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Increasingly, stories about scientists—and episodes in the history of science—are being told in creative nonfiction, as well as in plays, screenplays and novels. Often laced with memoir, these narratives are anything but dry. This course will explore the ways writers can locate scientific subject matter, research it, and make it their own.

Students will learn the nuts-and-bolts of writing for magazines such as Discover and Popular Science. They will also look at imaginative approaches to historical material, including David Leavitt’s The Indian Clerk, Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen, and Dava Sobel’s Longitude.

In addition to reading widely in the genre, students will submit short exercises, a pitch letter for a magazine-length story, and a 3,000-word article. At least half of each class will be a workshop.

Monday
Mary Yukari Waters
CRWT 262 200– Fiction Workshop
Call No. 12456
Room

This workshop is designed to guide creative writing students through the revision process. Each student's submission (either short story or novel excerpt) will be analyzed twice: first in a private session with the instructor and then, following revision, in a formal workshop. Classroom discussion will focus on workshop submissions as well as the work of published writers.

Tuesday
Rickerby Hinds
THEA264 200 – Playwriting Workshop
Call No. 20517
Room

This class is designed to have students complete a first draft of a full-length play through an in-depth examination of storytelling, the creation of well-rounded characters and the use of Aristotle’s Elements of Drama.

Wednesday
Tod Goldberg
CRWT299 200 – Thesis Workshop
Call No. 20657
Room

Designed for students working on their thesis, usually in the last two quarters of the program. Focuses on student work, with emphasis on bringing thesis projects to conclusion.

Wednesday
Stu Krieger
THEA299 002 – Thesis Workshop
Call No. 20290
Room

Designed for students working on their thesis, usually in the last two quarters of the program. Focuses on student work, with emphasis on bringing thesis projects to conclusion.

Wednesday
Alba Cruz Hacker
CRWT270 200 - Poetry Workshop
Call No. 20516
Room B120

In this workshop, we will engage in an intensive formal study of contemporary poetry with emphasis on style, structure, and form. The primary focus is the production of original work, stressing a goal towards publication. In that sense, the workshop environment operates similar to an editorial board which examines and dissects the technicalities and overall effectiveness of the poems being evaluated. You should come into class with a good understanding of poetry as an art form, a facility for thinking and writing in image and metaphor, and an ability to control and shape syntax. Attention will be given to improving already acquired skills as well as furthering your development of the line, sound texture, presentation of figures, and other aspects of the craft. It is assumed that at this level, you have a serious interest in the art of poetry, so I am also concerned with teaching you how to teach yourself through studying the work of other poets. As the adage goes, Good writers are good readers; thus, you are expected to do a great deal of reading from our anthology. Throughout the course, you will compose and fully revise no less than ten (10) original poems. In addition, each of you will read, analyze and present to the class one of the additional poetry collections assigned. To that end, we will have the awesome opportunity of studying the work of authors who straddle the borders of culture, place, race and language (some of which you may not be familiar with), such as Rhina Espaillat, Derek Walcott, Kwame Dawes, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Chris Abani, Nancy Morejón, B. H. Fairchild, and others.

Textbook: The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry [paperback] ISBN 039332429X.

Note: I would recommend that you purchase the anthology from amazon.com or target.com since the price is considerably less and you will get a lot more for your money. We will concentrate on the Contemporary Poetry volume, but the box set, as a whole, should be a welcomed addition to your library for years to come (and it is cheaper to buy them both than to buy a single volume). As far as the individual author collections, please review the following list and choose the one that you would like to read, analyze and present to the class. Each person must choose a different collection. You can let me know via email which collection you will be discussing [acruz008@ucr.edu].

Thursday
Katherine Kinney
(NOTE: 7, 4 hour classes 5:30-9:30)
ENGL289 002 – War Literature Seminar
Call No. 20284
Room

War has tested the power of literature throughout the twentieth century, posing an ethical challenge to the efficacy of writing. How and why should war be written about? What is the relationship of testimony to imagination? What possibilities and dangers do war stories pose? We will begin with the trenches of WWI as a test case: reading works written during and in the immediate aftermath of the war and re-imaginings of it decades later. We will then turn to two elaborately structured novels about WWII and the Vietnam War respectively: Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and Tim O’Brien’s In the Lake of the Woods, which call attention to their own literary devices even while insisting on the terrible truth of historical events. We will end with two very different, more personal works: Thuy Le’s first person novel about the daughter of a South Vietnamese soldier who brings his family to the United States, and Anthony Swofford’s very literary memoir of the first Gulf War, Jarhead.

Requirements: Active, well-prepared participation in seminar, two five page papers, and a final project.
Readings: Poetry by Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon, and Robert Graves; Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory; Robert Graves, Goodbye to all That; Pat Barker, Regeneration; Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms; Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five; Tim O’Brien, In the Lake of the Woods; Thuy Le, The Gangster We Are All Looking For; Anthony Swofford, Jarhead. One or two critical or historical essays will be assigned each week.

Thursday
Tod Goldberg
CRWT290 200 - Directed Study
Call No. 20682

Research. Must have prior instructor consent and submit a Petition for Directed Study.

October 25 and November 1st
Ernie Rios
CRWT290 202– Video Production Workshop (One Unit Workshop)
Call No. 20285
Room

This workshop is an intense immersion into the theory, history, and practice of video production. At the onset of the workshop, students will discuss readings and view films that explore the fundamental theories of production. Because the goal of this workshop is to combine theory and practice, there will be a balance between both. Therefore, during the second half of the two-day course, students will work individually and in groups, through which they will gain production experience by planning, filming, and editing their own short video projects.

Before the beginning of the workshop, students will be expected to present a treatment for a short five-minute-or-less video project. Due to the intensity of the workshop, students should expect to produce their projects utilizing UCR-Palm Desert Graduate Center as their primary filming location. Two production crews will be formed by the instructor and students will make a decision as to the short video project they would like to produce from those presented. This project will help students better understand camera shots, angles and movement techniques, casting and directing actors, basic lighting, sound, and editing. The final projects will be screened at the end of the workshop.

No textbook required. Students will be provided with handouts and reading material prior to the start of the workshop.

Winter 2009
MFA Palm Desert Graduate Center
Schedule of Classes
All classes 5:30-8:20

Monday
Stu Krieger
THEA266 200 – SCREENWRITING Workshop
Call No. 18390
Room

THEA 266 is a comprehensive introduction to the craft of screenwriting with a primary focus on the production of original work. Each student will write a minimum of 60 pages of a screenplay, based on their own idea, supplemented by a detailed outline of the project intended to lay out the remaining scenes. Each students work will be read, discussed and critiqued on a weekly basis by the entire class.

Monday
Theda Shapiro
ENGL289 200 – LITERATURE Seminar--Paris in the Writer’s Imagination
Call No. 19791
Room

In this seminar we will examine major works of literature and film that were inspired by the city of Paris since the early nineteenth century. Many of the earlier ones also went on to inspire later writers, filmmakers, and specific works. We will focus on Paris as the site of modernity in the mid-nineteenth century, and also as a permissive space for avant-garde experimentation. Along the way, in connection with a selection of “Paris texts” we will consider some major literary and artistic movements: Realism, Naturalism, Modernism, Dada and Surrealism, as well as gay and minority literature. In addition to reading and film-viewing we will do in common, each student will complete a research project on Paris-related subject of their choice. These might include: examination of a Paris-related film or auteur of Hollywood or another film school; the phenomenon of Americans in Paris at a particular time; study of Paris influence on Latin-American writers; some specific aspect of one of the themes/authors studied in common; or any of many other possible subjects.

Tuesday
Stu Krieger
CRWT252J 200 – SCREENWRITING, Writing for the Family Audience
Call No. 19816
Room

Students will workshop original screen or television projects aimed at the lucrative and ever-growing family market. We will also examine three of the instructor's own successful productions in this genre, tracking them from inception to completion.

Tuesday
Stu Krieger
THEA290 200 – Directed Study
Call No. 18396
Room

Research. Must have prior instructor consent and submit a Petition for Directed Study.

Tuesday
Juan Felipe Hererra
CRWT270 200 - POETRY WORKSHOP
Call No. 12484
Room

Welcome to this course. I look forward to your energy, words, zest and creativity. A high emphasis on producing a lot of no-holds barred writing is the mode for the workshop. Our first stop will be Al Arteaga’s last poetry collection, Frøzen Accident (he passed away on 7/4/08), a genius. Here, I want you too look at what he does with history, language(s), syntax and line. Next, we move to Arraiga’s Guillotine Squad, a cinematic and historical approach. Then, we go Tess Gallagher’s recent poetry collection, Dear Ghosts, inspired in large part by her battles with cancer and her spiritual quest. Our next to last stop, Bad Dirt, will be by Annie Proulx, a powerful writer that chews each line and spits out fire. Bringing the Devil to His Knees, the last book is for your own perusals – a great book for fiction writing. Read this book at your own pace throughout the qtr. All books will be discussed. Your writing projects will be based on these authors' approaches, tone, structure, quests, and language treatment.

Required texts: Please order these online. Otherwise, place an order at a major bookstore of your choice.
Frøzen Accident (poetry). Alfred Arteaga. Tía Chucha Press.
The Guillotine Squad. Guillermo Arraiga. Washington Square Press.
Dear Ghosts (Poetry). Tess Gallagher. Graywolf Press.
Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories #2. Annie Proulx. Scribner.
Bringing the Devil to His Knees: The Craft of Fiction and the Writing Life. Charles Baxter and Peter Turchi, Eds. Michigan.

Stu Kreiger
THEA299 200 – Thesis
Call No. 19792

Designed for students working on their thesis, usually in the last two quarters of the program. Focuses on student work, with emphasis on bringing thesis projects to conclusion.

Wednesday
Dick Hebdige
ENGL289 201 – Literature Seminar (Mapping The Desert)
Call No. 19838
Room

“In a landscape where nothing officially exists (otherwise it would not be ‘desert’), absolutely anything becomes thinkable, and may consequently happen…”

Reyner Banham, “Scenes from America Deserta”

The desert as place of origins ,endings and open horizons, as dumping ground and refuge of last resort, as unspoiled wilderness, irradiated hinterland and theater of war, as speculative real estate development opportunity and as spiritual, technological and artistic test site has for millenia served as a screen for multiple and contradictory human projections. Using written texts, films, photographs, field trips and Google Earth this class sets out to map the Desert along with the actual desert in which we reside while in the process mapping the limits of mapping (i.e. deserting the map).

Wednesday
Rob Roberge
CRWT262 200 – Fiction Workshop
Call No. 12481
Room

Designed for students on the threshold of producing advanced work, this workshop emphasizes the "give-and-take" of in-depth criticism and the strategies for revision, as well as explores new fictional alternatives in a productive setting. We’ll cover several techniques and issues of craft including, but not limited to, scenes, dialogue, POV, interiors and exteriors, how to discuss and edit the work of others, how to create memorable characters and how to revise your work.

Rob Roberge is the author of More Than They Could Chew and teaches at the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program. He also wrote, directed and edited the short movie Honest Pete. Along with writing, he collects and repairs both quack medical devices and old crappy guitars. He resides in Desert Hot Springs.

Thursday
Mary Yukari Waters
CRWT262 201 – Fiction Workshop
Call No. 19790
Room B

This class is primarily a workshop for students' short stories and novel excerpts. However, we will also examine and discuss a variety of published stories in terms of craft and construction. Each student will meet privately with the instructor after his/her story has been work-shopped in order to discuss ideas on revision, general questions, etc.

Tod Goldberg
CRWT299 200 – Thesis
Call No. 12500

Designed for students working on their thesis, usually in the last two quarters of the program. Focuses on student work, with emphasis on bringing thesis projects to conclusion.

Spring 2009
MFA Palm Desert Graduate Center
Schedule of Classes
All classes 5:30-8:20

Monday
Mary Yukari Waters
CRWT 262 200 – Fiction Workshop
Call No. 20163

Monday
Robin Russin
THEA 266 200
Call No. 20164

THEA 266 is a comprehensive introduction to the craft of screenwriting with a primary focus on the production of original work. Each students work will be read, discussed and critiqued on a weekly basis by the entire class. Professor Russin is Associate Professor and Acting Chair of the Theatre Department at UCR.

Tuesday
Robert Latham
ENGL 289 200 – Science Fiction Literature
Call No. 20165

This course offers an introduction to the history and theory of science fiction literature. The class will be organized as a historical survey, linking major works of SF from H.G. Wells to the present with important examinations of the genre from various critical perspectives. The primary texts we will cover center on two key themes: the alien and the artificial person--themes we will track through a series of literary, cultural, and techno-scientific contexts. Other issues we will explore include the relationship of SF to "mainstream" literature, and crossovers between SF and other popular genres (e.g., fantasy and horror). Professor Latham is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at UCR.

Tuesday
Kirby Hinds
THEA 200 200 – Playwriting Seminar
Call No. 20173

Wednesday
Rob Roberge
CRWT 262 201 – Fiction Workshop
Call No. 20168

Thursday
Dinah Lenney
CRWT 230 200 – Creative Nonfiction
Call No. 20166

In this course, we'll be looking at personal essays with a distinct voice and point of view. The genre takes all kinds of forms, from short-shorts to book length pieces, from memoir to polemic to critique. We’ll discuss the demand for personal essays, long and short, in the literary marketplace, and we’ll examine stand-alone essays – and excerpts – from well-known and not so well-known writers who have published in a vast array of journals and anthologies. Most important, students will be expected to turn in work every week, keeping in mind that an essay is just that: an attempt, a try at making connections, figuring out how you think, and what you ultimately do and do not know.

The goal is to find your niche, voice, and ideal number of paragraphs, and then to force yourself to try on something that isn’t quite so comfortable. Students should expect to leave the course with two essays of different length and tone, each ready for submission to three targeted journals.

Stu Krieger
THEA 299 200 – Thesis
Call No. 20169

Designed for students working on their thesis, usually in the last two quarters of the program. Focuses on student work, with emphasis on bringing thesis projects to conclusion. Instructor consent required.

Tod Goldberg
CRWT 299 200 - Thesis
Call No. 20171