Creative Writing

The study of English offers a variety of exciting degree and career choices. At the heart of our programs is a passion for critical, creative, and professional understanding and use of the English language. The literature option emphasizes the understanding of great literary works and the writing of analytical essays. It develops and refines speaking and writing skills through critical examinations of literary text. The creative writing option emphasizes artistic expression. It builds the skills needed to produce imaginative and inspired, publishable poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction.

Traditional and Non-Traditional Career Paths for English Majors: For the major, the curricula in English are specifically designed to help prepare students in the following fields: creative writing; technical communication; education; and advanced studies in language and literature. In addition to professional careers in education and technical communication, the discipline of English is one of the most recommended pre-professional majors: the development of verbal skills, especially written expression, is of great importance to students planning graduate work in government, business, law or librarianship.

Students with general career goals already in mind, should contact the director or co-director of the program in which they may concentrate. This contact should be made as soon as possible so that a program can be best planned to suit the student's individual interests and needs.

See the English Department for further info.

Creative Writing is a studio program designed to help students publish their artistic work. It is not intended to prepare a student for a specific career; however, our creative writing graduates, while publishing artistic work, have found diversified careers in editing, publishing, grant writing, teaching, professional schools and many fields less directly related to their writing abilities. Courses in technical communications are complementary to these career interests. Students in the Creative Writing option are encouraged to register for five or more credits from the following list of General Education Core Requirements:

HUMN 210 Classics in Literature (5)
HUMN 211 Masterpieces of the Western World (5)
History courses appropriate to the student's area of literary interest.

Note: two years of a single high school foreign language or one year of a single college level foreign language is required.

Pre-Major Requirements (15 credits)

ENGL 270 Introduction to Fiction (5)
ENGL 271 Introduction to Poetry (5)

Requires a minimum grade of 2.5 in each course and at least a 3.00 average for the two courses together. (See Admission Requirements for remaining requirements for the Common Departmental Pre-Major.) This program also requires the following pre-major course: