English Certificates and Minors: Spring 2026

AI and Writing Certificate Courses

Course	Course Description
ENGL 3160: AI AND WRITING ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES (Tan: Online)	Discover how generative AI is reshaping the way we think, write, and create. In this course, you’ll explore how AI tools are used across different fields, examine the ethical questions they raise, and learn to use them thoughtfully and effectively in your own communication and research. Together, we’ll unpack AI’s promises, pitfalls, and impact on real-world problems and solutions.

Race, Society, Environment Minor

Course	Course Description
ENGL 2640: Race & Ethnicity in the U.S (Holt: In-person)	Talking about race is hard! This course introduces you to the complex subjects of race and ethnicity in U.S. society, providing skills to talk about race in the U.S. knowledgeably and thoughtfully. We'll learn central approaches and concepts for the study of race and ethnicity from interdisciplinary perspectives. We'll also examine the history of race & ethnicity in the U.S., the role these concepts play in the present, and debates and divisions surrounding these ideas, drawing on works of literature, history, sociology, biology, law, policy, and cultural studies.

For additional Race, Society, Environment courses available for Spring 26, please visit USU's Race, Society, Environment Minor website.

Digital Writing and Publication Certificate

Course	Course Description
ENGL 3420: Fiction Writing (Waugh: In-person)	This introduction to short story writing will help you see all the many things a story is besides what happens. Plot may be “the soul of a tragedy,” according to Aristotle, but it certainly won’t keep your readers if that’s all there is. We will examine why character matters, as well as imagery, description, setting, time, point of view, and sparkling prose, among many other things. By taking this course, you will fill your writing toolbox with tools that will help you construct stories that keep your readers reading, all while participating fully in a supportive writing community.
ENGL 3420: Fiction Writing (Caron: In-person)	This writing workshop is designed for undergraduates who are new to fiction writing. Together, we’ll study a broad range of short stories and learn how to write them. As the writer William Trevor said, the short story is “the art of the glimpse. If the novel is like an intricate Renaissance painting, the short story is an impressionist painting. It should be an explosion of truth.” In this workshop, students will be guided through each step of the writing process—from inspiration to final draft. Among other things, students will learn how to find inspiration for their stories, how to create compelling characters, how to choose the right point of view, manage time, and write sharp dialogue. Students will apply this new knowledge to their own stories to create an “explosion of truth.” Writing prompts and exercises will push students to take literary risks, and workshops will help them revise their work. Students will also have an opportunity to participate in the USU creative writing community more broadly by attending faculty readings, as well as participate in the annual Swenson Visiting Writer events. All students welcome!
ENGL 3430: Poetry Writing (Gunsberg: In-person)	This introductory poetry writing course is designed to help you become better writers and readers of poetry. We’ll focus our attention on both free and formal verse, discussing student work as well as poetry written by established authors. Our efforts will revolve around craft, which means we’ll practice time-honored techniques that have strengthened poets’ efforts for thousands of years as well as more recent poetic innovations. This approach begins with close attention to the language that moves us and, moreover, careful consideration of why it moves us. In short, we’ll read well to write well. This writing will be supplemented by your efforts to develop a critical literary vocabulary, one that broadens your understanding of published poetry and enlivens your responses to your classmates’ work.
ENGL 3430: Poetry Writing (Olsen: Virtual)	This is course open to writers at all experience levels to engage with poetry—both their own original writing and the work of others. We will have workshops that will allow students to share their own work and read their works of their peers. We will also have opportunities to read and discuss contemporary poetry (as well as read and discuss books about poetic craft). The course also asks students to complete writing prompts that let students push their boundaries and learn through practice. One of the most exciting aspects of poetry writing are the endless possibilities of what a poem can be. This course encourages students to try new things and be open to experimentation and play. Some of the best things we can write start from playing around and trying something new. Think of this class as a playground filled with equipment that both challenges and delights.
ENGL 3440 Creative Nonfiction Writing (Wells: In-person)	Michel de Montaigne says, “Every man has within himself the entire human condition.” By fairly and astutely investigating the larger meaning of a personal experience, a nonfiction writer can speak to the universal. The nonfiction writer is, therefore, tasked with honesty in their pursuit of discovery and greater knowledge. Often, we hear this described as a pact formed with the reader. However, we also know that memory can be fallible. David Lazar asserts that “Nonfiction blends fact and artifice in an attempt to arrive at truth, or truths.” And he is not alone in making the claim that literary nonfiction requires some invention. Calling on memory for meaning may, at times, involve some imagination. What obligation does the nonfiction writer have to the reader? How does structure and form provide fruitful ground to explore personal experience and memory in compelling ways? To join the conversations surrounding truth, insight, and meaning-making in nonfiction, we must first understand what others are saying. In order to do this, we will read and analyze texts that inform our understanding of creative nonfiction as a genre. While investigating these texts, we will examine the choices each writer makes and consider why they might have made them. In this class, students will learn and explore techniques for developing successful creative nonfiction essays, particularly memoir and personal narrative. We’ll examine voice, vivid detail, narrative arc, active scenes, and observation. Together, we’ll look closely at compelling personal essays, analyze craft elements, engage in writing exercises, and workshop student essays with a focus on learning practical and helpful revision strategies.
ENGL 3440 Creative Nonfiction Writing (Engler: In-person)	Got something to say about the world—or your own life? About Stranger Things, Timothée Chalamet, or SZA? In this workshop, you’ll ditch the academic stiffness and learn to write like a nonfiction artist—using story, character, voice, and style to turn real life into art. Whatever you hope to say, this course will help you layer meaning, sharpen your voice, and craft writing that pulses with style.