Spring 2010 Undergraduate Course Schedule
INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOPSV39.0815 Creative Writing: Introduction to Fiction & Poetry
Section 1, Erica Kalnay, MW 9:30am-10:45am
Section 2, Sara Batkie, MW 12:30pm-1:45pm
Section 3, Elsbeth Pancrazi, MW 3:30pm-4:45pm
Section 4, Brian Ma, MW 4:55pm-6:10pm
Section 5, Ben Blum, MW 4:55pm-6:10pm
Section 6, Britta Andersson, TR 9:30am-10:45am
Section 7, Nitin Rai, TR 12:30pm-1:45pm
Section 8, Alexandra Kjuchukova, TR 3:30pm-4:45pm
Section 9, Sam Schreiber, TR 4:55pm-6:10pm
Section 11, Kseniya Melnik, MW 12:30pm-1:45pm
Section 12, Axel Wilhite, TR, 12:30pm-1:45pm
Section 13, Chad Benson, TR 8:00am-9:15am
Section 14, Kimberly Waid, TR, 9:30am-10:45am
Section 15, Monica Wendel, TR, 12:30pm-1:45pm
Section 16, Jeff Beardsley, MW 8:00am-9:15am
Section 17, Heidi Spangenberg, MW 9:30am-10:45am
Section 18, Christopher Baughman, MW 9:30am-10:45am
Reserved for Spring in NY students
Section 10, Martin Rock, TR 4:55pm-6:10pm
INTERMEDIATE WORKSHOPS
V39.0816.001 Intermediate Fiction Workshop
Daphne Beal, W 2:00pm-4:45pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0818/9, V39.9818/9, or equivalent.
V39.0816.002 Intermediate Fiction Workshop
Marcelle Clements, F 3:30pm-6:10pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0818/9, V39.9818/9, or equivalent.
V39.0816.003 Intermediate Fiction Workshop
Paul Lisicky, T 11:00am-1:45pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0818/9, V39.9818/9, or equivalent.
V39.0816.004 Intermediate Fiction Workshop
Elissa Schappell, R 2:00pm-4:45pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0818/9, V39.9818/9, or equivalent.
V39.0817.001 Intermediate Poetry Workshop
Geoffrey Nutter, W 6:30pm-9:15pm
Surprising, disorienting, beautiful, lyrical, dream-like, fantastic, difficult, intense—a poem exists in a strange realm of ambiguity and can be all of these things at once. And poets in 14th century England, 10th century China, or 18th century Japan used the same raw materials as poets in 21st century America: dreams, strong or ambivalent emotions, the natural world, experience in its many forms, and language. In this class we will look with fresh eyes at some of the most amazing poems of the past, present, and future, asking not what they mean, but rather how they mean and what they do. We will also discuss the kinds of things that poems are uniquely capable of doing—those things that make poetry exceptional in the world of the creative arts. In other words, we will approach the reading of poems as writers of poems. Focused and rigorous discussions of our fellow students’ poems will further help us hone our craft. Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0818/9, V39.9818/9, or equivalent.
V39.0817.002 Intermediate Poetry Workshop: Nontraditional Poetic Forms
Elaine Equi, F 2:00pm-4:45pm
Traditionally, the practice of poetic craft has been thought to involve a mastery of English meters and forms. Thanks to the innovations of Modernism and PostModernism, a whole new approach to craft and form has become available. We will explore this new, nontraditional tradition through exercises which enable us to sample the techniques of Surrealism, Oulipo, Collage, Confessionalism, Performance Poetry, Spoken Word and much more. Some of our assignments will include self portraits, concrete poems, alphabet poems, rituals, epistles and postcard poems, prose poems, essays in verse, monologues, dialogues, and persona poems. Critiques will focus on recognizing your strengths, as well as creative strategies for revision. You can expect to write one poem per week and keep a journal. Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0818/9, V39.9818/9, or equivalent.
V39.0817.003 Intermediate Poetry Workshop
Miranda Field, T 11:00am-1:45pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0818/9, V39.9818/9, or equivalent.
V39.0817.004 Intermediate Poetry Workshop
Catherine Barnett, R 11:00am-1:45pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0818/9, V39.9818/9, or equivalent.
V39.0825.001 Intermediate Creative Nonfiction Workshop: Writing Your Life, In Short
Rachel DeWoskin, T 11:00am-1:45pm
In this reading and writing workshop, students will write and revise personal
essays that synthesize anecdote and outside research into compelling stories. We
will work on finding ways to compress and expand material so that it's both
individual enough to move and universal enough to matter. Readings include
Frederick Douglass, Anne Lamott, Anne Carson, Phillip Lopate, and George Orwell. Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0818/9, V39.9818/9, or equivalent.
>>> Spring 2010 advanced workshop & master class rosters are posted here. <<<
ADVANCED WORKSHOPS
Marcelle Clements, R 3:30pm-6:10pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0816, V39.0825, V39.0818, V39.9818 or equivalent. 4 points.
V39.0820.002 Advanced Fiction Workshop: Narrative Art from the Inside Out
Darin Strauss, T 3:30pm-6:10pm
Our class will emphasize shop talk: how to begin a story, say, and how to introduce a character. And we'll take up such questions as, “What is the relationship of plot to sub-plot? How does one hold the reader's attention?” Of course, in Art, rules must be flexible—but I ask my students to think of writing in strategic terms; each story-telling decision needs to make tactical sense. With that in mind, we'll examine—with so much esprit de corps as to arouse envy—the tenets of the Art of Fiction. Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0816, V39.0825, V39.0818, V39.9818 or equivalent. 4 points.
V39.0820.003 Advanced Fiction Workshop
Chuck Wachtel, T 2:00pm-4:45pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0816, V39.0825, V39.0818, V39.9818 or equivalent. 4 points.
V39.0830.001 Advanced Poetry Workshop
Mark Rudman, M 2:00pm-4:45pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0817, V39.0819, V39.9819 or equivalent. 4 points.
V39.0830.002 Advanced Poetry Workshop
Matthew Rohrer, W 9:30am-12:15pm
Workshop description forthcoming.
Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0817, V39.0819, V39.9819 or equivalent. 4 points.
V39.0830.003 Advanced Poetry Workshop
Robert Fitterman, T 11:00am-1:45pm
In 1871, Arthur Rimbaud declared that “the invention of the unknown demands new forms,” and for over 100 years innovative poets have been beckoned to uncover or invent forms for the unknown or for their own present condition. New times require new forms, and in the tradition of the avant-garde and experimental writing, this course will introduce you to several new poetic strategies and to the poets who employ them. In addition to workshopping, each week we will write poems in-class that are inspired by or modeled after the strategies we study. Some of these experiments might include: sampling, procedural writing, mixed media, collaboration, conceptual writing, appropriation, etc. The course also requires that you present your writing 2-3 times during the semester, participate in a collaborative project, and turn in a small “book” of your writing at the end of the term. Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0817, V39.0819, V39.9819 or equivalent. 4 points.
V39.0850.001 Advanced Creative Nonfiction Workshop: Making the Personal Matter
Rachel DeWoskin, R 3:30pm-6:10pm
In this reading and writing workshop, students will conceptualize, research, write and revise personal narratives. We will explore strategies for integrating outside research into first-person, creative non-fiction, toward building stories that move in contexts that matter. Readings include Frederick Douglass, Anne Lamott, Anne Carson, Phillip Lopate, and George Orwell. Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0816, V39.0818, V39.9818 or equivalent. 4 points.
V39.0860.001 Master Class in Fiction
Jennifer Egan, M 11:00am-1:45pm
Our primary goals in this Master Class will be to move beyond familiar language toward prose that is individual and distinct, and to learn some ways that storytelling happens indirectly, rather than through a simple laying out of facts. We'll look closely at student work, of course, along with outside texts by Jean Rhys, Ralph Ellison, Robert Stone, Edith Wharton and others. Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0816, V39.0825, V39.0818, V39.9818 or equivalent. 4 points.
V39.0880.001 Master Class in Creative Nonfiction: Hearing Voices
Susan Orlean, T 11:30am - 2:15pm
What makes a piece of non-fiction writing powerful and engaging? In this workshop, we will explore the uses of emotion, narrative intimacy, creating and sustaining ambience, rhythm, structure, and the placement of crucial details to create a connection between writer and reader. We will explore voice and tone, and consider the variety of narrative postures, from omniscience to first-person subjectivity. We will also emphasize the importance of reporting in non-fiction writing. For models, we will study the strategies of writers who are master researchers and musical writers—McPhee, Mitchell, and Didion among them—and we will discuss in detail choices and challenges I encountered in my own work. Prerequisite: V39.0815, V39.9815, V39.0816, V39.0825, V39.0818, V39.9818 or equivalent. 4 points.
