The Writing Studies Program's community and transnational writing projects grow out of its commitment to public engagement in its curriculum.
There is a shared sense that the program should not only teach about writing as a participatory activity, but also engage directly with the diverse communities of which it is a part, and to link the expertise of lecturers and instructors in the Writing Studies Program and other WLP graduate students to individuals and groups seeking the power and creativity of writing.
emersonWRITES
emersonWRITES is co-sponsored by the Writing Studies Program and the Office of Admissions with the aim of helping Boston public and charter high school students imagine themselves in a college setting by providing free weekend college-style creative workshops on the Emerson campus, where classes are team-taught by WLP graduate students. emersonWRITES is guided by the principle that writing is essential to intellectual engagement, self-representation, and access to opportunity.
Students choose from five or six fiction, nonfiction, and poetry courses that include the short story, science fiction, fantasy, scriptwriting, graphic novels, and other alternative forms of storytelling; memoir, the essay, journalism, and humor writing; and spoken word poetry, confessional poetry, and traditional verse forms. Twelve Saturday class meetings, 10-2, with a free pizza lunch, take place between October and February, with a culminating showcase attended by students, families, high school teachers, and Emerson faculty and staff, and the publication of selected student work in an anthology.
Visit the emersonWRITES site or their blog for more information.