Sunday Evening

Welcome and An Introduction to Emily Dickinson. On Sunday evening the workshop will begin with dinner in the Amherst College dining hall and a talk by Dickinson biographer Polly Longsworth. Longsworth will give a brief overview of the poet's life and set the stage for the week's activities.

Monday

Meet Emily Dickinson. On Monday Dickinson scholar Martha Ackmann will introduce you to changing perceptions of Emily Dickinson in both scholarship and popular culture. Ackmann will identify and explore common myths about the poet's reclusiveness, reluctance to publish, and romantic relationships and will engage you in discussion about your advance reading assignments. You will then take part in three “activity centers” in which you will 1) transcribe a Dickinson poem from manuscript, 2) analyze the three known images of the poet, and 3) review Dickinson's death record. The activities will introduce both the joys and conundrums that scholars encounter when studying the poet.

In the afternoon you will visit the Museum for its “Emily Dickinson's World” tour. Led by experienced Museum guides, the ninety-minute tour explores the poet's life and literary achievement through her family's homes, the Homestead and The Evergreens. After the tour, you will meet with mentor teachers, who will share their own perceptions of Dickinson and introduce you to your curriculum project assignment. Teachers will be divided into groups by grade level and subject area.

On Monday evening, you will attend a screening of “Loaded Gun: Life, Death and Dickinson,” a sixty-minute documentary about the challenges that the filmmaker encountered in trying to understand Dickinson's life and poetry.

Tuesday

Dickinson's Material Culture. The day begins with a lecture by Jane Wald, the Museum's executive director, on the material world of the Dickinson family. You will devote the rest of the day to three activities: an object workshop, led by Wald and decorative arts specialist Nan Wolverton, in which each participant will closely examine a family artifact; 2) an architecture workshop, led by Museum guides, that examines the cultural and historical significance of the Dickinson houses; and 3) the Museum's landscape audio tour. You will consider how objects, architecture, and landscapes help to inform our understanding of history.

On Tuesday evening you will attend a lecture by Christopher Benfey, whose recent book A Summer of Hummingbirds demonstrates admirably the connections that scholars make between Dickinson's life and larger trends in American society and culture.

Wednesday

Dickinson's Poetry. In an engaging lecture, English and American Studies Professor Karen Sánchez-Eppler will outline major themes and stylistic characteristics in Dickinson's poetry, her writing practices and publication history, and major issues in Dickinson criticism. Following the lecture, you will participate in a small-group poetry discussion. Techniques used in the discussion will model techniques that can be used in the classroom. You will also be introduced to the fundamentals of critical theory, which provide different lenses through which to view the poems. In the afternoon, you will visit the Dickinson collection at the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections and engage in small-group discussions, facilitated by mentor teachers, about teaching Dickinson.

Wednesday will culminate after dinner with a stimulating presentation by LumenArts, the creative team of Nanette Perotte and Sebastian Lockwood, who will share musical selections from their popular school program “Emily Dickinson – Zero at the Bone” and lead a discussion about sharing Dickinson's poetry with students.

Thursday

Dickinson's Amherst. On Thursday you will gain a better understanding of Dickinson's larger historical context through resources related to the town of Amherst, which celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2009. You will visit the Jones Library (the town's public library) to see its Dickinson-related materials and tour the Amherst History Museum, the local historical society's museum. You will also participate in a workshop with master teacher Wendy Kohler during which you will examine a primary documents evidence packet of material essential to understanding Dickinson's life. On Thursday you will also have time for individual or group work on curriculum projects; workshop faculty and mentor teachers will be available for consultation. On Thursday evening, you may take an optional guided walking tour of downtown Amherst.

Friday

Dickinson's Letters. Personal letters reveal much about Dickinson's writing practices as well as her views on religion, literature, the natural world, politics, family, and friends. Dickinson scholar Cindy MacKenzie will present an overview lecture on the letters' significance, then you will participate in a discussion group that focuses on a selection of letters. The afternoon will be devoted to small-group sharing about curriculum projects, evaluation of and reflection on the week, and a visit to Dickinson's grave site in West Cemetery, just a half mile from her home.