English and Creative Writing Programme

English and Creative Writing Programme

The interdisciplinary major in English and Creative Writing combines the joys of reading literature with the practice of writing it. It seeks to produce a rich and full literary experience where critical thinking and creative writing complement each other. Students in this major will emerge as writers and thinkers through an intellectual approach to literary texts and traditions from various historical periods and global spaces alongside rigorous practice in writing in one or more literary genres.

Curriculum Structure and Credit Requirements

To complete an interdisciplinary major in English and Creative Writing, a student must do 11 English courses and 5 Creative Writing courses. The course break-up is as follows:

11 English courses:

2 Gateways
Forms of Literature
Introduction to Literary Theory

3 of 4 Survey Courses
Early British Literature
Literature in the Age of Empire
Postcolonial Literatures
Indian Literatures

6 English Electives
1 Critical Thinking Seminar*
2 1000/2000-level courses**
3 3000-level courses

Up to 2 cross-listed courses from another department can count towards these electives.

*The Critical Thinking Seminar is a requirement for batches from the incoming Undergraduate Batch of 2023. Previous batches can count a CTS towards their interdisciplinary major, but they are not required to do so. Instead, they can fulfill this requirement by taking another 1000/2000-level elective.

**English majors can take a maximum of ONE approved language course in an approved language (Sanskrit, Persian, Greek, Latin, Old English) instead of one of their required 1000/2000-level electives.

5 Creative Writing courses:

3 Gateways
Introduction to Creative Writing
Craft of Writing
Reading to Write

Any 1 Creative Writing Workshops
Publishing Seminar (to be taken in the semester before your graduate)

Students will produce a thesis in creative writing to complete their interdisciplinary BA (Hons.) in English and Creative Writing. It can be in a genre of their choice: poetry, fiction, or nonfiction — in short or long-form. The minimum length for a prose thesis is 25,000-30,000 words; for poetry, the minimum length is 10, 000 words. This thesis will be accompanied by a 3000-word critical introduction, which can be either an academic essay or a reflection on one’s own writing process. Students will work on editing the drafts of their theses as a community in their Publishing Seminar.

ASP

In your ASP year, you have the option of writing an advanced capstone thesis in Creative Writing .

Alternately, you could also do an Advanced English Major and write the compulsory thesis, which can either be academic or creative. For the Advanced Major in English, you are required to complete a total of 24 credits: 8 credits are from your Graduate Proseminar across two semesters; 8 credits are from a 4000-level English elective each in the two semesters; for the remaining 8 credits, you can either choose to do a teaching practicum, one in each semester (4 credits each), or take 2 more 4000 level English electives, or one teaching practicum and one 4000 level elective.

TAship Policy

The English department (TA in 4th year, which will give academic credits for the completion of the 24 credits required to finish the ASP in English).

For the Creative writing department, you can apply to be a TA in your third and fourth years, creative writing TAs get additional credits.