Undergraduate

Writing Program

"Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals." ~ Don DeLillo

Why write? Stories, scripts, poems, biographies, journals, art reviews and plays? Memoirs, essays, letters and blogs? We write to discover who we are and what we think. We write to communicate our discoveries to others. We write excited by the freedom of it - our words, our voices, our selves. We are moved by the beauty of words, the stories and ideas they tell and the images they prompt.  A complement to all art forms, writing offers many opportunities for interdisciplinary expression - word and image share a long history.

The Writing Program is designed for the student whose second passion is writing. You may begin the Program in the second semester of your first year when you choose to substitute HWD-2000, Writing about Art, for HCD-1025, Writing and Literature II.

Or, you may discover writing as an art form when a course in poetry, storytelling or writing about your own art excites you, offering an opportunity to explore the word and its interplay with the visual arts.

Our faculty, all professional writers, recognize that writing is a calling and a challenge.  It is our mission to enable students to develop their talent, hone their craft and to take the plunge into exploring alternative modes of creative expression: language as a creative tool.

The Writing Program embraces both creative and critical writing and invites you to mix and match. The critical writing courses embed writing in specific topics, ranging from popular culture to photography, from exploring the world of seers, seekers and visionaries to writing about art. Our creative writing courses include journal writing, storytelling and writing collaboratively on scripts as well as experimental courses that give you a real writing work-out: process is all!  We are also pleased to share two unique courses about visuality in poetry with the Visual and Critical Studies program.

These special writing courses are open to all SVA students, whether or not you wish to commit yourself to the Writing Program.  Because of your focus on a visual art discipline, sometimes a sampling is best!

All writing courses (HWD prefix) are Humanities and Sciences electives.  If you decide not to pursue the concentration to the final creative statement – that of making a portfolio of your work – the courses will still help fulfill the required number of elective Humanities and Sciences credits.

Writing Program

The Writing Program is a 15 credit non-degree concentration. Students choose critical or creative writing courses, culminating in the creation of a writer’s portfolio

• First year, second semester: HWD-2000, Writing about Art, (3 credits) replaces HCD-1025, Writing and Literature II
• Second year: two HWD courses (6 credits)
• Third year: two HWD courses, including HWD-3990 Writing Portfolio (6 credits)
• Note: If you are a transfer student or if you decide to pursue the Program in your second year, HWD-2000, Writing About Art, may also be taken at any time before registering for  HWD-3990, Writing Portfolio

Required courses:

There are two required courses in the program:  HWD-2000, Writing about Art and HWD-3990, Portfolio. Writing about Art may be taken as a substitute for HCD-1025, Writing and Literature II, or at any time before the final course, Portfolio.

Exemption:

Upon successful completion of the Writing Program, students will have fulfilled the Humanities Distribution Requirement (HDR) in Literature.

Courses:

HWD-2000  Writing About Art  (Thursdays, 12:00-2:50  fall semester, instructor: J. Edwards)

HWD-2000  Writing About Art  (Fridays, 12:00-2:50, spring semester, instructor: J. Ahn)                                                     

HWD-2103  Everybody’s a Critic: Writing About Pop Culture  (Tuesdays, 12:00-2:50, fall semester, instructor: B. Altman)

HWD-2121  Seers, Seekers and Visionaries (Thursdays, 9:00-11:50, fall semester, instructor: B. Ides)  

HWD-2124  Capture and Release: Writing Through the Animal (Thursdays, 9:00-11:50, spring semester, instructor: B. Ides)

HWD-2501  Experimental Writing I: Spontaneous Poetics (Wednesdays, 12:00-2:50, fall semester, instructor: R. Weinreich)

HWD-2502  Experimental Writing II: Collage Poetics (Wednesdays, 12:00-2:50, spring semester, instructor: R. Weinreich)

HWD-2516  Storytelling and Narrative Art (Fridays, 12:00-2:50, fall semester, instructor: J. Ahn)

HWD-2523  Creative Non-Fiction (Thursdays, 12:00-2:50, spring semester, instructor; R. Weinreich)

HWD-2534  The Creative Self:  Autobiography (Tuesdays, 12:00-2:50, fall semester, instructor: G. MacKenzie)

HWD-2546  The Art of Words  (Tuesdays, 12:00-2:50, spring semester, instructor: G. MacKenzie)

HWD-2567  Journals: Yours and Theirs (Thursdays, 3:00-5:50, fall semester, instructor: A. Rower)     

HWD-2568  Art of the Journal/Journal as Art (Thursdays, 3:00-5:50, spring semester, instructor: A. Rower)

HWD-2572  Writing and Collaboration (Wednesdays, 9:00-11:50, spring semester: J. Hawley, N. Sherwood, J. Stanley)

HWD-3154  Photography: Images and Criticism (Tuesdays, 12:00-2:50, spring semester, instructor: R. Leslie)

HWD-3261  Visuality in Poetry (Mondays, 6:00-8:50, spring semester, instructor: G. Donovan)

HWD-3262  Visual Poetics (Thursdays, 6:00-8:50, spring semester, instructor: T. Donovan)

HWD-3900  Portfolio

If you are interested in the Writing Program or would like more information, please contact Dr. Maryhelen Hendricks mhendricks@sva.edu