Course Description

Memory's promise is that we will be able to revisit, relive and recreate those moments in life that have made us who we are. Of course, that promise is not always fulfilled. But there are ways to deepen our understanding and strengthen our skill at holding memory to its promises. This course will focus on basic techniques and skills for writing about our personal lives.     

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Memoir writing focuses on writing about family, place, friendship, work life, spiritual life - all those connections that offer meaning - and it allows us to create meaning as well. The course will assist us in sifting through memory's images, choosing and refining select memories in order to highlight the stories we want to tell, and understanding the various 'selves' that are part of that process. 

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Through readings, lectures, in-class exercises and sharing, longer out-of-class assignments, and discussion, we will support each other in artfully relating the meaningful stories that have shaped and informed us. 

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Students will read some of the best in memoir writing and write short reflections on these readings, study theories of memoir writing, discuss the meaning of memory, and produce several shorter and at least one longer piece of writing with feedback from each other and the instructor. They will learn what makes for good writing, and develop their own voice, moral imagination, and capacity for creativity and self-expression, and learn how to offer valuable feedback. Such qualities allow the student to move through their day with compassion, imagination, empathy and clarity, and deepen their Neohumanist stance in the world. 

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Experience a completely unique learning journey! Students will:

• Learn the nuts and bolts, through study and practice, of effective creative writing; 

• Learn about the memoir, both sentence-level and essay-level craft, and about what carries a good piece of writing forward, through lectures and exercises;

• Learn the tools for assessing their classmates’ writing, and for giving valuable feedback and put those into practice in a workshop setting;

• Think deeply about their own lives in class discussion, reading, and exercises, and thus gain on a moral/emotional/aesthetic level, sifting through their experience to find meaning.