Johns Hopkins University was, in 1947, among the first major academic institutions in the United States to create a degree for writers.
The department of the Writing Seminars, distinguished by 60-plus years of teaching by prominent American writers, is characterized by the quality of its faculty, small classes, and a broad liberal arts curriculum as part of the major. More than 30 introductory writing classes are offered each semester, with an additional 20 reading seminars and writing workshops for majors and non-majors.
For the BA, students work primarily in fiction and poetry but may take courses in nonfiction prose, editorial writing, screenwriting, playwriting, and science writing. An array of internships and a visiting writers’ reading series offer wider opportunities.
For the two-year MFA, students concentrate in either fiction or poetry. The Writing Seminars’ success at all levels is confirmed by an extraordinary record of prizes for, and publications by, our alumni.
What can you do with your degree?
Write! With skills learned at The Writing Seminars, countless students have gone on to publish novels, short stories, poetry collections, and nonfiction articles and books. Our graduates also excel simultaneously in fields such as teaching, editing, arts administration, and a variety of other professions ranging from law to business to medicine.