Creative Writing, BA

Program Description

The BA in Creative Writing offers a thorough academic foundation in three core genres: poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The curriculum focuses on exploring the creative process and creative imagination. All creative writing students and faculty practice Transcendental Meditation, a technique that gives direct access to the inner source of creativity, our own consciousness. This practice supports the unfolding of the full creative potential of developing writers and poets.

Literature is an essential part of the curriculum. Students participate in writing workshops that include reading, processing, and analyzing literature for a deeper understanding of the craft of writing. A wide variety of elective courses immerse students in other genres of interest, such as hybrid forms, mythology, and travel writing.

Practical courses are designed to foster a writer’s professional development, with topics that include writing pedagogy, editing, publishing, and social media marketing. Students are also encouraged to consider internship possibilities that represent real-world work experience and take advantage of opportunities to read their work in public and publish their work in magazines and literary journals.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the BA in Creative Writing, students will be able to:

1. Produce works in at least three genres of creative writing, demonstrating well-developed style and authentic voice.
2. Explain the influence of contemporary and traditional literature on their original creative work.
3. Develop creative writing through the revision and editing processes.
4. Internalize the principles of consciousness and explain their influence on the creative process.
5. Monitor and adapt their individual creative process from inspiration to completed work.

Graduation Requirements

To graduate with a BA in Creative Writing, students must successfully complete 128 credits of study, including the initial Exploring Consciousness course required for all undergraduate students, 8 credits of Writing for Career and Community courses, one Forest Academy course in each semester in which the student is enrolled for 12 weeks or more, and 48 credits of Creative Writing coursework that includes a minimum of 32 credits of coursework from the Department of English: Creative Writing and Literature.

In their senior year, students must complete a Senior Project that includes a 15-to-20-page final portfolio of original creative work and a 5-page Exit Paper.