Location
The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), which is located in Cullowhee, NC, is the host organization for the institute. Most class sessions will be conducted on the NCCAT campus; housing for the Institute will be on the adjacent campus of Western Carolina University (WCU). The community of Cullowhee, where these institutions are located, is near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway, approximately fifty-five miles southwest of Asheville, NC. Free shuttles run throughout the WCU campus and surrounding area but it is a relatively easy walk from NCCAT to WCU. If you are going to be driving to Cullowhee, you will be provided with a parking pass and will have parking privileges on both campuses.
NCCAT’s thirty-six acre campus was designed to reflect the natural beauty of the surrounding mountains and provide a campus dedicated to the intellectual and professional development of teachers. The campus includes a main building with offices, classrooms, conference rooms, an 80-seat indoor amphitheater, full dining services, wireless Internet, a 25-unit computer lab, a small library, and a fitness center. NEH Summer Scholars will be given full access to WCU’s Hunter Library, which contains 702,000 books and bound periodicals, 1,513,000 microfilm units, 23,000 e-books, and 3,330 current serial subscriptions.
Housing
Housing for the Institute will be in WCU’s Balsam Hall. A relatively new facility (completed in 2010), Balsam is air-conditioned and consists of rooms that are arranged suite-style. All rooms reserved for the NEH Institute are private, including private bathrooms located within the sleeping rooms. Wired and wireless Internet is available as well. Each floor in Balsam provides two common rooms with kitchens, which will also be available to NEH Summer Scholars. The private rooms in Balsam will be provided at the rate of $33.00 per night. A linen fee of $45 for the three-week period will also be charged (a clean set of linens will be provided each week). On week days, most meals will be on either the NCCAT or WCU campus.
During the fieldwork component that takes place during the second week of the Institute, we will spend two nights in a hotel located in or near Murphy, NC. These nights will be an additional cost but are expected to be relatively inexpensive.
All NEH Summer Scholars are encouraged to stay in Balsam Hall on the WCU campus in order to enjoy the benefits of collegiality and intellectual exchange, however, alternative housing information will be provided upon request from accepted applicants.