Nov 28, 2024

2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog

2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog This is not the most recent catalog version; be sure you are viewing the appropriate catalog year.

Creative Writing [BA]

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Distinguished as one of the few interdisciplinary creative writing programs in the country, we provide a rich space for examining aesthetic risk and social application. The curriculum emphasizes both creative process and critical reading practices, preparing writers to participate in contemporary writing culture and for a range of language and media-centered careers.

Learn

The creative writing major engages students in a broad field of learning that addresses state of the art contemporary writing practice through creative, critical, practical, and research-based curriculum. In foregrounding intermedia and interdisciplinary approaches to creative writing as well as traditional genres, the program prepares undergraduate students for a variety of careers in writing.

Opportunities

Students who pursue this major have the opportunity to further develop and explore their creative writing skills through the Undergraduate Research Symposium, course work that provides opportunities for service learning and community-based projects, and through public readings and presentations.

Authorship, education, nonprofit arts, editorial and publishing work, marketing, advertising, freelance writing, writing for digital media and interdisciplinary fields are among the career opportunities open to people with creative writing degrees. Many students in our program have also found a degree in creative writing to be excellent preparation for advanced studies in creative writing, literature, library science, and other fields in the arts and humanities.

Department Information

English Language & Literature, College of Arts & Sciences

Joseph Csicsila, Ph.D. | Interim Department Head | 612 Pray-Harrold | 734.487.4220 | jcsicsila@emich.edu

Advisor Information

Rob Halpern, Ph.D. | Program Coordinator | 734.487.4220 | rhalpern@emich.edu

Carla Harryman, Ph.D. | 734.487.4220 | charryma@emich.edu

Christine Hume, Ph.D. | 734.487.4220 | chume@emich.edu

Matt Kirkpatrick, Ph.D. | 734.487.0399 | mkirkpa1@emich.edu

General Education Requirements:

For specific requirements, see General Education or print a worksheet .

Major Requirements: 33 hours

Required Courses: 27 hours

CRTW 201 - Introduction to Creative Writing [GEKA] 3 hrs
CRTW 300W - Gateway to the Creative Writing Program [GEWI] 3 hrs
CRTW 335W - Creative Writing [GEWI] 3 hrs
CRTW 422W - Writer’s Workshop [GEWI] 3 hrs
Students are required to take CRTW 422W twice under different topic subtitles, for a total of 6 hrs.
CRTW 426W - Contemporary Forms [GEWI] 3 hrs
CRTW 490W - Capstone Project [GEWI] 3 hrs
ENGL 300W - Writing About Literature [GEWI] 3 hrs
One of the following:
LITR 360 - Recent Trends in British and American Literature 3 hrs
LITR 400 - Narrative in Literature and Film 3 hrs
LITR 422W - Studies in the Novel in Global Perspective [GEWI] 3 hrs

Restricted Electives: 6 hours

Any 300 or 400 level courses. The CRTW faculty recommend the following courses:
ARTH 475 - Seminar in Art History 3 hrs
CRTW 335W - Creative Writing [GEWI] 3 hrs
CRTW 422W - Writer’s Workshop [GEWI] 3 hrs
CTAO 411 - Adapting and Directing Literature 3 hrs
CTAR 360 - Playwriting 3 hrs
CTAR 361 - Dramatic Writing 2 hrs
LITR 310 - Modern American Literature 3 hrs
LITR 470 - Studies in Poetry 3 hrs
LITR 480W - Studies in Literature and Culture [GEWI] 3 hrs
PHIL 460W - Philosophy of Language [GEWI] 3 hrs

Notes:

Creative Writing Majors are required to take CRTW 422W twice under different topic subtitles. Both CRTW 422W and CRTW 335W can be repeated multiple times by both Majors and Minors as restricted electives so long as topic subtitles are different.

Minor Requirement:

This major requires a minor.

For a list of available minors, please see Academic Programs or contact your major advisor.

Program Total:

Students must earn a minimum total of 124 credits at the 100-level or above.

Beginning in Fall 2022, all baccalaureate degree programs for all undergraduates (regardless of catalog year) will require a minimum of 120 credit hours for completion.

Critical Graduation Information

Each undergraduate student will be responsible for the fulfillment of the requirements or their equivalents of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration at a college or university or a subsequent catalog including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

In the event an undergraduate student does not complete the degree requirements within seven years of the date of their original registration at a college or university, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their major/minor in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

The following are minimum requirements for all bachelor’s degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University. Some majors and minors require more than the minimum in one or more of the areas below; students are urged to consult the online catalog for the requirements of their particular programs.

Earn a minimum total of 124 credits at the 100-level and above. Courses with numbers below 100 will not be counted toward this degree requirement. At most 8 credit hours of physical education (PEGN) activity courses will be counted toward this requirement.
Meet the requirements of the General Education program (see information below).
Complete a Writing Intensive (GEWI) Course in your major.
Earn a minimum of 60 credits from a four-year college or university; courses taken at community colleges cannot be used to meet this requirement. (Some formal program-to-program articulation agreements modify this requirement. See specific agreements for details.)
Earn a minimum of 30 credits from courses taken at EMU.
Complete 10 of the last 30 hours for the degree from courses taken at EMU.
Have a minimum of 30 unique credit hours in their major and 20 unique credit hours in their minor for a total of at least 50 unique credit hours between them. Some majors that require 50 or more hours themselves do not require a minor; students should check requirements of the selected major in the undergraduate catalog to see if a minor is required.
Earn no more than 60 credit hours in one subject area (prefix). Credits in excess of the 60 maximum will not be counted toward the minimum of 124 credits required for a bachelor’s degree.
Earn the minimum number of credits in 300-level and above courses in each major and minor as specified below - these credits must be earned in distinct courses; that is, no course can be used to fulfill this requirement in more than one major or minor.
- Earn a minimum of 6 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each minor
- Earn a minimum of 9 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that requires a minor.
- Earn a minimum of 15 credits in 300-level or higher courses at EMU in each major that does not require a minor
Transfer credit will be awarded for courses taken at colleges and universities that are accredited by one of the recognized regional accrediting bodies only if the courses are college-level (equated to 100-level or above at EMU) and the student earned a “C” (or 2.0 on a 4 point scale) or better. Transfer credit may be awarded on a case-by-case basis for college-level courses in which a “C” (2.0) or better was earned at institutions outside the U.S. or at non-accredited U.S. institutions; the internal review of such courses is conducted by individual departments/schools within EMU, and additional documentation may be required. Please note: EMU awards only credit for transferred courses; grades are not used in the calculation of an EMU GPA.
Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in courses taken at EMU in order to graduate. In addition, a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 must be reached in each major and minor. Only courses taken at EMU and those applied to a student’s major or minor will be used in the calculation of their major and minor cumulative GPAs. (Note: some programs may require a higher GPA - check with your program advisor.)

General Education Requirements EMU’s General Education Program requires students to choose from a menu of approved courses in several different areas; do not assume that other courses in the same department or with similar names will fulfill these requirements. A detailed description of General Education requirements is available in the General Education section of the catalog.

Students who transferred to EMU may have modified general education requirements based on Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) or articulation agreements; consult your academic advisor for additional information.