Embracing Weird: A Teaching Philosophy
Brian Baumgart is an English professor and the former director of Creative Writing at NHCC. In this blog post, Brian describes his unique approach to teaching creative writing. Read Post.
Write Like Us
Write Like Us is an equity-based creative writing program at five Twin Cities metro-area community colleges: Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Century College, Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Normandale Community College, and North Hennepin Community College.
Write Like Us centers and celebrates the work of BIPOC writers and writing students, fostering literary mentorship and leadership as it builds a platform for shared stories, voices, and lived experiences.
Write Like Us will host several writers in residence during the 2022-2023 academic year, including nationally prominent BIPOC authors and four local BIPOC author-mentors who will work throughout the year in fellowships with BIPOC student mentees at each of our campuses. During the Fall of 2022, the author mentors will visit each participating campus and national author Kiese Laymon will visit North Hennepin Community College (in conversation with Michael Kleber-Diggs).
Paying For College
NHCC's tuition is among the most affordable in Minnesota.
Financial Aid
- Scholarships are money you don't have to repay
- Grants are money you don't have to repay
- North Star Promise - Free College Tuition for eligible students
Program Roadmaps
Program roadmaps provide students with a guide to understand the recommended course sequence to complete their degree.
Institutional Member, Association of Writers and Writing Programs.
Creative Writing Curriculum
Course Code | Title | Course Outlines | Goal Areas | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
ENGL 1250 | Magazine Workshop | View-ENGL 1250 | n/a | 2 |
ENGL 1900 | Introduction to Creative Writing | View-ENGL 1900 | n/a | 3 |
Course Title: Magazine Workshop Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 2
Course Description: This workshop offers students the opportunity to gain practical editorial experience by working on the college literary/arts magazine. As members of the editorial staff, students will solicit, select, and edit stories, essays and poems for publication. May be repeated for credit.
Course Title: Introduction to Creative Writing Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This class is designed for students who want to try creative writing, perhaps for the first time, and learn more about the creative process. No previous creative writing experience is necessary. Coursework will include reading, writing, and discussion of both student and professional work in at least three of the following genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction (or memoir), and drama. The focus of the class, students' creative work, will be presented and critiqued in a workshop environment.
Course Code | Title | Course Outlines | Goal Areas | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
ENGL 2960 | Creative Writing Capstone Project | View-ENGL 2960 | n/a | 1 |
Course Title: Creative Writing Capstone Project Goal Areas: n/a Credits: 1
Course Description: This course is intended for students who are in the Creative Writing AFA program and within a semester of completion. This capstone experience will focus on the writing and revision of a demonstrative portfolio of writing within a single genre, multiple genres, or blended genres (poetry, fiction, scriptwriting, and/or creative nonfiction). Students will work individually with faculty to develop and polish their writing for publication submission and movement toward further study and/or career options.Prerequisite: Engl 1900 Introduction to Creative Writing
Course Code | Title | Course Outlines | Goal Areas | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Creative Writing Program Electives - 9 credits | ||||
ENGL 2010 | Writing Creative Non-Fiction and Memoir or | View-ENGL 2010 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2020 | Writing Stories or | View-ENGL 2020 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2030 | Writing Poetry or | View-ENGL 2030 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2500 | Playwriting or | View-ENGL 2500 | n/a | 3 |
TFT 1280 | Introduction to Screenwriting or | View-TFT 1280 | n/a | 3 |
TFT 2500 | Playwriting | View-TFT 2500 | n/a | 3 |
Course Title: Introduction to Screenwriting Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course is an introduction to screenwriting, dealing with the basics of drama, story, character, structure, dialogue, and meaning. It explores these elements with writing exercises that develop skills in plotting, exposition, suspense, and action. It focuses on visual storytelling, helping students to discover observable actions and images that can convey ideas effectively, while constantly emphasizing how well-developed characters' needs and wants drive the structure and conflict of an engaging story. It is intended to acquaint students with the craft of screenwriting; to be a beginning course in the field that will help prepare students for further work.
Course Title: Writing Creative Non-Fiction and Memoir Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course offers beginning instruction in the art of writing creative non-fiction, which includes the personal essay, literary journalism, and other hybrid forms, as well as memoir writing. Students will read and analyze the work of professional writers, explore a variety of techniques for discovering material and topics, and experience workshop peer review of their work.
Course Title: Writing Stories Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course offers beginning instruction in the art of writing fiction. Exploring techniques for generating material, engaging in writing exercises, and critically examining contemporary short fiction are important aspects of this course. Students will develop a portfolio of their writing and will critique others' work in a writing workshop environment.
Course Title: Writing Poetry Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: Beginning instruction in the art of poetry. Exploring techniques for generating material, engaging in writing exercises both in and out of class, and discussing examples of contemporary poetry are important aspects of this class. Students will draft a collection of poems and critique others' work in a writing workshop environment.
Course Title: Playwriting Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of writing theatrical plays. They will be expected to work on several creative projects throughout the semester and to participate in workshops in which they will discuss and critique one another's work. Students may also be asked to complete other writing exercises and to analyze a selection of plays to gain a better understanding of the art of playwriting.
Course Title: Playwriting Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of writing theatrical plays. They will be expected to work on several creative projects throughout the semester and to participate in workshops in which they will discuss and critique one another's work. Students may also be asked to complete other writing exercises and to analyze a selection of plays to gain a better understanding of the art of play wrighting. Prerequisites: Engl 1900
Course Code | Title | Course Outlines | Goal Areas | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
Literature Program Electives - 12 credits | ||||
ENGL 1140 | Professional Writing or | View-ENGL 1140 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2150 | Introduction to Literary Studies or | View-ENGL 2150 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 1260 or | ||||
ENGL 2540 | Introduction to Literary Studies: Reading Poetry or | View-ENGL 2540 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2570 | Introduction to Literary Studies: Reading Plays or | View-ENGL 2570 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 1940 | Technical Writing or | View-ENGL 1940 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 1950 | Graphic Novels or | View-ENGL 1950 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2270 | Modern American Literature or | View-ENGL 2270 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2300 | Children's Literature or | View-ENGL 2300 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2330 or | ||||
ENGL 2340 | Nature in Literature or | View-ENGL 2340 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2350 | Women and Literature or | View-ENGL 2350 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2360 | Global Literary Perspectives or | View-ENGL 2360 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2370 | African American Literature or | View-ENGL 2370 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2380 | American Indian Literature or | View-ENGL 2380 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2390 | Work in American Literature or | View-ENGL 2390 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2400 | Utopian/Dystopian Literature or | View-ENGL 2400 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2450 | Survey of American Literature I or | View-ENGL 2450 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2460 | Survey of American Literature II or | View-ENGL 2460 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2550 | Survey of British Literature I or | View-ENGL 2550 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2560 | Survey of British Literature II or | View-ENGL 2560 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2580 | Shakespeare's Plays or | View-ENGL 2580 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2590 or | ||||
ENGL 2900 | Fantasy Literature or | View-ENGL 2900 | n/a | 3 |
ENGL 2950 | Mystery and Detective Fiction | View-ENGL 2950 | n/a | 3 |
Course Title: Professional Writing Goal Areas: n/a Credits: 3
Course Description: This course offers students the opportunity to improve their writing skills and adapt them for professional communication. Students will focus on assessing purpose, audience, credibility, style, clarity/correctness, and format to determine appropriate approaches to a range of written and electronic communication, including memos, letters, employment documents, and proposals/reports.
Course Title: Technical Writing Goal Areas: n/a Credits: 3
Course Description: This course further develops writing skills as applied to technical subjects for a specialized or lay audience. Credit does not apply to the 40 MnTC (Minnesota Transfer Curriculum) credits required in the A.A. (Associate of Arts).
Course Title: Graphic Novels Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course will introduce students to the diverse body of literature known as graphic novels. While emphasis will be placed on works that are specifically considered graphic novels, it may also include the study of other comics-strips and books that have significantly contributed to the development of the form. Students can expect to be exposed not only to a wide range of graphic novel types, such as autobiography, journalism, history, humor, dramatic fiction, manga, and superheroes, but also to a deeper understanding of the methods of telling stories that are unique to comics.
Course Title: Introduction to Literary Studies Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of literatures and to means to credibly examine that literature. It thus includes literary terms, critical approaches and their application to literature.
Course Title: Modern American Literature Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course will introduce students to selected American writers of the twentieth and/or twenty-first centuries and their works. The course may be organized either by historic periods or topically.
Course Title: Children's Literature Goal Areas: 06,07 Credits: 3
Course Description: In this course, students will have the pleasure of reading, discussing and evaluating children's literature ranging from the picture book to the young adult novel. Students will explore the history of children's literature, critical responses to it and its specific role for children and adults. Students will examine works from the genre that might include picture books, chapter books, folktales, fantasy, realistic fiction, historical fiction, poetry and nonfiction with an emphasis on how the genre and its themes have evolved over time, paying particular attention to how those themes address the role of children in society. This course will appeal to students, parents and educators.
Course Title: Nature in Literature Goal Areas: 06,10 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course surveys literature that examines the relation between human beings and the natural world. The primary consideration of this course is how a literary idea of nature has been affected and effected by variations in culture, namely, changes in politics, economics, and technology that in diverse historical contexts have created conflicts between ecological and human interests. Ultimately, this study leads to considering how the green language created by the writers under study has contributed to an eco-critical ethic that allows examination of current ecological sensibilities and the language that represents them.
Course Title: Women and Literature Goal Areas: 06,07 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course explores women as characters in and writers of literature, including fiction, non-fiction, drama and poetry. The course may also address issues of historical context, gender, class and race as a way of understanding women in literature.
Course Title: Global Literary Perspectives Goal Areas: 06,07 Credits: 3
Course Description: Students will interpret world literature and film (either in translation or originally written in English) that present culturally diverse voices and viewpoints. Special attention will be given to colonial and postcolonial literatures that reflect the immigrant communities of Twin Cities college campuses, such as Egyptian, Finnish, Ethiopian, Hmong, Icelandic, Iranian, Korean, Liberian, Mexican, Norwegian, Russian, Somali, Swedish, and Vietnamese.
Course Title: African American Literature Goal Areas: 06,07 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course introduces the student to the writings of African-Americans from the colonial period to the present and explores the contributions of these writers to American culture, letters, and life. The course may be organized either by historic periods or topically.
Course Title: American Indian Literature Goal Areas: 07,06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course introduces the students to North American Native American Literature. Readings may include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, songs, mythology, and film from traditional and contemporary authors. Special attention may be given to Native American authors with Minnesota connections, such as Louise Erdrich, David Treuer, and Susan Power.
Course Title: Work in American Literature Goal Areas: 09,06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course examines American texts by and about workers and those concerned with workers. It focuses on how these texts portray work and the ways that work structures personal and social life, as well as on how these texts address and are formed by historical and political events that shape working conditions. The course may be organized historically or topically.
Course Title: Utopian/Dystopian Literature Goal Areas: 08,06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course introduces students to the literature of utopias and dystopias, literary works about imaginary places, whose intention is to explore alternative models of political, cultural, and societal structures. Utopian/dystopian literatures seek to challenge existing ideas about governments, social communities, and constructions of human identity, but they also offer new, sometimes radical and transformative ideas regarding the reformation of existing human societies.
Course Title: Survey of American Literature I Goal Areas: 06,07 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course will provide students with a chronological overview of American literature, including major writers, literary developments (e.g. sentimentalism, gothic fiction, romanticism, transcendentalism) and key historical and social contexts, from the pre-colonial period to 1860.
Course Title: Survey of American Literature II Goal Areas: 07,06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course will provide students with a chronological overview of American literature, including major writers, literary movements (e.g. local color, realism, naturalism, modernism, and post-modernism) and social and historical contexts, from 1860 to the present.
Course Title: Introduction to Literary Studies: Reading Poetry Goal Areas: 06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course is a study of poetry: the reading and analysis of poetic works from a variety of time periods and cultures. Important figures, poetic traditions and movements, formal techniques, and other methods of evoking mood and meaning will be explored through discussion and in both written and oral projects throughout the semester.
Course Title: Survey of British Literature I Goal Areas: 08,06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course covers the literature of Great Britain with its historical background from its beginnings to 1785. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Donne, and Swift, among others, are studied in this course.
Course Title: Survey of British Literature II Goal Areas: 08,06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course covers the literature of Great Britain with its historical background from 1785 through the 20th century. The literature of the Romantic, Victorian, and Modern periods are studied in this course.
Course Title: Introduction to Literary Studies: Reading Plays Goal Areas: 06,07 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course is a survey of drama as literature; plays will be read as literary texts, not as the grounds for specific performances or performance practices. Through their engagements with the dramatic literature in this course, students will be introduced to a diversity of dramatic styles and themes. Attention will also be devoted to the social and cultural contexts in which the plays were written and in which they are read. Course materials may be organized either historically or topically.
Course Title: Shakespeare's Plays Goal Areas: 08,06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course studies some of the major plays of William Shakespeare (which may include histories, comedies, tragedies, and romances), analyzing the plays from the standpoint of literary interpretation, focusing on poetic style and literary techniques.
Course Title: Fantasy Literature Goal Areas: 06,07 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course will introduce students to fantasy as a literary genre. It will expose students to various types of fantasy stories (such as high fantasy, sword and sorcery, urban fantasy, and/or fantasy horror). It will also address how fantasy literature can reflect or comment on issues in the real world, including how various forms of bigotry can be challenged or normalized by fantasy texts.
Course Title: Mystery and Detective Fiction Goal Areas: 09,06 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course will introduce students to mystery and detective fiction as a literary genre and as popular literature, examining the conventions of suspense writing, possibly including hook, twist, red herring, back story, sub-plot, procedural, clues, and the ethical concerns of investigative methods and civic life. Discussion of various sub-genre styles will engage students in critical thinking applied to historical era, culturally diverse contexts, and gender roles in mystery writing.
Course Code | Title | Course Outlines | Goal Areas | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|
College Writing I | ||||
ENGL 1200 | Gateway College Writing or | View-ENGL 1200 | n/a | 4 |
ENGL 1201 | College Writing I | View-ENGL 1201 | n/a | 4 |
ENGL 1202 | College Writing II or | View-ENGL 1202 | n/a | 2 |
ENGL 1203 | College Writing II with Workshop | View-ENGL 1203 | n/a | 2 |
COMM 1010, COMM1110, COMM1210 - 1 course | ||||
COMM 1010 | Fundamentals of Public Speaking or | View-COMM 1010 | n/a | 3 |
COMM 1110 | Principles of Interpersonal Communication or | View-COMM 1110 | n/a | 3 |
COMM 1210 | Small Group Communication | View-COMM 1210 | n/a | 3 |
Course Title: Fundamentals of Public Speaking Goal Areas: 01 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course provides instruction and practical experience in the basics of public speaking. This course has a performance component: students are expected to create and deliver informative, persuasive and other types of speeches.
Course Title: Principles of Interpersonal Communication Goal Areas: 01,07 Credits: 3
Course Description: This introductory course looks at communication in one-to-one relationships in friendships, families, the workplace, and elsewhere. Students will be challenged to discover and assess their own communication strengths and weaknesses as they define and discuss what it means to be a competent interpersonal communicator. Course content includes both theory and practice (skill development).
Course Title: Gateway College Writing Goal Areas: 01 Credits: 4
Course Description: This class provides extended practice in critical reading, writing, and thinking skills. Students will develop an effective writing process and work to achieve college-level competence in reading and responding to texts, visuals, events, and ideas in a variety of written formats, with an emphasis on the academic essay. Audience awareness, interpretation and analysis, logical reasoning, and persuasive and argumentative skills will be developed. MLA style documentation of primary sources will be included.
Course Title: College Writing I Goal Areas: 01 Credits: 4
Course Description: This class provides extended practice in critical reading, writing, and thinking skills. Students will develop an effective writing process and work to achieve college-level competence in reading and responding to texts, visuals, events, and ideas in a variety of written formats, with an emphasis on the academic essay. Audience awareness, interpretation and analysis, logical reasoning, and persuasive and argumentative skills will be developed. MLA style documentation of primary sources will be included.
Course Title: College Writing II Goal Areas: 02,01 Credits: 2
Course Description: This class focuses on the research process, textual analysis of primary and secondary sources, rhetorical strategies for argument and persuasion, and successful integration of sources into a longer academic paper utilizing MLA (or other, as appropriate) documentation format. The class may be disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or topical in content.
Course Title: College Writing II with Workshop Goal Areas: 01,02 Credits: 2
Course Description: This class focuses on the research process, textual analysis of primary and secondary sources, rhetorical strategies for argument and persuasion, and successful integration of sources into a longer academic paper utilizing MLA (or other, as appropriate) documentation format. The class may be disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or topical in content.
Course Title: Small Group Communication Goal Areas: 07,01 Credits: 3
Course Description: This course examines communication in small groups. Students will participate in and analyze how small groups function, how leadership roles evolve, how decisions are made and how conflicts can be resolved. Students will work in small groups, complete group projects, and analyze group interaction.
15 Credits must be earned at NHCC |
Total Credits Required | 60 |
2024-2025
Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World:
- engagement with literary arts in multiple genres across diverse cultures and societal perspectives, both by critically successful authors and through student writing
- significant and critical awareness of the contemporary world, from local to global
Focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring
Intellectual and Practical Skills:
- analysis and examination of stylistic and literary elements of critically successful authors and student writing within multiple genres
- demonstration of critical and creative thinking through large and small group workshop style discussion and textual analysis of writing
- strategic application of practical and applicable creative writing modes and approaches to effective revision
- knowledge of historically successful literary elements and the artists who have used them
Practiced extensively, across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance
Personal and Social Responsibility and Engagement:
- understanding of cultural variation in forms of contemporary and historical literature, as well as important ways in which the contextual framework of the literature reflects culture
- interacting with college, local, national, and/or global publications with an awareness of audience and social ramifications
- developed skills in time management, deadlines, and collaborative experiences
Anchored through active involvement with diverse communities and realworld challenges
Integrative and Applied Learning:
- participation in literary arts publication and public performance
- investigation of careers related to critical and creative writing and the literary arts
- demonstration of proficiency in at least one genre of creative writing
Demonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems
Graduates will be prepared to transfer to, and succeed at, an upper level academic institution.
Program roadmaps provide students with a guide to understand the recommended course sequence to complete their degree.
Information on careers, including career descriptions, salary data, and employment outlook is available on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website and O*Net Online website.
If you are planning on transferring to another institution, follow the guidelines available on our transfer resources web page to help you plan the process: Transfer Information
An Associate of Fine Arts (A.F.A.) degree is intended for students whose primary goal is to complete a program in a designated discipline in fine arts. The A.F.A. degree is designed for transfer to a baccalaureate degree.
Completion of an A.F.A. degree fulfills the Goal Area 2 requirement of the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC).
Developmental Coursework Some students may need preparatory course(s) in Math and/or English. Courses numbered below 1000 will not apply toward a degree.
Equal Opportunity Employer and Disability Access Information North Hennepin Community College is a member of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and an equal opportunity employer and educator. This document is available in alternative formats to individuals with disabilities by calling 7634930555 or through the Minnesota Relay Service at 18006273529.
North Hennepin Community College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
30 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2400
Chicago, IL 60602-2504
1-800-621-7440