Courses

Our seminars are advanced non-fiction courses that teach undergraduate students critical thinking and writing skills, and help them to develop lucid and persuasive prose styles in their fields of interest. 


Co-taught by a faculty member and a graduate student, these intensive writing seminars provide students with individual attention, focusing on the crucial stages of editing and rewriting. At the end of each academic year, students publish their essays in the Art of Writing Anthology.


Art of Writing seminar topics and themes vary according to faculty member research interests. Previous courses have concentrated on architectural, environmental, scientific, and statistical writing; literary, aesthetic, and cultural criticism; politics, ethics, and law; social justice and welfare; material cultures; gender and race.


Professional writers, academics, and editors visit seminars as guest lecturers. Previous guests have included Kiese Laymon, Anna Wiener, Emily Nemens, Lydia Kiesling, Jim Fingal, Sylvia Brownrigg, Safiya Noble, Micah White, and Benjamin Naddaff-Hafrey.


Faculty and graduate students interested in creating Art of Writing seminars should consult our deadlines page for more information.