First Year Seminar 191HFA41 - FYS- Topics in HFA

First-year (R1ST) Topic - Freewriting Set Free
Course Description - This course offers students the opportunity to free themselves from content-specific writing prompts, audience expectations, the blue light of screens, even the confines of the classroom ? and just spend time putting pen to paper and seeing what happens, where it goes, and how it feels. Students will try out different ways of writing that feel comfortable (except for the occasional hand cramp!), creative, calming (or, alternatively, energizing), and maybe even cathartic. Part of each seminar session will be devoted to shared reading/listening aimed at learning about the multi-dimensionality of freewriting as a practice ? across time, disciplines, and cultural spaces. There will be plenty of time for solo explorations, but seminar members will also function as a closely connected community of writers. The course includes three ?field trips? to experiential sites on campus, involving experimentation with contemplative writing and attention, observation, and immersion. Students will also explore the UMass Amherst campus for interesting places to do their independent, out-of-class freewriting, and they will share those experiences with their classmates through informal presentations and mapping activities.