University Catalog 2024-2025
Liberal Studies, Creative Writing Concentration, BA
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BA in Liberal Studies: Creative Writing
Location: AU Los Angeles
Credits for Degree: 180 quarter credits
Standard Mode of Instruction: Flexible
Standard time to completion: 36 months
*Actual time to completion ranges from 9 to 36 months, depending on the number of transfer credits.
General Degree Requirements
All Antioch University undergraduates must meet general education requirements in the areas of Liberal Arts (called Domains of Knowledge), Academic Writing, and Mission-core classes. See the Undergraduate Studies: General Degree Requirements page for an explanation of undergraduate general education requirements.
Creative Writing Major and Minor Areas of Concentration
The Creative Writing concentration encourages students to explore literary expression in order to achieve greater proficiency in their own craft. Since creative writing is a highly rigorous practice with a history of diverse conventions, methods, and forms, the concentration also encourages students to learn a critical vocabulary for talking about and reflecting on texts. Creative Writing students are encouraged to gain a strong familiarity with the literature of various genres as a means of expanding their appreciation of the complexities of language. The concentration introduces students to elements such as language, form and expression, theory and literary models, and practical concerns shared by working writers. Creative Writing students are encouraged to experiment with form by blurring the lines between traditional genres as well as working in multi-generic modes and considering alternate narrative strategies. AULA’s Creative Writing concentration is distinguished by its emphasis on the ethical import of language and story, attention to the socio-political context within which work is produced, and the role of the writer in society.
Students must complete a minimum of 40 units for a Major Area of Concentration, and a minimum of 20 units for a Minor Area of Concentration. The faculty recommends that at least one half of the units counted toward the concentration be upper division.
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Students in the Creative Writing Concentration develop and demonstrate the following:
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The craft of writing in multiple genres. This objective encourages students to explore literary expression in order to achieve greater proficiency in their own craft as writers. The practice of writing in multiple genres introduces students to different forms of creative writing, including (but not limited to) fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, and the blurring of genres often found in more experimental forms of creative writing.
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The ability to do a close reading of literature. This objective cultivates students’ ability to examine the craft of other writers (both historical and contemporary), looking at formal elements of the work, including language, character, story, theme, rhythm, and tone. Exposure to different styles and content often expands a writer’s own sense of voice, style, and creative interests. Identifying literary models among historical and contemporary writers can also help students begin to understand the work within a context of time, place, and culture.
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The ability to analyze writers’ roles in local and global communities. This objective calls upon students to consider the impact of creative writing on our world. Students are encouraged to consider the importance of writers in community, society, and culture. In doing so, students may consider political issues that affect writers, such as censorship, the role of activist literature, independent versus corporate publishing and bookselling, and the inclusion of previously marginalized voices. Students are also called to consider personal responsibilities in their work, such as questions of representation, identification of self in society, agency, and considerations of truth in writing.
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The ability to apply creative writing professional skills. These skills include the ability to comment on the work of other writers, participate in a writing community, and apply best practices of editing. These abilities help establish the foundation for professional effectiveness and continued academic study.
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Current Tuition and Fees
University Tuition and Fees
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Curriculum
The core curriculum serves as a guide to students in the concentration for establishing a strong foundation in the theory and practice of creative writing. The faculty strongly recommends that Creative Writing students take as many of the core courses as possible during their enrollment. Creative Writing students are also advised to take a broad range of liberal arts courses in literature, the arts, humanities, business, psychology, philosophy, and history in addition to the courses listed above.
Major-related Core Courses
Internships
Creative Writing concentration students may take advantage of an array of internship opportunities. Community partners such as 826LA, Reading Partners, and Writopia are engaged in creative writing education and literacy with a social justice lens, including First Amendment advocacy, and production of public literary events. Internships in these areas provide opportunities for Creative Writing students to extend their practice beyond the discipline of writing into the larger community where they have the opportunity to facilitate the emergence of the voices of others. Students may also gain practical experience in the day-to-day operations of literary publication by serving on the editorial board of Two Hawks Quarterly, an online journal sponsored by the AULA Undergraduate Studies department. Students who have written professionally prior to their matriculation may be eligible to receive credit for college-level learning through prior learning projects.
Fast Track into the MFA in Creative Writing Program
The Fast Track offers qualified Creative Writing students the opportunity to save time and tuition costs while progressing from the undergraduate program to Antioch’s low residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. Fast Track students take 12 semester credits/18 quarter units of courses that count towards graduation requirements for both their bachelor’s degree and their MFA in Creative Writing.
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