Englisch und Kreatives Schreiben (B.A.)

The English and creative writing program at Sweet Briar College employs a studio curriculum emphasizing project-based learning. Special topics classes across genres — and in new and evolving genres — ask students to engage in directed readings and sustained individual creative projects. We train students to engage with texts in the way that working writers do, dissolving the boundary between critical engagement and creative response and helping students discover that they grow as writers, readers, and as human beings through explorations of both canonical and contemporary works of literature and creative practice.

The reading and writing of literature are always in dynamic conversation, and we encourage students to produce work that references both the historical traditions of literature and the contemporary climate. As working writers, our faculty engage in projects that shift and develop over time and are informed by what we are reading and what we discover as we write, and the changing world around us. We prepare students to live and work as writers and be more empathetic citizens and competent communicators, no matter what subjects they go on to study or what careers they pursue.

What is distinctive about studying English and creative writing at Sweet Briar?

Novelists John Gregory Brown and Carrie Brown — award-winning authors of 11 books — mentor students from the beginning to the end of their four years of college. These writers offer small, intimate workshops that enable students to work closely with their professors and classmates in a challenging and supportive environment.

As part of an annual series, visiting writers offer readings and visit classes throughout the academic year. Visitors have included Natasha Trethewey, Azar Nafisi, Lee Smith, Beth Macy, Salman Rushdie, Yiyun Li, Derek Walcott, and Ha Jin.

English and creative writing majors complete their writing portfolios in a senior seminar in which they also re-examine the authors whose works have informed their writing.

What can you do with a degree in English and creative writing?

Sweet Briar’s creative writing majors have received fellowships to many of the country’s most distinguished graduate creative writing programs, including Johns Hopkins University, the University of Virginia, the University of Massachusetts, and Pittsburgh.

You can pursue graduate degrees in literature, journalism, education, communications, law, and library science, among others.

Alumnae have become journalists, gone into publishing, opened art galleries, led nonprofit organizations, and worked as editors and teachers.

Sweet Briar College (SBC) prepares women (and at the graduate level, men) to be productive, responsible members of a world community. It focuses on personal and professional achievement through a customized educational program that combines the liberal arts, preparation for careers, and individual development. The faculty and staff guide students to become active learners, reason clearly, speak and write persuasively, and lead with integrity. They create an educational environment that is both intense and supportive and where learning occurs in many different venues, including the classroom, the community, and the world.

We’ve been making history since our earliest days. Our alumnae have been political leaders, doctors and veterinarians, scientists, innovators, and disruptors. They’re community leaders and decision-makers. They’re generous and determined. Our women’s leadership core curriculum is innovative and energizing. When our students graduate, they are persuasive communicators who know how to think on their feet and bring people together. No matter what they study or where they go from here, Sweet Briar women are prepared to lead.

Sweet Briar College is dedicated to maintaining an inclusive, nurturing environment that respects individual choice and difference.

Sweet Briar College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Master of Arts in Teaching.