College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media
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MFA in Writing first in Nebraska	Calendar of Events — September through December 2007

 

MFA in Writing first in Nebraska

Twice a year, for 10 days in July and December, the Lied Lodge and Conference Center in Nebraska City becomes a satellite campus for the University of Nebraska's MFA in Writing program.

From across the country, students and faculty arrive in Nebraska to engage each other in an intense agenda of daily craft lectures, literary readings, writing workshops and individual conferences to prepare students for a semester of home study in the literary craft of fiction, poetry or creative nonfiction.

"The Lied is an incredible location," one student wrote of the program, jointly sponsored by UNO and the University of Nebraska at Kearney. "What a place to enjoy this stimulating and valuable experience, both on an academic level and a personal one."

And the word is spreading.

The "low-residency" graduate program opened its inaugural session in August 2005 with 12 students and 10 visiting/teaching faculty members. By the July 2007 residency the number of teaching faculty had increased to 20 and student enrollment had grown to 50. That included 11 students from the first residency who became the MFA in Writing program's first graduates, receiving master of fine arts degrees from the University of Nebraska.

Students of a low-residency program in writing typically spend 10 days twice a year in residence at a university, followed by 16 weeks working from home in correspondence with a faculty mentor. Such structure eases the familial and career disruptions for students and allows a university to hire outstanding teaching writers on a contract basis.

In Nebraska, students and faculty from more than a dozen states and various institutions gather to exchange information, practical advice and ideas through lectures, workshops, readings and individual conferences.

"This week went beyond all expectations," a student wrote in review of a recent residency. "Not only in the academic sense, but socially as well. Faculty interaction was probably the high point.

"Their accessibility and flexibility served to negate any feelings of discomfort or self-consciousness. We were treated as equal participants in the creative process."

During a residency, each student is paired with a faculty mentor with whom he works one-on-one for the succeeding academic semester.

Notes Richard Duggin, program director: "It has been our great fortune to have attracted to the program an outstanding cadre of faculty writers and mentors, beginning with the small core of six resident writing faculty from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and University of Nebraska at Omaha campuses who first lent their names six years ago in support of that initial proposal for an MFA in Writing program.

"Currently, the program has grown to 20 writer/mentors from various parts of the country, all of whom provide the artistic direction for the program and the substantial investment of their time and energy toward the individual mentoring of students that is a hallmark of a low-residency writing program."

The student experience includes four rigorous semesters of new writing, revisions, critical essays, a longer critical paper and a capstone creative project that comprises the student's thesis. The writer's achievements are showcased in their final graduating residency by a 45-minute lecture on writing craft or theory and a 20-minute public reading from their original writing, presented before the faculty and students of the program.

While the low-residency model for master's degrees in creative writing is not new (25 programs currently are listed as members of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs), the joint UNO-UNK program is the first MFA in Writing program in the University of Nebraska system, the first low-residency MFA in the Midwest, and the first low-residency MFA offered by a public university.

In his commencement celebration remarks, Duggin praised the graduates: "I couldn't be prouder of this group of students who took a chance with us two years ago when we all congregated for the first time here in the heart of the heart of the country, and we looked each other over during that first meal we shared together in the dining room, and we all said in our hearts, 'Yes, I was right. This is where I need to be. These are the people I need to be with.'

"Their substantial progress in the program, their accomplishments in their artistic growth, has been nothing short of exceptional. The present awarding of their degrees from the University of Nebraska is just small emblem of the enormity of what they have accomplished over the past two years."

For more on the program visit www.unomaha.edu/unmfaw

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Calendar of Events — September through December 2007

Art & Art History Art shows held in UNO Art Gallery, 1st Floor, Weber Fine Arts Building, Opening receptions begin at 6:30 p.m.   UNO Art Gallery: Aug. 31-Oct. 13 Travis Conrad Erion, Giedre Montvila, and Ann Weiner (painting, drawing, sculpture). Opening Reception Aug. 31   Sept. 6 Art Fair, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.   Oct. 19-Nov. 17 Regional Ceramics Exhibition featuring Dean Cox, Conifer Smith, Reagan Yoder and more.              Oct. 19-Nov. 3 Day of the Dead Installation; Opening reception Oct. 19   Nov. 9-Nov. 17 BFA Independent Study Showcase   Nov. 30-Jan. 18 Bret Reif (non-traditional media); Opening reception Nov. 30   Other Events: Sept 20 Friends of Art Movie Night: "Sketches of Frank Gehry", 7:30 PM, Dundee Theatre, Benefit FOA Scholarships.  Tickets may be purchased in advance at Dundee Theater or by contacting Shari Hofschire, 554-2402   Sept 27 The Art of Collecting Prints "The World of Prints Through the Eyes of a Collector." Lecture by art historian /print collector, Dr. Robert Getscher.  7 PM, UNO Art Gallery.   Sept. 30 Print sale of fine art prints from the 15th to the 20th-centuries.  1-5 PM, UNO Art Gallery.

Communication Nov. 6, 7-9 p.m. Election night coverage on The Knowledge Network (TKN).  Length of program subject to change.   Music Music performances held in Strauss Performing Arts Center Recital Hall unless otherwise noted. Call 554-2335 for Ecoutez! and Resonate tickets.   Sept. 8 ARTSaha!: Ballet Mécanique Concert, 8 p.m.   Sept. 11 ARTSaha!: Iron Composer Competition, 12:00 p.m.-8:00 pm   Sept. 11 ARTSaha!: Wind Concert, 8:00 pm   Sept. 14                                                                                Ecoutez! Series: ARTSaha! Guest Artists Joe Drew, Rudolf Kamper & John Klinghammer, 7:30 p.m.   Sept. 26 Resonate Series: Leonard Garrison, flute, 7:30 p.m.   Oct. 25 Ecoutez! Series: CANTUS Mens Choir, 7:30 p.m.   Oct. 30 Hauntcert Heartland Philharmonic Orchestra & Chamber Orchestra Concert, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30 Resonate Series: Christine Beard, flute, 7:30 p.m.   Dec. 16 Messiah Concert Choir Concert, 3:00 & 7:30 p.m.

Masters & Music Series A Series Blending Artistic Imagery and Musical Composition. Sunday evenings at 5 p.m. in the UNO Art Gallery, 1st Floor, Weber Fine Arts Building. Reception with artists follow lecture/performances. Contact Shari Hofschire, 554-2402, for tickets.   Oct. 28 Masters and Music: PERFECT UNIONS. Liz Vercruysse, Ceramicist, and Dr. Tomm Roland: Percussionist.  5 pm UNO Art Gallery   Theatre Performances begin 7:30 p.m. in UNO Theatre, Weber Fine Arts Building, unless otherwise noted. Call UNO Theatre Box Office for tickets, 554-2335.   Sept. 7-9 Flu Season, presented by FAUST, WFAB 006   Oct. 11-13, 17-20 Art   Nov. 15-17, 28-30 & Dec. 1 The Madwoman of Chaillot                                                                                                             Writer's Workshop Readings start at 7:30 p.m. in the UNO Art Gallery, 1st Floor, Weber Fine Arts Building.   Missouri Valley Reading Series: Sept. 5 Essayist Eli Hastings                                                                              Oct. 3 Poet and Translator Joshua Beckman   Oct. 10 Poet Joanna Klink   Oct. 24 Novelist Ann Cummins   Nov. 7 Poets James Jay and Zachary Schomburg