Dec 03, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

English/Creative Writing, BA


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Creative Writing courses:

CWF Creative Writing Fiction
CWP Creative Writing Poetry
CWN Creative Writing Non-Fiction
CWD Creative Writing Drama/Film
CW Multi-Genre Creative Writing

Requirements


The creative writing program’s goal is to develop the writing skills and encourage the creative talents of undergraduate students. The curriculum for the major and minor includes both traditional literature and beginning and advanced creative writing courses in fiction, poetry, non-fiction, expressive writing, popular genre writing, and script writing. All writing courses include a substantial reading requirement, but with emphasis on craft. The faculty includes regular members of the English Department as well as writers-in-residence from the Northwest. A student interested in the major or minor in English/Creative Writing should speak with the director.

In order to earn the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English/Creative Writing, students must complete a minimum of 180 quarter credits, with a cumulative and a major/program grade point average of 2.00, including the following:

II. College of Arts and Sciences Requirements


  • Modern Languages 1150, 1250, 1350, or equivalent (15)

NOTE:


Students earning this major must demonstrate competency through the level of 1350 in a language other than English. This competency is ordinarily achieved by successful completion of the three-course sequence: 1150, 1250, and 1350. Because these courses are a college requirement, no course in the sequence may be taken on a pass/fail, correspondence, or audit basis. Placement into other than the beginning course of the sequence is achieved by acceptable performance on the Modern Language Competency Examination. See the Modern Languages and Cultures Department for details on the examinations. Courses used to satisfy the College of Arts and Sciences modern language requirement may not be used to fulfill major requirements.

III. Major Requirements


60 credits in English, including:

Required areas: (15)


Choose a total of fifteen credits of upper-division courses, including:

  • Pre-1800 Literature (5)
  • 1800-Present Literature (5)
  • One of the above courses or additional Pre-1800 or 1800-Present Literature must be CT
  • Any one of the above courses or an additional elective must be Intercultural/Intersectional Literature

NOTES:


  1. One course may satisfy multiple requirements within the 15 credit Required Area requirement.
  2. Courses which satisfy the CT requirement vary each quarter and will be identified in the schedule of courses.

Choose courses from the following categories (3000-4000 level): (20)


Complete at least one course from Forms and one from Hybrids. The remaining 10 credits may be selected from either category.

Senior Synthesis Capstone: (5)


Additional Information


Literature (2000-level)


2000-level courses are foundational to the advanced study of literature and creative writing. Students will learn to identify different literary genres and conventions, and to develop close reading skills. In “Encounters” courses students will develop an understanding of English and American literary history and of literatures that reflect on transnational and transcultural differences.

Creative Writing


These courses focus on the craft of imaginative writing in four genres (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scripts) and are available to all students, though priority may be given to English and English/Creative Writing majors.

Literature (3000-level)


3000-level courses build on the skills of close reading developed in 2000-level courses, extend students’ repertoire of interpretive strategies, and teach sound habits of scholarship needed for success in 4000-level courses. 3000-level courses offer a wide range of approaches to literature. Instructors’ teaching strategies and course assignments aim to help students read with sophistication, develop theoretical awareness, and understand disciplinary methods of inquiry and analysis. 3000-level courses are designed for both majors and non-majors. English Majors are advised to complete 3010 , 3011 , 3012 , 3013 , or 3014  before taking a 4000-level literature course.

Writing (3000-level)


3000-level writing courses are designed for writers in any discipline who wish to learn advanced strategies for producing effective prose in a variety of academic, civic, or professional contexts. Prerequisites are UCOR 1100 or equivalent transfer credit, plus junior standing or permission of instructor.

Literature (4000-level)


Courses with a 4000 number are advanced studies in literature and writing that build on the research writing skills developed in 3000-level courses. 4000-level courses have three goals: first, to help students gain a depth of understanding of a focused series of texts, e.g. on a major theme, by one or two authors, or in a particular genre; second, to help students gain an understanding of various theories and methods of literary criticism, as well as learn to apply them to the central texts of the course; and third, to assist students in the writing of a major scholarly paper or creative portfolio. The literary paper will demonstrate close reading, the raising of a   literary question in relation to debates among the critics, and the pursuit of an extended and persuasive literary argument.