The Bread Loaf School of English is one of 10 summer programs offered by Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont. Since 1920, the Bread Loaf School has held six-week summer sessions, offering graduate courses in literary study, the teaching of writing, creative writing, and drama. The school's home campus is located in a strikingly beautiful setting within sight of Bread Loaf Mountain, several miles outside Middlebury.

Students may elect to attend the school for one or two summers, or they may follow a full program of studies leading to a graduate degree (M.A. or M.Litt.), usually in four or five summers. The faculty of the school is drawn from distinguished institutions across the country and from the United Kingdom. The school's students, most of whom are secondary school teachers, are similarly diverse in geographical origin, race, and background. The emphasis at Bread Loaf has always been upon close contact between teacher and student in an intensive six-week course of study.

Recipients of the South Carolina Department of Education Graduate Fellowships will attend the Bread Loaf program at the home campus in Vermont. In subsequent years, these teachers can study at Bread Loaf's other three campuses, described below.

The Program at Oxford takes place at Lincoln College, Oxford, where students enroll in one two-unit seminar/tutorial for the session. Courses are offered in the study of literature and literary theory, the teaching of writing, and the study of dramatic texts, coupled with frequent trips to dramatic productions in London and Stratford.

The Program in New Mexico is held at the Native American Preparatory School in Rowe, 40 miles outside Santa Fe. In this southwestern setting, students take courses in literature, literary theory, creative writing, and the teaching of writing. Special emphasis is placed upon such subjects as Native American literature, nature writing of the Southwest and Great Basin, and American Hispanic literature.

The Program in Alaska takes place at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau. Courses in Alaska take advantage of Juneau's unique location, and several courses will focus on the literature and landscape of the Pacific Northwest and on indigenous cultures. Students at Bread Loaf/Alaska will be able to choose between a six- or three-week program of study.

The Master of Arts (M.A.) Degree:
Candidates must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college. To earn the M.A., students must successfully complete 10 courses (10 units or 30 semester-hour credits). The normal summer program consists of two courses, each meeting five hours a week; exceptional students may, with permission after the first summer, take a third course for credit. A grade of B- or better is required in order to receive course credit. While the degree usually takes five summers to complete, students may transfer in up to two units (six semester-hour credits) of work and complete the degree in three or four summers.

The curriculum is divided into six groups:

• (I) Writing and the Teaching of Writing,
  
• (II) English Language and Literature through the 17th Century,
  
• (III) English Literature since the 17th Century,
  
• (IV) American Literature, (V) World Literature,
  
• (VI) Theater Arts.
  

Ordinarily the M.A. program includes a minimum of two courses each from Groups II and III, and one course each from Groups IV and V.

The Master of Letters (M.Litt.) Degree:
The M.Litt. program builds, in a concentrated, specialized way, on the broader base of the M.A. in English, which is a prerequisite for the degree. Students choose a field of concentration in which most or all of their course work is done. No thesis is required. In the final summer a student must pass a comprehensive examination covering his or her field of concentration. The program is limited to highly qualified candidates.

Program in Continuing Graduate Education:
The school permits teachers who have their master's degrees or others who have at least a baccalaureate degree to enroll for a summer as nondegree students in continuing graduate education. Upon successful completion of this program, Middlebury College will issue a Certificate in Continuing Graduate Education.

For more information and descriptions of the Summer 2001 courses,
visit the Bread Loaf website.