This study introduces the student to multiple genres within the craft of creative writing. Poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction will be explored through readings, written application of techniques and concepts, and careful attention to the writing process including pre-writing and revision. Readings will be drawn from a diverse range of perspectives and voices, and students will trace the development of each form within its historical context. Along with craft practice, students will gain experience in describing, interpreting, and critiquing poetry and prose.

Attributes: Liberal

Creative nonfiction refers to the genre of writing that is 'true' yet draws upon the techniques of craft which fiction writers make use of in order to tell richly detailed and often moving personal stories, and/or to explore ideas through writing in creative in ways. Students will fain familiarity with the stages of developing a work of creative nonfiction, from brainstorming to drafting and revising the finished piece. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): The ability to write clear, grammatically correct paragraphs at the college level.

Attributes: Liberal

Creative Nonfiction includes memoirs, personal essays, portraits, essays of place, opinion essays, and narrative journalism. Students use the tools of storytelling to develop an engaging voice, add personal authority to their expression, and write truthfully about the real world. Students will both analyze published works and create and revise their own writing via peer writing workshops. This course can fulfill either Humanities OR The Arts general education credit (not both). Students choosing Humanities will have the option of focusing more on reading and analysis of creative nonfiction, while students choosing The Arts will have the option of focusing more on creating and revising their own work. Students should take this course once, at either the introductory or advanced level. This course was previously CUL-221454 Creative Nonfiction: Introductory.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

How can a poet, like a painter, effectively present the personality, appearance, history and nuances of a dimensional human being? Does a poem become a true homage to another person and tell a larger story for the reader? This study will explore ways that poets bring the people in their lives - friends, family, strangers, celebrities, the inhabitants of random encounters and imagination - to the page in evocative and vivid ways. We will examine how they use various poetic elements, including imagery, description, narrative, observation, and voice (or its absence), in addition to creating atmosphere and an emotional or political environment, to create these 'portraits.'

Attributes: Liberal

This will be a practical study of the conventions of dramatic writing for the screen.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This study will explore the mechanics, research, development, design, and technical considerations (direction, budget, casting, props, filming, studio/recording facilities) when constructing and writing scripts for theatrical film and feature video. Commercial properties and documentary film will also be examined as an influential force, both in television, independent, and wide-release entertainment.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

Students in this course will study and practice the art of writing the short story. The course will begin with discussing short story writing theory and by analyzing sample stories, if deemed necessary. The student will work with the instructor for aid in planning and developing one's own stories and for purposes of critiquing and rewriting. The student will write an appropriate number of short stories as deemed appropriate. During the course, the student will demonstrate a competency in the use of story elements--e.g., situation, conflict, plot development, scene and summary treatment, characterization, character relationships, description and dialogue, and theme.

Attributes: Liberal

Consider the basic elements of fiction (e.g., plot, character, setting, theme) from the point of view of the creative writer, who makes both conscious and unconscious choices about these elements in the process of artistic creation. Read about the process of writing short fiction, and read a variety of short works that exemplify fictional elements to analyze the choices that other writers have made. Apply learning to the creation, discussion, and revision of your own creative work. This course focuses on the writing process. This course was previously CUL-222504 Creative Writing: Fiction.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

What do we really know about the narratives of American women? What stories do they tell about themselves at different periods of time? What does it mean to be female in America? This course will engage students in the exploration of women’s letter writing from the Colonial Period to the present day. Students will not only read primary source letters written by women, but they also will engage in epistolary (letter writing) activities and creative non-fiction writing assignments to imagine the time, space, and place in which these women lived. Students will use the tools of storytelling and character development in their dialectic interaction with the texts as they analyze and react to these women’s letters in writing and other forms of creative engagement. During this study, we will cover the themes of letter writing; communication; creative non-fiction; first person narrative; and the concept of public versus private discourse.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

Attributes: Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Creative Writing (CRWR). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

In this course the student will become familiar with 'Flash' or 'Micro Fiction,' study its form within the context of conventional short and longer prose pieces, and submit pieces of original Micro Fiction for review and critique. Elements such as plot, characterization and motive, narrative and tense will be examined.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

In this study students will develop a writing practice, read selected works from a range of contemporary authors and poets, experiment with writing stories and poetry and have the opportunity to share them with peers in a supportive workshop setting. This process will help them to develop their skills and hone their craft. Prerequisites (must complete before registering): At least one prior college level writing course.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

Family narratives give us a sense of self, family, tradition, and place. Writing family stories is a creative way to examine family structures, loyalties, and how identities are molded. This study examines the connection of self with the rites, rituals, values, beliefs, and intergenerational relationships that come to us through our family stories.

Attributes: Liberal

This study will provide the student with an opportunity to use travel experiences to combine interests in history, geography, and regional culture, in the contemporary idiom of journalism and in researching, preparing, and writing travel articles for popular culture periodicals.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Liberal

In this study, students will look at the power of writing in relation to the healing arts from medical, emotional, physical, psychological and scientific viewpoints. They will also achieve increased comprehension, familiarity, and critical thinking concerning healing, grief and the writing process.

Attributes: Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Creative Writing (CRWR). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

This study will build upon and enhance the student’s basic understanding of the craft of creative nonfiction and how to make use of literary techniques to develop engaging creative essays and writings inspired by real life. Students will refine their own writing craft, learn to provide insightful and constructive critiques of the writing of others, and read significant works of contemporary creative nonfiction. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): Creative Nonfiction: Introductory (CRWR 1015), or equivalent.

Attributes: Liberal

Creating Fictional Worlds explores the ways that writers create vivid and immersive settings for their stories, whether they are realistic, make-believe, or as deeply imagined and researched as Tomi Adeyemi's Legacy of Orisha trilogy. Students will learn theoretical and practical aspects of worldbuilding and create a world of their own. They will research sources and materials appropriate to discovering and refining the world of their stories, including library and online research in matters of culture, history, geography, ecology, ethnicities, socioeconomics, and more. They will analyze several well-known books to understand what gives them their fascinating power, and write one or more stories/chapters/acts/poems set in the world they have created.

Attributes: Liberal

Creative Nonfiction includes memoirs, personal essays, portraits, essays of place, opinion essays, and narrative journalism. Students use the tools of storytelling to develop an engaging voice, add personal authority to their expression, and write truthfully about the real world. Students will both analyze published works and create and revise their own writing via peer writing workshops. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): A previous course in literature, college writing, or creative writing This course was previously CUL-224454 Creative Nonfiction: Advanced.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

In this contract the student will study examples of outstanding and poetry, consult poetry and poetry writing handbooks as appropriate or necessary, and meet regularly with his/her mentor as well compose her/his own original poems.

Attributes: Liberal

This study will build upon and enhance students’ understanding of the craft of creative nonfiction and how to make use of literary techniques inspired by real life events and the reading of women’s letters written from the Colonial Period to the present day. From reading primary source letters, students will refine their writing craft through epistolary (letter writing) activities and other creative non-fiction assignments to capture the time, space, and place in which these women lived. Students will move beyond the tools of storytelling and character development to scene development and dramatization, dialogue, and description. During this study, we will cover the themes of letter writing; communication; creative non-fiction; first person narrative; and the concept of public versus private discourse.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This study examines the hero's journey construct, and its uses in dramatic writing. Students will develop an appreciation of the hero's journey structure, and the many possibilities of application that this model offers to screenwriters and playwrights. Prerequisites (must complete before registering): Ability to write clearly and effectively at the college level.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

The principal aim of this course is for the student to write their first play. Secondarily, the student will study as appropriate important and model plays by outstanding modern American playwrights.

Attributes: Liberal

How can a poet, like a painter, effectively present the personality, appearance, history and nuances of a dimensional human being? Does a poem become a true homage to another person and tell a larger story for the reader? This study will explore ways that poets bring the people in their lives - friends, family, strangers, celebrities, the inhabitants of random encounters and imagination - to the page in evocative and vivid ways. We will examine how they use various poetic elements, including imagery, description, narrative, observation, and voice (or its absence), in addition to creating atmosphere and an emotional or political environment, to create these 'portraits.'

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

In this study the student will examine poetry as a literary art form that has been utilized as a tool for healing in personal and institutional situations, and within societal/historic contexts.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

The purpose of this course is for artists and creative writers to investigate various poetic and visual models and analyze how they can work together. Students will focus on elements of visual and poetic composition, i.e. ekphrastic poetry, and their effects in order to elevate their own poetry writing and/or visual arts practice and craft. An additional emphasis in this study will be exploring literary journals (both print and online) and navigating the publication process.

Attributes: Liberal

This study will vary according to the special topic being offered and specified in the subtitle. Studies may include ground-breaking approaches to creative writing, new and/or hybrid creative forms, special thematic approaches, historical applications, major authors, emerging literary movements, and more. All special topic studies in creative writing will include reading and writing, critical analysis, and consideration of the content studied in relation to historical and contemporary literary practices.

Attributes: Liberal

In this study, students will attempt to go beyond introductory composition to compose an appropriate number of somewhat longer papers which require skill in handling more complex writing formats, more varied expository types of writing, careful thesis establishment, thoroughgoing detail, extended exposition, and research study and practice. As in introductory composition, the student will draw upon personal, professional, or academic interests, but on this advanced level may practice such types of expository writing as the informal essay, analytical essay, technical exposition, report, and research paper.

Attributes: Liberal

In this study we will read memoirs written by a variety of writers, look at how these writers have edited their lives, what they have included and omitted, and from a literary point of view, at the ways they constructed their stories. We will also get advice about what to pay attention to when writing memoirs. Students will write critically about the texts they read and use these memoirs as models to begin writing their own memoirs. This study will develop the students' critical thinking, reading and writing skills, and hopefully provide them with new insights and records of their lives. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): A prior writing course.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This study will focus on using writing and mindfulness as tools to explore caregiving, process experience, and increase self-knowledge and awareness in our role(s) as caregiver. Caregiving, whether done professionally or in our personal lives, is a highly demanding role that encompasses a number of skills. Writing can be a method for gaining greater insight into that role, a means of problem-solving and expressing feelings, as well as a way to enhance understanding through critically analyzing the caregiver role. Studies show that writing about stressful aspects of our life, such as taking care of another person, promotes physical and mental well-being in the caregiver. We will use writing as a mindfulness practice, and incorporate other mindfulness activities in our lives, to further build resilience. Students will engage in creative non-fiction writing and advanced level students will also do a research project. This study provides students with practice in creating personal narratives, enhancing writing skills, and helping them discover ways in which writing is a tool to enhance explicit and conscious awareness. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): A prior college level writing course.

Attributes: Basic Communication Gen Ed, Liberal

This study offers students the opportunity to consider their own and others’ faith-based and spiritual beliefs and traditions and discover how these mysteries can be revealed in concrete terms through memoir. Spiritual memoir include images and imaginings, memory and mystery, poignant memories and messy ones, in other words, life.

Attributes: Liberal

The content of this course will vary by term and section. Students may repeat this course for credit as long as the topic differs. Please refer to the Term Guide for course topic offerings.

Attributes: Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Creative Writing (CRWR). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

Craft and Practice in Creative Writing builds on introductory-level skills with greater focus on the specific skills necessary for finished works of creative writing. Students explore both narrative and poetic writing as a means of bringing writing skills to a more advanced level. Topics covered include character development, dialogue, world building, plot structure, fine-tuning of language use to include visual/auditory/kinesthetic elements, and how writing process influences writing outcome. The course will be structured around assignments that build a consciously articulated sense of individual process and interests, and the skill sets appropriate to creative writing at a professional level. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): Previous work in creative writing This course was previously CUL-224204 Craft and Practice in Creative Writing.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

During this study, learners will gain a broadened knowledge and deeper understanding of the environmental writing and ecocriticism movements, as well as related values and practices, by studying key texts as models for their own written work.

In this study students will examine poetry created under the duress and extreme conditions of political oppression, war time captivity, and incarceration.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

This course will familiarize the student with the appropriate mechanics and process for researching, writing, revising, and submitting articles, essays (features, op-ed pieces), and literary manuscripts (poetry, fiction) to magazines and periodicals, targeted for a broad or a specific demographic.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

The student will have the opportunity to study, as resource material, what pivotal comics figure Will Eisner termed, 'Sequential Art,' and practice the nuances of storytelling through narrative and pictures. Graphic novels will be examined as a significant and influential part of the literary canon, capturing both personal odyssey and cultural events while heightening awareness of larger historical, political, and social issues. The student will then plot, write, and design a graphic manuscript of one of several genres: memoir/personal narrative, current/historic events, fictional, children's/YA narrative, or a subgenre with approval by the mentor.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

Prose and poetry can capture the physical world while threading or embedding meaning and metaphor. Photography captures images that evoke ideas, emotions, or situations that can find their way toward words. This study investigates how both language and photography use imagery, context, and interpretation to encourage an emotional response and/or recreate iconic moments. We will examine the artistic process in both practices to better understand how a composition or arrangement, whether in pictures or words, can impact a viewer or reader.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Creative Writing (CRWR). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.