Creative Writing for Social Change

Course Director: Thomas Lavelle

*Please note that the course is open for both BSc and MSc students. For BSc BE students, the course can be counted towards the degree as an open elective course. *

First and foremost, this course creates a space for students to express themselves creatively about social issues that engage them personally. To support that kind of expression, students will work with inspirational texts, writing strategies, and workshop methods. The first of these, texts, draws upon a range of writers and contexts that address a range of social concerns through different genre and various approaches to change. The second of these, strategies, applies well-established approaches to expository writing, storytelling, and poetic expression. The third, workshops, functions as one channel for giving and receiving feedback, and it underscores the status of creative writing as a process.

Note: This course runs through both period 3 and period 4

Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs)

Students who successfully complete this course will:

• Recognize and use, a range of different approaches for supporting social change through writing
• Draw upon the work of established writers to support their own development as writers
• Demonstrate the ability to provide constructive feedback on written texts and make use of the feedback they receive
• Reflect on their progress as a writer and express the outcome of that reflection in writing

General entry requirements

Most of the reading material required will be posted for students on Canvas. One exception is a required book: A Small Place by Jamacia Kincaid, any edition.

The course employs the standard SSE grading scale (Excellent, Very Good, Good, Pass). As is customary in writing courses, it makes use of continuous assessment with no mid-term or final exams; however, there is a final assignment that draws on the students’ production throughout the course. Given the nature of the course, attendance is obligatory. so students must attend 75% of class time in order to qualify for a grade. Students receive regular feedback on their performance, and final grades are computed on the basis of the following weighting:

• Timely and engaged submission of written deliverables: 15%
• Active participation in students' assigned workshop group: 20%
• A short reflective essay on your progress through mid-term, drawing on your personal development as a writer, workshop experience and inspiration texts; this is also prepratory work for you portfolio submission: 15%
• Class and workshop participation, including work with writing exercises and follow up on readings: 20%
• Creative Writing in English portfolio: 30%

Find the course schedule in TimeEdit

Have you been granted educational support because of a documented disability? If so, please contact the course director as soon as possible so that adequate accommodations can be made.

Contact specialneeds@hhs.se if you have questions about being granted educational support or need a copy of your educational support certificate.

For more information, visit the Specific Educational Needs page on the Student Hub (login required).