Rigor, their idea of it: 

1. People who are being lazy or half-assed need to be held accountable.
2. People who are doing not so great work need to be pushed more.
3. People who are not being serious enough need to be pushed, pressured into being more serious participants in the workshop.
4. Rolled into all of that: they want to know in really clear terms where they stand (how their work rates).


Margaret Luongo
Associate Professor, Creative Writing
Department of English
370 Bachelor Hall
Oxford, OH 45056
513-529-3237
________________________________________
From: Miami University Creative Writing Faculty [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cathy Wagner [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2012 12:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 460 A survey results

Very interesting, thanks. Looking forward to David's report. Margaret, did you get a sense of what exactly they meant by "rigor"? ("More rigor in workshop.")

On Fri, Apr 27, 2012 at 10:03 AM, cris cheek <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Thanks so much for taking the time to do this and cirulate the outcomes Margaret. The responses are certainly interesting.
I know that David has done something broadly similar and is intent upon circulating his responses.

here are a couple of thoughts to stir the pot:

less isolated ad hoc events and more thematic / foci . . and yes to bringing poets and fiction writers (and other genres) together onto the same evening if we possibly can (at least some of the time)

One thing i have mentioned, to several students and received positive responses, is to hold a weekly 3-hour-long open genre writing workshop on short forms (leading towards taut). I plan to do this in the fall. It would not be a course at all, but it would offer a small step along the path towards providing a more intensive writing enviroment and a glimpse towards more studio practice. I've had no other thoughts about how to do such a thing yet though.

Putting together a focus on editing and publishing is surely something that we could all contribute to without massive additional labor? There WILL be a serious focus developing on bookmaking and electronic publishing in the poetry grad cohort next year too. To whit i have been beginning to whittle a stick to beat myself with along the lines of making a student tech application next fall for a dedicated bookart space.

Clearly we could think about how to offer more screenplay writing workshops . . and i suggest some thought could be put into cross-listed classes with whatever the Media Studies programs end up being known as . .

One disjunct in these student responses, for me, is a failure on their part to understand that a close reading of a text IS a lesson in craft? I would love it if i felt that they were reading enough to be able to select readings . . . :D Also that editing is something they ought to be practicing at every micro stage of their compostional process;=)

We will have the opportunity to revise the major and we could certainly consider more overlaps with PW as well as Lit and begin to carve out a path with more distinction, less obviously tied to Lit . . that will be a bloody battle though i think .

We could certainly explore more collaboration with the newly rebranding School of Creative Arts

a few idling thoughts

cris



On Apr 27, 2012, at 8:59 AM, Luongo, Margaret M. Ms. wrote:

Attached, for your reading pleasure. Some very interesting responses!

Enjoy.

--Margaret


Margaret Luongo
Associate Professor, Creative Writing
Department of English
370 Bachelor Hall
Oxford, OH 45056
513-529-3237<tel:513-529-3237>
________________________________________
From: Miami University Creative Writing Faculty [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On Behalf Of cris cheek [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 12:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: meeting with seniors/exit interviews

HI Margaret,

it's a great idea to begin to conduct at least informal exit surveys.

Maybe ask them what they intend to try to do next? Do they want to go on to achieve further qualifications? Are they concerned about debt? In what ways do they consider that having a CW addition to the English BA give them an advantage when looking for employment?


my two cents worth,



cris



On Apr 24, 2012, at 9:39 AM, Luongo, Margaret M. Ms. wrote:

Since we're not going to have a chance to meet outside of class with our seniors this year, I thought I'd spend some time with my capstone class on Thursday, talking about changes they'd like to see in the creative writing program, including changes to the curriculum. Is there anything specific you'd like me to bring up? I was thinking I'd frame it very generally--that we're thinking about making changes to the program and the major, and that we'd like their input: what's been helpful, unhelpful, what they'd like more of less of, etc.

Let me know what you think.

Margaret


Margaret Luongo
Associate Professor, Creative Writing
Department of English
370 Bachelor Hall
Oxford, OH 45056
513-529-3237<tel:513-529-3237>
________________________________________
<Exit Survey, Capstone, Spring 2012.docx>




--
Catherine Wagner
Associate Professor of English
Assistant Director, Literary London Program
Miami University
314 Bachelor Hall
Oxford OH 45056

513-529-3828 (my office)
513-529-5221 (main office)
513-529-1392 fax

[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

Office hours: 2:15-3:15pm Tu-Th, 1:45-2:45 W