The Center for Contemporary and Creative Writing offers courses in Academic, Professional, and Creative Writing. Our Center concentrates on fostering the power of written expression for both practical and artistic purposes. We build relationships with every student, beginning with their first moments on campus and continuing throughout their four years at Goucher.
Our four-year vertical curriculum for Academic Writing supports students in their development as writers and scholars in order to improve their engagement in scholarship across disciplines. In our Center, we see all forms of written expression as creative, and a close partnership with faculty teaching traditional forms of imaginative written expression (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screenwriting) helps us bring that idea home to our students as they work in these and other forms. With a creative, process-driven, imaginative approach, the Center for Contemporary and Creative Writing prepares students for a life of writing.
https://www.goucher.edu/learn/academic-centers/contemporary-and-creative-writing/
The Professional and Creative Writing Major
Our major in Professional and Creative Writing emerged from the thriving undergraduate Creative Writing program and the popularity of the Professional Writing minor. This unique major, with a Creative Writing Track and a Professional Writing and Rhetoric track bridged by common coursework, has the dual advantage of both giving students a specialization in their area of interest while making sure that their training is career-focused, readying our writers for a fast-paced global market.
The Professional and Creative Writing Major: The Creative Writing Track
Our four-year creative writing program has been launching careers for alumnae/i writers since the 1980s. Our offerings at the 100 and 200-levels (poetry, fiction, screenwriting and creative non-fiction) are devoted to basic craft training, but with considerable freedom for students to choose their own subjects and approaches. At the 300-level, students are encouraged to work on longer projects such as novels, story cycles, and poetry collections, as well as to refine individual poems, essays, and short stories. At the upper levels, one-on-one independent studies with faculty offer students a level of personal attention that few undergraduate programs (and not many M.F.A. programs) can match.
The Kratz Center for Creative Writing
The Kratz Center for Creative Writing offers paid fellowships to students who want to pursue their own writing projects during the summer, and brings established and emerging writers to campus for readings. Qualified students (in any major) may apply in early February of every year.
Additionally, each year, the Kratz Center brings a visiting writer to Goucher to teach a semester-long course. The Kratz Center also hosts nationally and regionally known writers throughout the academic year. Please visit our website for more information: http://blogs.goucher.edu/kratz/
The Kratz Center’s Soper Room, located on the 2nd floor of the Julia Rogers Building, provides a quiet place for writing and reflection.
For Creative Writing specific questions, please contact Madison Smartt Bell (mbell@goucher.edu) or Phaye Poliakoff-Chen (phaye.poliakoff-chen@goucher.edu).
The Professional and Creative Writing Major: The Professional Writing and Rhetoric Track
The Professional Writing and Rhetoric track offers courses in rhetoric, journalism, technical writing and writing with new media. Students begin with a foundational academic writing class; at the 200 level, we offer courses in journalism, creative non-fiction, linguistics, rhetoric and special topics. Our unique program provides both theoretical study and practical applications as students refine their skills and habits in our upper-level courses as they focus on longer writing and research projects and internships. For example, a course in the theory and practice of tutoring and teaching writing prepares students to work as peer tutors in Goucher’s Writing Center. Majors in our track will go on to work in writing-related fields and industries, non-profit organizations, publishing, finance and education; some will also continue their study of writing and rhetoric at the graduate level.
For Professional Writing and Rhetoric specific questions, please contact Charlee Sterling: (charlee.sterling@goucher.edu).
The Minors in Professional Writing and Creative Writing
Both of our minors are accessible to students in any major. Some of these pairings are familiar, as many of our students have majored in Theatre, Philosophy, Psychology, or Art. Many professional writing minors also major in Economics or Business. But some of these successful pairings have been unexpected: some of our students have majored in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, for example, and minored in Creative Writing and/or Professional Writing. The program is also easily adaptable for interdisciplinary programs of study.
The Writing Center
The Writing Center, directed by Lana Oweidat and staffed by fully trained peer tutors, provides writing support for all students at every stage of a writing project. The Writing Center is located on the 3rd floor of the Athenaeum in the Learning Commons. All students are encouraged to make appointments with the peer tutors. For free, face-to-face 30-minute or 60-minute sessions, please visit our schedule page to register. https://goucher.mywconline.com/
For more information about The Writing Center, please contact Lana Oweidat (Lana.Oweidat@goucher.edu).
