Participants - 2022
India Carlson
I was raised in rural North Carolina with time to read a lot of books and even more time to wander in the woods. I’m finishing my 15th year of teaching botany and horticulture in Seattle, Washington. I love finishing the school week on Friday afternoons with students working in the school garden weeding and picking produce, and then coming home to my cozy house that I share with my husband, two grown sons , and one ancient cat. I nerd out on plants, evolutionary biology, cooking, and fashion. I live for a good cup of coffee or tea.
Tara Ann Carter
Tara Ann Carter is a teacher and English Department Chair at Providence High School in Burbank, California. Tara has recently transitioned from nearly a decade of working in Philadelphia public schools to a progressive independent school community in the San Fernando Valley.
As an educator, Tara seeks to provide students with opportunities to engage with non-traditional texts, both in format and content. She fosters an environment for students to think critically about their positions of privilege and power in relation to their community and country. Her lessons are driven by a priority to mold young people into ideal participants in our contemporary society through the experience of a pluralism of perspectives. The research done in her graduate work at Villanova University, as well as fellowships through the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University, is the foundation of a carefully crafted curriculum resulting in numerous publications on the pedagogical uses of graphic novels, television and online mediums centered around the voices of women and people of color. As the English Department Chair, she has put into practice inclusive instruction of voices of marginalized persons across all English courses.
Tara also actively seeks out pathways to enrich and better both students’ and her own understanding of world cultures through participation in numerous international fellowships, such as the Keizai Koho Center study tour of contemporary Japan, the Russian-American Folklore Society Easter Expedition to remote Russian villages and the Goethe Institut’s Transatlantic Outreach Program in Germany. Through her participation in this NEH Landmark Institute she seeks to empower young people to move from passive viewers to impassioned citizens and active agents of change by creating awareness, putting into action a shift from apathy and sympathy to activism and empathy.
Scott Castro
I’m excited for the opportunity to learn from renowned Steinbeck scholars and fervent enthusiasts this summer! I have been teaching ninth grade English at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas for five years. I studied history and music at St. Edward’s University in Austin, and have participated in seminars and other studies at the University of Notre Dame and the University of East Anglia in the UK. Before beginning my teaching career, I spent about a decade dabbling in anything from food service to HUD to outdoor education to physical therapy to construction. I grew up in Austin and am happy to serve my community as an educator. Other categories of fun include hiking, paddle boarding, yoga, cooking, music, and my two Chihuahuas, which I’ll miss most.
Ever since reading Of Mice and Men as a freshman in high school, I have always adored Steinbeck’s stories for their characters and the communities built within. I’ve grown to appreciate his elegant writing style and his ability to capture time and place. This won’t be my first trip to the Salinas/Monterey area. My partner of ten years is from Salinas, and we visit his family nearly every other year. I’m looking forward to immersing myself in a different way this time, hoping to gain literary, social, and ecological insights as we walk in Steinbeck’s footsteps.
John Chapman
Hi there! My name is John Chapman, a 3rd generation Californian who has taught English at Tokay High School in Lodi for 31 years. I've taught all grades and levels of high school English throughout my teaching career. I developed and taught an American Studies Program, a beginning public speaking course and coached the speech and debate team for about 16 years.
The years after college at UC Santa Cruz and prior to teaching were those I fondly call my “John Steinbeck” years: blue collar work in fruit sheds, canneries and greenhouses, culminating in an 8 year career as a switchman on the Santa Fe Railroad. OK, my connection with Steinbeck is pretty clear here...
Although my B.A. is in history, it essentially reflects American Studies coursework. American cultural studies is my primary intellectual pursuit. I enjoy putting literature and history together to try to figure out what the heck went on in our past. This coming school year I will offer several after-school programs about Steinbeck which combine interdisciplinary academics with fieldwork observation and experiential learning. I look forward to meeting and talking with folks who share an interdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching.
Gold Rush history fascinates me and weekends can find me cruising the foothill backroads chasing the ghosts of the 49ers...
Daniel Charlton
Daniel Charlton received his undergraduate degrees in English and History which then took him to teaching in Billings, Montana. He currently teaches at the Billings Career Center which is a Career and Technical school which aids students in a variety of courses and educational placements. Dan taught primarily upper-level students—juniors and seniors—with the bulk of the course load being in American literature as well as AP English Language and Composition for the past six years. His courses deal with a number of topics: from courses ranging from protest literature, to true crime and the construction of the podcast within the cultural zeitgeist, and the formation of the Bildungsroman in literary and filmic works, his course design explores inter- and transdiciplinary concerns. Prior to teaching in Montana, he did a stint in Kyrgyzstan, teaching English as a Second Language as well as advanced courses, preparing students for collegiate entrance exams. Dan is an alumnus of the Johns Hopkins University where he received his Master’s in 2020—defending his thesis over Zoom during the early months of the shutdown. His primary focus is the 19th-20th Century American literature and the formation of the canon along with critical theory. Dan is excited to continue research ventures and collaborate with everyone in the 2022 NEH Steinbeck Institute with everyone, especially those from different backgrounds and content areas.
Jean Cohn
Jean Cohn was raised on Long Island , NY and developed a love for art at a young age. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1985 with a BFA and started a career in graphic design. After being on staff designing books for children for ten years she left to freelance from home while taking care of her children. Jean helped her children learn how to read using the books she designed. Teaching her children to read sparked her interest to become a teacher.
In 2010, Jean started a Masters in the Art of Teaching at Queens College. After graduating in 2011 with certification to teach elementary grades 1-6, she was offered a job to teach art in an elementary school in the Bronx. After teaching art for a year, she became dually certified to teach art in grades K-12. The following year she started teaching art in Queens where one of her students won the prestigious PS Art Competition. The work was on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and also appeared on the big screen in Greeley Square, Times Square.M
Jean started teaching in Yonkers in 2015, where she continues to inspire children to create amazing art. Jean was part of the NEH Mesa Verde Summer workshop in 2016 where she was part of a group of educators studying Native Culture and archaeology. In October of 2018, Mrs. Cohn had her personal work of woven watercolors on display at the Huntington Arts Council on Long Island. These works of art were inspired by her students after creating exemplars and planning lessons. Some of the abstract weavings were moved to the Robert Allen Duralee Group (RADG, a textile Company) Showroom in Syosset, NY where they were on display until Spring of 2019. Jean was a presenter at the Boston NAEA, National Arts Educators Association, Convention in March of 2019. Jean received grants to continue studies about Native history through NEH (National Endowment of Humanities) again in 2019 on the Lewis & Clarke Trail as well as in 2021 at Southern Utah University studying Tribes along the Fremont River. In the Spring of 2021, Mrs. Cohn had her printmaking work on display at the Huntington Arts Council on Long Island.
Jean continues to inspire her students to learn and create by integrating interesting topics into the art curriculum.
John Debold
John Debold was born and raised in New Jersey and New York. He has science degrees from Manhattan College and SUNY, New Paltz. For the first two years of his teaching career he taught science at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Middletown, NY. For the following 40+ years he has been a science teacher at John S. Burke Catholic High School in Goshen, NY. The course titles have included Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science, Anatomy and Physiology, Ecology, Forensic Science, Lab Skills, and Lab Investigations.
Nick DePascal
Nick DePascal has lived in the Southwest US his entire life. Born and raised in the beautiful Sonoran desert of Tucson, Arizona, he has lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife and son for the last seventeen years. He taught English at the University of New Mexico for five years before becoming a high school English teacher in 2018. Currently he teaches 11th grade American Lit and the two year IB Language and Lit course at Sandia High School. He is a working poet, with one book of poems currently published.
Three things have long attracted Nick to John Steinbeck’s work. First, love for and attention to the land. Second, Steinbeck’s use of simple, brutal, and beautiful language in all his works. And third, the vivid and constant concern for humanity, dignity, and social justice.
Rachel Fox Serra
I grew up under the EL in Philadelphia, on the fringes of Cincinnati, on the crowded streets of Bangkok, and running wild at the base of a mountain range in Northern Thailand. A child of international aid workers and a student of cultural anthropology, I am drawn as a student to all that is considered "other." This includes, but is not limited to: the stories of migrant peoples, middle school students, sloths, "strange" cultural practices, and humans that feel they struggle to belong.
Mary Georgis
Mary is a Humanities teacher at Pomfret school in CT. She has been teaching, coaching, and advising at independent boarding schools for thirteen years. She earned undergraduate degrees in History and German Studies from Brown University and a master's in International Relations from the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK. She enjoys all things having to do with the sea, international travel, and dogs.
Marisa Harris
I started my career as a New York City Teaching Fellow and have been teaching for 18 years. I've taught in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Japan, South Africa and the state of Georgia. I love live performance, especially plays. I love cities, public art, and public transit. Born and raised in Jamaica, reading was my passport to everywhere else. My favorite writers are Morrison, Adichie, Hardy, Wilson, Marquez and Dostoevsky. Among my favourite books are "Beloved," "The Idiot," "One Hundred Years of Solitude," and "A Brief History of Seven Killings." I love exploring new places through long, meandering walks. I'm looking forward to three weeks without subways and ginormous buildings blocking a view to the sky.
Nicole Ifill
Born & raised in Brooklyn, New York, I began my teaching career at a Brooklyn middle school in 1993. I received my undergraduate education at The University of Maryland, College Park and I have graduate degrees from New York University and Columbia University, Teachers College. All of my degrees are in various disciplines of special education; however, I’ve spent the majority of my career teaching learning disabled high school students. The pandemic created an unexpected and new opportunity for me...I began teaching math to high school students with intellectual disabilities. I’m excited about this new phase of my career and equally excited about introducing Steinbeck and Marine Biology to a group of students who normally wouldn’t have this experience. As for me personally, while a city girl at heart...I love long walks, hiking and other "outdoorsy" activities not typically associated with city life. Somewhat of a foodie, I enjoy cooking, baking & trying out new restaurants. I also enjoy taking advantage of all the cultural institutions in NYC & while I don’t have the talent of my artist mother...I dabble in ceramics and enjoy arts & crafts in my free time.
Matt Mandel
Matt is entering his 29th year teaching Middle Years English Language Arts in Philadelphia. A National Board-Certified Teacher in Early Adolescence English Language Arts, Matt studied Journalism at Temple University and spent five years in that field before earning a Master of Education. In addition to being a two-time School District of Philadelphia Teacher of the Year, Matt was awarded the 2017 Service to the Profession Award by B’nai B’rith International Educators Unit. A strong advocate for public education and issues related to equity, Matt is an Advisory Board Member of the Philadelphia Writing Project at the University of Pennsylvania, and has served on the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Executive Board since 2002. His articles on education have appeared in numerous publications and online sites, including Diane Ravitch’s. Matt is most proud, however, the women in his life: daughters Jessica (Boston University graduate) and Lily (an incoming freshman at Pitzer College), and his wife, Jackie, who is also a school teacher.
Lauri Ann Markson
Lauri Ann Markson lives in Agoura Hills, California with her two medium-sized dogs, Bianca and Keats (and neither of them are part of her passwords). A proud second-generation California Native and second-generation UCLA Bruin, Lauri Ann began her teaching career in England and Scotland before she taught in Crenshaw, Bel Air, and Beverly Hills schools. She now teaches both the AP Language and AP Literature courses at Camarillo High School. She has a Masters in English from National University and has been teaching for 34 years.
Her twenty-nine-year-old son Alex is a pilot for the Royal Air Force.
On Lauri Ann’s nightstand and bookshelves live Emerson, Thoreau, Lucretius, Marcus Aurelius, Bradbury, Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Nicole Galland, Iain Pears, and so many more authors. Most Monday evenings, Lauri Ann plays in a trio of flutes – playing Mozart, Quantz, Sherer, Telemann, amongst a slew of other composers. She attempts to get at least 12,500 steps in a day, rides her electric bike around the lakes in her area, loves the theatre and free concerts at the local colleges and in the park, does her Wordle every day, is trying to master games of strategy, and won’t say no to a nice hot matcha or a bit of marzipan and dark chocolate. She also likes to sing.
Laura Matter
I’m Laura Matter, a member of the high school English faculty at Albuquerque Academy in New Mexico since 2006. I was raised in Connecticut, “on a [former] farm on the outskirts of a little town which was not far from a big town in Connecticut”—not unlike Adam Trask, protagonist of East of Eden. Like Trask, I decided to head for California once I was grown. I spent my young adult years drifting between the Bay Area and damp island nations in the North Atlantic, while pursuing checkered educational credentials, which include a BA in English from Stanford University and an MSc in Medieval Philology with a concentration in Old Norse from the University of Edinburgh. On a Fulbright scholarship, I studied Icelandic language and literature at Háskóli Íslands (University of Iceland). Then—after marrying a native New Mexican—I moved to Albuquerque, where I earned an MFA in creative writing at the University of New Mexico. I still occasionally publish essays as a side-hustle; you can read some of my literary work at laura-sewell-matter.com. I currently live with my husband, Nate, and two kids (Adelle, 13, and Axel, 11) at 7000ft. of elevation in the Sandia Mountains. An enthusiastic hiker, mountain biker, and slow jogger, I’m looking forward to feeling like a highly oxygenated superhero for my first week at sea level in July.
Phil Olson
Hi, everyone! I am a long-time English Teacher and a first-time NEH participant. I work at Century High School in Rochester, MN, where I most often teach AP Lit, American Lit, and a multi-genre course for fresh people.
My wife and I have two adult children, and we love to travel, garden, cook, and be outdoors.
I am excited to experience the institute will all of you.
Laura Ruble
Laura Ruble is a twenty-two year veteran educator from Charlotte, North Carolina. She began teaching science in North Carolina Public Schools directly after earning her BS in Biology from UNC Chapel Hill, and immediately knew she was hooked for life. Laura holds her National Board Certification in Adolescent/ Young Adult Science Teaching, has served as a Kenan Fellow for Curriculum and Leadership and a Curriculum Lead for Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Schools, and has led classrooms in North Carolina, New York, Korea, and China. While teaching, a commitment to life-long learning led her to the Duke University MA in Liberal Studies program, where she explored interdisciplinary themes of science, sociology, history, political science, and literature. The Steinbeck Institute is a natural extension of her interests, and she is honored to participate.
When she’s not in her virtual classroom, Laura enjoys running and reading, and spending time with her seven-year-old daughter Mae (whom she affectionately refers to as her intertidaler-in-training).
Sean Russell
Sean Russell has been an English teacher at Manchester Central High School in Manchester, NH for 18 years. Central is a large, diverse, comprehensive public high school, and Manchester is a designated settlement city for refugees from around the globe. He teaches College Composition and American Literature. He lives in the suburb of Hooksett, NH with his lovely wife and two daughters, and they enjoy traveling, hiking, and spending time together as a family. Sean enjoys reading fiction and fantasy, playing golf, trying new craft beers, and is an avid fan of 80s and 90s action films and anything with Clint Eastwood.
Anne Schaefer
I live in Sonoma County in Northern California. I teach middle school English and History. I’ve been teaching for 16 years, mostly at the middle school level. In my free time I love hiking in beautiful places, hanging out at the ocean, singing, photography, and travel.
Eli Shoshani
A lifelong resident of New York's Lower East Side, I grew up across the street from Katz's Deli, with the smell of pastrami wafting through my windows. After receiving an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, my first foray into teaching began when I joined The New York City Teaching Fellows. I am now the director of the Writing Center at Columbia Prep School (which supposedly Herman Melville attended!). I’m one of eight kids, all readers, who grew up on a steady diet of Roald Dahl, The Hardy Boys and the like. My favorite authors now include I.B. Singer, Ralph Ellison, and Grace Paley. I’m the father of two beautiful little girls--ages two and four--who also love reading (The Cat in the Hat variety). I'm excited to meet other Steinbeck aficionados, and I’m intrigued to find out whether there's any more thirty-nine cent wine to be had in Monterey!
Lori Charboneau Talbot
O frabjous day! I’m a Summer Scholar at the John Steinbeck Institute!
My name is Lori Charboneau Talbot, and I have just completed my 26th year as a high school English teacher, currently teaching at St. Thomas More Catholic High School. I am a bit of a jill of all trades in that I also have taught journalism, yearbook, and Fine Arts Survey (a class that I was allowed to develop as I liked, which was a delightful challenge). I once even found myself writing an Algebra I year-long study guide in order to tutor Spanish-speaking students in math. All this to say that I am versatile and enjoy unusual professional challenges. I am already collaborating with the Environmental Sciences teacher at my school on possible project ideas stemming from the Institute, and I anticipate finding lots of inspiration in Pacific Grove.
I live in Lafayette, Louisiana, with my husband of 19 years. Some of our hobbies include fishing near the shoreline near the Gulf of Mexico and making trips to the family camp in the Tunica Hills region of Louisiana. When we want to live it up a bit, we make our way to one of the many nearby music and food festivals, our favorite being Festival International de Louisiane.
I am a lifelong devotee of Steinbeck’s literature, with The Grapes of Wrath being my Favorite Novel of All Time (caps warranted). I discovered this novel in high school by sneaking it off of my parents’ bookshelf, and ever since then, Steinbeck has been It for me. I also have taught Of Mice and Men for many years and plan to return in the Fall with a completely revamped unit plan for this novel. I look forward to working with people who want to discuss Steinbeck’s literature and ideas in depth; they’re hard to come by in everyday situations!
Tiffany Touma
Tiffany Touma has the best job in the world. Her job as a high school English teacher has brought her to schools all over the world including China, Ecuador, and New York City. She is currently a Pre-AP English Language Arts teacher at an American international school in the gorgeous city of Bogotá, Colombia. She is a graduate of the Teachers College of Columbia University and the University of Connecticut. She is also a fiction writer (Kenyon Review, Finn Workshop 2021) and a professional study guide writer with Super Summary. She survives on books and coffee, and is known worldwide (unabashedly) as "the lady in the Ugg boots" or, alternatively, "the one who won't stop talking about Ocean Vuong". She is thrilled to be a part of the 2022 NEH Steinbeck Institute and credits Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat for teaching third-grade Tiffany that literature can move the heart and forever haunt.
Kirstyn Walker
I currently teach English at Whitefish Bay High School in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, a suburb about two miles outside of Milwaukee. This year is my 5th year of teaching English at the high school level. At WFBHS, I distinctly value the opportunity to teach our Modern Thought in Literature course, which opens with Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" as an entryway into the changing ideals of the time. Prior to my current teaching role, I worked as a teaching fellow at a private school in Athens, Greece through a Fulbright grant.
I come from a family of Californians, myself having lived much of my childhood in Los Angeles. Although I visit the state often, I have never been to Monterey, and it has been a dream to visit the Central Coast since taking a "Literature of California" course during my freshman year at DePauw University. As an avid runner, I am especially excited to explore the peninsula by foot. I look forward to learning, growing, and connecting with fellow educators this summer.
Mary Walton
Mary Walton, born and raised in Berkeley, California, is in her tenth year of teaching. Although the majority of her career has been teaching Honors English at the high school level, she took a chance at teaching middle school this year and has been loving every minute of it. She received her Masters in Education from UC Davis in 2012. Favorite novels on her bookshelf are Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Francine Rivers’s Redeeming Love, and Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement. Favorite foods in her kitchen are oat milk and avocados. Mary has taught in Prague, Czech Republic; Elk Grove, CA; South Central Los Angeles; and currently, in El Segundo, CA. She loves to travel, attend live theater, read at the beach, skate on the beach, explore new restaurants, ride Amtrak (with a book and journal), and spend time with her husband and two kids. She believes that being a lifelong learner makes life more interesting and contributes to more engaging classroom lessons for students.