Creative Writing Minor

Requirements

The minor in Creative Writing requires the completion of 18 credits in creative writing courses offered by the Department of English.

Courses that fulfill that requirement are

ENG 253	Introduction to Creative Writing	3
ENG 270	Short Story Writing	3
ENG 271	Writing Social Fiction	3
ENG 272	Writing Flash Fiction	3
ENG 273	Poetry Writing	3
ENG 274	Creative Writing Pedagogy	3
ENG 371	Advanced Poetry Writing I	3
ENG 372	Advanced Poetry Writing II	3
ENG 373	Independent Study: Poetry	3
ENG 374	Independent Study: Fiction	3
ENG 376	Advanced Short Story Writing	3

The minor offers tracks in writing prose and poetry. Courses in both tracks help students explore what it means to be a practicing poet and fiction writer. Those courses also benefit students in any field—nursing, criminal justice, education, marketing, communication and media studies, and throughout the humanities and the sciences—who have an interest in learning how to write more clearly and persuasively because creative writers learn how writing can be used to express meaning and to convince and engage a reader. These are essential skills for all professions.

Students study with published writers on the faculty who are actively working as poets and fiction writers. Those faculty members provide practical and hands-on learning experiences in seminars and workshops where students learn how aesthetic texts are created in fact and not only in theory. The minor also collaborates with the University’s Center for Irish Studies, providing an important study abroad opportunity.

The minor in Creative Writing is a strong addition to the University’s traditions in the visual, musical, and performing arts and affirms the University’s commitment to making possible a full range of opportunities for undergraduates to engage in all avenues of artistic expression.