Editing New England Literature Program

{{Short description|Academic program}}
The '''New England Literature Program''' ('''NELP''') is an academic program run by the [[University of Michigan]] that takes place off-campus during the Spring half-term. University of Michigan faculty and other staff teach the courses, and students earn regular University of Michigan credit. The program has been in existence since 1975<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Weber |first=Bruce |date=2004-08-01 |title=A Sense of Place |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/01/education/a-sense-of-place.html |access-date=2025-04-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and has an endowed permanent directorship in the English Department to ensure NELP's continuation.

The program, founded by English professors Walter Clark and Alan Howes,<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Berman |first=Jillian |date=2008-10-07 |title=NELP continues with new director |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/new-nelp-director/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Whittier-Ferguson |first=John |title=A Report from a Visit to the New England Literature Program |url=https://lsa.umich.edu/english/news-events/all-news/search-news/a-report-from-a-visit-to-the-new-england-literature-program.html |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=U-M LSA English Language and Literature |language=en}}</ref> takes place at [[Camp Kabeyun]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://lsa.umich.edu/nelp/about-us.html |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=U-M LSA New England Literature Program |language=en}}</ref> on [[Lake Winnipesaukee]] in [[Alton Bay, New Hampshire|Alton Bay]], [[New Hampshire]].<ref name=":3" /> The program's location has shifted throughout the years, previously taking place at [[Camp Belknap]] and Camp Kehonka in [[Wolfeboro, New Hampshire|Wolfeboro]], [[New Hampshire]],<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Miller |first=Judith |date=July 1, 1976 |title=In the Footsteps of Thoreau |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40162589 |journal=[[Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning]] |volume=8 |issue=6 |pages=42-45 |doi=10.1080/00091383.1976.10568904 |jstor=40162589|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and at [[Camp Wohelo]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Winkle |first=Mark Van |date=2009-06-01 |title=Getting ready for the summer. |url=https://wohelo.com/getting-ready-for-the-summer/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Wohelo Camps |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Camp Mataponi]] on [[Sebago Lake]] in [[Maine]].<ref name=":1" /> NELP lasts for six and a half weeks, with 40 students and 13 staff members participating each year. In addition to formal academic work in literature and writing, staff and students offer non-credit instruction in canoeing, camping, art, and nature studies. Students also teach or co-teach classes as part of the NELP program, and several three-day hiking and camping trips round out the NELP curriculum. Students at NELP live without cell phones, recorded music, video cameras, and email/computers.

== Educational philosophy ==
The course description of NELP states that, "Diverse kinds of learning are all valuable and pleasurable," suggesting that intellectual and physical challenges are often parallel with each kind of learning reinforcing the others. The program is run cooperatively: All participants belong to work groups. Work responsibilities rotate among the groups, which prepare meals, wash dishes, and clean common areas. NELP begins with a work day during which equipment is unpacked and camp set up, and it ends with another work day. The students and staff live together during the duration of NELP.

== The academic program ==
NELP students earn 9 hours of credit. While NELP’s academic work is said to be taught as a single integrated academic experience, the credits nonetheless appear on transcripts as three separate courses.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About Us: Academic Program |url=https://lsa.umich.edu/nelp/about-us/academic-program.html |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=U-M LSA New England Literature Program |language=en}}</ref>

The program is grounded in the writings of 18th and 19th-century writers such as [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], [[Henry David Thoreau]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Corey |first=Mary |date=2023-07-04 |title=U-M New England Literature Program combines nature with education |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/news/academics/u-m-new-england-literature-program-combines-nature-with-education/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Emily Dickinson]], [[Frederick Douglass]], and [[Herman Melville]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Canan |first=Danielle |date=2023-11-01 |title=Thoreau and the myth of the author |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/statement/thoreau-and-the-myth-of-the-author/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> as well as more modern writers like [[Sarah Orne Jewett]], [[Robert Frost]], [[Wallace Stevens]], [[Carolyn Chute]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hetzler |first=Alex |date=2023-09-22 |title=The Daily Book Review picks the worst books they read for school |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/books/the-worst-books-we-had-to-read-for-school/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> [[E. E. Cummings]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lapan |first=Tovin |date=2001-02-01 |title=Students study literature in New England |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/students-study-literature-new-england/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Louise Glück]], [[Galway Kinnell]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sloan |first=Aisha Sabatini |author-link=Aisha Sabatini Sloan |date=2015-06-01 |title=How to Teach a Nightmare |url=https://www.guernicamag.com/how-to-teach-a-nightmare/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=[[Guernica (magazine)|Guernica]] |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Cheryl Savageau]]<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Prospective Students: Academic Program |url=https://lsa.umich.edu/nelp/prospective-students/academic-program.html |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=U-M LSA New England Literature Program |language=en}}</ref> In particular, Thoreau's ''[[Walden]]'' has been described as the [[Bible]] of NELP.<ref name=":2" />

NELP's curriculum prioritizes creative writing, especially [[Diary|journal writing]].<ref name=":4" /> The courses at NELP are graded based on the students' completion of a reading list, journal work, and class participation.<ref name=":0" />

== Alumni ==
The NELP program has had participants who have gone on to careers in writing and the arts. Among those [[Mark Leibovich]], a writer for the ''[[New York Times]]'';<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zorn |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Zorn |date=July 30, 2022 |title=Had no idea that Mark was a former NELPer! Hi |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/NELPalum/posts/10152667312299953/?comment_id=10152667503754953 |website=[[Facebook]]}}</ref> [[Diane Cook]], formerly a producer at Public Radio International's ''[[This American Life]]'' and author of ''Man V. Nature'', a 2014 book of short stories published by [[HarperCollins|Harper Collins]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=U-M literature program takes students into the deep woods |url=https://record.umich.edu/articles/u-m-literature-program-takes-students-into-the-deep-woods/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=The University Record}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Araujo |first=Mara |date=2015-05-04 |title=Diane Cook: 'Life Is Very Precarious' |url=https://talkingwriting.com/diane-cook-%E2%80%9Clife-very-precarious%E2%80%9D |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Talking Writing |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' columnist [[Eric Zorn]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zorn |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Zorn |date=2024-10-22 |title=Zorn: I too had a low-paying restaurant job |url=https://ericzorn.substack.com/p/10-22-picayune-plus |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Eric Zorn: The Picayune Sentinel |via=[[Substack]]}}</ref> food journalist [[Francis Lam]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lam |first=Francis |author-link=Francis Lam |date=December 17, 2014 |title=Dear fellow NELPers... |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/NELPalum/posts/10150745338459953/ |website=[[Facebook]]}}</ref> [[indie folk]] singer [[Chris Bathgate]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Alexandra |date=2006-01-26 |title=A2 trio invades Halfass |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/a2-trio-invades-halfass/ |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=[[The Michigan Daily]] |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Bluegrass music|bluegrass]] singer [[Rebecca Frazier]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Frazier |first=Rebecca |author-link=Rebecca Frazier |date=August 8, 2024 |title=Thanks for watching, friends! ✨ – Rebecca (NELP '96) |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/NELPalum/posts/10153071456614953/ |website=[[Facebook]]}}</ref>

In 2018, alumna [[Dana Nessel]] was elected [[Michigan Attorney General|Attorney General of the State of Michigan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michigan voters made history on election night November 6, 2018 by choosing Dana Nessel to become the state’s first openly gay attorney general. |url=https://lsa.umich.edu/english/news-events/all-news/search-news/michigan-voters-made-history-on-election-night-november-6--2018-.html |access-date=2023-11-10 |website=University of Michigan LSA |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:University of Michigan]]
[[Category:American writers' organizations]]
[[Category:Culture of New England]]