Past Institutes

Literature of the American Southwest

On September 26, 2014, Humanities Texas held a workshop in San Marcos for secondary-level language arts teachers on the literature of the American Southwest.

Curriculum

The workshop addressed the characteristic themes and motifs of Southwestern literature, with a special focus on the fiction, nonfiction, and poetry of the region from the past century.

Thirty-seven teachers attended the workshop. Faculty helped participants develop ideas for effective writing and research assignments related to literature of the American Southwest. Content was aligned with the secondary English and language arts TEKS. Teachers received books and other instructional materials and were trained in the examination and interpretation of primary sources.

Faculty

Workshop faculty included Mark Busby and Steve Davis of Texas State University, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith (The University of Texas at Austin), and Carmen Tafolla (The University of Texas in San Antonio).

Program resources

Our October 2014 newsletter included a slideshow of images from the workshop.

Location and schedule

The workshop overview includes the program schedule and participants.

Sponsors

The workshop was held in partnership with the Texas State University Center for the Study of the Southwest and the Wittliff Collections and made possible with major funding from the State of Texas, with ongoing support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Questions about Teacher Institutes

Call 512.440.1991 or email institutes@humanitiestexas.org.

San Marcos workshop participants gather at The Wittliff Collections in the Albert E. Alkek Library at Texas State University.
Carmen Tafolla leads a workshop on teaching the poetry of the American Southwest.