For Splash 2016, I am teaching several sections of a writing workshop. This class will be small, with about 8 students per class, and will last two hours. It is essential that students bring samples of their own writing that they wish to work on.

The sample writing can be anything- from a college admissions essay to a sonnet- so long as it is not explicitly sexual or inappropriate. The length is limited to two single-spaced pages, although I am personally willing to provide feedback on longer pieces submitted beforehand via email. 

The structure of the class may vary, but most likely students will be organized into pairs or small groups. They will share their work with their groupmates and receive feedback. Each half hour, the groups will be shuffled so that students can recieve maximum feedback. Additionally, I will provide my own feedback on each piece of writing. An alternate format is to have each student read their piece aloud to the class and recieve feedback in that way. I suspect students will prefer the former format, but I will offer each group the opportunity to vote between the two options.

Furthermore, students who wish to recieve further feedback from me as the writing instructor are welcome to contact me via email after the class has ended. 

Qualifications

In addition to my status as a neuroscience graduate student, I have a passion for creative writing. I have an undergraduate BA in English Literature from Swarthmore College. I have taken numerious fiction and poetry workshop classes, and have attended many writing workshops over the years. My personal interest is centered on fantasy short stories and poetry as well as scientific writing, but I am open to and capable of providing feedback on all forms of writing. Although I am not a published author (yet), I have submitted numerous short stories to literary magazines and can talk intelligibly about the publication process- as it applies to short stories and poems.