Interdisciplinary Writing
School of Consciousness and Transformation MFA 7505 3.00
In this course, we’ll ask: What is the interdisciplinary nature of writing, and why does it matter? How can understanding it add to our capacities as writers and open new doors for engagement with readers? We’ll focus on non-fiction writing and the interdisciplinary art of the essay. In At Large and At Small, Anne Fadiman says, “Today’s readers encounter plenty of critical essays (more brain than heart) and plenty of personal— very personal—essays (more heart than brain), but not many familiar essays (equal measures of both).” We’ll look at how embracing writing’s inherent interdisciplinary inquiry invites us to bring head or heart or equal measures of both to the writing process---and encourages us to take on new, unexpected, and innovative ways of creating writing. We’ll read a wide variety of non-fiction work and will examine the interdisciplinary approach used by writers. You’ll conduct your own interdisciplinary inquiry and research and write in multiple forms.
