Creative Writing (BA)

Program Requirements

Major Common Core

Required Writing and Reading courses - Choose 20 Credit(s).

An introduction to writing poetry and short prose. This course does not assume previous creative writing experience on the part of the student.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-11

An introduction to literary genres and to the techniques of writing about literature.

Prerequisites: ENG 101

Introduction to writing poems.

Prerequisites: none

This course enables BA and BFA Creative Writing students to bring their previous critical and creative study to bear in a final program project. It is generally the last course they take in their program.

Prerequisites: none

Diverse Cultures: Purple

This course approaches works of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from the past 30 years with a special focus on the craft issues that are central components of each work's success. English 448 is a required course for BA and BFA majors in creative writing.

Prerequisites: none

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Major Restricted Electives

British Literature - Choose 4 Credit(s).

Representative works from British literature encompassing Beowulf through the Eighteenth Century. Prereq: ENG 275

Prerequisites: none

Representative works from British Literature, the Romantic Period to the present. Prereq: ENG 275

Prerequisites: none

Topics in British literature covering various periods, literary movements, and themes. The course will study works of fiction, poetry, and drama, and their historical and cultural contexts. Potential topics include Victorian Literature & Art, Gothic Literature, British Colonial & Post-Colonial Literature, Performing Identity in Early Drama, Monsters and Magic, and others. This course may be repeated with change of topic.

Prerequisites: none

American Literature - Choose 4 Credit(s).

This topics course examines some of the major developments in US literature. In reading a variety of canonical and noncanonical works, students will develop a greater understanding of US literature within specific sociocultural transformations and attendant literary movements. The course may be taught thematically, with possible topics including postcolonialism, environmental studies, immigration, and popular culture. May be repeated with change of topic.

Prerequisites: none

A survey of American Literature from its beginnings to the end of the Civil War. Prereq: ENG 275

Prerequisites: none

A survey of American Literature from the end of the Civil War to the present. Prereq: ENG 275

Prerequisites: none

World Literature - Choose 4 Credit(s).

Topics on themes, issues, and developments in genres of the literatures of the world. Content changes. May be repeated.

Prerequisites: none

Diverse Cultures: Purple

A study of selected novels from a variety of time periods and cultures, including Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Prerequisites: none

Major Author courses - Choose 4 Credit(s). Emphasis must be on three or fewer authors.

Studies in selected authors. Specific authors change. May be repeated with content changes.

Prerequisites: none

This course examines Shakespeare's poetry and dramatic works within their social and historical context. The plays will be considered as both literary texts and dramatic performances.

Prerequisites: none

Topics in Creative Writing Form and Technique is a variable-title course that explores special topics relating to the technical mastery of one or more creative genres, or the technical achievement of one or more practitioners. May be repeated with different topics, some of which could fulfill either a major author or a workshop requirement.

Prerequisites: none

Theory/Criticism or Linguistics - Choose 4 Credit(s).

The English language considered structurally (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics) and sociolinguistically (geographical and social dialects, gender issues, acquisition of first and second language, standard and nonstandard forms).

Prerequisites: none

Theories of literature and its production and use. Prereq: 6 semester credits in literature.

Prerequisites: 6 semester credits in literature

The development of English from its origins as a dialect of Proto-Indo-European to its current form, with consideration of its social history as well as its formal development.

Prerequisites: none

This course provides both a historical survey of film theory and the opportunity to actively engage in analyzing film using theoretical tools. Film theory is a set of conceptual frameworks through which to understand cinema and the various artistic, social, and psychological questions the medium poses to viewers. Through a study of major film theories and their uses in critically analyzing film, this course will further prepare you to be an informed and engaged viewer of all kinds of cinema.

Prerequisites: FILM 402 or FILM 412

Form and Technique courses - Choose 4 Credit(s).

Study of the technical underpinnings of fiction and creative nonfiction genres.

Prerequisites: none

Study of the technical underpinnings of poetry.

Prerequisites: none

Workshops - Choose 8 Credit(s). Acceptable sections of 449, 494, and 495 will be workshops.

Introduction to writing personal essays and literary journalism.

Prerequisites: none

Introduction to writing short stories.

Prerequisites: none

Introduction to writing for the screen. May be repeated with new content.

Prerequisites: none

Topics in Creative Writing Form and Technique is a variable-title course that explores special topics relating to the technical mastery of one or more creative genres, or the technical achievement of one or more practitioners. May be repeated with different topics, some of which could fulfill either a major author or a workshop requirement.

Prerequisites: none

Specialized workshops in topics such as computer-assisted writing, teaching the writing of poetry in the secondary school, or discipline-specific writing. May be repeated with change in topic. When offered as a creative writing workshop, the course may fulfill a workshop requirement.

Prerequisites: none

Specialized, in-depth study of topics such as Holocaust literature, environmental literature, or regional literature. May be repeated with change in topic. WHEN OFFERED AS A CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP, this course may fulfill a workshop requirement.

Prerequisites: none

Other Graduation Requirements

Choose 8 credit(s): take one series Language