Writing
Languages, Literature, and Culture
Why Minor in Writing at Allegheny College
Explore creative writing in the areas of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction–and craft your unique voice to stand out and harness the creative powers of language.
Unusual Combinations
Students often combine Writing with:
Division
- Language, Literature, and Culture
Program Type
- Minor
Number of Credits
24 for minor
Where Writing Alumni Work Today
Digital Editor
America’s Test Kitchen
Emily Rahravan ’18
Attorney
VanHo Law
Adam VanHo ’98
Regulatory Affairs Director of Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls
Arvinas
Donald N. Klein ’82
Graduate Student in History
Arizona State University
Jennifer Rodriguez ’19
Allegheny’s English Department, with its small class sizes, allows for more meaningful class discussions. I have found workshops, which emphasize peer review, to be especially enlightening, as they give a writer more perspective and an opportunity to write in a less structured environment.
Your Four-Year Journey
Year 1: Understanding
Study the craft of writing fiction, poetry or creative nonfiction through critical examination of both professional and student work.
Featured Courses:
Year 2: New Approaches
Writing isn’t all about words on the page, but also the words that come out of our mouths. If you choose to take ENGL 208 (Professional Communication) you will study practical communication in professional settings, considering the principles of document design, and reflect upon the ethical implications of a text’s content, design, and mode of delivery.
Featured courses:
Year 3: Delving Deeper
Typical third and fourth year courses consist of advanced workshops that will engage you as both a writer and critical reader. Hone your focus in fiction, poetry, or nonfiction.
Year 4: The Comp
By now, you’ll have learned the skills you need to express your best ideas in a variety of forms. Finish up your last year with any remaining electives.Your focus on creative expression and revision in the Writing minor will undoubtedly be an asset as you write your Senior Comp in any subject!
Featured Courses
Research and Internships
We’ll help you recognize the ideas and perspectives that shape your own and earlier times. By cultivating a sensitivity to and healthy skepticism about the subtlety and power of language, you’ll become educated in the fullest sense.
Our English students expand their skills through experiential learning, creative research, internships, study away, and more.
As a writing student at Allegheny, your nose won’t be stuck in your books. You’ll have the opportunity to take the skills you learn in the classroom and put them into action.
Our students broaden and refine their abilities through multiple experiential learning opportunities, including:
- The Campus, Allegheny’s weekly student newspaper
- Allegheny Review, a nationally-known undergraduate literary magazine
- Overkill, an Allegheny-specific literary magazine
- Writing Fellows: trained peer consultants in the Maytum Center for Student Success
- Student readings and national conferences: share your work with our learning community and beyond
The Single Voice Reading Series provides students with an opportunity to hear and meet nationally known writers. Readers have included John Updike, Carolyn Forché, Tobias Wolff, Jane Hirshfield, W.D. Snodgrass, Richard Blanco, Robert Olen Butler, Henri Cole, Edward Hirsch, Afaa Michael Weaver, Tim O’Brien, and Mark Doty.
Many writing minors carry out independent humanities research or collaborative research with faculty in addition to the Senior Comp.
Allegheny’s Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities provides funding for student research during the summer and for travel to regional and national conferences throughout the year.
Allegheny offers sponsored study-away programs in more than 15 countries across the world.
Faculty and Staff
Professor
Ph.D., The University of Houston; M.F.A., Columbia University; B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison
Email: cbakken@allegheny.edu
Phone: 814-332-4338
Professor
Ph.D., West Virginia University; MFA., University of Pittsburgh; B.A., Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Email: mferrence@allegheny.edu
Phone: 814-332-4339
Featured News
Gator Alumni Apply Lessons Learned at Allegheny to Rewarding Careers in Nonprofit and Government Sectors
Allegheny College’s Blue and Gold Weekend welcomed alumni returning to campus, celebrating not just memories but also the impressive careers they’ve built since graduation.
Program Contact
Jennie Votava
Frederick F. Seely Chair of English Literature; Associate Professor of English
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Address:
520 North Main Street
Meadville, PA 16335
Contact:
814-332-4351
info@allegheny.edu
admissions@allegheny.edu
