Reimagining Tomorrow through Stories that Transform Today
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Reimagining Tomorrow through Stories that Transform Today *
A Summer Cli-fi Institute for 6-12 English Teachers Funded by the
National Endowment for the Humanities
Become Part of the Story
For the second summer, we are excited to welcome 25 middle and high school teachers (grades 6-12) to Sonoma State University’s campus in Northern California together to explore bold possibilities for our shared future. Using Literacy Unbound approaches, participants will immerse themselves in the world of our shared literature, engaging in expressive movement, drama, and voice as we collaboratively take creative risks and construct new meanings together.
Watch highlights from our first summer to see the process come to life!
Visiting Scholar Lewis Hyde
The Future Earth Story Project is honored to host Lewis Hyde as he kicks off day two of the Institute with a virtual workshop based on his book A Primer for Forgetting: Getting Past the Past. The author of The Gift and Trickster Makes This World, Dr. Hyde will lead participants in reflecting on the ways we hold onto—or let go of—the past and how forgetting can be a powerful act of renewal.
David Foster Wallace calls Lewis Hyde "a national treasure, one of our true superstars of nonfiction," and Maxine Hong Kingston calls Primer for Forgetting “yet another invaluable work that advances humanity.”
Imagining New Futures through Embodied Reading and Storytelling
Climate anxiety is often the first concern raised when discussing difficult topics with students, with nearly half of students in the US reporting it affects their daily lives. In the Future Earth Story Institute, we study clifi—the literature of climate futurism—using reading strategies that engage the body, voice, and movement to go beyond traditional intellectual analysis. Students experience literature as something lived, connecting it to the physical world through gestures, rhythm, and space. This approach fosters empathy, uncovers deeper truths, and creates communal experiences that build hope and resilience in facing an uncertain future.
NEH at Sonoma State
The Future Earth Story Project, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a three-week summer institute held in person at Sonoma State University from June 15-27, 2025, with an additional week of synchronous online workshops. Designed for middle and high school English teachers, it also welcomes K-12 educators from other disciplines and, per NEH guidelines, a limited number of participants outside K-12 whose involvement supports the project’s goals.
