Writing Seminars chair, David Yezzi, has been awarded an Engaged Faculty Fellowship by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Social Concern. The Fellowship, which includes support for a graduate assistant, a $2,000 stipend, and formal training in the principles and practice of community-based learning, will allow Professor Yezzi to design and implement a 2016-2017 Writing Seminars course titled “Theater and Social Concern,” in partnership with Writers in Baltimore Schools. Professor Yezzi will be building on partnerships forged by Writing Sems colleague, Dora Malech.

“We will be telling stories” writes Yezzi, “about Baltimore and about our lives, in the particular way that drama tells stories–collaboratively, though dialogue, with an exchange of views. Students–both from Writing Sems and Baltimore high schools, will explore how stories–with all their conflicts and ambiguities–may be told though action. In this way, I hope we will come to a fuller understanding of our lives and the lives of those around us.”