Summer programs look over the horizon

Author: James Dolan, Focus Editor

As Middlebury ushers in a new era of preparing for the future, the need to take into account all aspects of the College becomes all the more acute. One oft-overlooked element of the College's operations that has received renewed interest thanks to the Strategic Planning Process is the summer programs at Middlebury, which often rival the undergraduate program in terms of quality and educational innovation. Together, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Bread Loaf School of English and the Language Schools comprise a formidable trio of pedagogic excellence.







Bread Loaf Writers' Conference



This year the 81st Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the oldest of its kind in the nation, will take place from Aug. 16-27. Director of the Conference Michael Collier said, "The conference will follow the form it has taken for the last decade, which includes small workshops that meet frequently." He also emphasized that this strategy allows the faculty to focus mainly on the participants of the program. Collier is the acting director of the conference, author of five books of poems, a Pushcart Prize winner, and was Poet Laureate of Maryland from 2001-2004.



Since 1996, the Writers' Conference has seen a 250 percent increase in the number of applicants from 600 to approximately 1500 people. Despite the significant rise in applicants, the number of students and faculty participating in the conference has risen only slightly, from 225 to 250. Even though the programs are mainly for graduate students, Middlebury does accept several Middlebury undergraduates into the program.



The conference boasts the participation of many distinguished writers in the areas of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, all of whom will be teaching the small workshops at Middlebury's Bread Loaf campus. Each faculty member has an extensive background in writing. Ted Conover, for example, is a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction, as well as a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Linda Beards, author of seven collections of poetry, including "Flights of the Harvest Mare" and "The Ghost Trio," has received four Pushcart Prizes and a variety of fellowships, including one from the Guggenheim Foundation. Ursula Hegi, another professor, is the author of six works of fiction, including "Stones from the River," a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. They join a number of other distinguished writers participating in this year's conference.







Bread Loaf School of English







The Bread Loaf campus in Ripton is also the site of the Bread Loaf School of English. The Bread Loaf School of English opened in 1920 and offers graduate courses in literature for participating students.



This year, a fifth Bread Loaf campus will open at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. After the opening of this campus, there will be a Bread Loaf campus located in each of the four quadrants of the United States. The other campuses are located in Juneau, Alaska; Santa Fe, N.M. and Oxford, England. Assistant Director of Bread Loaf School of English Admissions Sandy Legault, said that after opening Bread Loaf-Asheville, "We hope that Bread Loaf will be more convenient and more attractive to students in the South."



The most recent Bread Loaf campus opened before Asheville was located in Guadalajara, Mexico. This campus was discontinued due to logistical reasons. Legault said they would like to find "a better fit for Bread Loaf, probably in another Mexican city."



In addition to Bread Loaf's growth, the program is looking inward to improve the original campus on Bread Loaf Mountain. Administrators are working with Internet and Technology Services to enable wireless internet for students. This, Legault said, "is a huge improvement." Legault also said that renovations of several buildings are taking place.



Enrollments for the Bread Loaf School of English have remained relatively steady in recent years. About 250 students enroll each year, making it the largest graduate English program in the country. It continues to be a selective graduate option for many students throughout the United States and abroad.







Language Schools



The Bread Loaf campus is not the only active area of Middlebury during the summer. The main campus hosts Middlebury's numerous language programs. Summer Language Schools at Middlebury opened in 1915 with the introduction of the German School. Since then, the program has grown to include Arabic, Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Portuguese was the most recent addition, added in 2003.



The prospect of more language schools at Middlebury has been discussed in recent years. Directors of the program have considered many different languages for different reasons. Persian, Korean, Hebrew and Turkish are among the languages being considered, although new programs are not at the top of the agenda. Dean of Language Schools and Schools Abroad Michael Geisler said, "We are currently working at full capacity during the summer, with 1,300 students and faculty. This number may seem low, but you have to consider the 160-200 other student workers and researchers on campus." Housing for all of these people becomes an issue, especially since Language School faculty and families are also housed on campus.



Currently, the Middlebury Language Schools are most focused on improving the language programs already in existence. For example, one such program is the International Cultural Studies Language Series, in which the entire community is invited to attend. In order to maintain the trademarked Language Pledge to speak only the language of the school, speakers are asked to do two presentations. The first is a main presentation in English for the community and a select number of graduate students. The second is in a foreign language and designed for the summer school students. "This approach allows the series to benefit both students, as well as the rest of the community," said Geisler.



Middlebury students make up about 10 percent of the students enrolled at the Language Schools; however, applications come from all over. Last year, 4,391 people inquired about the Language Schools at Middlebury. According to Geisler, "Sometimes there are certain factors that keep people from applying, even though they want to attend. The program is expensive and it is also selective." Last year, 1,303 students enrolled, out of 2,297 applicants. Geisler also said that he believes they would see even more applicants if more students could afford to come. Tuition for the Language Schools ranges from $5,700 to $7,700, depending on whether a six-, seven- or nine-week program is desired.



The recent affiliation of the Monterey Institute of International Studies with Middlebury has been a concern for some who argue that Monterey summer programs draw students away from Middlebury language programs and vice versa. Geisler admitted that, "At first I asked the question, 'Have we in fact affiliated ourselves with the competition?'" After some consideration, Geisler said, "Middlebury language programs really only lose a total of one to three students a year to Monterey." He said that the two schools' programs are very different. Middlebury has a total immersion program in which all areas of life involve the foreign language. Monterey is an intensive language program, but they do not practice the same "total immersion" strategy. Geisler said, "It's like comparing apples and oranges. It all depends on what the student wants. A student applying to Middlebury language programs usually doesn't apply to Monterey and one applying to Monterey usually doesn't apply to Middlebury."


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With three different programs focusing on either English or foreign language, Middlebury hopes to continue to build its reputation as a school that provides superior language education. Each of these programs have been around for more than 80 years and continue to evolve as the demands of each program change.





-James Dolan, focus editor