Featured Courses

Introduction to Creative Writing

This discussion-driven course introduces students to the practice of creative writing. We explore questions: How do writers read? How do they think about the signs and signals surrounding them? How do they move from a spark of inspiration to a completed work of art? Students write their own poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and learn how to understand their own work within the context of contemporary writing.

Directed Thesis in Creative Writing

Do you ever think that you have a great idea for a book—but you’re not sure how to get it on the page? In this senior capstone course, students do a deep dive into the creative project of their choosing, whether it’s fiction, poetry, drama, or creative nonfiction. Throughout the semester, students conduct self-directed research that relates to their projects; learn how writers pitch and submit work to magazines and anthologies; and prepare, revise, and edit their creative project into a finished, polished portfolio of work.

SEXUAL TEXTUAL POLITICS: LIT & GENDER

Prepare to do some resisting, some dismantling, some disrupting, some agitating in this course. We examine a variety of texts, from poetry to short stories to novels to YA lit—with attention to what they reveal about gender, sexuality, and politics. We start by exploring current literary and critical theories and developing a shared vocabulary that in turn provides a framework for the literature we read. We ask questions like, How is masculinity and femininity defined through these texts? How have concepts of gender evolved over the course of time, as captured through literature? What emerging genres address LBGTQ+ identities and conversations? These discussions can deepen our understanding not only of literature but the world.