How Do I Earn a Creative Writing Minor?

The 21-credit minor is simple in its structure. There are but two required courses: CWL 190, Introduction to Contemporary Literature, and CWL 202, Introduction to Creative Writing. 

The heart of the creative experience is four writing workshops, chosen from CWL 300, 305, 310, 315, 320, or 325. Minors also take one upper-level "read like a writer" course: CWL 330, 335, or 340. These courses are taught by working writers who approach reading from the inside out, as fellow practitioners. Often, these courses have substantial creative writing assignments alongside assigned readings and essays. They are organized around a topic--Naturalism, for example, or The Comic Voice. 

Our courses satisfy many of Stony Brook's general education requirements in the humanities and fine arts, among them ARTS, HUM, HFA+, STAS, EXP+, WRTD, USA and GLO. For a social sciences or science major, the minor is a cohesive approach to fulfilling distribution requirements. Even a single course in creative writing presents a rich complex of learning opportunities, not only for those in the arts and humanities, but those in any field where the right brain meets left. 

Students should declare the Creative Writing and Literature minor sometime during their sophomore year, at which time they should consult with the directors of both their major and minor to plan their course of study. The objective is to fulfill the creative writing minor's requirements in a way that is coherent and complementary to the major. 

The minor can be declared online from within SOLAR. Please refer to the Academic Calendar regarding the deadline for submission of the Minor Declaration form. 

For questions about  the minor, or to set up an appointment to meet with an advisor,  please contact us at cwlundergrad@stonybrook.edu

Students interested in the minor should know that the optional capstone project course, CWL 450, is not being offered at this time.