John Steinbeck: Voice of a Region, Voice for America: A Summer Institute exploring the author's life and writing in historica

FAIN: ES-50266-08

San Jose State University Research Foundation (San Jose, CA 95112-5569)
Susan Shillinglaw (Project Director: March 2008 to June 2010)

A two-week institute for high school history and English teachers that studies John Steinbeck's works in the contexts of their literary, historical, and ecological frames.

The Summer Institute will focus on reasons why John Steinbeck remains significant as a novelist, social critic, ecologist; as the enduring voice of the twentieth century American values and ideas. Steinbeck is a central figure in the secondary English curriculum, so through this project high school teachers are encouraged to study the author because of his presence in the secondary canon. Central to full appreciation of his work, will be field trips with focus on his environmental holism. Participants will learn about the history of the local agricultural and fishing industries as well as pertinent local history. Steinbeck scholars will lead a series of workshops primarily focused on exploring the regional influences and historical contexts for several of Steinbeck's major novels. The institute will focus on texts and films common to the high school curriculum. Participants will also consider how to integrate science and literature, through Steinbeck's ecological perspective.