Schedule

Orientation: June 10–13, 2010
Newly admitted MFA students in Writing and Poetics are required to attend orientation. Newly admitted low-residency MFA Creative Writing students are welcome to attend, but will be provided with an online orientation module if they cannot attend the on-campus orientation.

Noncredit, non-degree-seeking credit students and undergraduate students should not to attend orientation; the first event for those students is Convocation on Sunday, June 13.

All faculty liaisons are required to attend a mandatory training session on Friday, June 11, from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

SWP Weekly Events
The following events are detailed on the master schedule, which becomes available during the first week of the SWP.

Convocation: Sunday, June 13, 2010     5 p.m.
A formal welcome for all 2010 Summer Writing Program students. Meet faculty and your fellow writers and learn important information on your responsibilities as a SWP student.

Workshops and Print Shop Classes
Workshops and print shop classes run on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for print shop classes). Most workshops have ten to fifteen students. We always suggest that you read the creative and critical work of the faculty members with whom you are most interested in studying, in order to make informed decisions about which workshop would suit you best. While you take one workshop per week, the workshop is only a small part of that week’s activities.

SWP Community Events: Lectures, Panels, Meditation and More
In addition to workshops, the entire SWP community meets for the following highlighted classes and events, all of which will be further detailed on the SWP master schedule, available once the program begins. SWP community events are not open to the public. There is no need for registered students to register for these events individually. BA and MFA credit students must sign an attendance sheet at many of these events. For more information, please contact the SWP office at 303-245-4600.

Meditation Instruction at Naropa University
Since its inception in 1974, Naropa University has offered instruction in basic sitting meditation to any student, staff or faculty member who requests it. Persons who come for all or part of the SWP may want to begin meditating or rejuvenate their practice.

Afternoon Program
The following classes and events are open to all SWP students registered for the week. Most of these events are part of the afternoon program. There is no need to register for them individually, and attendance will be taken for undergraduate and graduate credit students. For more information, please contact the SWP office at 303-245-4600. Afternoon program events are not open to the public, and access requires a student passcard.

Monday through Friday Afternoons
Lectures, Talks and Presentations with Core and Guest Faculty
At least four lectures, talks or presentations are held each week as part of the afternoon program. All titles of lectures are listed in the master schedule. Faculty members reserve the last 15 minutes of their allotted time to take questions from the audience.

Monday Afternoon
Opening Panel with Core and Guest Faculty
An opening panel is held on Monday afternoon of each week. Four to six faculty members are asked to participate and generate discussion on the weekly theme. The last part of each panel is reserved for student questions and dialogue. Each panel is moderated by a core or visiting faculty member.

Monday Noncredit Orientation Meeting
This meeting is for noncredit students who are here for the week. SWP staff review the schedule and answer questions.

Monday MFA Class
A graduate-credit class for poetry, prose, creative writing and translation concentration students is held in four sections, each led by SWP faculty members—Kass Fleisher, Akilah Oliver, Elizabeth Robinson and Selah Saterstrom. The class meets each week on Monday, from 3:30 to 6 p.m., and is required for all master’s level students. This is a writing and discussion workshop centered around the concepts of prose, poetry and cross-genre writing. There will be weekly reading and writing assignments and a sourcebook of these assignments will be available in the SWP office by May 1. Students are required to attend the same section throughout the duration of the SWP. All students are welcome to attend the opening lecture from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. The discussion groups that follow (4:30 to 6 p.m.) are open only to graduate students.

Tuesday Afternoon
Panel with Core and Guest Faculty
A panel is held on Tuesday afternoon each week. Four to six faculty members are asked to participate and generate discussion on topics related to prose fiction, narrative text and other writing-related topics. The exact topics are listed in the master schedule. The last part of each panel is reserved for student questions and dialogue. Each panel is moderated by a core or visiting faculty member.

Tuesday and Thursday Afternoon
Prose and Poetry Chats
These are casual events that serve as opportunities for our students to chat with one of our faculty, usually about writing techniques and practices, in an informal group atmosphere.

Wednesday Morning
BA Discussion Class with Lisa Birman and MFA Student Instructors
In addition to their weekly workshops, undergraduate credit students also meet once per week on Wednesday mornings in small reading/writing/discussion groups. This class is required for all undergraduate students taking the program for credit. These discussion groups are open only to undergraduate credit students.

Wednesday Afternoon
Weekly Meditation and Contemplation
The practice of sitting meditation with attention placed on the breath has been an integral part of Naropa University’s educational training since the school’s beginning. In this and related practices, we become more directly familiar with the wild and tender nature of our minds. This requires commitment because the impulse to turn away from what is directly before us is often strong.

Each Wednesday afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. we will practice sitting and walking meditation, contemplation and occasional composition practice, in order to feel and notice the moments of our mental experience first-hand. We get to notice, miss and come back, again and again, to the fearless and blameless present.

Wednesday Student/Faculty Conferences
Student/faculty conferences are held from 4 to 6 p.m. each Wednesday. This is an opportunity for students to meet with faculty one-on-one to discuss the student’s own work. Each conference is about 25 minutes long. Students who sign up for conferences will be asked to submit a few pages of their work to the faculty member’s mailbox in the SWP office on the Tuesday before the conference, so that the faculty member has a chance to review it. Locations for conferences are posted outside the SWP office on Wednesday morning of each week.

Conferences are required for all graduate credit students and are open to other students on a space-available basis. Undergraduate and noncredit students should see the SWP finance and registration manager when they arrive on campus to sign up for any available conferences.

Thursday Afternoon
Anne Waldman Socratic Rap - "Rogue State"
The Socratic Rap is an open format presentation and discussion with nuggets from the Naropa Audio and Transcript Archive, gists on ecology and all-around poetic planet news. Highly recommended: Civil Disobediences: Poetics and Politics in Action (co-edited by Anne Waldman and Lisa Birman) and Beats at Naropa (co-edited by Anne Waldman and Laura Wright), anthologies based on Naropa’s archival holdings.

Friday Afternoon
Closing Colloquium with All Weekly Core and Visiting Faculty
A wrap-up colloquium is held each Friday afternoon. Every faculty member takes five minutes to present their class. Some tell us about it, some perform it, some even make mockumentaries! There will also be time for student comments and questions.