About the Literacy Unbound Institute
Our unique Summer Institute is an intensive course for passionate and curious high school teachers and high school students to come together in creative collaboration as “players”, to perform responses to literature and history through writing, reading, image, and sound. Our process guides a mixed age team to develop compelling original content and hone their voices as performers through the co-creation of an original multimedia production inspired by a shared text. With the help of guest teaching artists, players will step into the text at hand through improvisational sound and movement, experimenting with the layering of mode and medium, the interplay between physical and digital space and the remixing of text on text.
This year, the program will select 12 high school students and 12 teachers to create an original multimodal performance piece inspired by a reading of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. The majority of the institute involves students and teachers in collaboration; however, teachers will also have dedicated time to explore how they can bring the principles and practices of Literacy Unbound to their own classrooms.
This year, the program will select 12 high school students and 12 teachers to create an original multimodal performance piece inspired by a reading of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. The majority of the institute involves students and teachers in collaboration; however, teachers will also have dedicated time to explore how they can bring the principles and practices of Literacy Unbound to their own classrooms.
See the institute in action
Applications
Applications for both students and teachers are due by April 26th. Decisions will be sent on May 6th.
Students can apply here, and should be prepared to write about their academic & extracurricular interests, a defining learning experience, and their experience (if any) with this year's text.
Teachers can apply here, and should be prepared to write about their teaching history, inspiration for their pedagogy, creativity, and collaboration.
Students can apply here, and should be prepared to write about their academic & extracurricular interests, a defining learning experience, and their experience (if any) with this year's text.
Teachers can apply here, and should be prepared to write about their teaching history, inspiration for their pedagogy, creativity, and collaboration.
Schedule
Please note that while the majority of the program involves teachers and students in collaboration, there are slight differences in the two schedules.
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FAQs
What are CTLE hours, and should I register for them?
Teachers College is a state-approved provider of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) hours. Teacher players can earn up to 68 CTLE hours (dependent on attendance) for participating in this institute. There is a fee associated with CTLE hours, and attendance will be verified before CTLE credits are awarded.
CTLE information must be requested prior to the start of the institute. Once the institute begins, we can no longer accommodate CTLE requests. To request CTLE hours, please indicate your interest on your application.
Why Their Eyes Were Watching God?
Zora Neale Hurston penned this story of protagonist Janie Crawford--an African-American woman journeying towards self-identity — in just seven weeks. The novel initially met resistance:
Teachers College is a state-approved provider of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) hours. Teacher players can earn up to 68 CTLE hours (dependent on attendance) for participating in this institute. There is a fee associated with CTLE hours, and attendance will be verified before CTLE credits are awarded.
CTLE information must be requested prior to the start of the institute. Once the institute begins, we can no longer accommodate CTLE requests. To request CTLE hours, please indicate your interest on your application.
Why Their Eyes Were Watching God?
Zora Neale Hurston penned this story of protagonist Janie Crawford--an African-American woman journeying towards self-identity — in just seven weeks. The novel initially met resistance:
Black dialect was at the heart of her work, and that was a dangerous business. Disowned by the founders of the Harlem Renaissance for its association with the shambling, watermelon-eating mockeries of American stage convention, dialect remained an irresistible if highly self-conscious resource for writers...the feat of rescuing the dignity of the speakers from decades of humiliation required a rare and potentially treacherous combination of gifts: a delicate ear and a generous sympathy, a hellbent humor and a determined imperviousness to shame. All this Hurston brought to “Their Eyes Were Watching God”—a book that, despite its slender, private grace, aspires to the force of a national epic...offering a people their own language freshly caught on paper and raised to the heights of poetry.
— “A Society of One,” The New Yorker, 2/17/97
Writing about the novel in 1975, Alice Walker declared, “There is no book more important to me than this one.” And now celebrating the 82nd anniversary of its publication, Their Eyes Were Watching God has been hailed as one of the best 100 English-language novels written since 1923 and has become an essential text on high school reading lists.
So why was the novel cast aside at the outset? Why has it since been embraced? Through Their Eyes Were Watching God, what can we understand about black culture in the South in the early 1900s? What can we understand about our country as a whole today? These are the kinds of questions we’ll set out to address together.
I'm in 8th grade — can I apply?
Sure! We give preference to those already in high school, but you can certainly apply. On the application, we ask that you tell us what grade you’re entering in the fall (so you would check “9th grade”).
I'm from out of town — can I apply?
Sure! We don’t provide housing or transportation, though, so as long as you have housing in NYC for the duration of the program and can get yourself to Teachers College each day, you are welcome to apply.
I've already applied — when will I find out if I've been accepted?
Emails will go out the week of May 6th. In the meantime, you’re welcome to email Adele Bruni Ashley (azb2104@tc.columbia.edu) with questions.
Do you provide housing?
While we don’t provide housing, we can provide resources to help you find housing in NYC. Here is a list of resources to help you get started.
What are the hours each day?
The hours for students each day will usually be 10am-4pm, with an hour break for lunch. The hours for teachers will be 9am to 4pm, with an hour break for lunch. On Thursday, August 8th (performance day!), students and teachers will remain on campus from 9am to the end of the performance that night (about 9pm). Dinner will be provided that night. You can view a full schedule here.
When is the performance?
The performance will be Thursday, August 8th at 7pm at Teachers College. The performance will be about an hour long with an audience talk back afterwards. Family and friends are welcome! Please stay tuned for more information re: how to secure tickets to the performance.
What happens Friday, August 9th?
Friday, August 9th will be a half day for the program — students and teachers will come in at 10am and leave at 1pm.
What happens Saturday, August 10th?
Saturday, August 10th is for teachers only. This will be a day for intensive curriculum development and workshop facilitation by the teachers.
Who do I contact if I have more questions?
Please reach out to Adele Bruni Ashley (azb2104@tc.columbia.edu).
So why was the novel cast aside at the outset? Why has it since been embraced? Through Their Eyes Were Watching God, what can we understand about black culture in the South in the early 1900s? What can we understand about our country as a whole today? These are the kinds of questions we’ll set out to address together.
I'm in 8th grade — can I apply?
Sure! We give preference to those already in high school, but you can certainly apply. On the application, we ask that you tell us what grade you’re entering in the fall (so you would check “9th grade”).
I'm from out of town — can I apply?
Sure! We don’t provide housing or transportation, though, so as long as you have housing in NYC for the duration of the program and can get yourself to Teachers College each day, you are welcome to apply.
I've already applied — when will I find out if I've been accepted?
Emails will go out the week of May 6th. In the meantime, you’re welcome to email Adele Bruni Ashley (azb2104@tc.columbia.edu) with questions.
Do you provide housing?
While we don’t provide housing, we can provide resources to help you find housing in NYC. Here is a list of resources to help you get started.
What are the hours each day?
The hours for students each day will usually be 10am-4pm, with an hour break for lunch. The hours for teachers will be 9am to 4pm, with an hour break for lunch. On Thursday, August 8th (performance day!), students and teachers will remain on campus from 9am to the end of the performance that night (about 9pm). Dinner will be provided that night. You can view a full schedule here.
When is the performance?
The performance will be Thursday, August 8th at 7pm at Teachers College. The performance will be about an hour long with an audience talk back afterwards. Family and friends are welcome! Please stay tuned for more information re: how to secure tickets to the performance.
What happens Friday, August 9th?
Friday, August 9th will be a half day for the program — students and teachers will come in at 10am and leave at 1pm.
What happens Saturday, August 10th?
Saturday, August 10th is for teachers only. This will be a day for intensive curriculum development and workshop facilitation by the teachers.
Who do I contact if I have more questions?
Please reach out to Adele Bruni Ashley (azb2104@tc.columbia.edu).
