A Kentucky native, Harriette Arnow was proud of her roots and presented Appalachian culture honestly, warts and all. Although her work was firmly anchored in place, Arnow's ability to write about human beings and the interactions between them transcended regional boundaries. She was a pivotal staff member at Hindman Settlement School's Appalachian…

"Cultural journalism" is the generic term applied to the "Foxfire" type program in which youth research and report their community's culture. This article traces the history of the movement from its beginnings as a ninth-grade English project to its adoption as a concept by teachers and students across the nation. (DS)

Points out that poetry must touch a nerve in students as well as belong to them culturally in order to arouse their interest. Notes that one theme with which students may identify has been elaborated by Franco-Ontarian eco-poets. Reading their texts makes French a teaching target and invites study of geology, chemistry, economics, or history in…

Author and illustrator of children's books Paul Brett Johnson draws on his Appalachian roots for inspiration. While growing up in Knott County, Kentucky, he was exposed to the oral tradition of Appalachian storytelling while listening to his grandfather tell fantastic tales. His use of humor, regional settings, and wise animals presented from a…

Describes how the University of New Mexico library collaborates with an Albuquerque bookstore, which supplies the library with New Mexico literature. The difficulties of collecting New Mexicana, the development of a relationship with a local bookstore, and some guidelines for establishing similar relationships are discussed. (KRN)

A statewide project designed to stimulate the interest of out-of-school adults in the humanities resources of Mississippi public libraries involved the cooperative efforts of professional librarians, English educators, novelists, and historians. Project activities included the production of a series of six television programs featuring noted…

An award-winning science teacher recalls her youth in Appalachian Kentucky and how she learned the fundamental concepts of biology, botany, hydrology, and geology playing and working in the family's "holler." The holler also gave her a philosophy of teaching--she has her students experience the wonders of the natural world before…

Through school-based programs and community interviews, the Northern Forest Center has documented the history of place names in rural eastern Maine. The resulting book aims to move residents beyond local forestry-related conflicts by focusing on shared values, to preserve local sense of place, and to make children want to stay in or return to the…

A collaboration between multiple local partners in southwestern New Hampshire sponsors a unique writing program. Students explore local parks and open spaces and then submit essays about them to the local newspaper. The program has expanded to research on significant local residents, how local industries and traditions got started, and a local…

Describes programs offered by a university English department that both improve the department's public image and enrich the cultural life of the school and the community. (AEA)

A widower describes a week-long camping trip he and his two sons took at the Audubon Family Camp at Hog Island (Maine). Scientists and educators provided lectures, games, art projects, and field courses on subjects ranging from oceanography to forest ecology. Spending time in nature proved healing for the family as well. (TD)

A nonprofit organization in Tucson (Arizona) trains low-income adolescents to document neighborhood histories and tell their own. Working with professionals in the field, Mexican American and other minority youths learn to research, interview, write, photograph, and edit. After four books documenting Tucson history, a magazine was launched that…

This presentation describes an English graduate seminar in Local Color and Regionalism in American Literature at Western Kentucky University that was set up as an experimental hybrid course, i.e., roughly 60% face-to-face and 40% Web course (Web quest format). The focus is on the four tasks that comprised the Web quest segment of the course: (1) a…

The primary focus of this book is upon the training of local writers to enable a preliterate, minority language group to produce reading materials that reflect the cultural interests and desires of the group. The training program described in the book involves three components: intensive linguistic study culminating in a tentative orthographic…