New C-SC project “shares just how special the Midwest is”

Published 12:00 am Saturday, May 23, 2026

CANTON, Mo. — A new effort led by a Culver-Stockton College professor hopes to draw more attention to the Midwest and its literature.

The Midwest Literary Project kicks off in June with online programming and local events that “give us the opportunity to do lots of different things and share just how special the Midwest is with a really wide audience while tapping in and really showcasing some of the great work our faculty are doing here,” said Alissa Burger, C-SC associate professor of English.

Over the next year, Burger will guide a series of humanities-centered programs to engage students, faculty and community members in examining how literature reflects and shapes the experience of place.

Through public discussions, curated content and community engagement, the project will highlight the depth and complexity of Midwestern narratives while creating space for meaningful dialogue.

“I hope our local community has the opportunity to see something they haven’t seen before, engage with a text they haven’t read before, see how special where we live is,” Burger said.

“For the wider national and global audience, the Midwest is overlooked a lot, or gets dismissed a lot, but there is so much that’s so beautiful and important and wonderful going on here that I just wish more people knew about.”

The first programs, offered in June and July in partnership with the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, help celebrate the 150th anniversary of Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and America’s 250th anniversary with a roundtable discussion on the book’s lasting impact and a look at different ways people can teach about Twain and Tom Sawyer.

“We have a really wide range of exciting programming that will unfold over the next year,” Burger said.

September brings a focus on the Jane Smiley novel, “A Thousand Acres” as a Midwestern retelling of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” with November looking at Midwestern culinary traditions and the important work done by food banks and churches to address rural and community food insecurity.

February features an interdisciplinary Black History Month celebration with music, poetry and history followed by a celebration of Midwestern visual arts and folk traditions in April and a consideration in May of the Midwest and the “Wizard of Oz” as an important American myth.

“Each chunk of programming wraps up with a podcast and a write-up that takes a big picture look and explores some connections between the different types of online content and face-to-face local, rural experiences,” Burger said.

The Missouri Humanities Council awarded a $15,000 grant to support the project with C-SC also covering some project costs.

The project will be part of Culver-Stockton’s Center for Rural Opportunity, a recently established initiative designed to expand the college’s reach and position it as a leader in rural-focused scholarship and engagement.

“This work reflects the kind of meaningful, place-based engagement that defines Culver-Stockton College,” C-SC President Lauren Schellenberger said in a news release. “By engaging in projects like this, we are strengthening our connection to the region while contributing to a broader understanding of rural culture and identity.”