New Courses

Critical Reading and Writing: American Voices – 55-4211-01 (undergrads) or 55-5211-01 (grads) Thursday, 9:00 a.m.-12:50 p.m. 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - This is a course researching the writing processes of African American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian American, and other ethnic American writers and the ways in which their reading and responses to reading have played influential roles in their fiction writing processes. Particular emphasis will be placed upon taking the point of view of racial and ethnic opposites. Journals and other writings will be used as examples of how writers read (and write about what they read) to develop dimensions of their own fiction and to see their work in relation to that of other writers. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Fiction Writing I. 55-1101 or 55-4101 (undergrad) & 55-5101 (grad) Instructor: writer Lila Jokanovic.

Critical Reading and Writing: American Latino Writers – 55-4219-01 (undergrads) & 55-5219-01 (grads) Monday, 6:00 p.m.-9:50 p.m. 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - This course is a research, writing, and discussion workshop devoted to examining the development of story ideas by selected American Latino writers, including these writers' responses to reading, stages of manuscript development, approaches to rewriting, dealings with editors and publishers, and other aspects of the fiction writer's process. Throughout the course, students read private writings (journals, notebooks, letters) as well as more “public” statements by published writers such as Julia Alvarez, Isabel Allende, Junot Diaz, and Rudolfo Anaya, with an eye toward their own reading and writing processes. In particular, students reflect upon the way in which the writer's often very personal response to texts differs from that of the traditional literary critic's approach of focusing on the end product. Prerequisite or concurrent enrollment: Fiction Writing I 55-1101 or 55-4101 (undergrad) & 55-5101 or 55-6101 (grad). Instructor: writer Germania Solorzano.

Playwriting: Advanced – 55-4333-01 (undergrads) & 55-5333-01 (grads) Thursday, 6:00 p.m.-9:50 p.m. 4 credits undergrads, 3 credits grads - Students will develop a full-length script through a series of writing explorations that aim to develop the material from different points of view. Students will explore the material through prose, parody, character development exercises, point-of-view, genre and collaborative exercises that deepen the students' understanding of story and situation. Students will also read and discuss plays from a variety of styles and genres to increase their understanding of the range of approaches to writing for performance. Prerequisite: Playwriting II 55-4310 (undergrad) and 55-5310 (grad). Instructor: playwright Tim McCain.