You’ll be introduced to the demands and challenges of literary creative practice. You’ll study creative writing alongside the study of American literature, helping you develop both your creative and critical abilities. You’ll be encouraged to access UEA’s close and active links with the world of contemporary writing; a legacy of the university’s long running and highly respected courses in the writing of fiction, poetry and drama. The specialised focus of American Literature with Creative Writing will give you the critical tools to better understand how culture is produced while you hone your own creative practice. Your year abroad will give your degree even more of an international flavour, enhancing your understanding of your subject. You’ll take modules at your host university, whilst experiencing the culture of another country first-hand. **Course Structure** **Year 1** In your first year you’ll acquire a comprehensive historical and literary overview of the United States. You’ll analyse a series of American icons - including the Stars and Stripes, the cowboy and the prison, using them as a way to think about important issues that have shaped the American national consciousness. You’ll explore key historical topics such as the American Revolution and the writing of the Constitution, the Civil War, the Jazz Age and Cold War. Through lectures and seminars you’ll also cover the often fiercely contested development of a national literature in the United States. You’ll trace the ways in which a multitude of voices – including Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and William Faulkner – have interpreted the nation. You’ll also participate in creative writing tutorials that will help you develop your creative practice and workshop your writing. Specifically, the Creative Writing and Identity module will enable you to master and employ different creative writing techniques, read and give constructive feedback on other’s work, use a writer’s notebook, and develop and revise your own creative work. **Year 2** In your second year you’ll take a compulsory module in the Autumn semester – Exceptional States: U.S. Intellectual and Cultural History. This interdisciplinary module allows you to delve more deeply into the foundational ideas that have animated and shaped the construction of the American nation. The complementary compulsory module, American Voices, encourages you to reflect on your own creative writing. In seminars and creative writing workshops you’ll develop as a writer, reader and editor of your own and other people’s work. This will enhance your understanding of American literature, but also your skills as a critical reader and creative writer. At this stage of your degree, you’ll embark on academic specialisation, meaning that the remaining credits for the year will be drawn from modules you choose run by the department of American Studies and the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing. **Year 3** You’ll spending your third year studying in another country at one of our partner universities. You could spend your year in the US, or add a comparative element to your studies by studying in Canada or the Pacific Rim countries. For further details, visit Study Abroad on UEA's website: **www.uea.ac.uk/study/study-abroad** **Year 4** In your final year you’ll continue to specialise, choosing modules relating to the research specialisms of academic staff within the department of American Studies and the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing. In the Autumn semester, you’ll also take a specialist creative writing module oriented around an American theme. In the second semester of your final year – guided by an academic supervisor – you’ll also complete a dissertation on a literary or