creative writing requirements uchicago

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Contacts | Minor Program in English and Creative Writing | Summary of Requirements for the Minor Program | Program Structure | Courses

Department Website: http://creativewriting.uchicago.edu

Students at the University of Chicago pursue creative writing within the larger context of academic study. While the purpose of the program is, above all, to give students a rigorous background in the fundamentals of creative work by providing them with the opportunity to study with established poets and prose writers, it differs from the free-standing creative writing programs at other universities in seeing itself as an integral part of the intellectual life of the University of Chicago, and most particularly in providing opportunities for interdisciplinary work. A playwright working through University Theater under the auspices of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities may take writing workshops in fiction or poetry as part of the process of developing scripts. Students in the visual arts may join forces with writers in work on graphic novels. And students in non-English languages and literatures may find themselves taking not only literature courses but also poetry or fiction writing workshops as part of developing translation projects. It is this commitment to interdisciplinary work, coupled with the program's insistence on teaching the elements of creative writing that underlie all genres, that accounts for the program's vitality and explains why creative writing at Chicago is currently the largest initiative in the humanities for the College.

Students can pursue their creative writing interests within the formal requirements of the two interdisciplinary majors below; within the formal requirements of the minor program in English and Creative Writing described below; in other programs of study, with approval to count writing courses toward requirements; or among the eight to eighteen electives available to students across the range of other programs of study.

Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

Students wishing to engage the dialogues between creative writing and other studies in the humanities, including artistic media (e.g., dance, film, theater, visual arts), may apply to explore writing opportunities through one of the options in the Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities major.

English Language and Literature

Students majoring in English Language and Literature may choose to produce a creative writing thesis to satisfy part of the requirement for honors. Prior to the end of their third year, students must complete at least two creative writing courses in the genre (poetry, fiction, or nonfiction) of their BA project. At least one must be an advanced course, in which the student has earned a B+ or higher. In Winter Quarter of their fourth year, students will work intensively on their projects in the context of a designated creative writing thesis seminar.

To do a creative writing BA project, students must fill out a declaration form available at the English undergraduate office by the spring of their third year. On this form they declare their intent to write a creative writing BA project in a specific genre and list the two creative writing courses in the relevant genre that they have taken as prerequisites for doing the BA project.

Students work on their project over three quarters. Early in Autumn Quarter of their fourth year, students will be assigned a graduate student preceptor. In Autumn Quarter, students will attend a series of colloquia led by their graduate preceptor. In Winter Quarter, students will continue meeting with their graduate preceptor. In addition, students must enroll in one of the creative BA project workshops in their genre. Students are not automatically enrolled in a workshop; they must receive the consent of the workshop instructor, who will also serve as their faculty adviser for their creative BA project. These workshops are advanced courses limited to eight students and will include not only students majoring in English but also those in Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities (ISHU) and the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH) who are producing creative theses. Students will work closely with their faculty adviser and with their peers in the workshops and will receive course credit as well as a final grade for the workshop. Students should be aware that because of the high number of students wishing to write fiction for their BA projects, students will not necessarily get their first choice of workshop instructor and faculty adviser.

In consultation with their faculty adviser and graduate preceptor, students revise and resubmit a near final draft of their creative BA projects by the beginning of the third week of Spring Quarter. Students submit the final version of their creative BA project to their preceptor, faculty adviser, and the undergraduate program assistant by the beginning of the fifth week of Spring Quarter.  The project will then be evaluated by the faculty adviser, graduate preceptor, and director of undergraduate studies to determine whether the student will be recommended.

Minor Program in English and Creative Writing

Students who are not English majors may complete a minor in English and Creative Writing. Such a minor requires six courses plus a portfolio of creative work. At least two of the required courses must be Creative Writing (CRWR) courses, with at least one at the intermediate or advanced level. The remaining required courses must be taken in the English department (ENGL). In addition, students must submit a portfolio of their work (e.g., a selection of poems, one or two short stories or chapters from a novel, a substantial part or the whole of a play, two or three nonfiction pieces) to the undergraduate program assistant in the English department by the end of the fifth week in the quarter in which they plan to graduate.

Students who elect the minor program in English and Creative Writing must meet with the undergraduate program assistant in the English department before the end of Spring Quarter of their third year to declare their intention to complete the minor. Students choose courses in consultation with the undergraduate program assistant. The undergraduate program assistant's approval for the minor program should be submitted to a student's College adviser by the deadline above on a form obtained from the adviser. NOTE: Students completing this minor will not be given enrollment preference for CRWR courses, and they must follow all relevant admission procedures described at the Creative Writing website.

Courses in the minor (1) may not be doubly counted with the student's major(s) or with other minors and (2) may not be counted toward general education requirements. Courses in the minor must be taken for quality grades (not P/F), and at least half of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.

Summary of Requirements for the Minor Program

Two Sample Plans of Study

Program Structure

Creative Writing courses are cross-listed to enable students to apply to courses based on their level of preparation rather than on their level in the degree program. Classes are organized in the following way:

Core courses are multigenre introductions to creative writing that satisfy the general education requirement for the arts. The courses fall into two categories, Introduction to Genres and Reading as a Writer, though each may be pitched with a unique focus, such as science fiction or crime and story. Admission is by open bid. Enrollment in each class is limited to fifteen students.

Beginning courses are intended for students who wish to gain experience in a particular genre. Admission is by open bid. Enrollment in each class is limited to twelve students.

Intermediate

Intermediate courses are intended for students with some writing experience in a particular genre. Admission requires completion of a beginning class in the same genre and/or consent of instructor based on submission of a writing sample. For specific submission requirements, see course descriptions. The submission process must be completed online in advance of the term by the deadline. Enrollment in each class is limited to twelve students.

Advanced courses are intended for students with substantive writing experience in a particular genre. Admission requires completion of an intermediate class in the same genre and/or consent of instructor based on submission of a writing sample. For specific submission requirements, see course descriptions. The submission process must be completed online in advance of the term by the deadline. Enrollment in each class is limited to ten students.

Thesis/Major Projects Seminar

This course is required for students who are working on their BA or MA theses in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction. If space permits, these seminars may also be open to advanced students who are interested in writing or revising a substantial project. Students must obtain the consent of the instructor in advance by submission of a writing sample. Enrollment in each class typically is limited to eight students.

Special Topics

Several special topics courses are offered each year. These courses vary in terms of subject matter, requirements for the submission of writing samples, and enrollment limitations.

Cross-Listed Courses

Courses originated by other departments that include creative writing components are cross listed by Creative Writing (CRWR).

Required Writing Samples

Consent of instructor is typically required to enroll in Creative Writing courses, based on faculty review of student writing samples. For specific sample submission requirements, see course descriptions. Submission deadlines are:

• Autumn Quarter, September 15
• Winter Quarter, November 21
• Spring Quarter, February 23

For more information on Creative Writing courses and opportunities, visit the Creative Writing website.

Faculty and Visiting Lecturers

For a current listing of Creative Writing faculty, visit the Creative Writing website.

Creative Writing Courses

CRWR 10200. Beginning Fiction Workshop. 100 Units.

This beginning-level fiction writing class uses a wide range of exercises and activities to help students discover their oral and written voices. Point of view, seeing-in-the-mind, gesture, audience, and other aspects of story are emphasized so that students can attempt to incorporate basic storytelling principles, forms, and techniques into their own writing. The major goals of the class are to guide students to discover and use the power of their individual voices, heighten their imaginative seeing and sense of imaginative options, and develop their overall sense for story structure and movement. Students select at least one of the assignments undertaken, rewrite it extensively, and attempt a complete story movement (short story or novel excerpt) of publishable quality.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring Prerequisite(s): Open bid through classes.uchicago.edu. If course is full, sign up for wait list at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/waiting-list. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 30200

CRWR 10300. Beginning Poetry Workshop. 100 Units.

Based on the premise that successful experimentation stems from a deep understanding of tradition, this course will help students gain a foundation in poetic constructions while encouraging risk-taking in expression and craft. It will expose students to ways that poets have both employed and resisted patterns in meter, line, and rhyme, and it will ask students to experiment with constraints as a way of playing with formal limitations in their own poems. Students will also explore innovations in diction, syntax, and voice, and apply what they learn from these investigations in workshop discussions. While delving into work by both canonical and emerging poets, students will draft and revise a significant portfolio of their own poems.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring Prerequisite(s): Open bid through classes.uchicago.edu. If course is full, sign up for wait list at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/waiting-list. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 30300

CRWR 10400. Beginning Creative Nonfiction. 100 Units.

In this workshop you are free to write about anything at all as long as you do so in an intimate and personal, rather than academic, voice. To that end you will try your hand at a true story—be it a memoir, travelogue, anecdote, character study, essay or argument—and submit it to your classmates, who will edit and critique it. Together we will refine our narratives and our prose, primarily by insisting on rigorous reflection and total honesty. Finding your voice takes time, but we have only ten weeks. So come to the first day of class with ideas and work already underway and ready to share. Be prepared to finish three total rewrites of your work in progress. We will also read and discuss published exemplars of the form. You will leave this class with a polished work sample to use for admission to more advanced courses.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring Prerequisite(s): Open bid through classes.uchicago.edu. If course is full, sign up for wait list at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/waiting-list. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 30400

CRWR 12000. Intermediate Fiction Workshop. 100 Units.

This intermediate fiction workshop will build on the fundamental elements of craft laid out in Beginning Fiction Writing and encourage you to begin cultivating your own aesthetic—not merely your own writing style, but more importantly your unique perspective on the world that necessarily informs and is informed by that style. We will read a selection of writers (like Raymond Carver, Paul Bowles, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Haruki Murakami, Lorrie Moore) who have very unique and identifiable voices, and then complement those readings with writing exercises that will help you contextualize, refine, and expand your emerging voice. As always, there will be an emphasis on the workshop process so that you are actively engaging with your own work and the work of your peers.  For the course, you will complete one full-length story, which you will present for class critique, and then write a significant revision of that story, which you will either present for a second workshop or turn into me at the end of the quarter. Please come to class prepared to share your work, your ideas, your enthusiasm, and your honesty.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring Prerequisite(s): To apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 32000

CRWR 12101. Reading as a Writer: Chicago Stories. 100 Units.

This course invites writers to reconsider the influence of Chicago’s public and private spaces on genre and artistic form. How does one tell a “Chicago story”? Is the “City on the Re-Make” best told in prose or poem? Is there a “Chicago epic”? Working through these questions, students analyze and explore the technical vocabularies of other writers’ responses in a variety of literary genres. Examples here include how political or social conflicts have shaped fiction writers’ definition of characters and point of view in Chicago writing. Similarly, how have the city’s historical geographies of South Side, the Great Migration, and the suburb influenced form in poetry and creative nonfiction? What theoretical approaches have been particularly influential in understanding “place” among Chicago writers? Using workshop format, students develop their own creative responses, building connections to their adopted critical approaches. To these ends, we examine work by writers including Nelson Algren, Gwendolyn Brooks, John Conroy, Aleksandar Hemon, and Sterling Plumpp, as well as the city’s rich legacies in drama, the visual arts, and music.

Terms Offered: Autumn Prerequisite(s): Open bid through classes.uchicago.edu. Sign up for wait list by contacting instructor if class is full. Note(s): This course meets the general education requirement for dramatic, musical, and visual arts.

CRWR 12104. Introduction to Genres: Four Western Myths. 100 Units.

Consider the proposition that myths inform the fabric of our thought, from its structures to its particularities. If this is so, how do we understand the power these myths exert on our imaginations? Is this power always benign? Is there a malevolent shadow these myths can cast on our collective soul? Let’s examine four myths that arise out of the Western tradition. Two of them are old: the story of King Oedipus and the myth of the Holy Grail. The other two are newer: the story of the Wizard of Oz, the first complete American myth, and the story of Star Wars, as much a commentary on myth as a myth itself. Both of these newer myths have insinuated themselves into the popular imagination, in ways that the earlier myths are so ingrained they have the ability to be continually made novel. In this course, you will read texts that transmit these myths (Sophocles, Chrétien de Troyes, and L. Frank Baum), you will consider films that depict these myths ( Edipe Re by Pasolini, The Da Vinci Code by Howard, The Wizard of Oz by Fleming, and Star Wars by Lucas), you will examine theories that interpret these myths (Freud, Weston, Lévi-Strauss, and Campbell, respectively), and, finally, and perhaps most importantly, you will generate your own versions of these myths in various creative forms: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, screenplays, and drama.

Terms Offered: Spring Prerequisite(s): Open bid through classes.uchicago.edu. If course is full, sign up for wait list at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/waiting-list. Note(s): This course meets the general education requirement for dramatic, musical, and visual arts.

CRWR 13000. Intermediate Poetry Workshop. 100 Units.

Poets often turn to the constraints and conventions of lyric forms (sonnets, sestinas, pantoums, etc.) as a way to generate material and experiment within a poetic tradition.  The history of poetry, however, is as rich in genres as it is in forms. How is genre different from form?  How do the two intersect?  How have different genres evolved over time?  In this course we will study various traditional genres (the elegy, the epistle, the dramatic monologue, for example) alongside such "non-poetic" genres as the essay, the obituary, and the travelogue, in the hopes of expanding and refining our encounter with the art.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring Prerequisite(s): To apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 33000

CRWR 13006. Investigations through Rhyme. 100 Units.

Rhyme, and its almost necessary companion, meter, have found their way into almost every form of expressive language, low and high: from sonnets to limericks, quatrains to playground insults, plays to songs, mnemonic devices for school children to didactic sermons, raps to jingles—even the occasional novel. Though it may be something of a mystery as to why, that rhyme can be pleasing to the reader (and listener) is established. What practical use, however, might it be to the writer? This course—welcoming writers of any stamp—will explore how composing in rhyme uncovers previously unsuspected pathways in a writer's imagination and is a powerful editing tool as well. Rhymed poetic, dramatic, and rhetorical writings and basic verse structures (the Onegin stanza, sonnet, quatrain, etc.) will be introduced and analyzed. The focus, however, will be on the "translation" of works of prose—some selected, but mostly pieces original with the student—into rhymed verse, with the aim of exploding/unfolding those works out in fresh directions. Possible texts/authors/artists: Shakespeare, Pope, William Blake, Chuck D, Emily Dickinson, Yip Harburg, Cole Porter, Magnetic Fields, Ogden Nash.

Terms Offered: Spring Prerequisite(s): PQ: Instructor consent required. To apply, submit writing sample online at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Once given consent, attendance on the first day is mandatory. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 33006

CRWR 14000. Intermediate Creative Nonfiction. 100 Units.

In this course we will examine what is creative about so-called creative nonfiction. What makes a personal essay or literary journalism different from straight journalism or editorial opinion? By what alchemy do we transmute facts into art? Through daily and weekly reading, writing, and editing you will learn to combine the facts of the matter at hand with your own retrospection and reflection. Your grade will be based on the artistry you display in balancing the factual with the personal and in recognizing how they can both complement and contradict one another. This is a workshop, so come to the first day of class with work underway and ready to share. Be prepared to write every day of the week and to finish two complete rewrites of an essay of fifteen or so pages. We will also read and discuss published exemplars of the form.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring Prerequisite(s): To apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 34000

CRWR 22100. Advanced Fiction Workshop. 100 Units.

This advanced fiction workshop is for students who have taken Beginning or Intermediate Fiction Writing and produced a body of work, large or small, that reflects their developing aesthetic and style. In our workshops, we will focus on the fundamentals of craft like language, voice, and plot and character development, but with an eye also on expanding our perspective on our subject matter and the form we use to write about it. To that end, we will read a selection of writers (like Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortazar, Donald Barthelme, Alice Munro, George Saunders, Tim O’Brien) who experiment with form, who unravel the rules of a well-made story and reconstitute it in order to tell their own particular narratives in a more meaningful way. Our goal in this class is to create a constructive, critical atmosphere that facilitates and demands the process of revision, and that expands the horizon of expression for each student while also refining their emerging voice. For the course, you will complete one full-length story, which you will present for class critique, and then write a significant revision of that story, which you will either present for a second workshop or turn into me at the end of the quarter. Please come to class prepared to share your work, your ideas, your enthusiasm, and your honesty.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring Prerequisite(s): To apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 42100

CRWR 23100. Advanced Poetry Workshop. 100 Units.

In this course, we will examine various formal, theoretical, and sociological currents in contemporary American poetry as a means of provoking and informing our own creative work in the lyric field. While the class will be a “writing workshop” first and foremost, we will also study recent books of poetry from a variety of contemporary “schools” at work in the fertile, sectarian, and maddeningly complex landscape of today’s lyric writing. We will also attend poetry readings by some of these authors here at the University in order to explore the world of contemporary verse as fully as possible. It is important to keep in mind, however, that this is ultimately a course about your work as a poet. Throughout the semester, we will read one another’s writing within the broad context of contemporary American poetics, and yet we will respect the solitary and idiosyncratic nature of the lyric enterprise as well.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring Prerequisite(s): To apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 43100

CRWR 24100. Advanced Creative Nonfiction Workshop. 100 Units.

The goal of this workshop is to attempt the kind of nonfiction published by magazines aimed at the smart, general reader: the New Yorker , Harper's , and the Atlantic Monthly , as well as smaller journals. You may write a personal essay, argument, memoir, character study or travelogue, as well as a more journalistic profile of a person, place, or culture. We also welcome reportorial, researched, and investigative pieces. No matter what rubric your nonfiction falls under, we will help you to distinguish between what Vivian Gornick has called The Situation—that is, the plot, or facts at hand—and The Story, the larger, more universal meaning that arises naturally from these facts. By developing the two and by tying them more artfully you will make your piece as appealing as it can be to editors and a discerning audience. Come to the first day of class with ideas and work underway and ready to share. Be prepared to write every day and to finish three full revisions of your work in progress. We will also read and discuss successful published work. You will leave this class with a polished sample of your best work.

Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring Prerequisite(s): To apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 44100

CRWR 28200. Journalism: Arts Reviewing. 100 Units.

In this course we will study and practice the craft of arts reviewing for newspapers, magazines, and online publications. We will strive to write fair, effective reviews of several art forms, including but not limited to movies, books, theater, music, cuisine, and visual arts. We will examine and adhere to the legal and ethical standards of the profession of journalistic arts reviewing. As much as possible we will emulate the pace of the job, completing weekly reviews for a specific audience.

Terms Offered: Autumn Prerequisite(s): To apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 48200

CRWR 29200. Thesis/Major Projects Seminar: Fiction. 100 Units.

This advanced fiction course is for BA and MA students writing a creative thesis or any advanced student working on a major fiction project. It is primarily a workshop, so please come to our first class with your project in progress (a story collection, a novel, a novella, etc.), ready for you to discuss and to submit some part of for critique. As in any writing workshop, we will stress the fundamentals of craft like language, voice, and plot and character development, with an eye also on how to shape your work for the longer form you have chosen. To supplement our workshops, we will read and discuss published fiction relevant and hopefully informative to your specific projects, while also exploring the potential avenues towards publication.

Terms Offered: Winter Prerequisite(s): Required for students working on BA or MA thesis in fiction; for others to apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 49200

CRWR 29300. Thesis/Major Projects Seminar: Poetry. 100 Units.

This course is an advanced seminar intended primarily for seniors and MAPH students writing honors theses in creative writing as well as advanced students who are working on major projects. Because it is a thesis seminar, the course will focus on various ways of organizing larger poetic “projects.” We will consider the poetic sequence, the chapbook, and the poetry collection as ways of extending the practice of poetry beyond the individual lyric text. We will also problematize the notion of broad poetic “projects,” considering the consequences of imposing a predetermined conceptual framework on the elusive, spontaneous, and subversive act of lyric writing. Because this class is designed as a poetry workshop, your fellow students’ work will be the primary text over the course of the quarter.

Terms Offered: Winter Prerequisite(s): Required for students working on BA or MA thesis in poetry; for others to apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 49300

CRWR 29400. Thesis/Major Projects Seminar: Creative Nonfiction. 100 Units.

This course is for BA and MA thesis students and those writing a long piece of nonfiction. It can be an extended essay, a memoir or travelogue, literary journalism, or an interrelated collection thereof. It is a workshop, so come to the first day of class with your work underway and ready to submit. You are required to edit your classmates' writing as diligently as you edit your own. I focus on editing because writing is, in essence, rewriting. Only by learning to edit other people's work will you gradually acquire the objectivity you need to skillfully edit your own. You will profit not only from the advice you receive, but from the advice you learn to give. I will teach you to teach each other and thus yourselves, preparing you for the real life of the writer outside the academy.

Terms Offered: Winter Prerequisite(s): Required for students working on BA or MA thesis in creative nonfiction;for others to apply, submit writing through online form at creativewriting.uchicago.edu/courses/creative-writing-submission-form. Note(s): Attendance on the first day is mandatory. Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 49400

Undergraduate Primary Contact

Committee Chair John Wilkinson Taft House 301 Email

Administrative Contact

Committee Coordinator Anne Janush Taft House 103 773.834.8524

[email protected]

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FOUNDATIONS OF

Foundations of Creative Writing

A haven for writers of all genres and ambitions

September 23, 2024

*Flexible payment available

Limited spots. Enroll now.

Imbue your writing with imagination and range.

Craft writing that is distinct and well-developed..

Stories are timeless and eternal. They are touchstones, formed by time and place, which reflect upon the human experience. Creative writing is an asset in all professional fields throughout diverse positions. The ability to craft intriguing, memorable prose remains one of the most enduring forms of human expression. Learn to conceive and develop integral elements of a story, including plotline, characters, symbolism, setting, and atmosphere.

Our Approach to Online Learning

Optimize your time with a mode of study that allows you to explore content and complete tasks at your own pace.

Interactive

Our interactive content includes videos from instructors at the University of Chicago as well as materials that enable you to learn through real-world examples.

Personalized

Throughout the program, the teaching assistant will serve as a valuable resource to clarify any questions and provide feedback on your work.

Meet Your Instructor

Sarah Terez Rosenblum, MFA

Sarah Terez Rosenblum’s work has appeared in literary magazines such as The Normal School, Prairie Schooner (shortlisted for the publication’s Summer 2020 Creative Nonfiction Prize), Diagram , Brevity, Third Coast , and Carve. In 2022, Rosenblum was shortlisted for StoryQuarterly ’s annual fiction contest. She has written for sites that include Salon, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Satirist, and Pop Matters .

Pushcart Prize-nominated, she earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Rosenblum is a creative coach and developmental editor. She also teaches creative writing at Story Studio, where she was voted 2022 Teacher of the Year, and at the University of Chicago Writer’s Studio. Rosenblum’s novel, Herself When She’s Missing , was called “poetic and heartrending” by Booklist . 

Unique Program Features

Live sessions and workshops.

Engage in live sessions and workshops that provide the opportunity to pose questions and exchange ideas.

Practical application

Practice specific craft points and explore the drafting process through weekly writing exercises.

Personalized guidance

Receive feedback from your instructors about the development of your writing.

Learning Outcomes

• Reveal character through action.
• Establish setting through characters’ physicality.
• Write dynamic scenes.
• Create dialogue that reveals character and furthers plot.
• Recognize and use imagery and symbolic language.

After completing the course, you will be able to:

Create a strategy for your organization that makes use of AI to accomplish business goals

Build a team for success in an AI world

Choose the best areas for early-stage development and understand how to scale AI solutions

Earn a certificate of completion from the University of Chicago and become part of the UChicago network

Course Modules

Introduction to writing and crafting character.

• Things to Consider Before Writing
• Introduction to Character
• Description
• Internal Response

Point of View

• Introduction to Point of View
• First Person
• Third Person
• Less Common Points of View: Second Person
• Less Common Points of View: First Person Plural
• Focalization
• Writing Practice

Setting and Mood

• Starting with Setting
• Creating Setting
• Analysis of Setting in The Road
• Introduction to Workshop
• Introduction to Plot
• Basic Plot Arcs
• Denouement and Resolution
• Conflict and Tension
• Change and Imagery
• The Hero’s Journey
• Introduction to Dialogue
• Dialogue and Action
• Creating Tension with Dialogue
• Dialogue and Subtext
• Issues in Dialogue

Voice and Tone

• Introduction to Tone and Voice
• Authorial Voice and Character Voice
• Finding Your Voice
• Strong Story Starts
• Writing Practice: Drafting

Imagery, Symbolism, and Theme

• Introduction to Imagery and Theme
• Figurative Language
• Systems of Imagery: “In the White Night”
• Building Your Own Systems of Imagery

Time Movement and Literary Magazines

• Simple Scene Movement
• Introduction to Flashbacks
• The Mechanics of Flashbacks
• Writing Practice: Submitting Your Work
• Writing Practice: Beyond this Course
• Things to Consider
• Before Writing
• Introduction to
• Writing Practicen

This course is designed for:

Individuals with diverse aspirations, backgrounds, and skills interested in exploring writing in an easily accessible way.

Learners from all walks of life with curiosity and enthusiasm toward writing, communication, literature, and the art of crafting a story.

Experienced writers looking to hone their skills and elevate their expression.

Participant Experiences

Flexible payment options available.

PROGRAM FEE

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Pay in Full

Pay in 2 installments

Minor Portfolio

Minor portfolio overview.

Note: This set of requirements applies to students who declare a major in Creative Writing during the 2023-24 school year or in subsequent years.

During their fourth year, CRWR minors may opt to compile a writing portfolio in their chosen genre: poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. The portfolio is not a BA thesis but represents a body of work that students have either worked on in a past workshop or developed in their graduating year. Students in the minor can craft their writing portfolios in a Thesis/Major Projects Workshop under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

Thesis/Major Projects Workshops are only offered during Winter Quarter and provide the opportunity for students in the minor to work alongside majors and MAPH students. CRWR minors may enroll in one of the following courses to fulfill an elective credit for the minor: CRWR 29200 Thesis/Major Projects in Fiction Workshop, CRWR 29300 Thesis/Major Projects in Poetry Workshop, CRWR 29400 Thesis/Major Projects in Nonfiction Workshop, CRWR 29500 Thesis/Major Projects in Fiction/Nonfiction Workshop.

Below are the Program's current formatting guidelines for the portfolio. Students may submit their portfolios to their faculty advisors, the Student Affairs Administrator, and Professor Ryan Van Meter, Faculty Minor Liaison, by the end of their Winter Thesis Workshop. The current academic year deadline is Friday, March 10, 2023.

• Portfolios should be typed, double-spaced (except for poetry), and contain page numbers   
• Portfolios should include a title that indicates that this is a minor portfolio   
• Portfolios should include your name on the document   
• If you are including more than one piece, please include a brief table of contents   
• Content: For fiction: 1-2 short stories or an excerpt from a longer work; for nonfiction: 1-2 essays or an excerpt from a longer work; for poetry: 10-15 poems depending on length   
• Page limits: refer to the guidelines discussed in your Thesis/Major Projects Workshop for page limits, but please do not exceed 20-25 pages if you are writing prose
• You are invited to include a brief statement explaining how you put together your portfolio (e.g. “X is an essay that I began in my Fundamentals class in my second year, but have refined in this way…”)
• For all minor portfolios, editing and polishing are essential; please make sure that you have proofread your work and that the pieces you turn in are the result of thorough revisions
• The final draft of the portfolio should be submitted as a pdf
• A cover page is required for your portfolio; formatting requirements can be found at the link below

Note: This set of requirements applies to students who declared a minor in Creative Writing prior to the AY24 update. This includes students who declared during the 2020-21, 2021-22 or 2022-23 academic years.

The minor portfolio is mandatory for students who intend to graduate under the original version of the minor. Please contact the Student Affairs Administrator with any questions about your requirements.

Newer minors, students who declare in AY24, and students who have formally redeclared under the new requirements due to extenuating circumstances should refer to the updated 2023-24 guidelines above.  

During their fourth year, CRWR minors will compile a writing portfolio in their chosen genre: poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. The portfolio is not a BA thesis but represents a body of work that students have either worked on in a past workshop or developed in their graduating year. Students in the minor will craft their writing portfolios in a Thesis/Major Projects Workshop under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

Thesis/Major Projects Workshops are only offered during Winter Quarter and provide the opportunity for students in the minor to work alongside majors and MAPH students. CRWR minors must enroll in one of the following courses to fulfill the Thesis/Major Projects Workshop degree requirement for the minor: CRWR 29200 Thesis/Major Projects in Fiction Workshop, CRWR 29300 Thesis/Major Projects in Poetry Workshop, CRWR 29400 Thesis/Major Projects in Nonfiction Workshop, CRWR 29500 Thesis/Major Projects in Fiction/Nonfiction Workshop.

Below are the Program's current formatting guidelines for the portfolio. Students should submit their portfolios to their faculty advisors, the Student Affairs Administrator, and the Faculty Minor Liaison, by the end of their Winter Thesis Workshop. 

Minor Portfolio Documents

UChicago to offer undergraduate major in creative writing

The Department of English Language and Literature will offer a new undergraduate major in creative writing, beginning in Autumn Quarter 2017.

First-, second- and third-year students will have the option to major in creative writing, or take on a double major in creative writing and any major they wish to pursue, including English. A minor in English and creative writing also will be open to students outside those programs.

The major’s creation will help satisfy long-felt demand from students in the College for a creative writing major alongside the traditional program in English.   

“For years students have been asking for a program of study in creative writing,” program coordinator Jessi Haley said. “The courses we currently offer are notoriously oversubscribed. In the last five years we have expanded our faculty, but demand is always running ahead of us. This is a basis for future expansion.”   

While it will provide rigorous training in the skills required to write at a high level in fiction, nonfiction and poetry, students who graduate with a BA in creative writing will find themselves well suited to a wide range of career paths, said John Wilkinson, chair of Creative Writing.  

“A BA in creative writing doesn’t lead only to graduate school for an MFA,” said Wilkinson, a professor in English who led a group of Core faculty in designing the new major. “In any employment, literary skills are important, so there is a link to many practical applications. For instance, the major is great for science students looking toward science journalism or popular science writing, as much as for arts students interested in arts reviewing.”  

The creation of the creative writing major marks the culmination of a UChicago Arts initiative to offer majors in all of the living arts. The hope is that the new program will lead to continued growth in a variety of fields, including literary translation and new media, and will attract students from diverse fields and backgrounds eager for interdisciplinary collaboration.  

Alongside the current offering of workshop courses in fiction, nonfiction and poetry, new courses will be added to include seminars focused on issues of craft in contemporary literature, as well as a cross-genre seminars on the fundamentals of creative writing as a discipline. In total, students will complete 13 courses: 11 within the creative writing and literature departments, as well as two electives. All creative writing majors will complete a BA thesis and take a corresponding thesis workshop during their fourth year of study.

Vu Tran, assistant professor of practice in the arts and the director of undergraduate studies in creative writing, said the program aims to cultivate both compelling and adept writers.

“Our program will offer students a foundational, technical and critical understanding of their chosen genre, and then help them in their practice,” Tran said. 

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The English Major and Minor

Major in english.

The program presupposes the completion of the general education requirement in the Humanities (or its equivalent), in which basic training is provided in the methods, problems, and disciplines of humanistic study. Because literary study itself attends to language and is enriched by some knowledge of other cultural expressions, the major in English requires students to extend their work in a language other than English beyond the level required of all College students.

Summary of Requirements

The Department of English requires a total of thirteen courses: eleven courses in the Department of English and two language courses or their equivalent, as well as a Cluster Statement to be submitted by the end of the third week of Spring Quarter of a student’s third year. By Spring Quarter of their third year, all students are required to meet with with the Student Affairs Administrator to complete the  English Requirements Worksheet . Additional forms can be found on the  Resources and Department Forms  page.

• Two quarters of study at the second-year level in a language other than English OR credit for the equivalent as determined by petition OR two quarters of a computer language OR two quarters of coursework outside the English department in literature originally written in a language other than English. Students should consult the following  list  of courses that have been approved to fulfill this requirement. 
• One English genre fundamentals course (fiction, poetry, drama, or theory) or "Approaches to Theater" course
• One English course in fiction
• One English course in poetry
• One English course in drama
• One English course on literature composed before 1650
• One English course on literature composed between 1650 and 1830
• One English course on literature composed between 1830 and 1990
• One English course in literary or critical theory
• 0 - 7  English electives (for a total of eleven courses in the department; may include ENGL 29900)
• Concentration statement
• BA project (optional)
• Thirteen* total courses

* The total of thirteen required courses must include eleven courses in the Department of English and two language courses. 

NOTE: Some courses satisfy several genre and period requirements. For details about the requirements met by specific courses, students should consult the Student Affairs Administrator or the Director of Undergraduate Studies. As of Autumn 2013, the following course combinations may be taken to satisfy the language requirement:

• CMSC 12100 & CMSC 12200
• CMSC 15100 & CMSC 15200
• CMSC 16100 & CMSC 16200
• English Requirements Worksheet
• Full list of Resources and Departmental Forms

Students majoring in English must receive quality grades (not P/F) in all 13 courses taken to meet the requirements of the program. Non-majors may take English courses for P/F grading with consent of instructor.

Concentration Statement

The purpose of the concentration statement is to help students organize and give coherence to their individual program of study. Students will design a concentration of at least five courses that share a conceptual focus.  By the end of the third week in Spring Quarter of their junior year, students submit a one-to-two page statement to their faculty Departmental Advisor and the Student Affairs Administrator outlining their interests in and describing how at least five completed and/or proposed future courses coheres as a cluster. Up to two of the five courses in the cluster can be courses offered outside of the Department of English.

Students should devise an individual course of study that falls within one of the following four broad cluster categories: 1) Literary and Critical Theory; 2) Form/Genre/Medium; 3) Literature in History; 4) Literature and Culture(s). For more information on the cluster and a list of example program topics, please contact the Student Affairs Administrator.

Students are encouraged to declare an intention to major in English to their College Advisers as soon as possible,  preferably by the end of the second year of study.  After declaring the major, students should first meet with the Student Affairs Assistant in English who will direct them to a faculty advisor and help students fill out the  English Requirement Worksheet. After this, students should meet with their faculty advisor at least twice a year in year three, and once in year four, to discuss their academic interests, progress in the major, and long-term career goals. The Student Affairs Assistant and Director of Undergraduate Studies are also available to assist students. Students should meet with the Student Affairs Administrator early in their final quarter to be sure they have fulfilled all requirements.

Courses Outside the Department Taken for Program Credit

A maximum of three courses outside the Department of English may count toward the total number of courses required by the major. The student must submit a  petition  for course approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies before taking courses outside the department for credit toward the major. Such courses may be selected from related areas in the University (history, philosophy, religious studies, social sciences, etc.), or they may be taken from a study abroad program. Up to four English courses that originate in Creative Writing (CRWR) may be counted toward the elective requirement without a petition. 

Transfer credits for courses taken at another institution are subject to approval by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Transferred courses do not contribute to the student's University of Chicago grade point average for the purpose of computing an overall GPA, Dean's List, or honors. NOTE: The Office of the Dean of Students in the College must approve the transfer of all courses taken at institutions other than those in which students are enrolled as part of a University sponsored study abroad program. For details, visit  Examination Credit and Transfer Credit .

Per College requirements, more than half of the requirements for a major or minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.

Double Majors in English and Creative Writing

It is college policy that students pursuing double majors may double-count four courses maximum towards both majors. Students who double major in Creative Writing and English typically double-count courses to fulfill the Creative Writing major's four literature requirements: 1 literary genre course (in a primary genre), 1 literary theory course, 1 pre-20th-century literature course, and 1 general elective. The two research background electives required for the Creative Writing major can also be English classes, as long as the student observes the shared four-course maximum.  Beyond the maximum, students may continue counting Creative Writing courses towards the English major, so long as the course is only counted towards the English major and not Creative Writing. Students who are pursuing only the English Language and Literature major may count up to four CRWR courses towards the major in English as electives without a petition. However, when students are pursuing a double major in English Language and Literature and Creative Writing, they must observe the shared four-course maximum, so any eligible CRWR courses beyond this cap must be counted towards English  only .

Minor in English and Creative Writing

Undergraduate students who are not majoring in English may enter a minor program in English and Creative Writing. These students should declare their intention to enter the minor program by the end of Spring Quarter of their third year. Students choose courses in consultation with the Program Manager in Creative Writing and must submit a minor program consent form to their College Adviser in order to declare the minor. Students completing this minor must follow all relevant admission procedures described in the  Creative Writing  website. Courses in the minor may not be double counted with the student's major(s) or with other minors and may not be counted toward general education requirements. Courses in the minor must be taken for quality letter grades, and all of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers. Here are the requirements for the minor program:

• 1 Fundamentals in Creative Writing Seminar
• 2 Workshops
• 1 Beginning Workshop
• 1 Advanced Workshop in the same genre
• 3 CRWR or ENGL electives

For a more detailed breakdown of requirements, please visit Creative Writing's page .

There is no minor solely in English. The Minor in English and Creative Writing for Non-English Majors is the only minor available through the Department of English.

Reading Courses

Upon prior approval by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, undergraduate reading courses (ENGL 29700 Reading Course & ENGL 29900 Independent BA Paper Preparation) may be used to fulfill requirements for the major if they are taken for a quality grade (not P/F) and include a final paper assignment. No student may use more than two reading courses in the major, and only one of those may be an Independent BA Paper Preparation course. Critical BA writers who wish to register for the senior project preparation course (ENGL 29900 Independent BA Paper Preparation) must arrange for appropriate faculty supervision and obtain the permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. ENGL 29900 Independent BA Paper Preparation counts as an English elective but not as one of the courses fulfilling distribution requirements for the major.

NOTE: Reading courses are special research opportunities that must be justified by the quality of the proposed plan of study; they also depend upon the availability of faculty supervision. No student can expect a reading course to be arranged automatically. For alternative approaches to preparing a BA paper, see the section on honors work.

Students who wish to be considered for departmental honors must complete a BA Project. However, completion of a BA Project does not guarantee a recommendation for departmental honors. For honors candidacy, a student must have at least a 3.25 grade point average overall and a 3.6 GPA in the major (grades received for transfer credit courses are not included into this calculation). 

To be eligible for honors, a student's BA project must be judged to be of the highest quality by the graduate student preceptor, faculty advisor, and Director of Undergraduate Studies. Honors recommendations are made to the Master of the Humanities Collegiate Division by the department and it is the Master of the Humanities Collegiate Division who makes the final decision.

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Application Instructions

Our application is now entirely online, and all materials should be submitted through the online application . Please do not send any materials in hard copy. If for any reason it is not possible to submit materials online, please contact us by  email .

We recommend submitting application documents as PDF files for the most reliable results.  The application system will also accept Microsoft Word documents, OpenDocument files, and a few other formats with varying levels of fidelity.  Regardless of the file format you use, we recommend reviewing your application proof carefully to make sure all documents were successfully added to your file by our system.

Applications will be evaluated on the basis of materials submitted by the deadline, and we cannot guarantee that materials received after the deadline will be given consideration. Late applications will not be considered.

All programs require the following materials:

• a  statement of purpose written in English ("Artist's Statement" for MFA in Visual Arts );
• 3 letters of recommendation ;
• transcripts  for all previous degrees and coursework;
• TOEFL or IELTS  test scores from within the preceding 2 years if needed to meet the  English Language Proficiency Requirement ; and
• an application fee of $90. Fee waivers are available for University of Chicago alumni; current undergraduate students receiving need-based aid; applicants who are current or former members of the Peace Corps, Americorps/Vista, or Teach for America; active duty U.S. military and veterans; past recipients of Fulbright/IIE fellowships; and alumni of any of the following academic preparatory and service programs: McNair Scholars, the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers (IRT), Leadership Alliance, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, and the National Name Exchange. Applicants to the PhD program in Romance Languages and Literatures are also eligible for a fee waiver if they are alumni of the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF). Fee waivers may also be requested by applicants for whom paying it would present financial hardship. Anyone wishing to have the fee waived for any of the above must submit a fee waiver request form, which is accessed on the application status portal after the application has been submitted . Applicants who submit a fee waiver request form should do so before the application deadline, and should not pay the fee when submitting their applications. Requesting a fee waiver will have no effect on the review of the application.

Most programs also require a sample of academic writing , and two require a current CV or Resume. The following table lists the requirements for Writing Samples and a CV. In all cases the writing samples should be double-spaced. Some programs also have special requirements, and you should follow the link to your program of interest to learn more.

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Special Questions

Applying to multiple programs Joint Programs Transfer Credits Reapplying

Detailed Instructions by Department or Program

Instructions for Applicants to English Language and Literature

For the 2025-2026 graduate admissions cycle, the University of Chicago English Department is prioritizing applications focusing on literature and culture in relation to environment, ecology, and space. Possible areas of interest include (but are not limited to) the environmental humanities; built environments and literature; geography and urbanization; the atmosphere and setting of literary and artistic works and circles; ecopoetics; the poetics and politics of space. We encourage applications from students wishing to work in all historical periods, and on texts from and about any region of the world. We welcome hybrid scholars working in creative and critical modes or across media, or doing public humanities and public-facing work that foregrounds environmental and spatial concerns. For more information on faculty and current graduate students in this area, please visit the department website. Please note that while we are prioritizing applications that align with our thematic focus, we will also consider applications outside of this focus.

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Instructions for Applicants to Linguistics

Supplemental Material : In addition to a writing sample, applicants to Linguistics should prepare and upload a document that lists all courses the applicant has taken or will have taken by the time of enrollment which have relevance to graduate study in linguistics (in particular, language courses and courses in linguistics, mathematics/statistics, computer science, psychology, anthropology, and language of philosophy). This list should include the complete title of each course, the instructor's full name, the grade earned (if available), and a brief (at most a paragraph) description of the contents of the course (a list of topics covered, for example), along with the titles and authors of any texts used or papers read.

Instructions for Applicants to Music

Writing Sample : Applicants to Music are required to submit two writing samples, double-spaced, each approximately 20 pages in length . Click here for information about the desired content for a writing sample.

Instructions for Applicants to Romance Languages and Literatures

Writing Sample : Applicants to Romance Languages and Literatures should submit a writing sample that is 15-20 pages long, double-spaced . The writing sample should be in the language of specialization . Click here for information about the desired content for a writing sample.

Curriculum Vitae : Applicants to Romance Languages and Literatures are also required to admit a current CV or Resume .

Instructions for Applicants to Theater and Performance Studies

The Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS) PhD program is a joint-only PhD program, and does not admit students who are not also admitted to another program. Applicants must choose a TAPS partner department (the "home department") and submit an application to that department, indicating their interest in also being considered for admission to TAPS. The applicant must submit all materials required for the home department application along with supplemental materials for the TAPS application. TAPS Partner Departments are Art History , Cinema and Media Studies , Classics , Comparative Literature , East Asian Languages and Civilizations , English Language and Literature , Germanic Studies , Music , and Romance Languages and Literatures .

GRE Scores : Applicants to Theater and Performance Studies are not required to submit GRE scores . TAPS applicants should submit GRE scores only if the home program to which they are applying requires scores.

Statement of Interest : Applicants to Theater & Performance Studies should provide a statement of interest for the TAPS joint PhD program in addition to the Statement of Purpose for the home program.

References : Applicants to Theater and Performance Studies should supply two references specifically for the TAPS program. If one or more of the references to the home program can serve as TAPS references, they do not have to be additional references. However, applicants can add as many references as necessary in the online application.

Optional Items : Applicants to Theater and Performance Studies may submit any or all of the following optional materials:

• A TAPS-related Writing Sample (maximum 25 pages);
• An Artistic Resume;
• Media of past creative work, such as performance videos;
• Other supporting materials they feel are relevant to their application.

Instructions for Applicants to the MFA in Visual Arts

Artist's Statement : Applicants to Visual Arts will submit an artist's statement rather than a statement of purpose. The Artist's Statement should comprise one or two pages illuminating your artistic practice by discussion of such questions as sources of influence, character of the inquiry, and some suggestion of future directions you wish to explore.

Portfolio : In lieu of a writing sample, applicants to Visual Arts should submit a portfolio consisting of twenty digital images. Alternatively, students who work in time-based media may submit a selection of work as video files. A significant number of the images should represent work done within the last twelve months. Three-dimensional works should show the surrounding space and context. Portfolios are submitted online as part of the online application. The portfolio submission interface will allow you to label each image with a title, a date of completion, the materials used, and a brief description of the work. Digital files must adhere strictly to the specifications outlined below. Do not format images in any presentation program (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote), or include composite images (more than one work per file). Still image files may be sent in jpeg, png, bmp, or tiff format. Videos will be accepted in QuickTime, AVI, FLV, MP4, or WMV format. Video files should be no longer than two minutes in length, and the size of your video uploads is limited to 250 MB. Please note that videos are considered as part of your selection of twenty files, not as additional material. Do not include titles or credits within the video files.

Instructions for Applicants to the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH)

Writing Sample : Applicants to the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities should include a sample of their critical writing that is 10-15 pages in length, double-spaced . Click here for information about the desired content for a writing sample. Applicants to the MAPH Creative Writing Option must also submit a creative writing sample relevant to the proposed focus of study.

MAPH Two-Year Language Option (MAPH TLO) : Applicants interested in the MAPH TLO will indicate their interest in the application. They are expected to submit an additional statement of interest specifically addressing their reasons for applying to the TLO, and to provide information about their language(s) of interest on the supplement page in the online application.

Additional Instructions

Applying to programs in more than one division or school

If you are also applying to a program in another Division, you should follow the instructions available from the other division or school to submit an application to one of their programs. You can find links to the relevant information for all the Graduate Divisions and Professional Schools at  UChicagoGRAD .

Applying to multiple programs in the Division of the Humanities

If you would like to apply to more than one graduate program in the Humanities Division, please start and submit a separate application at  https://apply-humanities.uchicago.edu/apply/ . You will need to submit two separate complete applications. This includes uploading all materials for each application and paying two application fees.

Joint Programs

Applicants interested in the joint Ph.D. program in Theater and Performance Studies and the M.D.-Ph.D. Program in Medicine, the Social Sciences, and Humanities should indicate this in the online application. Theater and Performance Studies applicants are required to submit additional materials to their application. Applicants seeking a joint Ph.D. in other fields may petition to be admitted into a second department only after completing at least one year in a Ph.D. program.

Transfer Credits

Doctoral Programs

Students starting a doctoral program in the Division of the Humanities with graduate level course work completed outside of the department may petition the department to have previous course work counted toward the program requirements.  By divisional policy at least half of the course work must be accomplished within the department.  The departmental faculty will determine whether the student will receive credit towards the degree for each previous course completed outside of the department.  Each department may determine the maximum number of courses for which a student may receive course credit.

Master’s programs

Students starting a master’s program in the Division of the Humanities with graduate level course work completed at the Graduate Student-at-Large program in the Graham School of Continuing and Professional Studies may petition the program to have previous course work counted toward the program requirements.  The program will evaluate and determine whether the student will receive credit towards the degree for any of the previous course work completed at the Graham School of Continuing and Professional Studies for a maximum of two courses.  Other graduate level course work completed outside of the program is not eligible for course credit toward the program requirements.

Reapplying or Reactivating a past application

Our online application system does retain materials from one application cycle to the next. In order to reuse materials and information, you should log on to the application site using the same email address and password that you used last year. This should allow you to access any materials from your previous applications that have been retained. If you were admitted to one of our programs, declined your offer for that current academic year, and you are now reapplying for next year, please send an email to  [email protected]  for assistance.

Thank you for your interest in graduate study in the Division of the Humanities.

The application for Autumn 2025 is now open. 

The application deadlines for Autumn 2025 are as follows:

December 2, 2024 | All PhD Departments

January 6, 2025 | Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts (MFA), Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH), Master of Arts in Digital Studies of Language, Culture, and History, and Master of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies

April 30, 2025 | All Master of Arts (MA) programs 

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UChicago Supplemental Essay Questions

The University of Chicago has long been renowned for our provocative essay questions. We think of them as an opportunity for students to tell us about themselves, their tastes, and their ambitions. They can be approached with utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between.

Each year we email newly admitted and current College students and ask them for essay topics. We receive several hundred responses, many of which are eloquent, intriguing, or downright wacky.

As you can see from the attributions, the questions below were inspired by submissions from UChicago students and alumni.

2024-25 UChicago Supplement

Question 1 (required).

How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.

Question 2: Extended Essay (Required; Choose one)

Essay option 1.

We’re all familiar with green-eyed envy or feeling blue, but what about being “caught purple-handed”? Or “tickled orange”? Give an old color-infused expression a new hue and tell us what it represents. – Inspired by Ramsey Bottorff, Class of 2026

Essay Option 2

"Ah, but I was so much older then / I'm younger than that now” – Bob Dylan. In what ways do we become younger as we get older? – Inspired by Joshua Harris, Class of 2016

Essay Option 3

Pluto, the demoted planet. Ophiuchus, the thirteenth Zodiac. Andy Murray, the fourth to tennis's Big Three. Every grouping has something that doesn’t quite fit in. Tell us about a group and its unofficial member, why (or why not) should it be excluded? – Inspired by Veronica Chang, Class of 2022

Essay Option 4

"Daddy-o", "Far Out", "Gnarly": the list of slang terms goes on and on. Sadly, most of these aren’t so "fly" anymore – “as if!” Name an outdated slang from any decade or language that you'd bring back and explain why you totally “dig it.” – Inspired by Napat Sakdibhornssup, Class of 2028

Essay Option 5

How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? What is the total length of chalk used by UChicago professors in a year? How many pages of books are in the Regenstein Library? These questions are among a class of estimation problems named after University of Chicago physicist Enrico Fermi. Create your own Fermi estimation problem, give it your best answer, and show us how you got there. – Inspired by Malhar Manek, Class of 2028

Essay Option 6

And, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun!

Some classic questions from previous years…

Exponents and square roots, pencils and erasers, beta decay and electron capture. Name two things that undo each other and explain why both are necessary. – Inspired by Emmett Cho, Class of 2027

“Where have all the flowers gone?” – Pete Seeger. Pick a question from a song title or lyric and give it your best answer. – Inspired by Ryan Murphy, AB’21

“Vlog,” “Labradoodle,” and “Fauxmage.” Language is filled with portmanteaus. Create a new portmanteau and explain why those two things are a “patch” (perfect match). – Inspired by Garrett Chalfin, Class of 2027

Due to a series of clerical errors, there is exactly one typo (an extra letter, a removed letter, or an altered letter) in the name of every department at the University of Chicago. Oops! Describe your new intended major. Why are you interested in it and what courses or areas of focus within it might you want to explore? Potential options include Commuter Science, Bromance Languages and Literatures, Pundamentals: Issues and Texts, Ant History... a full list of unmodified majors ready for your editor’s eye is available here . —Inspired by Josh Kaufman, AB'18

You are on an expedition to found a colony on Mars, when from a nearby crater, a group of Martians suddenly emerges. They seem eager to communicate, but they're the impatient kind and demand you represent the human race in one song, image, memory, proof, or other idea. What do you share with them to show that humanity is worth their time? —Inspired by Alexander Hastings, Class of 2023, and Olivia Okun-Dubitsky, Class of 2026

Who does Sally sell her seashells to? How much wood can a woodchuck really chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Pick a favorite tongue twister (either originally in English or translated from another language) and consider a resolution to its conundrum using the method of your choice. Math, philosophy, linguistics... it's all up to you (or your woodchuck). —Inspired by Blessing Nnate, Class of 2024

What can actually be divided by zero? —Inspired by Mai Vu, Class of 2024

The seven liberal arts in antiquity consisted of the Quadrivium — astronomy, mathematics, geometry, and music — and the Trivium — rhetoric, grammar, and logic. Describe your own take on the Quadrivium or the Trivium. What do you think is essential for everyone to know? —Inspired by Peter Wang, Class of 2022

Subway maps, evolutionary trees, Lewis diagrams. Each of these schematics tells the relationships and stories of their component parts. Reimagine a map, diagram, or chart. If your work is largely or exclusively visual, please include a cartographer's key of at least 300 words to help us best understand your creation. —Inspired by Maximilian Site, Class of 2020

"Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" - Eleanor Roosevelt. Misattribute a famous quote and explore the implications of doing so. —Inspired by Chris Davey, AB’13

Engineer George de Mestral got frustrated with burrs stuck to his dog’s fur and applied the same mechanic to create Velcro. Scientist Percy Lebaron Spencer found a melted chocolate bar in his magnetron lab and discovered microwave cooking. Dye-works owner Jean Baptiste Jolly found his tablecloth clean after a kerosene lamp was knocked over on it, consequently shaping the future of dry cleaning. Describe a creative or interesting solution, and then find the problem that it solves. —Inspired by Steve Berkowitz, AB’19, and Neeharika Venuturupalli, Class of 2024

Joan of Arkansas. Queen Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Babe Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Mash up a historical figure with a new time period, environment, location, or occupation, and tell us their story. —Inspired by Drew Donaldson, AB’16

Alice falls down the rabbit hole. Milo drives through the tollbooth. Dorothy is swept up in the tornado. Neo takes the red pill. Don’t tell us about another world you’ve imagined, heard about, or created. Rather, tell us about its portal. Sure, some people think of the University of Chicago as a portal to their future, but please choose another portal to write about. —Inspired by Raphael Hallerman, Class of 2020

What’s so odd about odd numbers? —Inspired by Mario Rosasco, AB’09

Vestigiality refers to genetically determined structures or attributes that have apparently lost most or all of their ancestral function, but have been retained during the process of evolution. In humans, for instance, the appendix is thought to be a vestigial structure. Describe something vestigial (real or imagined) and provide an explanation for its existence. —Inspired by Tiffany Kim, Class of 2020

In French, there is no difference between “conscience” and “consciousness.” In Japanese, there is a word that specifically refers to the splittable wooden chopsticks you get at restaurants. The German word “fremdschämen” encapsulates the feeling you get when you’re embarrassed on behalf of someone else. All of these require explanation in order to properly communicate their meaning, and are, to varying degrees, untranslatable. Choose a word, tell us what it means, and then explain why it cannot (or should not) be translated from its original language. —Inspired by Emily Driscoll, Class of 2018

Little pigs, French hens, a family of bears. Blind mice, musketeers, the Fates. Parts of an atom, laws of thought, a guideline for composition. Omne trium perfectum? Create your own group of threes, and describe why and how they fit together. —Inspired by Zilin Cui, Class of 2018

The mantis shrimp can perceive both polarized light and multispectral images; they have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom. Human eyes have color receptors for three colors (red, green, and blue); the mantis shrimp has receptors for sixteen types of color, enabling them to see a spectrum far beyond the capacity of the human brain. Seriously, how cool is the mantis shrimp: mantisshrimp.uchicago.edu What might they be able to see that we cannot? What are we missing? —Inspired by Tess Moran, AB’16

How are apples and oranges supposed to be compared? Possible answers involve, but are not limited to, statistics, chemistry, physics, linguistics, and philosophy. —Inspired by Florence Chan, AB’15

The ball is in your court—a penny for your thoughts, but say it, don’t spray it. So long as you don’t bite off more than you can chew, beat around the bush, or cut corners, writing this essay should be a piece of cake. Create your own idiom, and tell us its origin—you know, the whole nine yards. PS: A picture is worth a thousand words. —Inspired by April Bell, AB'17, and Maya Shaked, Class of 2018 (It takes two to tango.)

“A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.” –Oscar Wilde. Othello and Iago. Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. Autobots and Decepticons. History and art are full of heroes and their enemies. Tell us about the relationship between you and your arch-nemesis (either real or imagined). —Inspired by Martin Krzywy, AB’16

Heisenberg claims that you cannot know both the position and momentum of an electron with total certainty. Choose two other concepts that cannot be known simultaneously and discuss the implications. (Do not consider yourself limited to the field of physics). —Inspired by Doran Bennett, AB’07

Susan Sontag, AB’51, wrote that “[s]ilence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.” Write about an issue or a situation when you remained silent, and explain how silence may speak in ways that you did or did not intend. The Aesthetics of Silence, 1967. —Anonymous Suggestion

“…I [was] eager to escape backward again, to be off to invent a past for the present.” —The Rose Rabbi by Daniel Stern Present: pres·ent 1. Something that is offered, presented, or given as a gift. Let’s stick with this definition. Unusual presents, accidental presents, metaphorical presents, re-gifted presents, etc.—pick any present you have ever received and invent a past for it. —Inspired by Jennifer Qin, AB’16

So where is Waldo, really? —Inspired by Robin Ye, AB’16

Find x. —Inspired by Benjamin Nuzzo, an admitted student from Eton College, UK

Dog and Cat. Coffee and Tea. Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye. Everyone knows there are two types of people in the world. What are they? —Inspired by an anonymous alumna, AB'06

How did you get caught? (Or not caught, as the case may be.) —Inspired by Kelly Kennedy, AB’10

Chicago author Nelson Algren said, “A writer does well if in his whole life he can tell the story of one street.” Chicagoans, but not just Chicagoans, have always found something instructive, and pleasing, and profound in the stories of their block, of Main Street, of Highway 61, of a farm lane, of the Celestial Highway. Tell us the story of a street, path, road—real or imagined or metaphorical. —Anonymous Suggestion

UChicago professor W. J. T. Mitchell entitled his 2005 book What Do Pictures Want? Describe a picture, and explore what it wants. —Inspired by Anna Andel

“Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.“—Miles Davis (1926–91) —Inspired by Jack Reeves

University of Chicago alumna and renowned author/critic Susan Sontag said, “The only interesting answers are those that destroy the questions.” We all have heard serious questions, absurd questions, and seriously absurd questions, some of which cannot be answered without obliterating the very question. Destroy a question with your answer. —Inspired by Aleksandra Ciric

“Mind that does not stick.” —Zen Master Shoitsu (1202–80)

Superstring theory has revolutionized speculation about the physical world by suggesting that strings play a pivotal role in the universe. Strings, however, always have explained or enriched our lives, from Theseus’s escape route from the Labyrinth, to kittens playing with balls of yarn, to the single hair that held the sword above Damocles, to the Old Norse tradition that one’s life is a thread woven into a tapestry of fate, to the beautiful sounds of the finely tuned string of a violin, to the children’s game of cat’s cradle, to the concept of stringing someone along. Use the power of string to explain the biggest or the smallest phenomenon. —Inspired by Adam Sobolweski

Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We’ve bought it, but it didn’t stop us from wondering about other things, like absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both silly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard. —Inspired by Katherine Gold

People often think of language as a connector, something that brings people together by helping them share experiences, feelings, ideas, etc. We, however, are interested in how language sets people apart. Start with the peculiarities of your own personal language—the voice you use when speaking most intimately to yourself, the vocabulary that spills out when you’re startled, or special phrases and gestures that no one else seems to use or even understand—and tell us how your language makes you unique. You may want to think about subtle riffs or idiosyncrasies based on cadence, rhythm, rhyme, or (mis)pronunciation. —Inspired by Kimberly Traube

In 2015, the city of Melbourne, Australia created a "tree-mail" service, in which all of the trees in the city received an email address so that residents could report any tree-related issues. As an unexpected result, people began to email their favorite trees sweet and occasionally humorous letters. Imagine this has been expanded to any object (tree or otherwise) in the world, and share with us the letter you’d send to your favorite. -Inspired by Hannah Lu, Class of 2020 

You’re on a voyage in the thirteenth century, sailing across the tempestuous seas. What if, suddenly, you fell off the edge of the Earth? -Inspired by Chandani Latey, AB'93 

The word floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant or of having no value. It originated in the mid-18th century from the Latin words "floccus," "naucum," "nihilum," and "pilus"—all words meaning “of little use.” Coin your own word using parts from any language you choose, tell us its meaning, and describe the plausible (if only to you) scenarios in which it would be most appropriately used.  -Inspired by Ben Zhang, Class of 2022 

Lost your keys? Alohomora. Noisy roommate? Quietus. Feel the need to shatter windows for some reason? Finestra. Create your own spell, charm, jinx, or other means for magical mayhem. How is it enacted? Is there an incantation? Does it involve a potion or other magical object? If so, what's in it or what is it? What does it do?  -Inspired by Emma Sorkin, Class of 2021 

Imagine you’ve struck a deal with the Dean of Admissions himself, Dean Nondorf. It goes as follows: you’re guaranteed admission to the University of Chicago regardless of any circumstances that arise. This bond is grounded on the condition that you’ll obtain a blank, 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, and draw, write, sketch, shade, stencil, paint etc., anything and everything you want on it; your only limitations will be the boundaries of both sides on the single page. Now the catch… your submission, for the rest of your life, will always be the first thing anyone you meet for the first time will see. Whether it’s at a job interview, a blind date, arrival at your first Humanities class, before you even say, “hey,” they’ll already have seen your page, and formulated that first impression. Show us your page. What’s on it, and why? If your piece is largely or exclusively visual, please make sure to share a creator's accompanying statement of at least 300 words, which we will happily allow to be on its own, separate page. PS: This is a creative thought experiment, and selecting this essay prompt does not guarantee your admission to UChicago. -Inspired by Amandeep Singh Ahluwalia, Class of 2022

Cats have nine lives, Pac-Man has three lives, and radioactive isotopes have half-lives. How many lives does something else—conceptual or actual—have, and why? -Inspired by Kendrick Shin, Class of 2019

If there’s a limited amount of matter in the universe, how can Olive Garden (along with other restaurants and their concepts of food infinity) offer truly unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks? Explain this using any method of analysis you wish—physics, biology, economics, history, theology… the options, as you can tell, are endless.  -Inspired by Yoonseo Lee, Class of 2023 

A hot dog might be a sandwich, and cereal might be a soup, but is a ______ a ______? -Inspired by Arya Muralidharan, Class of 2021 (and dozens of others who, this year and in past years, have submitted the question “Is a hot dog a sandwich,” to which we reply, “maybe”)

“Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.” – Jessamyn West -Inspired by Elizabeth Mansfield, Class of 2020

Application Requirements

Each year, the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH) welcomes a cohort of 100-130 students with varying academic and professional interests, an unusual mix of life experience, and significant academic promise. Applications for MAPH 2025-2026 open on September 3rd, 2024 (link below). Part-time study options are available for students with limited availability. Please contact us if you have any questions about part-time enrollment!

Application Deadlines

All MAPH applicants must submit the following materials:

• Online graduate application
• Statement of academic purpose (No more than 1000 words, single spaced)
• Critical writing sample (10-15 pages)
• Three letters of recommendation from previous academic instructors
• Transcripts  for all previous degrees and coursework
• $90 non-refundable application fee

Additionally, applicants to the graduate schools and divisions of the University of Chicago, regardless of citizenship, must either meet one of our waiver criteria or submit proof of English language proficiency . 

Please note that MAPH does not require or accept GRE scores. 

Information for International Applicants Apply Now

Additional Application Requirements

Students in The College may be eligible to participate in a BA/Master of Arts in the Humanities degree. Please refer to The College website  for more information about the application process.

Classical Languages

Applicants interested in the Classics Option must submit the above materials and a list of the Greek and Latin texts that they have read in the original, as well as all such texts they plan to read before matriculation.

Creative Writing

Applicants interested in the Creative Writing Option must submit the above materials and an additional creative writing sample. The creative writing sample should be written in the proposed genre of study, length can vary but samples should not be more than 20 pages overall. 

Two-Year Language Option

Applicants interested in the Two-Year Language Option (TLO) must submit the above materials and a supplemental document. In the supplement, applicants should indicate:

• which language(s) they would concentrate on
• academic and professional reasons for studying these languages
• how many years and at which institution(s) they have studied these languages