In addition to meeting General Education requirements, creative writing majors must complete a minimum of nine courses and an 8-credit senior project (45–47 credits total) as follows. The foundation courses and the two genre courses must be completed with a grade of B or higher*:
CWR 1000/Poetic Techniques: 4 credits*
CWR 1100/Narrative Techniques: 4 credits*
Two courses in the student’s chosen genre (poetry or fiction): 8 credits* CWR 2400/Poetry Writing I and CWR 3400/Poetry Writing II or CWR 2500/Fiction Writing I and CWR 3500/Fiction Writing II *Must be completed with a grade of B or higher.
Two upper-level creative writing electives from the list below: 8 credits
CWR 3110/Writing Home
CWR 3125/ Alternate Worlds
CWR 3200/Art of the Novella
CWR 3215/ Editing and Production: Editing
CWR 3220/ Editing and Production: Production
CWR 3450/ Poets at Work: First Books.
Two literature courses, chosen from an approved list: 7–8 credits
Arts-related course(s): 3–4 credits
CWR 4000/Special Topics in Creative Writing: 3 credits
SPJ 4990/Senior Project I: 4 credits
SPJ 4991/Senior Project II: 4 credits
Note: Creative writing majors are encouraged to apply to one of the college’s many study abroad programs. Please contact the Education Abroad Coordinator at study.abroad@purchase.edu for more information.
Examples:
Literature courses that fulfill the requirement for the major are those in which a broad array of writers are studied. Courses in the following list are subject to change, and new courses may be added. Students should consult with their faculty advisor when choosing literature courses.
FRE 3230/The Island as Laboratory
LIT 2100/Freedom Dreams: Introduction to African American Literature
LIT 2115/Loneliness, Environment, and the Modern Mind LIT 2235/Animals and the Environment LIT 2305/Contemporary Global Literature LIT 2570/Survey of U.S. Literature II LIT 2775/From Beowulf to Lucifer LIT 2776/Survey of British Literature II: From Patronage to Print Culture LIT 3007/Visions of Dystopia LIT 3025/ Women and Film LIT 3082/19th Century British Literature and Empire LIT 3095/Literature of Race and Human Rights LIT 3137/From Romance to Fantasy LIT 3160/Literature of the High Middle Ages LIT 3217/Oceanic Fictions LIT 3226/Literatue of Decolonization in South Asia LIT 3228/Decolonizing Sex and Gender LIT 3315/19th Century Novel in the U.S. LIT 3340/Romanticism II LIT 3347/Transatlantic Romanticism LIT 3369/Victorian Poetry LIT 3380/Harlem Renaissance LIT 3415/Global Metafictions LIT 3420/Modern Poetry LIT 3427/20th Century World Literature LIT 3532/Body, Race, Performance LIT 3620/U.S. Poetry LIT 3627/American Beserk: Religion, Drugs, and Terrorism in Recent Fiction LIT 3665/American Women Writers LIT 3685/Modern Novel of Latin America LIT 3755/Poetry and the Avant Garde LIT 3823/Anxiety and Monstrosity in Early British Literature LIT 3950/Literature of War LIT 4690/Contemporary U.S. Poetry SPA 3700/The Latin American Short Story* THP 3140/Medieval and Renaissance English Drama
*Taught in Spanish
Courses in the following list are subject to change, and new courses may be added. Students should consult with their faculty advisor when choosing arts-related courses.
ACT 3004/Creative Expression THP 3050/ Voice and Speech Essentials
TDT 3008/Costume Design Seen Through Film
THP 3140/Transmedia and Performance
School of Art+Design: VIS 1060/ Foundation Drawing VIS 1330/ Lens and Time VIS 1080/ Visual Language SCP 2110/ Thinking in Three Dimensions SCP 3530/ Animation
SCP 3006/Introduction to Video Art* SCP 3155/Performance Art
SCP 3650/Immersive Sound Architectures
VIS 3000/Art in the Age of Electronic Media
*Please note: this course only carries 2 of the required 3 credits
Sequence of Study
All creative writing majors follow a sequence of courses, whether their chosen genre is poetry or fiction:
To encourage an awareness of and sensitivity to the various aspects of the craft of creative writing, students are required to take the introductory courses, CWR 1000 and 1100, in their first year of study.
In the second year, poetry students move on to CWR 2400/Poetry Writing I, then to CWR 3400/Poetry Writing II, while fiction writing students take CWR 2500/Fiction Writing I, followed by CWR 3500/Fiction Writing II.
After completing this course sequence, students have the opportunity to study for one semester with a writer-in-residence. In addition, advanced tutorials are available on a regular basis, emphasizing continuous, close work on revision and editing skills. In the most advanced classes, students begin to explore the fiction and poetry market. A component of advanced study may also include experience in editorial and copyediting techniques as preparation for work in the publishing industries.
Students take CWR 4000/Special Topics in Creative Writing in the fall of their senior year, in tandem with the first semester of their senior project.