John Elder

Biographical Information
"John Elder joined the Middlebury College faculty in 1973. His original appointment was in English, followed by a split-appointment in English and American Literatures and in Environmental Studies.  Since 2007 he was appointed as a non-departmental College Professor.   Starting in 1981, he has also taught most summers at the Bread Loaf School of English, including at the Alaska, New Mexico, and North Carolina campuses as well as at the Mother Loaf.

"John's special areas of interest as a teacher are in American nature writing, English Romantic Poetry, modern American poetry of nature, and Japan's haiku tradition. In recent years, he has also enjoyed exploring the possibilities for service-learning and community-based education, through courses related to residents' sense of place in the nearby town of Starksboro and to the challenges and hopes of eleven Addison County farmers.  His three most recent books -- Reading the Mountains of Home, The Frog Run, and Pilgrimage to Vallombrosa -- have each combined discussion of literature, description of Vermont's landscape and natural history, and personal memoir."

Affiliations

 * Trustee, Sterling College
 * Advisory Board, Orion Magazine

Related Sourcewatch

 * Center for Whole Communities
 * Vermont Land Trust