- Humanities
- B.A.
- Humanities
- Not Applicable
Program overview
UCSC does not offer this as an undergraduate major.
The Literature Department and the Writing Program at UC Santa Cruz offer courses in creative writing and in composition and rhetoric. The creative writing concentration within the literature major supports students in developing their craft alongside their peers and with the guidance of a faculty adviser. The courses offered through the Writing Program assist students in improving research and writing skills.
The Writing Program offers lower-division general education composition courses, upper-division peer tutoring courses, and graduate-level pedagogy courses. In collaboration with the colleges, the Writing Program administers the Academic Literacy Curriculum. The Writing Program also houses the Don Rothman Endowed Award in First-Year Writing, which honors outstanding first-year writers and recognizes the pedagogical inspirations of their teachers.
Learning Experience
Study and Research Opportunities
- B.A. in literature with a concentration in creative writing, with selective admission to the concentration
- Introductory writing courses with topical foci and courses with disciplinary foci involving significant amounts of reading, formal and informal weekly writing, and peer and instructor review
- A range of courses for students at all class levels offered through the Writing Program
- Student media that include award-winning student publications; KZSC, a public radio station serving three counties; campus newsmagazines; and annual literary journals
First-Year (Freshman) Requirements
In addition to completing the courses required for UC admission, high school students planning to major in literature at UC Santa Cruz should emphasize reading and writing skills in high school. Background in a foreign language is helpful. The Literature Department faculty require that all literature majors have one year of college-level proficiency in a second language.
Transfer Requirements
Literature is a non-screening major. Transfer students planning to major in literature should have some training in analytical and expository writing; an introductory course in literary interpretation and one additional literature course are especially desirable. Transfer students are urged to complete the Literature language proficiency requirement before transferring to UC Santa Cruz. The Literature language proficiency requirement is as follows: one year (three quarters or equivalent) of college-level study of a non-English language or demonstrated reading ability at this level.
