Writing the Stand–Out College Essay

Instructor: Sarah Dohrmann
$400 | Register online>>
Saturdays: February 21, 28; March 7, 14
10 a.m.–12 p.m.

Learn how to draw out your natural voice and make the essay less stiff, thus more “stand–out.” We’ll mine our subjects (often a surprise even to ourselves) through in–class writing exercises. We’ll also read examples of great published college essays and outstanding personal nonfiction. We’ll use the structural scaffolding of fiction writing (telling the beginning, middle, and end of a story) with our own personal experiences. We’ll then structure our in–class writing exercises into one full first draft of a compelling essay. But that’s not all! We’ll also tighten and revise our drafts to finish the class with one essay that sings. Voila! You’ll be a shoe–in.

Students are asked to please bring at least one real college essay question or application to the first class.

Sarah Dohrmann was a 2007–2008 Fulbright Creative Writing Fellow in Morocco. She has taught creative writing in New York City public schools as a Writer–in–Residence with Teachers & Writers Collaborative since 2001 and has been on faculty at the High School Writers Seminar at Sarah Lawrence College since 2003. Her essays about teaching writing have appeared in Teachers & Writers Magazine and her essay about race in the classroom and a student's sudden death, "Teenage Boy Gunned Down" was a finalist for the Bechtel Prize in 2006.

Music History

Instructor: Joan Forsyth
$400 | Register online>>
Sundays: March 1, 8, 15, 22
1–3 p.m.

Learn about the four great periods of musical history, the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary eras, and discuss the major characteristics of each style. We will listen to representative works and consider their relationship to the ideas and cultures of the times.

Joan Forsyth is a multifaceted musician who has received critical acclaim as a soloist and chamber music artist. She has collaborated with such ensembles as the Cassatt Quartet, the Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center and CYGNUS, and appeared as soloist with the New Westminster Symphony, the Westchester Philharmonic and the Westchester Chamber Orchestra.

Poetry Workshop

Instructor: Ron Egatz
$400 | Register online>>
Saturdays: April 18, 25; May 2, 9
10 a.m.–12 p.m.

Ezra Pound wrote, "there is no minutia in poetry." This class will broaden the appeal of the message each poet wants readers to understand by reading drafts line by line, word by word, in order to ensure accessibility, clarity, and power, yet not dilute the writer's emotional intention. We will respectfully contribute insights to all student poems. Poetry by established poets will be examined and discussed.

Ron Egatz is winner of the Glimmer Train Poetry Award and the Greenburgh Poetry Award. A poet widely published in literary reviews and anthologies, Egatz also runs Camber Press, Inc., a boutique literary publishing company. He lives in New York.

Exploring Cultural Diversity: An Introduction to Anthropology

Instructor: Nadeen M. Thomas
$400 | Register online>>
Sundays: April 19, 26; May 3, 10
1–3 p.m.

The goal of this course is twofold: to gain a basic understanding of anthropological concepts and research, and to gain a better understanding of what it means to be human. All human beings have the same needs, yet human societies have developed myriad strategies for meeting those needs. In this course, we will focus on key concepts such as gender, family, food, and ritual and, through classic and contemporary texts, examine how these universals are expressed in different cultures. Students will also design and carry out a small–scale ethnographic research project that will deepen their understanding of the processes at work in their own cultures.

Nadeen M. Thomas is a doctoral candidate in cultural anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center. Her research interests include urban anthropology, education, youth culture, nutritional anthropology, social movements, ethnographic film, and feminist anthropology. Her work has appeared in the Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Europe and Dialectical Anthropology. She currently teaches at The College of Mount Saint Vincent.