Students who complete such a program are exempt from subject matter examinations when applying for a teaching credential program. Courses are taught by essayists, poets, fiction writers, and playwrights. Creative Writing faculty and lecturers are widely published and active in the arts of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The faculty has published or in press nearly 25 books. Undergraduate research and special studies Students may specialize in fiction or poetry.
Workshops are small enough that professors can offer individual attention to each student.
The Department is open and friendly, but the program is rigorous and demands a great deal of work from each student. The University Honors Program offers lower-division courses taught by distinguished faculty and introduces undergraduates to the challenges and rewards of scholarship and research from the beginning of their undergraduate careers. In the upper division, the program invites outstanding students to design and produce honors theses and projects under individual faculty supervision. Through the departmental Honors Program, highly qualified students are invited to conduct a research thesis of their own initiative and design in collaboration with a faculty member. Participation in the Honors Program is the capstone of an excellent education.