(read samples from student senior projects in our Senior Project Anthology)
The Creative Writing Senior Project is the culminating original creative text showing the creative writing student’s mastery in a given genre. It is a literary reflection and realization of the entire Creative Writing program curriculum – the finest work our students can achieve. Creative Writing senior projects have, in recent years, garnered the University of La Verne’s Dean’s Award, a financial prize given to graduating seniors for thoughtful excellence in the arts.
The Senior Project class (CWRT 499) is an intensive workshop course in which students, guided by faculty, assist one another in revising and fine-tuning already existing work (with occasional supplemental new work being written); it is not a class in which students create their senior project from scratch. As such, prior to being able to register for the class, students are required to first submit a writing sample to their senior project instructor, one showing substantial progress on the project. A highlight of the process is the Senior Project presentation, as students share themselves and their work with the campus community.
If students need more time to compose or further instruction prior to being admitted to CWRT 499, they are strongly encouraged to repeat the class in their chosen genre (CWRT 303, 304, or 324) or, alternately, request to take a directed or independent study class with a faculty member.