| Well, these two posts were sort of different contexts. You asked about the general opportunities available and I listed them. The other poster was asking what are Smith's "strongest" departments, what is it really known for.
The English dept. at Smith is definitely English Language and Literature focused. The bulk of the classes are in that, and the bulk of the major requirements are in that as well. They offer a variety of creative courses, but in the end they are an English department. Doesn't mean you can't get lots of well-rounded practice with your writing, or that their aren't opportunities at Smith for a creative writer to develop, but if asked to rank what Smith is known for, I wouldn't say it's a top "Creative Writing" school, mostly cause it doesn't have a program solely dedicated to that.
Though, not to sound like a cheerleader (I hate CC cheerleaders), but I think schools that have CW programs don't give you any better practice than you would get at schools with just English programs like Smith. The main difference is that CW schools you can do your major doing pretty much only creative, and at Smith you're going to have to take your shakespeare, milton, or chaucer, your survey literature courses (quite good, I reccommend American literature before 1865 with the egotistical but fabulous Michael Thurston), etc.
Hope that clears things up. My expereince with the dept. has always been good, like I said I really liked my Reading and Writing Short Poems class.
And sorry, I'm not giving any tours on campus until I return from being abroad in the fall, but good luck! I hope you get somebody good. Look for Margaret Mitchell's house (Chapin, with the pillars) which inspired Tara in Gone with the Wind, and if you have time, swing up to the rare book room and ask if you can have a peek at one of Sylvia Plath's manuscripts. |