creative writing course maynooth

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MA Creative Writing

• Maynooth University

At MAYNOOTH UNIVERSITY

• Republic of Ireland

Qualification

Masters Degree (Taught)

Next intake

09 September 2024

About the course

The MA in Creative Writing combines workshops and seminars with one-on-one mentoring of writing projects. Students may take optional modules in literature or other creative modules from across the Faculty, such as Writing for Screen Media. Assessment is through shorter pieces of writing, such as craft essays and reflective journals, and a longer project. The MA, taught by award-winning, internationally-renowned writers, will focus on guiding each student to further develop their voice as a writer, as well as to enrich their existing interests as a writer with new perspectives and a grasp of stylistic approaches. Tactics for editing and revision will be taught in tandem with generative exercises and practices aimed at deepening each student's relationship to their creative process. Students will have the opportunity to build and develop networks which will sustain their writing practice beyond the MA degree.

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Start dates and prices

Course fees are indicative and should be used as a guide. Speak to a counsellor to get an accurate price.

Duration: 1 Year (s)

How to apply

Application deadline.

This date isn’t available Speak to an IDP counsellor to get an detailed infromation.

Further infromation

If you aren't eligible for the above entry requirements, you might ant to explore pathway options at Maynooth University . If you want to find out more, speak to our counsellors.

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• DEADLINE: 01 May 2024

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Creative Writing Society

Think it, dream it, write it.

Creative Writing Links

About creative writing society.

Hey there Maynoothians! We're the Maynooth University Creative Writing Society and if you have any interest in creative writing of any kind, we are the society for you! Our job is to help you gain confidence in your creations by sharing, receiving and giving constructive criticism to help you improve in any way we can! We'll run a series of workshops in all things writing, collaborate with other clubs and societies along with basing our weekly writing challenges on the University's themed weeks. We will also have our own genre themed weeks! So if you love to write and want to hang out with a bunch of creative people, we'll see you all later this year!

Current Committee 6

Creative writing society gallery.

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MU Life Privacy Policy

Use the link below to find the current: maynooth university data protection policy , and maynooth university student / staff data privacy notices, mu life clubs & societies privacy, introduction.

Maynooth University together with its Clubs & Societies Department (MU Life) are committed to protecting your privacy and to be transparent about what information we hold. We understand our obligations to you to help you understand how and why we process your personal data.

This privacy notice sets out the basis by which we collect, use and disclose the personal data of our Clubs & Society members, as well as your rights in respect of such personal data.

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The version available online will always be the most up to date current version and your notifications will be through the webpage.

How we collect your Personal Data

You will have provided all of the information we hold, when you complete our MU Life on-line Club/Society membership account form, as the preparatory step to join the Club(s) and/or Societ(y/ies) of your choice.

If you choose not to provide that personal data when requested, we will not be able to permit your membership of any Club or Society.

After initially agreeing to this privacy policy, when you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, operating system, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse our website, we collect information about the individual web pages or content that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to our website, and information about how you interact with our website.

• "Cookies" are data files stored on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. Our website requires cookies in order to be able to function and access is not possible without you enabling these cookies.
• "Log files" track actions occurring on our website, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.

Type of personal data we collect and process

When setting up a MU Life Clubs & Society account, we may collect and gather the following categories of personal data,

Identity data; Name, Home Country/Irish County, Date of Birth, Gender

Contact details; Telephone number(s), Address, E-mail Address

In Case of Emergency Details; Name, Relationship, Telephone number, Address

Education/Employment Details; Student/Staff Status, MU Student Number, Course/Department, Year of Study, Study Duration

Medical Data; On line tick Box, GP's Letter of referral

How we use your personal data

• Verify your identity to permit membership of a Club and/or Society.
• Correct and update information at your request.
• Comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
• Dealing with issues of Health & Safety, processing possible insurance claims, and/or "In Case of Emergency Numbers" whilst engaged in the activities of Clubs & Societies, in particular when overseas. Both the Staff of the Clubs & Societies Department and the individual C&S Committee members that volunteer to organise and run the activities of their specific club and/or society you may choose to join, will have access to this particular data.
• Communicating with you via email, phone or post in relation to matters specific to Clubs & Societies from the Clubs & Societies Department or from the individual C&S Committee members that volunteer to organise and run the activities of their specific club and/or society you may choose to join. You have the right to withdraw your consent to communications at any time by using the tools within the website or contacting us via to email.
• If elected by the membership of a particular Club/Society to the position of a committee member, we will provide where approved by you, your name on the Club/Society public profile.
• If, as a committee member, you are approved as a COVID-19 Officer your name will be displayed on the Club/Society public profile.
• Occasionally we conduct surveys on your particular experience within Clubs & Societies to help assist with the continuous improvement and development of the service. A professional third party may be engaged, however your data cannot be identified or utilised, and will only be used for purposes specific to the Clubs & Societies, agreed and set by the Clubs & Societies Department.
• Your personal data may be used to generate previous membership contact lists for special events such as Club and Society reunions or specific initiatives that may be of interest to you because of your membership of Clubs & Societies.

Legal basis for processing your personal data

The legal basis upon which we hold personal data is the following:

• Our legitimate interest and the interest of the Clubs and Societies which operate under our umbrella: we require this information about our members in order to fulfil our function providing services to our members and the student body.
• Legal Obligation: We and the individual Clubs and Societies have legal obligations, including for example, obligations to ensure the safety our members and third parties pursuant to which it is necessary to hold the information retained.
• Performance of Contract: We and the individual Clubs and Societies may enter contractual arrangements with members and third parties and information is required in order to complete the performance of such contractual obligation.
• Consent: Where none of the above bases apply, we will obtain and process personal data only with your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.

Existing Data Information with Clubs & Societies (MU Life)

We will use our best endeavours to guarantee that all Personal Data that you have submitted to us is maintained and up to date. However, it is your responsibility to inform us of any changes to your Personal Data to ensure that it is up to date.

If you are a Club or Society committee member, we may also pass information to you directly to assist with the promotion and development of your particular Club or Society i.e. offers/discounts/sponsorship from Hotels, Entertainments, Travel providers. We will not share your personal data with these providers.

If you no longer wish to be notified of marketing material, please contact [email protected]

Sharing your data with others

We do not disclose to any third party personal data that we may collect or you provide to us with the exception of third parties expressly mentioned in this privacy policy.

• Personal data collected by us is shared as necessary with individual Clubs and Societies which you join.
• Personal data, in particular contact details is shared between members of the Clubs & Societies Department, who legitimately need the information to carry out their normal duties to promote Clubs & Societies that may be of a legitimate interest to you.
• We contract with other entities in particular the hosting provider, web developer and/or tech support to perform certain tasks on our behalf and who have a Data Sharing Agreement with Clubs & Societies (MU Life).
• Professional advisors such as solicitors and insurers and other outside professional advisors (i.e. Health & Safety Consultants) relevant to the activity of Clubs & Societies only.
• We require that all third parties respect your personal data, and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
• Unless prevented by applicable law, we will notify you when it might be necessary to provide your personal data to third parties in ways other than explained above, and you may have the option to prevent such sharing at the time that we notify you.
• There may be other reasons where it is not possible or appropriate to gain your consent such as disclosures to the Gardaí for prevention or detection of crime, or to meet statutory obligations.

Data Retention

• Any person who creates an on-line membership account and provides all their personal data but then chooses NOT to join any club or society during that Academic Year will have all their data deleted after two years.
• People who do join Clubs & Societies and become active members during their undergraduate and/or postgraduate studies or even as Alumni will have all personal data deleted after a period of seven years from the date upon which they cease to be a member of a Club or Society.

You have the following rights;

Right to be informed This Privacy notice provides the information you are entitled to receive on how your data is collected, stored and processed. In a clear and accessible way.

Right of Access Please contact us if you would like to request access to a copy of your data in electronic form. There is no charge for us providing you with this data and it will usually be provided within one month of the request. However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse your request in these circumstances. We may need specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access.

Right of correction/deletion You may exercise your right to have your personal data erased in a number of circumstances e.g. if the data is no longer necessary in relation to the purpose for which it was created or you withdraw consent. If you have provided consent for the processing of your data, you have the right (in certain circumstances) to withdraw that consent at any time which will not affect the lawfulness of the processing, before your consent was withdrawn.

The security of your Personal Data is very important to us.

We will ensure that we have in place appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent unauthorised or unlawful processing of Personal Data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to Personal Data. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.

Identity and contact details of controller and data protection officer

Clubs & Societies (MU Life) under the auspices of Maynooth University is the controller and processor of data for the purposes of the Data Protection Act.

If you have any concerns as to how your data is processed you can contact;

Mary Mac Court, Clubs & Societies Coordinator Maynooth University Co. Kildare 01 708 6819 [email protected]

Cecily Giles, Maynooth University Data Protection Officer 17 Rye Hall Extension North Campus Maynooth University Co. Kildare 01 708 6184 / 3654 [email protected] / [email protected]

You also have a right to complain to the Data Protection Commissioner:

dataprotection.ie 21 Fitzwilliam Square South Dublin 2 D02 RD28 Ireland +353 578 684 800 +353 761 104 800

Or to apply for review by the Court pursuant to the Data Protection Act, 2018.

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Maynooth university department of english.

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English @ Maynooth

BA, MA, PhD degrees in English

MACMORRIS Project

What ish my nation? Rediscovering Early Modern Ireland

Welcome to Maynooth University Department of English. With a history that dates back to the 19th century, the Department is a supportive and dynamic learning environment and a centre of cutting-edge research in English, Irish, and global literatures.  Comprising seventeen internationally-renowned scholars and teachers, each of whom are widely published and influential in shaping the field of English studies, as well as dedicated tutors and postgraduate researchers, the Department accommodates a diverse range of research interests including: 

• American Literature 
• Creative Writing  
• Eighteenth-Century Literature 
• Film studies  
• Gender studies 
• Irish Literature  
• Literary Theory  
• Modernism  
• Migrant Writing 
• Postcolonial, Global Literatures, and Critical Race Studies  
• Renaissance and early modern studies, especially the Irish / Gaelic context 
• Shakespeare studies 
• Visual Culture

Fáilte go Roinn Béarla Ollscoil Mhá Nuad. Tá stair a théann chomh fada siar leis an naoú haois déag ag an Roinn agus is timpeallacht foghlama tacúil agus fuinniúil agus lárionad do thaighde cheannródaíoch i litríocht Shasanach, Éireannach agus dhomhanda í. Tá seacht scoláire agus múinteoir ndéag a bhfuil cáil idirnáisiúnta bainte amach acu sa Roinn agus tá gach duine acu foilsithe go forleathan agus tar éis dul i bhfeidhm go mór ar réimse staidéir an Bhéarla agus tá roinnt mhaith teagascóirí agus taighdeoirí iarchéime inti chomh maith. Ciallaíonn sé seo go mbíonn an Roinn ag freastal ar réimse leathan de spéiseanna taighde, lena n-áirítear:

• Litríocht Mheiriceánach
• Scríbhneoireacht Chruthaitheach
• Litríocht ón Ochtú hAois Déag
• Staidéar Scannán
• Staidéar Inscní
• Litríocht Éireannach
• Teoiric Liteartha
• Nua-aoiseachas
• Sríbhneoireacht na n-Imirceach
• Litríocht Iarchoilíneach, Litríochtaí Domhanda, agus Litríocht Chriticiúil Chiníocha
• Staidéar ar an Renaissance agus ar an Nua-aois Luath, an comhthéacs Éireannach/Gaelach ach go háirithe
• Staidéar ar Shakespeare
• Cultúr Físiúil

Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch appointed Distinguished Writing Fellow

Maynooth University is delighted to announce that 2023 Booker Prize Winner Paul Lynch has been appointed Maynooth University Distinguished Writing Fellow.

Date: Tuesday, 13 February 2024

MU's Dr Katriona O'Sullivan wins two Irish Book Awards

Dr Katriona O’Sullivan won the Biography of the Year Award and the Listeners’ Choice Award for Poor, her account of overcoming a chaotic and deprived childhood.

Date: Thursday, 23 November 2023

Department of English Event | Women’s Iconography in the Twenty-First Century: A Roundtable Discussion

Maynooth University’s Department of English is delighted to welcome three leading female iconographers from Mexico, Britain, and the United States for a roundtable discussion about their art practice and experiences as female artists working in a sacred art tradition from which women have been historically excluded.

When: Tuesday, 21 May 2024

How to find us

The Department of English is located on the Ground Floor of the Iontas Building, North Campus

View us on the campus map

More contact details

Further Information

Writing For Role Playing Games | Maynooth University | Micro-Credential | June 2024

• January 17, 2024
• Susan Talbot

Writing for Role-Playing Games: Narratives, Adventures, and Worldbuilding

This is a 1-week intensive summer school programme designed to equip participants with a comprehensive understanding of the process of writing for TTRPGs. Participants will explore narrative design, worldbuilding, and industry-specific approaches to collaborative writing.

The programme will consist of intensive in-person blocks of teaching and activities over the course of one week. The programme is scheduled to commence in June 2024.

Course level : Aligned to Level 9 on the NFQ Credits : 5 Duration : 1 week on-campus in Maynooth, Ireland, 4-7 June, 2024

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion, learners are awarded a Maynooth University accredited Certificate of Completion from the Critical Skills programme.

Instructors

Dr. Brian McKenzie serves as the subject leader for the First Year programme Critical Skills. He has contributed to several D&D projects and is the author of two forthcoming adventures from Goodman Games.

Dr. Bret Zawilski is a Lecturer of Critical Skills at Maynooth University. He’s an avid player of indie TTRPGs and his academic research investigates writing processes, knowledge transfer, and pedagogy.

Participant profile/Who can apply/Eligibility

Are you passionate about game design? Looking to break into the professional gaming world or develop the technical skills and portfolio to become a freelance game writer? This is the course for you provided you:

• Have any Level 8 (Honours) degree OR
• Submit an application via Maynooth University’s Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process. Applicants who submit an application via RPL will also be asked to include a writing sample for assessment by the course instructors.

See the Study at Maynooth page which contains an Entry Requirements tab and a How to Apply tab.

CCIS SUPPORT APPLICANTS MUST BE EMPLOYED, FREELANCE or SOLE TRADERS AND RESIDENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND TO QUALIFY FOR THE CULTURAL & CREATIVE INDUSTRIES SKILLNET SUPPORT & NOT IN RECEIPT OF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

• A Scholarship or

Industry Partners

• Ciaran McGrath , Lead Writer,  Black Shamrock  (content designers for Starlink: Battle For Atlas and others)
• Emmet Byrne, Creative Director,  Cubicle 7  (creators of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play, Doctor Who and others)
• Joseph Goodman , founder, and Chris Doyle , Director of Product Development,  Goodman Games  (creators of Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, Original Adventures Reincarnated and others). This micro-credential was developed in association with Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet and with the support of the MA in Creative Writing at Maynooth University .

MUI is one of the four constituent universities of the National University of Ireland. Established as an autonomous university in 1997, it traces its origins to the foundation of the Royal College of St. Patrick in 1795, drawing inspiration from a heritage that includes over 200 years of education and scholarship. MUI fosters an interdisciplinary approach to research and prides itself on placing equal value on its research and teaching missions.

The fee for this course is: € 540 (Normally € 900 pp)

A Paypal link will be issued by Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet once a place on the course has been offered by Maynooth University and accepted by you. All payments must be made to CCIS in full before course commences.

Application process

This is a 2 step process. Fill out the Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet RPG membership application form below. Once your CCIS membership application has been assessed you will be notified.

Course applications need to be submitted separately via Maynooth University PAC system. Course Code: MMC35

All CCIS awards are subject to successful course applications and offers from MUI

Application Deadline for CCIS

CCIS Membership Application Before COB Monday May 2 0th IMPORTANT: All Course Applications To Be Made separately via Maynooth University PAC system. Course Code: MMC35 Deadline: Monday May 20 th  2024 11:59pm

If you experience any difficulties with your CCIS application please contact [email protected] with a Subject Heading of: Writing for RPG

If you have any course application queries, contact [email protected]  

RPG CCIS Membership Application

• Application | Micro Credentials | MUI-RPG
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9 Universities in Ireland offering Creative Writing degrees and courses

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Are you looking for Creative Writing courses? Here you can find course providers offering full-time, part-time, online or distance learning options.

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University of Galway

THE World Ranking: 301

University of Limerick

THE World Ranking: 401

Dublin City University

Maynooth University

University College Dublin

THE World Ranking: 201

University College Cork

Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin

THE World Ranking: 134

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology

American College Dublin

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Bachelor of Arts (English and Creative Writing)

Course overview, course outline, further education, why choose this course, course fees.

• Find Out More

This new course builds and expands on over a decade’s worth of experience in directing and fostering undergraduate talent specifically in Creative Writing at NUI Galway. It provides a unique opportunity for students with an aptitude and passion for literary expression, and in keeping with the principle that ‘writers learn to write by writing’, the emphasis throughout is on practice-based learning and experience.

You will study and practice all the major genres of Creative Writing: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Playwriting, Screenwriting. Within these broader genres, you will be helped discover, experiment with and strengthen your own individual strands of interest.

During the course, your developing concentration on your own creative practice is paralleled by a focus on the practical imperatives and industry requirements in the many established and emerging writing-related fields. From the very start during your first year, a speaker from the writing professions visits the class each week for discussions, Q & A and informal conversation. This will help you begin to actively engage with the everyday routines and rhythms of writing-related professionals of all kinds.

With your expanding knowledge of what it takes to write at a high level, by the end of second year you will be ready to embark on a third year that provides for a 100% focus on your personal Creative Writing project(s). By the end of this specialism year, students on the course have developed advanced drafts of, for instance, novels of various kinds, collections of stories and/or flash fiction, poetry collections, plays, screenplays, essay collections, podcast scripts. You decide on your creative direction and project focus for the year, and then we will engage with your ideas and provide the teaching, mentorship and all-in guidance to help you fulfil your vision for your work.

Then, as you complete your studies in English and one other subject during your fourth and final year, you will build further on your third-year project(s) through modules that concentrate on further professionalisation, publication planning, social and public platforms and the various ways now of getting yourself and your writing out there.

Applications and Selections

Who teaches this course.

http://www.universityofgalway.ie/our-research/people/english-and-creative-arts/johnkenny/

https://canongate.co.uk/contributors/12516-mike-mccormack/

Betsy Cornwell, author.

https://www.betsycornwell.com

Susan Du Mars, author.

http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com

https://tanyafarrelly.wordpress.com

Elaine Feeney, author.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1084515/elaine-feeney.html?tab=penguin-biography

Kevin Higgins, author.

Tim Kearney, screenwriting educator.

Kate Kerrigan (aka Morag Prunty), author.

https://www.katekerrigan.ie

Sarah O’Toole, theatre artist and writer.

https://www.sarah-otoole.com

Requirements and Assessment

Entry requirements.

Minimum Grade H5 in two subjects and passes in four other subjects at O6/H7 Grades in the Leaving Certificate including Irish, English, another language, and three other subjects recognised for entry purposes.

Additional Requirements

Recognition of prior learning (rpl), next start date.

September 2024

A Level Grades (2023)

universityofgalway.ie/alevels

Average intake

Qqi/fet fetac entry routes.

1 (More Info)

Closing Date

Mode of study, ects weighting, course code.

You will study Creative Writing, English, and one other Arts subject. The focus in Creative Writing will be on the practice of Fiction and Nonfiction, and there will also be a weekly visiting-speaker series.

You will study Creative Writing, English, and your other chosen Arts subject. For Creative Writing, second year concentrates on the writing of Poetry, Plays and Screenplays.

Your Creative Writing work will be the exclusive focus, through mentored independent project(s) and/or study abroad and/or work placement. While mentorship with professional writers is the prime work experience for our Creative Writing students, other forms of work placement are possible. Your third year provides a major opportunity for guided self-directed learning, and your can discuss your plans and prospects in advance with your course director and/or mentor. If you are studying a language with English and Creative Writing, you may avail of an exchange at an EU university, and the Creative Writing study path you take while abroad will be planned in advance. Non-language students may also avail of an exchange with an English-speaking university abroad, most typically in the USA or Canada.

Completion of your studies in Creative Writing, English and your other subject. For Creative Writing, your classes will centre on project and portfolio consolidation, professionalisation and publication planning.

Curriculum Information

Glossary of terms, year 1 (60 credits), year 2 (60 credits), year 3 (60 credits), year 4 (60 credits).

Typical postgraduate courses our Creative Writing graduates move on to include our MAs in

• Literature & Publishing

Our students have a comparatively very high success rate in applications to a broad range of postgraduate courses at home and abroad.

Career Opportunities

With a comparatively high proportion of our students attaining first-class honours degrees (typically 30-40% of the class), this course will help open doors of employment for you in all those fields where written communication is important. You will have fostered the talent, imagination and professionalism necessary to be a published author and you may consider a career as one.

The skills you will acquire are applicable to a wide range of careers and creative fields, for example in teaching, editing, publishing and other literary professions, advertising and copy-writing, games writing and narrative design, and the existing and ever-expanding areas in media, journalism and public engagement.

Who’s Suited to This Course

Learning outcomes, transferable skills employers value, work placement.

While mentorship with professional writers is the prime work experience for our Creative Writing students, other forms of work placement are possible. Your third year provides a major opportunity for guided self-directed learning, and prospects for additional placements can be discussed in advance with your course director and/or mentor.

If you are studying a language with English and Creative Writing, Erasmus exchanges with European universities are possible; the Creative Writing study path you take abroad will be discussed in advance with your course director. Non-language students may also avail of an exchange with an English-speaking university abroad, most typically in the USA or Canada.

Related Student Organisations

Fees: tuition, fees: student contribution, fees: student levy, fees: non eu.

EU Fees are comprised of Tuition + Student Contribution Charge + Student Levy** €140.  **Payable by all students and is not covered by SUSI.  Further detail  here .

Find out More

Dr John Kenny John McGahern Lecturer in Creative Writing School of English and Creative Arts

e. [email protected] t. +353 91 495612

What Our Students Say

John McHugh |   BA Connect (Creative Writing)

‘The BA programme in Creative Writing gave me a formidable start in my journey as a writer. Now, with the publication of my first book, I think back to the programme’s combined focus on writing skills, imaginative daring and vision, and its strong workshop ethos: these are the vital foundations for building a future in the writing professions.’ John McHugh, author of Pure Gold (4th Estate/New Island, 2021).

2024 QS Subject Rankings: Top 100

Undergraduate Prospectus 2024 PDF (14.6MB)

Quick Guide to Courses 2024 PDF (362 KB)

A Level Quick Guide 2024 PDF (337 KB)

Postgraduate Prospectus 2024 PDF (3.3MB)

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Department of English

M.f.a. creative writing.

English Department

Physical Address: 200 Brink Hall

Mailing Address: English Department University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1102 Moscow, Idaho 83844-1102

Phone: 208-885-6156

Email: [email protected]

Web: English

About the M.F.A. in Creative Writing

Career information is not specific to degree level. Some career options may require an advanced degree.

Current Job Openings and Salary Range

in ID, WA, OR, MT and HI

Entry-Level

Senior-Level

• Career Options
• Advertising and Promotions Manager
• English Language and Literature Teacher, Postsecondary
• Public Relations Specialist
• Technical Writer
• Writer or Author
• Poet, Lyricist or Creative Writer

Regional Employment Trends

Employment trends and projected job growth in ID, WA, OR, MT & HI

*Job data is collected from national, state and private sources. For more information, visit EMSI's data sources page .

• Degree Prep

Our students arrive as accomplished writers and readers, and while many have not yet published their stories, poems and essays, most will do so during their time in the program. An undergraduate English degree is not mandatory — our students come from diverse cultural, geographical, and artistic backgrounds, and at different times in their professional and personal lives. If you’re ready to write, apply now .

• Degree Roadmap

Ours is a three-year program, over the course of which each student works toward assembling a manuscript of publishable quality. In addition to regular workshops in a student's given genre, our program requires 18 credits of literature courses and traditions seminars be completed during the program. Some recent offerings:

• Genre-Crossing
• Women and Poetry
• Geographies of Nonfiction
• The Raptures of Research in Fiction Writing
• Traditions of Lifewriting
• Independence and Inquiry: A Nonfiction Techniques Studio
• Scholarships

The College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences provides annual scholarship awards totaling approximately $1,600,000. For information on specific scholarships, please email  [email protected] .

You can find general need- and merit-based scholarships on the Financial Aid Office's scholarships page.

Teaching Assistantships carry value up to $26,000; other departmental scholarships can supplement this by $2,000 or more annually. 

To learn more about FAFSA deadlines and processes, available scholarships, and financial aid program types and eligibility requirements, please visit the University of Idaho  Financial Aid Office .

• Hands-On Learning

Teaching assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis. The program also offers fellowships for summer workshops and writing retreats.

• Job Openings and Salary Range
• Employment Trends

Mastering the Art of Creativity

Polish your craft and develop your voice as a professional writer in a program that features intensive theoretical and practical training across genres. Enjoy a supportive learning environment with an award-winning faculty and benefit from opportunities to be published and mentored through the Distinguished Visiting Writers Program.

• Our M.F.A. program is three years. We offer full and equitable funding for all students through Teaching Assistantships and tuition waivers.
• We admit two to four students per genre each year (nine students per cohort, on average). Our program is small by design, ensuring that community and mentorship are central to the experience of our degree candidates.
• All admitted students gain real-world skills through classroom teaching.
• We offer flexible degree paths in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction, and encourage cross- and multi-genre study or single-genre study, depending on a student’s artist goals.
• Our faculty value student-centered classroom spaces where mentoring, community, and reciprocity are tightly held values. All classes are taught by working writers who have a passion for teaching.
• The Distinguished Visiting Writers Series brings field-leading authors to campus to read from their work, interface with students and the community, and lead MFA seminars.
• Fellowship opportunities include participating in Writing in the Wild at Taylor Ranch in the Frank Church Wilderness Area; University Fellowships at the Centrum Writers Conference; the Hemingway Fellowship for fiction writers; and the Academy of American Poets University Prize.
• Students have the opportunity to serve as editors for our esteemed national literary journal Fugue.
• Over the past three decades, our distinguished alumni have published over 100 books with our country’s finest trade, independent, and university presses. Students and alumni are the lifeblood of our storied MFA program.

Meet Our Faculty

M.F.A. English Faculty

Meet Our Students

M.F.A English Students

Morningside Campus Access Updates

Creative writing.

The Creative Writing Department offers writing workshops in fiction writing, poetry, and nonfiction writing. Courses are also offered in film writing, structure and style, translation, and the short story.

For questions about specific courses, contact the department.

Registration Procedures and Course Approval

All creative writing classes have limited enrollments and require instructor or departmental approval prior to registration.

Students should visit the Writing Department's website for details and instructions.

Registration Procedures

INTERMEDIATE FICTION WORKSHOP WRIT2100W001 3 pts

Intermediate workshops are for students with some experience with creative writing, and whose prior work merits admission to the class (as judged by the professor). Intermediate workshops present a higher creative standard than beginning workshops, and increased expectations to produce finished work. By the end of the semester, each student will have produced at least seventy pages of original fiction. Students are additionally expected to write extensive critiques of the work of their peers. Please visit  https://arts.columbia.edu/writing/undergraduate  for information about registration procedures.

Course Number

Times/location, section/call number, intermediate fiction workshop writ2100w002 3 pts, intermediate nonfiction wrkshp writ2200w001 3 pts.

The intermediate workshop in nonfiction is designed for students with some experience in writing literary nonfiction. Intermediate workshops present a higher creative standard than beginning workshops and an expectation that students will produce finished work. Outside readings supplement and inform the exercises and longer written projects. By the end of the semester, students will have produced thirty to forty pages of original work in at least two traditions of literary nonfiction. Please visit https://arts.columbia.edu/writing/undergraduate  for information about registration procedures.

INTERMEDIATE POETRY WORKSHOP WRIT2300W001 3 pts

Intermediate poetry workshops are for students with some prior instruction in the rudiments of poetry writing and prior poetry workshop experience. Intermediate poetry workshops pose greater challenges to students and maintain higher critical standards than beginning workshops. Students will be instructed in more complex aspects of the craft, including the poetic persona, the prose poem, the collage, open-field composition, and others. They will also be assigned more challenging verse forms such as the villanelle and also non-European verse forms such as the pantoum. They will read extensively, submit brief critical analyses, and put their instruction into regular practice by composing original work that will be critiqued by their peers. By the end of the semester each student will have assembled a substantial portfolio of finished work. Please visit https://arts.columbia.edu/writing/undergraduate  for information about registration procedures.

BODY & WORD WRIT3037W001 3 pts

Our writing often appears primarily as a product of cognitive faculties, and we easily overlook the profound influence our bodies exert on our thoughts and, consequently, our writing. Our perception of language itself is tied to how we perceive our physical selves. We can understand our bodies materially, as intricate structures of bone, muscle, and cells, or kinesthetically, through movement, force, and tone, intertwined with a spectrum of sensations like pain and pleasure, which intersect with our psychological and emotional landscapes. Through a series of movement exercises, readings, and writing assignments, this seminar delves into the profound impact a deeper understanding of our bodies and their movement can have on our writing, and conversely, how writing can influence our bodily experiences. Using various artistic mediums such as dance, film, literature, and fine arts, we aim to enhance our ability to articulate and write the body's presence and movement through space and time. Students from all concentrations are encouraged to join.

ADVANCED FICTION WORKSHOP WRIT3100Q001 3 pts

Building on the work of the Intermediate Workshop, Advanced Workshops are reserved for the most accomplished creative writing students. A significant body of writing must be produced and revised. Particular attention will be paid to the components of fiction: voice, perspective, characterization, and form. Students will be expected to finish several short stories, executing a total artistic vision on a piece of writing. The critical focus of the class will include an examination of endings and formal wholeness, sustaining narrative arcs, compelling a reader's interest for the duration of the text, and generating a sense of urgency and drama in the work. Please visit https://arts.columbia.edu/writing/undergraduate for information about registration procedures.

ADVANCED FICTION WORKSHOP WRIT3100Q002 3 pts

Senior fiction workshop writ3101q001 4 pts.

Seniors who are majors in creative writing are given priority for this course. Enrollment is limited, and is by permission of the professor. The senior workshop offers students the opportunity to work exclusively with classmates who are at the same high level of accomplishment in the major. Students in the senior workshops will produce and revise a new and substantial body of work. In-class critiques and conferences with the professor will be tailored to needs of each student. Please visit https://arts.columbia.edu/writing/undergraduate for information about registration procedures.

HOW TO BUILD A PERSON WRIT3121W001 3 pts

Apocalypses now writ3125w001 3 pts, the ecstasy of influence writ3132w001 3 pts.

What does it mean to be original? How do we differentiate plagiarism from pastiche, appropriation from homage? And how do we build on pre-existing traditions while simultaneously creating work that reflects our own unique experiences of the world?

In a 2007 essay for Harper ’ s magazine, Jonathan Lethem countered critic Harold Bloom’s theory of “the anxiety of influence” by proposing, instead, an “ecstasy of influence”; Lethem suggested that writers embrace rather than reject the unavoidable imprints of their literary forbearers. Beginning with Lethem’s essay—which, itself, is composed entirely of borrowed (or “sampled”) text—this class will consider the nature of literary influence, and its role in the development of voice.

Each week, students will read from pairings of older stories and novel excerpts with contemporary work that falls within the same artistic lineage. In doing so, we’ll track the movement of stylistic, structural, and thematic approaches to fiction across time, and think about the different ways that stories and novels can converse with one another. We will also consider the influence of other artistic mediums—music, visual art, film and television—on various texts. Students will then write their own original short pieces modeled after the readings. Just as musicians cover songs, we will “cover” texts,  adding our own interpretive imprints.

SENIOR NONFICTION WORKSHOP WRIT3201W001 4 pts

Seniors who are majors in creative writing are given priority for this course. Enrollment is limited, and is by permission of the professor. The senior workshop offers students the opportunity to work exclusively with classmates who are at the same high level of accomplishment in the major. Students in the senior workshops will produce and revise a new and substantial body of work. In-class critiques and conferences with the professor will be tailored to needs of each student. Please visit  https://arts.columbia.edu/writing/undergraduate  for information about registration procedures.

HYBRID NONFICTION FORMS WRIT3214W001 3 pts

Writing about art writ3215w001 3 pts.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites. Department approval NOT required. 

This course will introduce students to writing about visual art. We will take our models from art history and contemporary art discourse, and students will be prompted to write with and about current art exhibitions and events throughout the city. The modes of art writing we will encounter include: the practice of ekphrasis (poems which describe or derive their inspiration from a work of art); writers such as John Ashbery, Gary Indiana, Eileen Myles, and others who for periods of their life held positions as art critics while composing poetry and works of fiction; writers such as Etel Adnan, Susan Howe, and Renee Gladman who have produced literature and works of art in equal measure. We will also look at artists who have written essays and poetry throughout their careers such as Robert Smithson, Glenn Ligon, Gregg Bordowitz, Moyra Davey, and Hannah Black, and consider both the visual qualities of writing and the ways that visual artists have used writing in their work. Lastly, we will consider what it means to write through a “milieu” of visual artists, such as those associated with the New York School and Moscow Conceptualism. Throughout the course students will produce original works and complete a final writing project that enriches, complicates, and departs from their own interests and preoccupations.

SCIENCE AND SENSIBILITY WRIT3217W001 3 pts

Life stories writ3225w001 3 pts.

In this seminar, we will target nonfiction that tells stories about lives: profiles, memoirs, and biographies. We will examine how the practice of this kind of nonfiction, and ideas about it, have evolved over the past 150 years. Along the way, we will ask questions about these nonfiction forms: How do reporters, memoirists, biographers, and critics make sense of their subjects? How do they create work as rich as the best novels and short stories? Can criticism explicate the inner life of a human subject? What roles do voice, point-of-view, character, dialogue, and plot—the traditional elements of fiction—play? Along the way, we’ll engage in issues of identity and race, memory and self, real persons and invented characters and we’ll get glimpses of such key publications as The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, Esquire, Harper’s, and The New York Review of Books. Some writers we will consider: Frederick Douglass, Louisa May Alcott, Walt Whitman, Henry Adams, Joseph Mitchell, Lillian Ross, James Agee, John Hersey, Edmund Wilson, Gore Vidal, Gay Talese, James Baldwin, Vladimir Nabokov, Janet Malcolm, Robert Caro, Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison, Joan Didion, and Henry Louis Gates Jr. The course regularly welcomes guest speakers.

ADVANCED POETRY WORKSHOP WRIT3300W001 3 pts

This poetry workshop is reserved for accomplished poetry writers and maintains the highest level of creative and critical expectations. Students will be encouraged to develop their strengths and to cultivate a distinctive poetic vision and voice but must also demonstrate a willingness to broaden their range and experiment with new forms and notions of the poem. A portfolio of poetry will be written and revised with the critical input of the instructor and the workshop. Please visit https://arts.columbia.edu/writing/undergraduate  for information about registration procedures.

Ecopoetics WRIT3321W001 3 pts

“There are things / We live among ‘and to see them / Is to know ourselves.’”

George Oppen, “Of Being Numerous”

In this class we will read poetry like writers that inhabit an imperiled planet, understanding our poems as being in direct conversation both with the environment as well as writers past and present with similar concerns and techniques. Given the imminent ecological crises we are facing, the poems we read will center themes of place, ecology, interspecies dependence, the role of humans in the destruction of the planet, and the “necropastoral” (to borrow a term from Joyelle McSweeney), among others. We will read works by poets and writers such as (but not limited to) John Ashbery, Harryette Mullen, Asiya Wadud, Wendy Xu, Ross Gay, Simone Kearney, Kim Hyesoon, Marcella Durand, Arthur Rimbaud, Geoffrey G. O’Brien, Muriel Rukeyser, George Oppen, Terrance Hayes, Juliana Spahr, and W.S. Merwin—reading several full collections as well as individual poems and essays by scholars in the field.

Through close readings, in-class exercises, discussions, and creative/critical writings, we will invest in and investigate facets of the dynamic lyric that is aware of its environs (sound, image, line), while also exploring traditional poetic forms like the Haibun, ode, prose poem, and elegy. Additionally, we will seek inspiration in outside mediums such as film, visual art, and music, as well as, of course, the natural world. As a class, we will explore the highly individual nature of writing processes and talk about building writing practices that are generative as well as sustainable.

21STC AM POETRY & ITS CONCERNS WRIT3365W001 3 pts

The lyric has often been conceived of as timeless in its content and inwardly-directed in its mode of address, yet so many poems with lasting claim on our attention point unmistakably outward, addressing the particulars of their times.  This course will examine the ways in which an array of 21st poets have embraced, indicted, and anatomized their cultural and historical contexts, diagnosing society’s ailments, indulging in its obsessions, and sharing its concerns.  Engaging with such topics as race, class, war, death, trauma, feminism, pop culture and sexuality, how do poets adapt poetic form to provide meaningful and relevant insights without losing them to beauty, ambiguity, and music?  How is pop star Rihanna a vehicle for discussing feminism and isolation?  What does it mean to write about Black masculinity after Ferguson?  In a time when poetry’s cultural relevancy is continually debated in academia and in the media, how can today’s poets use their art to hold a mirror to modern living?  This class will explore how writers address present-day topics in light of their own subjectivity, how their works reflect larger cultural trends and currents, and how critics as well as poets themselves have reflected on poetry’s, and the poet’s, changing social role.  In studying how these writers complicate traditional notions of what poetry should and shouldn’t do, both in terms of content and of form, students will investigate their own writing practices, fortify their poetic voices, and create new works that engage directly and confidently with the world in which they are written.

STORIES WITHIN STORIES WRIT3404W001 3 pts

The science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin, in her sly, radical manifesto of sorts “Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction,” proposes an idea of the “bottle as hero”: instead of conflict serving as our central organizing theory for narrative, she suggests that “the natural, proper, fitting shape of the novel might be that of a sack, a bag.” In other words: a container. These containers needn’t only apply to novels, I contend, but many types of literary narratives, whether they are classified as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or some hybrid of forms.

With this in mind, the generative cross-genre craft seminar Stories within Stories aims to uncover beautiful and practical approaches to gathering small narratives into a larger, cohesive whole. Readings will include Svetlana Alexievich’s devastating novels in voices, Percival Everett’s incendiary novel-within-a-novel Erasure , Ted Chiang’s mesmerizing historical fantasy, Robin Wall Kimmerer’s braided essays of restoration, Nâzım Hikmet’s epic in verse Human Landscapes from My Country , Renee Gladman’s cross-disciplinary approaches to writing and drawing, Yevgenia Belorusets’s dispatches from Ukraine, Edward Gauvin’s identity-memoir-in-contributors’ bios, Saidiya Hartman’s speculative histories, Gary Indiana’s gleefully acerbic roman à clef Do Everything in the Dark , Alejandro Zambra’s standardized test-inspired literature, W. G. Sebald’s saturnine essay-fiction, and Lisa Hsiao Chen’s meld of biography and autobiography, as well as fiction and nonfiction by Clarice Lispector, Vauhini Vara, Eileen Myles, Olga Tokarczuk, and Julie Hecht, among other texts. 

In addition, we will also read essays on craft and storytelling by Le Guin, Gladman, Zambra, Lydia Davis, Walter Benjamin, Garielle Lutz, Ben Mauk, and more. What we learn in this course we will apply to our own work, which will consist of regular creative writing responses drawn from the readings and a creative final project. Students will also learn to keep a daily journal of writing.

FICTION WORKSHOP WRIT5100R001 6 pts

Fiction workshop writ5100r002 6 pts, fiction workshop writ5100r003 6 pts, fiction workshop writ5100r004 6 pts, fiction workshop writ5100r005 6 pts, fiction workshop writ5100r006 6 pts, fiction workshop writ5100r007 6 pts, fiction workshop writ5100r008 6 pts, fiction workshop writ5100r009 6 pts, fiction workshop writ5100r010 6 pts, nonfiction workshop writ5200r001 6 pts, nonfiction workshop writ5200r002 6 pts, nonfiction workshop writ5200r003 6 pts, nonfiction workshop writ5200r004 6 pts, poetry workshop writ5300r001 6 pts, poetry workshop writ5300r002 6 pts, poetry workshop writ5300r003 6 pts, poetry workshop writ5300r004 6 pts, poetry workshop writ5300r005 6 pts, special projects workshop writ5500r001 6 pts, cross-genre seminar writ6010q001 3 pts.

CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR

CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR WRIT6010Q002 3 pts

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Research Arts for MFA Writing Program - Students Must Have Completed 60 Points to Register

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Interenship for MFA Writing Research Arts Students

Major code BA5232

College of Arts and Sciences   English Department   Ellis 201 Athens, OH 45701 Fax: 740.593.2832 [email protected] www.ohio.edu/cas/english/

Dr. Carey Snyder , contact person [email protected]

Program Overview

In the English – Creative Writing major, you will engage with genres of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from the inside out, by generating and revising your own work as well as exploring closely how published work uses the techniques of craft. All creative writing students participate in workshops led by nationally recognized writers which focus on understanding and constructing different literary forms; to achieve these goals, workshops emphasize the study of texts by established writers as well as students’ experimentation with their own creative process. The major is also flexible enough to match your own interests and goals: you can fulfill up to 12 of the required hours in the major with courses focusing on literature, rhetoric, or literary theory, or by combining these with apprenticeship or internship experiences. To ensure a solid foundation in the skills and knowledge that employers and graduate schools expect from any English graduate, the English – Creative Writing major includes the English Core in analysis, research, and literary history. 

Admissions Information

Freshman/first-year admission.

Enrollment in an English major entails no requirements beyond University admission requirements.

Change of Program Policy

For students currently enrolled at Ohio University, transferring into an English major requires a 2.0 GPA. Students choosing to transfer into the English  – Creative Writing major should contact the director of undergraduate studies in the English department for assistance. Students who wish to add an English major in addition to another major program should seek assistance from the director of undergraduate studies; students with a second major outside the College of Arts and Sciences will be responsible for meeting the degree requirements of both the English – Creative Writing major and the College of Arts and Sciences.

External Transfer Admission

For students currently enrolled at institutions other than Ohio University, transferring into an English major entails no requirements beyond University admission requirements. Students should contact the director of undergraduate studies in the English Department for assistance.

Opportunities Upon Graduation

After a curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking and analytical reading as well as multiple genres of writing, English – Creative Writing students enjoy the same wide variety of opportunity upon graduation that other English majors have. Many of our graduates go on to graduate programs, not only M.A. or M.F.A. programs in Creative Writing but also programs in Information Science or Education. Others work in publishing, web content development, grant-writing and community organizing, advertising, or other creative industries. Having invested in developing their own creativity as well as in the well-rounded education that this degree requires, English – Creative Writing students can face the unexpected challenges of the 21 st -century job market with confidence.

Potential employers for those who hold a degree in Creative Writing include, but are certainly not limited to, newspaper and magazine organizations, the entertainment industry, government agencies, institutions of higher education, public and private K-12 schools, publishing companies, marketing agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, etc.

Browse through dozens of internship opportunities and full-time job postings for Ohio University students and alumni on Handshake , OHIO’s key resource for researching jobs, employers, workshops, and professional development events.

Requirements

Universitywide graduation requirements.

Ohio University requires the completion of a minimum of 120 semester hours for the conferral of a bachelor’s degree. This program can be completed within that 120-hour requirement. For more information on the minimum hours requirement and other universitywide requirements, please review the  Graduation Requirements – Universitywide    page.

Liberal Arts and Sciences Distribution Requirement

View the College and Liberal Arts and Sciences Distribution Requirements   .

English Hours Requirement

For a B.A. degree with a major in English - Creative Writing , a student must complete a total of 42 semester credit hours in ENG coursework.

Intercultural Foundations

Complete the following course:

• ENG 1100 - Crossing Cultures with Text Credit Hours: 3

Literary Reading

Complete one of the following courses:

• ENG 2010 - Introduction to Prose Fiction and Nonfiction Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 2020 - Introduction to Poetry and Drama Credit Hours: 3

British or American Literature I

• ENG 2510 - British Literature I Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 2530 - American Literature I Credit Hours: 3

British or American Literature II

• ENG 2520 - British Literature II Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 2540 - American Literature II Credit Hours: 3

Intercultural Breadth

Complete one course from the following:

• ENG 3240 - Jewish American Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3250 - Women’s Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3260 - Queer Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3270 - Queer Rhetorics and Writing Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3370 - Black Literature to 1930 Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3380 - Ethnic American Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3390 - Black Literature from 1930 to the Present Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3450 - Intercultural Adaptations: Answering the Anglo-American Literary Canon Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3550 - Global Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3850 - Writing About Culture and Society Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4660 - International Authors Credit Hours: 3

Writing and Research

• ENG 3070J - Writing and Research in English Studies Credit Hours: 3

Senior Seminar

• ENG 4600 - Topics in English Studies Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4640 - British Authors Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4650 - American Authors Credit Hours: 3

Creative Writing Workshops

Complete three of the following workshops with at least one intermediate or advanced workshop:

• ENG 3610 - Creative Writing: Fiction Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3620 - Creative Writing: Poetry Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3630 - Creative Writing: Nonfiction Credit Hours: 3

Intermediate:

• ENG 3950 - Creative Writing Workshop: Nonfiction II Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3960 - Creative Writing Workshop: Fiction II Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3970 - Intermediate Creative Writing Workshop: Poetry Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4860 - Advanced Workshop in Fiction Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4870 - Advanced Workshop in Poetry Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4880 - Advanced Workshop in Nonfiction Credit Hours: 3

Creative Writing Form and Theory

• ENG 4810 - Form and Theory of Literary Genres: Fiction Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4820 - Form and Theory of Literary Genres: Poetry Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4830 - Form and Theory of Literary Genres: Nonfiction Credit Hours: 3

Major Electives

Complete three additional ENG courses for at least nine hours excluding ENG 2800   , ENG 3***J, ENG 4510   , ENG 4520   , ENG 4911   , and ENG 4912   . Six hours may be at the 2000-level or higher; three hours must be at the 3000-level or higher.

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Giving Students Options for a Concept Paper in a Business Communications Course

The Communication Spotlight features innovative instructors who teach written, oral, digital/technological, kinetic, and visual communication modes.

Jennifer Hite received her BA majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in Political Science from University of California at Santa Barbara, her MA in Communication Management from the Annenberg School of Communication at University of Southern California. She received a PhD in Organizational Behavior at UCI/The Paul Merage School of Business. Professor Hite has been an Instructor at the Annenberg School of Communication at USC, School of Business Administration at USC and UCI/The Paul Merage School of Business. She is a member of the Academy of Management, International Communication Association and the Society for Human Resources Management.

What is the assignment? 

Concept Paper: Project or Idea Pitch

Project overview: You can choose from one of two tracks for the assignment:

• Introduce a new product or
• Introduce an existing product to another country.

Track 1: Introduce a New Product

Students selecting this track will produce a concept paper and pitch that follow the requirements of the Stella Zhang New Venture Competition . By the end of the quarter, you’ll have a solid concept paper and pitch ready if you choose to compete.

Product selection, Track 1: The product must be a completely new product or a better version of an existing one that is affordable to most Americans. In addition,

• A new service or a digital product may not be used.
• If you’ve already submitted a concept paper for the New Venture Competition, you may not use the same idea or paper for MGMT 191W. However, we encourage you to use the original work you create for MGMT 191W for the competition.

Track 2: Introduce an Existing Product to Another Country

Students selecting this option will introduce an existing product to a country they are not familiar with. Here are the requirements for both the product and the country you choose.

Product selection, Track 2: The product must be an existing one that is affordable to the people in the country you’ll be introducing it to. In addition,

• It must be a consumer product ; that is, an item of common or daily use, typically bought by individuals for private consumption.
• It must be a product consumers can purchase in brick-and-mortar stores.
• Although the product you choose may already be available in the country, your goal is to find one that is not already easily available in the country .
• It cannot be a product consumers rent or that they must subscribe to, such as a meal service.
• It cannot be for commercial use only.

Country selection, Track 2 : The country you use for the report must be one you have never visited, are not from, do not have any cultural ties to, have any relatives from, or know very much about.

How does it work?

In just three pages, students must develop a complete pitch that’s designed to convince investors (Track 1) or their CEO (Track 2) to adopt their product or idea. They build a credible argument by using library resources and careful paragraph development. The paper requires them to carefully analyze the potential market characteristics as well as any competitors, and to use color to engage the reader. The skills they develop in this project are easily transportable to work assignments once they graduate.

What do students say?

“The Concept Paper was a very informative assignment. It was the combination of a research paper and a corporate pitch/report, which worked to mimic potential assignments I will have once I graduate and get a corporate job. I particularly liked that my research was catered towards a specific audience, which led to it being more refined and avoiding any unnecessary information.” – Student Response

Student Artifact: 

This paper, pitching a new product idea, engages the audience with color and in the first paragraph with an attention-getting opening. They use bullet points and numbered lists to draw the reader’s eye and to quickly summarize information. The analysis of the market potential establishes the reach of the product, backed by recent, credible research. In addition, the analysis of the product’s competitors focuses on the product’s advantages over others. The paper is concise, well-written, and well-researched.

Read the full paper here .

Why does this work?

By asking students to choose between two options for their concept paper – either introducing a new product or an old product to a new market – the assignment is essentially asking students to choose their purpose and their audience. This choice can prompt students to think about the relationship between purpose and audience and craft their writing accordingly.

Check out these resources for developing business writing assignments in your communication classes:

• Implementing Student Choice within an Assignment from University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Business Writing Handout from UNC to help students understand typical expectations for business writing
• This particular assignment asked students to use figures in their writing. Your students might find this resource from the CEWC helpful for using tables and figures.

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Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration Program

The Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration program offers middle and high school students one-week intensive enrichment courses intended to introduce them to new areas of study or allow them to engage in content they may already have an interest in. In-person classes meet from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and are taught by Ohio State faculty, staff, and graduate students. Teaching is active, hands-on and encourages participants to engage with the instructional team and their fellow participants. These courses are not for grade or credit and are designed for self-motivated learners.  

Eligibility is based on a participant’s current grade level for the 2023-2024 school year. Students currently enrolled in 7 th and 8 th grades are eligible for middle school courses. Students currently enrolled in 9 th – 11 th grade are eligible for high school courses. 

If you have questions about this program, please contact [email protected] or call Courtney Price at 614-292-8208. 

The application deadline for Summer 2024 courses has passed. We invite you to sign up for updates  to receive information about our programs and be alerted when the when future application windows open.  

2024 Course Offerings

Explorations in creative writing.

Dates : June 3–7

Eligibility : Middle School (current grade 7-8)

Description : In this course, we will take a deep dive into poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writing! In each genre, we’ll be thinking about what it means to develop our own individual writing voice that’s unique to who we are. During the week, we will experiment with daily writing exercises based off prompts crafted to spark creativity and seek inspiration from reading classic and contemporary literary work, as well as different forms of art, such as music and collage. 

Through this course, participants will hone their writing voice in multiple genres. By the end of the course, each participant will have an impressive portfolio of writing developed in our supportive writing community. 

Prerequisites:  Previous experience with the subject matter is not required for this course.

Astronomy as a Gateway to the Data Sciences

Eligibility : High School (current grade 9-11)

Description : Astronomy has entered the “big data” era, in which huge collections of measurements are analyzed to attack the most challenging problems. In this course, we will explore how even the simplest data – the positions and brightness of stars – can address an active research problem. We will build the components of a data analysis pipeline using the most basic parts of the Python programming language, and use real data to search for young stars that have diffused away from the clusters they were born in. 

This course will explore many aspects of competency in the data sciences. This is a true research project! We do not know the answers in advance but will discover them as part of our course. This course will include small group exploration, interviews, peer teaching, and pair programming. Through this course students will learn basic statistical analysis, and gain experience in several fundamentals in the Python programming language. 

Prerequisites: 

• Participants should have completed high school algebra or geometry prior to taking this course. 
• Previous experience with astronomy and programming is not required for this course. 

Specific Course Requirements:

• Contact  [email protected] if lack of access to a personal computer would limit participation.

Sensational Science: Exploring Human Perception

Description : Discover the wonders and mysteries of how we perceive the world around us. Participants will explore not only the traditional five senses — sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch — but also examine proprioception, nociception, balance, and the complex neural networks that integrate sensory information. 

Through a dynamic blend of lectures, hands-on experiments, interactive activities, and group discussions, participants will learn the science behind how we perceive our environment and ourselves. This course will enhance critical thinking and scientific inquiry skills through investigations of how our brains interpret sensory information. Going beyond the basics, this course will uncover the fascinating spectrum of sensory and perception disorders. From the challenges of navigating the world with color blindness or anosmia to the extraordinary experiences of synesthesia, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of how diverse the human experience of the world can be. 

Prerequisites:  Previous experience with the subject matter is not required for this course. 

Printmaking

Dates : June 10-14 Eligibility : Middle School (current grade 7-8)

Description : This studio-based, hands-on course will be held in the Ohio State Print Shop in Hopkins Hall. Participants will be introduced to a variety of printmaking techniques including screenprinting, relief printing, monoprinting, risography, and bookmaking. Participants will have the option to focus their work through the lens of comics, storytelling, and character design, if they so choose. At the end of the week participants will visit the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library on Ohio State campus, where they will view exhibitions and archives of comics and sequential art. 

Through this course, participants will learn how to operate specialized printing presses, tools, and equipment. Participants will create an original portfolio of printed works on paper and fabric. Participants will have the opportunity to share their prints and acquire works by their fellow participants through a course print exchange.

During this course students will use sharp tools and operate printmaking equipment. Students will be supervised and provided with personal safety training for every technique, but there is an inherent risk of injury.

Prerequisites: Previous studio art experience is not required to successfully participate in this course.

Course Specific Requirements:

• Close-toe shoes are recommended.
• Clothing may get art materials on them. Participants should dress accordingly.

Intercultural Competence for Future Global Leaders 

Dates : June 24-28

Description : Intercultural competence is conceptualized as a lifelong process that includes the development of the attitudes (respect and valuing of other cultures, openness, curiosity), knowledge (of self, culture, sociolinguistic issues) skills (listen, observe, interpret, analyze, evaluate, and relate), and qualities (adaptability, flexibility, empathy and cultural decentering) in order to behave and communicate effectively and appropriately to achieve one’s goals. 

In this course, participants will learn what it takes to become globally-minded and acquire the skills to navigate in multiple, diverse, global and local networks. Participants will understand the core concepts related to culture and intercultural competence, learn the basics of American Sign Language (ASL), develop cultural self-awareness, and understand the relationship between intercultural competence, citizenship and leadership. 

Course Specific Requirements: 

Application and deadline

The 2024 Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration Program application will remain open through May 15 . Space in each course is limited, so individual courses may fill before the May 15 deadline. 

If a participant requires an accommodation such as interpretation to participate in this program, please contact the program at [email protected] or 614-292-8208. Requests should be made as soon as possible. Requests made two weeks before the first day of a course will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date. 

We invite you to sign up for updates  to receive information about our programs and be alerted when the when future application windows open.    

Costs and aid

The program fee for the Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration 2024 program is  $550 per one-week course , which includes all course materials and activities, lunch, and snacks.

Limited need-based financial assistance may be available in the form of partial support. Financial assistance can be requested on the program application.  

Payment deadlines

Applicants have one week to accept their offer of admission to the program and pay the program fee. All payments must be made through the applicant portal. Once an offer is accepted and payment made, the parent or legal guardian must submit emergency contact and medical information, as well as signed Policy Acknowledgement and Consent forms no later than May 27, 2024.   

Refund Policy

The Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration Program recognizes that sometimes plans change. Participants may request a refund of the program fee by emailing [email protected] according to the following schedule:

• On or before May 1, 2024: 100% of program fee paid
• May 2 – May 15, 2024: 50% of program fee paid
• On or after May 16, 2024: No refund of program fee paid

Program Details

While plans for each course may differ slightly, the daily schedule follows this general model:

• Drop off 8:15 - 8:45 a.m.
• Morning session 9:00 - 11:30 a.m.
• Travel to lunch 11:30 - 11:45 a.m.
• Lunch at Traditions 11:45 - 12:45 p.m. 
• Travel time 12:30 - 12:45 p.m. 
• On campus activity 12:45 – 1:45 p.m.
• Afternoon session 2:00-3:45 p.m.
• Travel to pick-up location 3:45 - 4 p.m.
• Pick up 4:00 - 4:30 p.m.

Participants will always be escorted between pick-up/drop-off, their assigned classroom, the dining hall, and the on-campus activity by program staff. Additional information about the program will be emailed to participants and families, as needed, closer to the start of the program. 

Lunch will be provided daily at the Traditions at Scott dining hall and will be supervised by program staff. Traditions provides a wide variety of food options that meet the most common dietary needs and restrictions, including halal, gluten-free and vegetarian. However, kosher dining is not supported during summer term. 

The pick-up and drop-off location for students is the corner of Annie and John Glenn Avenue and Millikin Road, outside of the PAES building (see maps below). Please drop your child off from the eastbound lane of Annie and John Glenn Avenue. The drop-off/pick-up location will be marked with a sign and program staff will be present to check your child in and out of the program. 

If you are using a navigation system for directions, enter the following address: 305 Annie and John Glenn Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.

Please do not park in the drop-off/pick-up lane. If you need to park, or your child is driving themselves to and from the program, the closest surface lot parking is at the Ohio Stadium. The closest garage parking is Tuttle Garage. You can learn more about parking at Ohio State, including hourly rates, on the CampusParc website . 

The image above shows the ideal route to the drop off and pick up location. The image below shows the drop off and pick up lane from the street view. 

For those riding COTA, the closest bus stop to the drop-off/pick-up location is N. High Street & E. 15th Avenue. See the COTA website for more information. 

The first day of the program will kick-off with a brief orientation session. At 8:45 a.m. program staff will walk the students to the orientation location. At the orientation, students will receive a program t-shirt and lanyard, the program staff will be introduced, and the daily schedule will be reviewed. After orientation, students will be escorted to their classrooms and the morning session will begin.  

What to Wear

Participants should wear comfortable clothing appropriate for the classroom, as well as for a range of temperatures. For most courses, participants will spend most of the day inside air-conditioned classrooms. However, we will be walking between the drop-off/pick-up location, classrooms, campus locations and the dining hall. Dressing in layers and wearing comfortable walking shoes is recommended. Any course specific requirements are listed in the course description. 

Friday What to Wear

Each Friday on the last day of classes, we will take pictures of each class cohort. We encourage participants to wear their Arts & Sciences Summer Exploration t-shirt on Friday for this event!

Daily Packing List

• Cell phone and charger (optional)
• Any special academic materials needed for courses beyond this basic list will be provided by the program.
• Snacks and water: Participants should bring a refillable water bottle every day. While the program will provide an afternoon snack, participants are allowed to bring their own snacks. However, we request that, for the safety of participants with nut allergies, no snacks containing nuts be brought to the program.
• Personal medications in their original labeled containers (if taken during the day)
• Sunscreen and umbrella or rain jacket (optional)

The documents linked below are samples of the required program forms. Once an applicant accepts their offer of admission, the parent or legal guardian will receive an email from DocuSign with links to these forms. Forms must be reviewed and signed by May 27, 2024 .  

• Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration 2024 Policy Forms
• Arts and Sciences Summer Exploration 2024 Consent Forms

Book Tour: At home with Amor Towles

The author of “A Gentleman in Moscow” and “The Lincoln Highway” guides us through his personal library.

The library in Amor Towles’s beautifully appointed home not far from Gramercy Park in Manhattan looks and feels like the Platonic ideal of the concept: tall windows, tasteful art on the walls, many comfortable seating options and well-ordered shelves filled with classic literature. Perfect for reading in, of course, but when I visited in March, Towles first wanted to talk about writing. This is the room where he composed, among other books, his acclaimed bestsellers “A Gentleman in Moscow” and “The Lincoln Highway.” (His newest, “Table for Two,” a collection of stories and a novella, was published last month.)

Towles first brought out a few of what he calls the “design books” for his novels — notebooks that he fills with details for about four years before he starts officially writing. “I’m just trying to imagine: What happens? Who are the people?” he said. “Where are they from, what’s their personality? What are the settings? Who says what, and why? What are the tones?”

Some of the notes he scribbles are longer and more fully realized than others, but Towles estimates that he writes 80 percent of what ends up in his fiction on a computer, once the handwritten design books have done their duty.

Guides from the past

To conjure all those details and tones, Towles partly and very happily relies on documents dating from the eras he writes about. His shelves still include classic travel guides to Moscow, including one published by Intourist in 1932 and a Baedeker guide from 1914. “Intourist was the Politburo-owned tourist agency of Russia,” Towles said, “and at one time its offices were in the Metropol Hotel [the primary setting of ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’]. I had street maps from the ’30s that I could look at. Part of it was to see how they described for the Westerner something that they were trying to impress them with, et cetera.”

A framed picture of Ewan McGregor, in character, used in the production of the recently released adaptation of “A Gentleman in Moscow,” sits on a shelf nearby. Towles said it appeared as part of a secret police file in the show: “You don’t even notice it on screen, but it’s tucked under a paper clip on top of the file.”

A full encyclopedia set from 1931 is another treasure that combines pleasure and work for Towles. “I think it was 48 cents per book. My first novel, ‘Rules of Civility,’ happened to be set in 1938, and I thought: ‘This is great, I can check the population of New York City right there.’ I love old, weird reference.”

A treasured checklist

Towles majored in literature as an undergraduate at Yale and took the few creative-writing courses the school offered at the time. When he was a sophomore, the experimental-fiction writer Walter Abish was a visiting professor.

“At the end of the class,” Towles remembered, “he said to us: ‘All this has been great. I liked your work. I hope my comments have been helpful. But probably the most valuable thing I can do is give you a hundred books that I like.’ So he gave us this list. And because he was an avant-gardist, it was a lot of people who, at the age of 19, I had never heard of: Andre Breton, Barthelme, Beckett, Heinrich Böll … international writers, but all playing with form, that’s what he was interested in.”

Towles immediately started checking for the recommended titles anytime he visited a used-book store. “I’d stack them up, and I’d read a novel a day off of his list,” he said. “That was a totally different kind of experience than studying Henry James or Shakespeare or Chaucer in the academy. A lot of these books [on Abish’s list] were not perfectly made. A lot of them are stabs at something.”

Matthiessen, mentor and friend

The year after Abish taught at the school, Peter Matthiessen arrived for a semester. Matthiessen was already a celebrated writer of both nonfiction (“The Snow Leopard”) and fiction (“At Play in the Fields of the Lord”). He singled out Towles’s work for praise and told the young writer, “I’m going to take your time here very seriously, and I hope that you’re going to take your time with me very seriously, too.” The encouragement was “a gift,” Towles said. The next year, Towles worked with him again, and the two struck up a long friendship.

Towles laughed remembering Matthiessen’s underwhelmed reaction to the draft manuscript of “Rules of Civility” (“He didn’t know why I was writing a book set in 1938”), but when the book became a bestseller, the mentor wrote him a note of congratulations, saying that his daughter had loved it and was thrilled to find her father’s name in its acknowledgments.

New ideas, new language

In addition to his fond remembrances of his formal education, Towles referred to himself more than once during the tour as a “reader-writer,” someone who is constantly refining each of those skills in a conscious conversation between them. He stopped at a shelf of books — the “big ideas” collection, kept together — by Augustine, Darwin, Nietzsche, Marx, Freud and others. “What these things have in common for me is that [their authors] had to invent a new language to express their discovery. They weren’t doing the new version of something or doing a ‘spin’ on so and so. [Freud’s] ‘Interpretation of Dreams’ is a totally radical, weird book.”

“Marx and the group around him, they invented that whole thing of, ‘There is no more time! Now is the time to make a decision!’ This sweeping, bold things in single-sentence paragraphs: ‘ All people must …’ That’s electric. And you realize that you can apply that language in your novel. It’s doing something very different. I get very interested in how non-narrativists turn on language in the pursuit of a particular outcome, that I can then sort of use in some weird way.”

“Now you’re in the first-edition zone,” Towles said, opening the glass doors directly behind his writing desk. “And now you’re really into heroes: Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Conrad, Emily Dickinson.” (Towles also listed the Transcendentalists in this league; he was born and raised in the Boston area and said that “a lot of the personality aspects of Emerson and Thoreau are second nature to me.”)

“This is kind of crazy, just time coming around the corner,” he said, pulling one modest-size blue book off the shelf. “This is a first edition of ‘The Great Gatsby.’ It was owned by Dorothy Ann Scarritt,” he noted, pointing to her signature inside the book. “This is August 1925. She later becomes famous because she is Oppenheimer’s secretary at Los Alamos. She’s like the second employee at Los Alamos; she’s there the entire time and she organizes his entire life. She’s involved with bringing everyone in, getting them set up.”

Scarritt’s signature has a lot of company among Towles’s books. A signed copy of Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize lecture — a small book nestled inside a larger case — was a gift from his wife. Towles is a longtime fan of Dylan’s and mentioned him in the same sentence as Rimbaud and T.S. Eliot, so when the singer received the Nobel in literature in 2016 to divided opinion, Towles was ecstatic. “It was not controversial for me at all .”

Going back a century further, Towles took down a copy of Proust signed by its translator, C.K. Scott Moncrieff, to Joseph Conrad in 1922.

On a shelf across the room, Towles has another edition of Proust’s work, as well as several books about what he calls “Proust-y stuff” — “different things about Proust — Proust’s letters, paintings in Proust, the music of Proust …”

A long-running book club

Proust also holds a place of honor in an intense book club that Towles has been in with three close friends for just over two decades. “We basically read a novel a month, and we do projects. And we do almost explicitly dead authors; occasionally we veer from that, but mostly it’s dead. We started with Proust. Twenty years ago, we read it as a team. That took longer. We didn’t do it over seven dinners [one per book], more like 14 — over a year and a half.”

The club’s creation was inspired by Harold Bloom’s “Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?,” in which the literary scholar and critic pondered which writers he’d learned more from about the human condition: Plato or Homer? Freud or Proust?

“I was turning 40 in like two months,” Towles said, recalling when he read Bloom’s book. “I thought, if I live to 80 and read a book carefully a month, that means I have 480 books left. And if that’s true, I better focus on books that you could reread at 20, 40 and 60 and learn something new. I was ranting about this to my friend Ann Brashares at a cocktail party, and she said, ‘I’m in.’ And we’ve been going ever since.”

Given the size and ambitions of the books they normally choose, one of the friends recently suggested a “palate cleanser,” which led to “a dinner we called the Fitzgerald-Salinger Death Match. We realized that we’d all read ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ as children . So the question was: Which was better? We would reread both in a week and then come back and debate.” I later realized I had left Towles’s home without asking who won.

About this story

Editing by John Williams. Photography by Jeenah Moon for The Washington Post. Design and development by Beth Broadwater. Photo editing by Annaliese Nurnberg. Copy editing by Jennifer Morehead.