Undergraduate Writing Courses & Requirements
Spring 2025 Undergraduate Creative Writing Courses
Note: all courses labeled “Writing UNxxxx” are undergraduate courses.
Major Requirements
We offer a Major in Creative Writing, and do not offer a Minor at this time. Students may elect to complete the major in a Single Genre (Poetry, Fiction, or Nonfiction) or as a Cross-Genre (a combination of two genres) course of study for a total of 12 classes (36 points). Students can select courses in order to fulfill the following major requirements:
Single Genre Major (Poetry, Fiction, or Nonfiction)
4-5 semesters required to complete the major
Required classes:
- 5 workshops (4 in focus genre, 1 in another genre; 1 workshop per semester)
- 4 seminars (you may take a total of 2 per semester)
- 3 Related Courses
- Related Courses must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. For more information, refer to the Related Courses section in the FAQ.
Cross Genre Major
4-5 semesters required to complete the major
Required classes:
- 5 workshops (2 in genre, 3 in another genre; 1 workshop per semester)
- 4 seminars (you may take a total of 2 per semester)
- 3 Related Courses
- Related Courses must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. For more information, refer to the Related Courses section in the FAQ.
Major Advising
Advising appointments by genre may be made during the academic year for questions about the major, course selections, academic standing, graduation requirements.
- Poetry: Professor Quincy S. Jones, [email protected]
- Fiction: Professor Molly McGhee, [email protected]
- Nonfiction: Professor James Yeh, [email protected]
The Writing program offers academic and genre advising to discuss the sequencing of your courses, differences between genres, relevant opportunities, approval of related courses, and confirming progress toward degree.
You may write to the advisors directly, or to Mitchell Glazier (tmg2153), Program Assistant, to help schedule the meeting. Note: You do not need to know your exact genre to schedule a meeting.
Transfer Credit and Study Abroad
Students must obtain the approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies to receive credit for courses taken elsewhere. Transfer students and students planning study abroad should bring relevant material—transcripts, course descriptions, syllabi—to the Director, who decides whether and how outside courses may be used for the major. No more than two courses taken elsewhere may be applied to the major and these courses cannot be used to fulfill seminar and workshop requirements. All seminars and workshops counted for the major must be taken within the department. For more information, refer to the “Once you're a major…” section of the FAQs page.