals must be app roved by both the director
and a member of the Bread Loafa tO xford aculty, who will supervise the student's
study during the ei 151111125 summer. A Bread Loaf st ident nust be enrolled in one of
the regular Bread I oaf at Oxfor d courses in order t > bee igible to take one of these
extra tutorials A tuition fee of $1,3 90 will be chars ced for each tutorial.
Lecture Program and Other Activities
n at Bread Loafi ntroduces stude nts to scholars and writers whose
[he lecture sro gral
lectures broa den th e outlook and enrich the content of the regular academic program.
Among the special lecturers at Bre ad Loaf have been distinguished poets, novelists,
and critics st ch as ¢ ale Darber, Saul Bellow, John Berryman, R. P. Blackmur , Willa
ather, Ric yard Ellmann, Northrop Frye, Ha nlin Garland, Shirley Jackson, Sinclair
Lewis, Arch bald Macl eish, Hillis Miller, Howard Nemerov, Dorothy Parker, Carl
Sandbt Allen Tate, Ri chard Wilbur, an d William Carlos Williams. Similar
ooy»
progral ns of lectur es are he ld at Oxford and 1 1 New Mexico.
Experie iced t eacher-researchers also visit Bre ad Loaf to offer workshops on
practice-oriented research n the classroom.
Each week in Vermont, students have the opp« »rtunity to see classic or modern
films. I ı Vermont and at Oxford, they are invited to join the Bread L oaf Madrigalists,
who gi ve informal performances each summer.
Stt dents at all three ca npuses give frequent re adings from their own writings.
Course Registra tion
Course choices should be made following the receipt of the official jxulletin (but not
prior to March Early registration is advised, as t e size of all classes is limited.
Students are u 'ged to complete as much reading as possible before arrival in order
permit more ime during the session for col ateral assignments and for the
preparation of pap
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In Vermont a nd New Mexico, students may, with the instructor's permission,
audit another cot rse in literature in addition to tl e two courses taken for credit.
Students regularly registered for a course may not ch: inge their status to that of auditor
without permissio n of the director.
A bookstore or the sale of textbooks, statione and supplies is maintained at
Bread Loaf in Vermont. Required texts for each course are availa vle for students. It
may occasionally be necessary to substitute other texts for those listed in the courses
described in this bulletin. Although it is impossible to advise studen ts of these changes
in advance, the bookstore will stock copies of the substituted tex ts.
Students going to Oxford and to New Mexico are urged to purchase their own
copies of the texts to be used.
Library Facilitie S
facilities of Starr Library at Middlebury College, which include the Abernethy
[he
Collection of Americana and the Robert Frost Room, are available to Bread Loaf
students. The Davison Memorial Library at Bread Loaf contains definitive editions,