| | 01 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Arch | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 12 | 8 | 0 | | |
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| | Description: | Art, like writing, is a form of storytelling. Yet while writers and artists set out with a purpose-a clear vision and intention-those motives may change or evolve throughout the creative process. In Bird by Bird, for instance, Anne Lamott likens the writing process to "watching a Polaroid develop." As a writer, she claims, "[y]ou can't-and, in fact, you're not supposed to-know exactly what the picture is going to look like until it has finished developing." It is only after "the portrait comes into focus, [that] you begin to notice all the props surrounding these people, and you begin to understand how props define us and comfort us, and show us what we value and what we need, and who we think we are." Likewise, in At Work, Annie Leibovitz recalls staging the portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in "their apartment in the Dakota early in December" of 1980. Initially, Leibovitz had a clear vision and mission in mind; she conceived of the photo as a moment of stolen intimacy: "a simple kiss in a jaded time." But everything changed in an instant-in the blink of an eye. That night, Lennon was shot and killed while returning to the Dakota. In retrospect, recounts Leibovitz, the portrait "looks like a last kiss."
This is a course about stories and storytelling. What stories do we tell and what stories are we told?? How does art (written, visual, and performative) enable us to share our experiences-to bring purpose and meaning to our lives and to the lives of others? Throughout this course, we will explore these (and other) questions by drawing from a broad range of discourse communities, including (but not limited to) art history, sociology, psychology, film studies, and cultural studies. We will read, write, and share (both instructor and students) expository prose (personal, persuasive, and interpretative) to consider our perception of and place within the visual world. This course does not count toward the Creative Writing Concentration. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Daniels | No final | 12 | 12 | 3 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | Description: | The study of rhetoric, one of the original seven Liberal Arts, is perhaps more relevant today, in a world where diverse opinions reverberate 24/7 from television and the internet, than in ancient times when rhetors invented arguments to help people choose the best course of action when they disagreed about important political, religious, or social issues. How do we make our voices heard? How can we invent and present compelling written discourse.
This course will introduce students to common rhetorical principles and to the disciplinary history of rhetoric and compositional studies. Assignments in this class include rhetorical exercise in invention and craft, imitations, and varied compositions, ranging from the personal to critical, from the biographical to argumentative. We will examine rhetorical principles (audience, context, kairos, exigency, ethos, pathos, logos, and so forth) that are employed, for example, not only in literary analysis but in law, politics, education, and science. We will aim for a mastery of craft and a refinement of thought. Pre-Req: Writing 1. This course does not count toward the Creative Writing Concentration. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 4:00P-5:20P | TBA | E. Finneran | No final | 12 | 5 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Sanjenis Gutierrez | No final | 12 | 7 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 02 | M-W---- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Maynard | No final | 12 | 9 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 03 | M-W---- | 1:00P-2:20P | TBA | Boyer | No final | 12 | 11 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 05 | -T-R--- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Jimenez Morales | No final | 12 | 5 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 06 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Chakrabarti | No final | 12 | 7 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 07 | -T-R--- | 4:00P-5:20P | TBA | [TBA] | No final | 12 | 3 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 8:30A-9:50A | TBA | [TBA] | No final | 12 | 0 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 02 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Peltz | No final | 12 | 9 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 03 | M-W---- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Kofman | No final | 12 | 12 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 04 | -T-R--- | 8:30A-9:50A | TBA | Miller | No final | 12 | 0 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 05 | -T-R--- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Emeka | No final | 12 | 10 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 06 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Jereb | No final | 12 | 11 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 07 | -T-R--- | 1:00P-2:20P | TBA | Dutton | No final | 12 | 12 | 1 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 8:30A-9:50A | TBA | [TBA] | No final | 12 | 4 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 02 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Animashaun | No final | 12 | 12 | 1 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 03 | M-W---- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Sylvan | No final | 12 | 12 | 3 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 04 | M-W---- | 4:00P-5:20P | TBA | Valle | No final | 12 | 10 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 05 | -T-R--- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Xiang | No final | 12 | 12 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 06 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Hicks | No final | 12 | 12 | 3 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | TBA | | TBA | E. McPherson | No final | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Arch | No final | 0 | 0 | 2 | | |
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| | Description: | This course will analyze and put into practice what makes good humor writing both good and humorous, from subject matter to the mechanics of setting up a punchline, from crafting an unexpected metaphor to perfecting the reversal. We will write and workshop humorous personal essays, commentary, and satire, using as models examples from humorists and humorous writers from the past decade, including writers like Luvvie Ajayi, Andy Borowitz, Tina Fey, Samantha Irby, Simon Rich, Mindy Kaling, and David Sedaris. This course counts toward the Creative Writing Concentration. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | H. McPherson | No final | 12 | 12 | 8 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 02 | M-W---- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | H. McPherson | No final | 12 | 12 | 10 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | Description: | For students interested in the environment and natural sciences. This course brings together essays from a wide range of communities including biology, physics, medicine, environmental studies, creative writing and more. Readings and assignments are intended to enhance students' understanding of the relationship between writing and their experience/knowledge of the natural world. Major assignments allow students to follow, explore, and write about their own unique interest in a related subject, and include a personal essay, an expository essay, and a researched argumentative essay, as well as peer review workshops, oral presentations, and revision. Students will record and explore their own experiences of nature in short creative assignments that prepare them for the major papers. Prerequisites: Writing 1 and junior standing. This course does not count toward the Creative Writing Concentration. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 8:30A-9:50A | TBA | Pippin | No final | 12 | 12 | 13 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 02 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Pippin | No final | 12 | 12 | 14 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 03 | M-W---- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Pippin | No final | 12 | 12 | 24 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 8:30A-9:50A | Eads / 211 | Henderson | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 12 | 12 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 02 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Henderson | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 12 | 12 | 9 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 03 | -T-R--- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | [TBA] | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 12 | 12 | 8 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 04 | -T-R--- | 2:30P-3:50P | TBA | Daniels | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 12 | 12 | 17 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 05 | -T-R--- | 4:00P-5:20P | TBA | Daniels | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 12 | 12 | 14 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 8:30A-9:50A | Eads / 211 | Thomas | No final | 12 | 12 | 5 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 02 | M-W---- | 2:30P-3:50P | TBA | Windle | No final | 12 | 12 | 9 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 03 | M-W---- | 4:00P-5:20P | TBA | Windle | No final | 12 | 12 | 7 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 04 | -T-R--- | 8:30A-9:50A | TBA | Shipe | No final | 12 | 12 | 5 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 05 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | [TBA] | No final | 12 | 12 | 8 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | Description: | This course focuses on the sometimes generative, sometimes fraught relationship between writers and editors in the digital media landscape. We will read autobiographical accounts of transformative editorial relationships, engage current debates about the sustainability of online journalism and criticism, and come to terms with the work of writers and editors in an era of clicks and content. The bulk of the class will be focused on assignments that allow you to work as both editors and writers. In the editorial mode, you'll choose between pitches, offer developmental feedback, commission essays for your venue, and usher your writer through the publication process; as a writer, you'll pitch editors, reshape ideas, run through drafts, and work with your editor to find a common ground. Students will be asked to generate ideas for a variety of common forms-reviews, interviews, explainers, op-eds, short blog posts, topical think-pieces, etc.-and follow through the process of development from both sides. We will pitch and critique pitches, draft and curate, revise and re-structure, even collaboratively design social media publicity strategies. Because this course is focused on the practice of writing for online venues, all interest areas are welcome, from culture to politics, business to science. This course does not count toward the Creative Writing Concentration. This course counts towards the Publishing Concentration. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 2:30P-3:50P | TBA | Maciak | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 15 | 15 | 1 | | |
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| | Description: | This craft class will examine the techniques and approaches used to create renderings of real people on the page. Our reading will be a mix of essay-length personal portraits (in which the subject is someone known to the writer) and article-length profiles (in which the subject is someone in the public arena) as well as two book-length works of portraiture. Writers of shorter works will include Edwidge Danticat, John Berger, Susan Orlean, Jamaica Kincaid, Lillian Ross, Joseph Mitchell, Hilton Als, Alicia Ostriker, Larissa MacFarquhar, Bernard Cooper, John McPhee, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Joseph Epstein, Kay Larson and others. Students will write several short exercises leading up to two longer works, one portrait and one profile. Open to undergrads who've completed Creative Nonfiction 1. This course counts toward the Creative Writing Concentration. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 4:00P-5:20P | TBA | Finneran | No final | 12 | 11 | 0 | | |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 4:00P-5:20P | TBA | Vatnick | No final | 12 | 9 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | Description: | In his introduction to McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, editor Michael Chabon laments, "As late as about 1950, if I referred to 'short fiction,' I might have been talking about any one of the following kinds of stories: the ghost story; the horror story; the detective story; the story of suspense, terror, fantasy, or the macabre; the sea, adventure, spy, war, or historical story; the romance story." Today, of course, if readers were to go looking for science fiction or fantasy stories (to say nothing of the other genres Chabon references) in their local bookstore, they would find them shunted to their own section, safely cordoned off from the aisles of "mainstream" fiction. In this course, we will examine, from a writerly perspective, the nature of that divide. Is it merited? Are science fiction and fantasy stories so fundamentally different in their construction from their conventional counterparts as to require a radically different approach, and if so, what unique devices do writers of imaginative fiction employ to set their stories apart? Our guide in this exploration will be Jeff Vandermeer's Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction, which we will be considering not just as an instruction manual, but as a representative text. How does Wonderbook-in its content, construction, and conceit-differ from more standard writing reference books? How is it similar? In what ways does Vandermeer's guide embody its subject matter? To aid us in this examination, we will be considering contemporary science fiction and fantasy stories by writers on both sides of the genre fence. The purpose of our reading is generative as well as illustrative. We seek to employ what we learn. There will be multiple writing exercises building towards a ten-to-twenty-page science fiction or fantasy story which students will submit to be workshopped by their peers in class. As a final project, students will revise their story and submit it along with their collected exercises and reading responses as part of their own Wonderbook. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 8:30A-9:50A | TBA | Rabong | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 12 | 12 | 1 | | |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 4:00P-5:20P | TBA | [TBA] | No final | 12 | 12 | 3 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| 02 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-12:50P | Lopata Hall / 201 | Klimasewiski | No final | 12 | 12 | 4 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | M------ | 2:30P-5:20P | Lopata House / 16 | Fenderson | Dec 16 2024 3:30PM - 5:30PM | 14 | 9 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:20A | Eads / 212 | [TBA] | No final | 12 | 12 | 4 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 4:00P-5:20P | TBA | [TBA] | No final | 12 | 12 | 1 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 8:30A-9:50A | TBA | Arch | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 12 | 5 | 0 | | |
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| | 01 | -T----- | 2:30P-5:20P | Mallinckrodt / 326 | [TBA] | No final | 10 | 7 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | Description: | SPECIAL NOTE: Admission by wait-list only. Preference will be given to declared Film & Media Studies AND English majors and minors. Writers will explore the various elements, structures and styles used in crafting a motion picture screenplay. They will experience this process as they conceive, develop and execute the first act of a feature-length script. Writers will create a screenplay story, present an outline for class discussion and analysis, then craft Act One. Writers will be encouraged to consult with the instructor at various stages: concept, outline, character and scene development and dialogue execution. While the students fashion their screenwriting independently, the class will also explore the general elements of THEME, GENRE, and VOICE. A more specific examination of mechanics, the nuts and bolts of story construction, plotting, pacing, etc. will follow to support the ongoing writing process. In-class exercises will aid the writer in sharpening skills and discovering new approaches to form and content. Writers' work will be shared and discussed regularly in class. Screening of film scenes and sequences will provide students with concrete examples of how dramatic screenwriting evolves once it leaves the writer's hands. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Chapman | See instructor | 0 | 0 | 17 | | |
| 02 | -T-R--- | 10:00A-11:20A | TBA | Chapman | See instructor | 0 | 0 | 19 | | |
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| | Description: | Defined most simply, politics is that which pertains to the "affairs of the polis," one's community. In its real-life context, writing always interacts with a community in some way, engaging a defined audience to produce an intended effect. In this sense, writing always touches the affairs of a polis, and thus, writing is inherently political, regardless of whether the writer considers this during composition. In this class, we will focus on explicitly political writing by writers who are not politicians, that is to say, sanctioned experts in the affairs of the polis. Foregoing public policy memoranda and economic analyses, we will look at how journalists, grassroots organizers, and creative writers have consciously written to intervene in the affairs of their communities despite their outsider status. Using techniques of rhetorical analysis and logical structure, we will examine how these writers crafted works that inspire and move audiences through the conventions of several genres: essay, polemic, journalism, and satire. This course does not count toward the Creative Writing Concentration. |
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| | 02 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | O'Bryan | No final | 12 | 12 | 1 | | |
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| | 03 | -T-R--- | 5:30P-7:00P | TBA | Daniels | Paper/Project/TakeHome | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 2:30P-3:50P | TBA | H. McPherson | No final | 12 | 6 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | Description: | In 1975, musician Brian Eno and artist Peter Schmidt came up with a card game called "Oblique Strategies" that could be used to overcome creative blocks. Each card is printed with a suggestion for a course of action (examples: "do something boring," "remove specifics and convert to ambiguities"). The idea of the cards is to thwart defaults in an artist's practice, to create mutations and subvert the writer's own intentions and expectations, leading to new discoveries. In this prose-writing course (poets are welcome!), we'll take this game as inspiration to depart from the comforts of tradition, leaving Freitag's Triangle far behind as we investigate unconventional form and structure in narrative through reading, writing, and workshopping. Examples of structures, forms, genres we'll explore include: modular and braided storytelling; "hermit crabs"; abeciderian; lyric; graphic; micro; auto-fictional; hypertext; video / game. We'll read a wide range of fiction and nonfiction, including works by Shelley Jackson, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Steven Dunn, DJ Waldie, Ashton Politanoff, Marjane Satrapi, Daniel Orozco, Brenda Miller, etc. The course will incorporate discussion, writing prompts, group critique, special guests, and group presentations. Aside from a series of prompts and exercises, students will write and workshop two 10 - 20 page works of fiction or nonfiction, one of which will be polished to "publication" quality and submitted as a final project. One shorter piece from each student (from an exercise of in-class prompt) will be collected and printed in a course anthology. Please note that the final roster will be chosen by the instructor-all registered students will appear on the waitlist and will not be enrolled until receiving notification. Graduate students in both the MFA and CompLit programs will have priority, followed by senior creative writing concentrators. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 11:30A-12:50P | TBA | Schuman | No final | 0 | 12 | 8 | | |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 1:00P-2:20P | TBA | [TBA] | No final | 12 | 6 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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