Kathie Bergquist

This class serves as an entry into the historical, theoretical and practical concerns of creative writing as an art form in itself and as a vital element of interdisciplinary projects. We explore the possibilities of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays and hybrid practices as writing for the page, as well as for performance, sound, installation, and image-based pieces. Readings include diverse examples of genre and form, as well as investigations of literary and thematic terminology. Students generate weekly responses to reading and writing exercises that focus on understanding the mechanics of writing, and are introduced to workshopping techniques and etiquette.

This class aims to uncover some of the myriad rhetorical possibilities traveling under the name 'personal essay.' We will do so by reading essays both historical and contemporary, analyzing their prose style and teasing out the rhetorical stances that allow essayists to springboard from a personal obsession to something larger. Discussion to include the pleasures and pitfalls of writing about yourself as a character and the formal components (rhythm, syntax, diction, trope) that combine to make a personal voice. Students will draft and revise two essays within a collaborative workshop environment.

What are the concerns that drive one's creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? Sophomore Seminar offers strategies for students to explore, reflect upon, and connect common themes and interests in the development of an emerging creative practice that will serve as the basis of their ongoing studies at SAIC and beyond. Students will examine historical and contemporary influences and contextualize their work in relation to the diverse art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary each semester. Presentations by visiting artists and guest speakers will provide the opportunity for students to hear unique perspectives on sustaining a creative practice. One-on-one meetings with faculty will provide students with individualized mentorship throughout the semester. During interdisciplinary critiques, students will explore a variety of formats and tools to analyze work and provide peer feedback. The class mid-term project asks students to imagine a plan for their creative life and devise a self-directed course of study for their time at school. The course concludes with an assignment asking students to develop and document a project or body of work demonstrating how the interplay of ideas, technical skills, and formal concerns evolve through iteration, experimentation and revision.

Prerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll.

This course immerses participants in the life and work of Franz Kafka, surrealist thought, and contemporary Prague arts, including the installation art of David ¿erný. Students will visit cultural landmarks such as the DOX Center for the Arts, Franz Kafka Museum, Museum of Communism, and more, as well as excursions to Terezin Concentration Camp, Kutná Hora's ossuary, and Karlstejn Castle. The program coincides with the Prague International Fringe Theater Festival, providing students with a wide range of further cultural activities to experience. Students will explore surrealism, the uncanny, and the absurd, using journaling and sketchbooks to engage with dream imagery, hone attention to both assigned texts and the city, experiment with multiple modes of writing, and cultivate a surrealist sensibility, all while drawing on Prague's unique landscape, history, and creative culture for inspiration.

This course immerses participants in the life and work of Franz Kafka, surrealist thought, and contemporary Prague arts, including the installation art of David Cerný. Students will visit cultural landmarks such as the DOX Center for the Arts, Franz Kafka Museum, Museum of Communism, and more, as well as excursions to Terezin Concentration Camp, Kutná Hora's ossuary, and Karlstejn Castle. The program coincides with the Prague International Fringe Theater Festival, providing students with a wide range of further cultural activities to experience. Students will explore surrealism, the uncanny, and the absurd, using journaling and sketchbooks to engage with dream imagery, hone attention to both assigned texts and the city, experiment with multiple modes of writing, and cultivate a surrealist sensibility, all while drawing on Prague's unique landscape, history, and creative culture for inspiration.

By seriously examining and editing fiction written by others (i.e. measuring and helping advance the success of a fiction according to their authors' intentions), writers not only develop a greater capacity to strengthen their own work, but a clearer understanding of their own literary values. In this workshop, students will turn in a one long story or novella (40-100 pages) for critique, and closely read and critique novellas and long stories by their classmates. Focusing primarily on style and structure, we will each make it our goal to help authors improve their work through line-editing and in-class discussion, and always in accordance with the authors? perceived intentions. We will, as well, read published novellas, and reverse-engineer them to determine the ways in which they function.

This course immerses participants in the life and work of Franz Kafka, surrealist thought, and contemporary Prague arts, including the installation art of David Cerný. Students will visit cultural landmarks such as the DOX Center for the Arts, Franz Kafka Museum, Museum of Communism, and more, as well as excursions to Terezin Concentration Camp, Kutná Hora's ossuary, and Karlstejn Castle. The program coincides with the Prague International Fringe Theater Festival, providing students with a wide range of further cultural activities to experience. Students will explore surrealism, the uncanny, and the absurd, using journaling and sketchbooks to engage with dream imagery, hone attention to both assigned texts and the city, experiment with multiple modes of writing, and cultivate a surrealist sensibility, all while drawing on Prague's unique landscape, history, and creative culture for inspiration.