Creative Writing Programs :: NewPages Guide
California Institute of Integral Studies
MFA in Writing & Consciousness
MFA in Creative Inquiry, Interdisciplinary Arts
1453 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94103
Website: www.ciis.edu
Program director: Cindy Shearer
Program contact: Brynn Saito
Phone: 415-575-6264
Email: bsaito@ciis.edu
Degrees offered: MFA
Genres: Fiction, poetry, non-fiction
Type of program: residency
Length of program: 2 years
Enrollment: 1 cohort per year; 20 total enrolled students
Total credits required: 48
Application deadlines: February 1st
Scholarships available: yes
Core faculty: Judy Grahn; Carolyn Cooke, MFA; Sarah Stone, MFA, Cindy Shearer, DA (Program Chair); Randall Babtkis, MFA; Anne Bluethenthal, MFA; Kris Brandenburger, PhD.
Visiting faculty: Daphne Gottlieb, Daria Halprin, Pireeni Sundaralingam, Bruce Gelfand, Holly Hughes
Assistantships: yes
Publishing/editing courses: yes
Literary magazine: yes
Reading series: yes
Recent visiting writers: Jane Hirshfield, Danzy Senna, Lysley Tenorio, Gene Luen Yang, Thaisa Frank, Genny Lim
Program description: The MFA in Writing and Consciousness at CIIS offers a unique multigenre, multidiscipline approach, and a strong focus on diverse, international, contemporary literary models. This two-year, 48 unit program can be accomplished entirely through 6 weekend intensives per semester, with limited supplementary online coursework. It is geared towards working writers, and multi-disciplinary writer-artists, who hold the view that writing is both an art and a calling.
For writers and poets who are interested in a more interdisciplinary MFA experience, please visit the home page for the MFA in Creative Inquiry, Interdisciplinary arts. The MFA in Creative Inquiry, Interdisciplinary Arts welcomes artists crossing disciplines (writer-performers, visual artist-dancers, actor-musicians, for example) and artists practicing or trained in a single discipline who are drawn to the interdisciplinary arts, and who are interested in placing their own work at the center of their creative inquiry. This two-year, 48 unit program can be accomplished entirely through 6 weekend intensives per semester, with limited supplementary online coursework.
The curriculum combines intellectual rigor with playful curiosity and the willingness to take risks and experiment in workshop, art, and craft courses. We do not believe that literary artists exist in a vacuum, separate from the culture; rather, we hold the view that art provides a profound method for engaging self and culture and can transform the individual and world.
The heart of the program--the MFA Workshop and MFA Project--gives students a chance to focus on their own work while learning from the work of their peers. Students have a range of choices in establishing their individual programs and areas of study. Students read substantially, write critical and creative work, and complete a creative project in the genre of their choice: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, text/image, or mixed-genre work. Students work closely with our faculty of active writers, both in small courses and one on one (in person and online).Visiting writers lead workshops and are invited to present at our guest artist series, Saturday Night @ CIIS, so that our students' journeys are enriched by multiple perspectives.