The Nature Writing Emphasis allows students to complete the B.A. in Environment and Sustainability (ENVS) and the MFA in Creative Writing at Western in five years. To remain qualified for the 3+2, upon earning 60 credits each student must:
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maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA and a 3.25 GPA within the major;
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provide three letters of recommendation, at least one of which is to be a professional reference and at least one of which is to be an academic reference from the student’s major at Western;
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write a Statement of Purpose to the Graduate Program in Creative Writing’s Nature Writing concentration, detailing ideas for the eventual MFA thesis.
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submit a 20-30 page writing sample
At this point, if any aspect of a student’s performance is found to be insufficient, the MFA Nature Writing Concentration Director will recommend denial of acceptance to the Graduate Studies Dean and the GPCW Director, in which case the student will need to find a new emphasis or minor in order to complete the undergraduate degree. Upon meeting the requirements above, and after Junior Year (reaching 91 credits in this plan—see “MAJOR MAP”) holding to the same GPA and general performance standards outlined above, the School of Graduate Studies will designate the student as a “Creative Writing MFA candidate with provisional acceptance.” Upon completion of Year Four of this plan, the student will receive the BA and the School of Graduate Studies may designate the student as a “MFA Creative Writing degree seeking student.” After Year Four, students who have completed all other requirements of the 3+2 program and all Western undergraduate requirements (120 total credits, 40 upper-division credits, general education requirements, the ENVS undergraduate courses listed under the Nature Writing emphasis, and the ENVS Nature Writing emphasis courses that come from the MFA in Year 4), yet choose to leave the Creative Writing program before Year 5, will still have completed the undergraduate ENVS Nature Writing emphasis and have earned the 120 credits necessary for a Western undergraduate degree.
A minimum of 78 credits is required for the B.A. components of the emphasis. In the fourth and fifth years, an additional 60 credits of Creative Writing MFA coursework results in the MFA in Creative Writing degree.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENVS 100 | Introduction to Environment and Sustainability (GT-HI1) | 3 |
| ENVS 200 | Writing the Environment | 3 |
| ENVS 250 | Environmental Justice (GT-SS3) | 3 |
| ENVS 301 | Science of Sustainability and Resilience | 3 |
| ENVS 350 | U.S. and Western Environmental Politics | 3 |
| ENVS 360 | Global Environmental Policy | 3 |
| ENVS 390 | Environmental Monitoring | 4 |
| ENVS 400 | Applied Sustainability | 3 |
| ENVS 410 | Environmental Ethics | 3 |
| Required supporting courses: | ||
| BIOL 130 | Environmental Biology (GT-SC2) | 3 |
| BIOL 135 | Environmental Biology Laboratory (GT-SC1) | 1 |
| ECON 215 | Environmental Economics | 3 |
| ENG 161 | Introduction to Creative Writing (GT-AH1) | 3 |
| PHYS 125 | Energy and the Environment (GT-SC2) | 3 |
| One of the following: | 3 | |
| Borderlands: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality | ||
| Literary Culture of the American West | ||
| Environmental Literature (GT-AH2) | ||
| One of the following: | 3 | |
| Creative Writing: Fiction | ||
| Creative Writing: Poetry | ||
| Creative Writing | ||
| Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction | ||
| Scriptwriting | ||
| One of the following: | 1 | |
| This Is The Headwaters | ||
| Headwaters Conference | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Cultural Anthropology (with laboratory) | ||
| Cultural Ecology | ||
| Borderlands: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality | ||
| Politics of the Environment | ||
| Politics of Social Movements | ||
| Human Rights | ||
| The Global South | ||
| Political Economy | ||
| Environmental Psychology | ||
| Multicultural Psychology | ||
| Social Psychology | ||
| Communities & Social Change | ||
| Environmental Sociology | ||
| Social Movements | ||
| Social Class, Status, and Power | ||
| Total Credits | 51 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Nature Writing MFA Courses | ||
| CRWR 600 | The Common Read & Writing Craft | 2 |
| CRWR 681 | Foundations of Nature Writing | 3 |
| CRWR 685 | Craft of Creative Nonfiction | 6 |
| CRWR 686 | Genres of Nature Writing | 6 |
| CRWR 680 | Writing Place with New Forms and Techniques | 6 |
| CRWR 688 | Writing about Nature and Society | 6 |
| Total Credits | 29 | |
For a full description of the required Graduate coursework, please see the appropriate MFA program in the Western Graduate Catalog.
Western Watershed General Education Requirements
Students must complete all Western Watershed General Education requirements to graduate.
Graduation Requirements
Undergraduate programs require a minimum of 120 semester credits for graduation. Of those 120 credits, 40 credits must be in upper-division courses (those marked 300 and above). Fifteen of these 40 upper-division credits must be earned in courses that are part of the standard or comprehensive major program being pursued.
Students are expected to review all graduation requirements, which can be found in the Western Undergraduate Catalog: Graduation Requirements.
Degree Plans are for planning purposes. They reflect a suggested plan to complete the degree in a projected timeframe per program of study.
"Western Watershed Course(s)” refers to a course from the Tributaries area of the Western Watershed program. These courses should be chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor.
Sample Plan
| Year One | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| ENVS 100 | Introduction to Environment and Sustainability (GT-HI1) | 3 |
| ENG 102 | Writing and Rhetoric I (GT-CO1) | 3 |
| BIOL 130 & BIOL 135 |
Environmental Biology (GT-SC2) and Environmental Biology Laboratory (GT-SC1) |
4 |
| WWGE 101/102/103/104 | Headwaters: First Year Seminar (WWGE) | 2 |
| Western Watershed Course | (WWGE) | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| ENVS 200 | Writing the Environment | 3 |
| ENG 103 | Writing and Rhetoric II (GT-CO2) | 3 |
| MATH 113 | Statistical Thinking (GT-MA1) | 3 |
| PHYS 125 | Energy and the Environment (GT-SC2) | 3 |
| Elective | Elective or minor course | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Year Two | ||
| Fall | ||
| ENG 161 | Introduction to Creative Writing (GT-AH1) | 3 |
| ENVS 250 | Environmental Justice (GT-SS3) | 3 |
| ENVS 301 | Science of Sustainability and Resilience | 3 |
| Western Watershed Course | (WWGE) | 3 |
| Elective | Elective or minor course | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| ECON 215 | Environmental Economics | 3 |
| ENG 230 |
Environmental Literature (GT-AH2) or Borderlands: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality or Literary Culture of the American West |
3 |
| ENVS 350 | U.S. and Western Environmental Politics | 3 |
| Western Watershed Course | (WWGE) | 3 |
| Elective | Elective or minor course | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Year Three | ||
| Fall | ||
| ENG 300 |
Creative Writing: Fiction or Creative Writing: Poetry or Creative Writing or Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction or Scriptwriting |
3 |
| ENVS 390 | Environmental Monitoring | 4 |
| Western Watershed Course | Upper Division (WWGE) | 3 |
| Western Watershed Course | Upper Division (WWGE) | 3 |
| Elective | Elective or minor course | 2 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| WWGE 301/302/303/304 | Delta:Western Watershed Integration Seminar (WWGE) | 1 |
| ENVS 360 | Global Environmental Policy | 3 |
| Elective | Cultural, racial, ethnic, gender, sex, sexuality, and/or class contexts | 3 |
| Elective | Elective or minor course | 8 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Summer | ||
| CRWR 600 | The Common Read & Writing Craft | 2 |
| CRWR 681 | Foundations of Nature Writing | 3 |
| **Summer courses count towards a student’s GPA, Academic Standing, and follow summer tuition fee structure. | ||
| Credits | 5 | |
| Year Four | ||
| Fall | ||
| CRWR 685 | Craft of Creative Nonfiction | 6 |
| CRWR 686 | Genres of Nature Writing | 6 |
| ENVS 410 | Environmental Ethics | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| CRWR 680 | Writing Place with New Forms and Techniques | 6 |
| CRWR 688 | Writing about Nature and Society | 6 |
| ENVS 400 | Applied Sustainability | 3 |
| Credits | 15 | |
| Year Five | ||
| Summer | ||
| CRWR 683 | Synthesis and Vision: The Final Seminar | 3 |
| CRWR 697 | Special Topics | 1 |
| **Summer courses count towards a student’s GPA, Academic Standing, and follow summer tuition fee structure. | ||
| Credits | 4 | |
| Total Credits | 129 | |
Western is committed to doing our part to provide each student a clear path to graduation. This four‐year degree plan is a sample map for fulfilling requirements in the major and General Education. The pathway that you take to your degree may differ somewhat from this illustration, depending on where you start and the detours and side trips you may take along the way. You are responsible for ensuring your overall, upper division, and major‐specific credits as well as GPA requirements are fulfilled for graduation.