Education MATTERS By Ryan G. Van Cleave CREATIVE WRITING COMES TO RINGLING COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN Since its founding in 1931, Ringling College of Art and Design has been teaching the visual arts, but it’s only this past academic year that it’s branched out into the world of creative writing. To serve the new Creative Writing major and minor, the relevant offerings expanded in August 2016 from 8 courses to ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Sure, there are popular golden-oldies like Writing Poetry, Short ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� but the enrollment is through the roof with more unique options such as Writing for Digital Media, Writing Transmedia Stories, and Creative Multimedia Shared Worlds. Clearly young people care about telling the stories they think should be told — and telling them well is equally important. That explains why the number of Creative Writing major applications for fall 2017 has tripled from last year. The Creative Writing contest for high school students offered by ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� contest drew under 50 entries. This last year’s contest drew 225 88 SCENE | JUNE 2017 entries, including ones from Abu Dhabi, Canada, Mexico, England, and Japan. Next year’s contest seems likely to break the 500-entry mark. Perhaps this new generation of writers agrees with what John Updike said about �������������������������������������������� instinctively to believe in the human value of creative 225 Number of entries for the high school creative writing contest in 2016. writing, whether in the �������������������������������������������������������� a mode of truth telling, selfexpression, and homage to the twin miracles of creation and consciousness.” President Larry Thompson, too, champions the power of the written word, explaining that “the new Creative Writing major at Ringling College of Art and Design is a wonderful addition to the various disciplines that we offer at the College. Creative Writing is another important art form that is as important as any other creative discipline we offer. After all, art — whether in the studio ���������������������������������������������������������� all about creative conceptual thinking and expressing those thoughts and feelings through the art form. So Ringling College is proud to include Creative Writing as one of the new, important majors to advance our students’ creative thinking and expression of it.” The reason Creative Writing is necessary at Ringling College is clear enough — at the heart of every major at the college is story. That’s �������������������������������������������������� new major and minor in October 2015 when student after student requested more training in story-making. ������������������������������������������������ running a program that meets their needs across the board. on the town
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