Watch a video of Program Director
Sue Fleming describing this program

Goddard College's low-residency MA in Education degree embodies a set of values and beliefs grounded in progressive education. Studies are self-designed, centered around your individual area of inquiry and personal goals. Draw on your own experience in education, whether it be from previous formal studies, from work-related training, from practice in the field, or from personal research and study. Actively define your area of inquiry, such as democratic education curriculum for kindergarten students, place-based education, living history, or community outreach program and work with your faculty advisor to develop and carry out your own learning goals.

The MA in Education program (MA EDU) offers graduate degree options, concentrations, coursework, and licensure for those seeking a Master of Arts degree, professional development courses, or licensure certificate in these areas:

The Low-Residency Health Arts & Sciences (BAHAS) supports a holistic, interdisciplinary and integrative exploration of health, healing and well-being within an inspiring community of peers and advisors.  

Those who join the BAHAS Program aim to make a difference at the personal, community, environmental or global level through activism, advocacy, the arts, coaching, research, policy development, health education, prevention programs, alternative health promotion and practices and visionary ideas for biomedical, alternative, educational, organizational, and community-based settings.

Rooted in each student’s unique passion and learning style, studies can combine direct action, rich contemplation, rigorous scholarship, creative projects and experiential learning.  The end result is a meaningful, productive and often, deeply transformative process that supports present and future work for personal, community, and social well-being

“It is a joy to work at Goddard as a faculty member and witness the love, commitment, attention, and expertise devoted to nurturing students in their explorations built upon their questions. The students too bring with them remarkable skills, experience, curiosity, and creativity. The atmosphere at a residency vibrates with humor, play, companionship, critical thinking, searching, and concern for the world. There is a lively enthusiasm for each student as an individual, a scholar, and an actor in the process of transformation of self and the world. It is a community animated by shared passion and respect, a community of reflection and support toward students’ ideas, discoveries, and professional development. It is a community that earnestly strives to think, feel, and act out of the values it holds dear. As an eco-psychologist I am ever in search of models for healthier ways of living and perceiving that will help us to restore our deep connectedness with the rich, complex, living universe, which is the source of our vitality. I see such a model, as an ongoing co-creative process, at Goddard. I see it in the dynamic appreciation of difference, with the rich panoply of possibility that provides, and in the recognition that, while each is unique, we are all one. And I see it in the consciousness people carry to understanding conflict, with a determination to develop responses together--in our words, our works, our relationships, and our internal dialogue--that will help us to contribute to individual, social, and global health and evolution."  --- Health Arts and Sciences Faculty Member Susan Pearson

“Some adult learning theorists say that all learning is change. But, not all change is transformative. Those of us who have considerable experience in settings committed to meaningful, emancipatory education recognize that learning at Goddard is transformative. One of the primary reasons for this is the unusual nature of the mentoring relationships established between learners and advisors. These connections allow for deep immersion in specific areas of inquiry­--with reliable, supple and sturdy support.~ Witnessing a learner’s vision taking shape is such a deeply humane and hopeful venture that this kind of experience can be life changing for both parties. We, as faculty, guide our communities of learners, individually and together, to experiences of “moral relatedness”­--a “mutual and respectful dialogue” that honors lived experience, personally meaningful inquiries­--that are grounded in critical reflection and connected with the larger world. We invoke Dewey, Friere, Lindeman, Knowles, hooks, Lorde, Rich, Perez, Aragon--any number of influences­--for this kind of learning. And the result makes for internal and external events of such profound dynamism, creativity, compassion, rigor, and vitality­ that our graduates, our faculty, our staff, our administration and our trustees develop a loyalty that is evident to all who encounter us. And those who have such experiences begin to envision other places and situations that could benefit from a “moral relatedness” that can sustain social growth and global changes that are also just and humane.~ This is mentorship of the highest order; learners invite us into some of the richest work of their lives and we are all changed in profound and deeply meaningful ways." --- Health Arts and Sciences Faculty Member S.B. Sowbel

Page last updated: 02/06/13, AAO:lkl.

The Low-Residency Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (BFAW) focuses on fine arts literary endeavors. It is the first low-residency BFA program in the country! You may seek a sole vocation in writing, or integrate your creative writing into professions such as psychology, social work, library science or education. With the BFA in Creative Writing, you may also go on to pursue graduate work in creative writing, literature, or professional writing.

TRANSFER INFORMATION

The low-residency BFA in Creative Writing Program is a 120-credit program open to transfer students who have already completed approximately 60 liberal arts credits. You may be eligible to bring a combination of transfer credits and/or credits awarded for prior learning and experience into the program. Credit for prior learning and experience is determined through Goddard’s  Assessment of Prior Learning process. If you are just beginning your undergraduate studies, you can enroll in Goddard’s BA in Individualized Studies Program before transferring to the BFA in Creative Writing Program.

DEGREE CRITERIA

To receive the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, you must complete the degree requirements of the BA in Individualized Studies degree program plus demonstrate competency in the Arts and Humanities and critical thinking in the following areas:

• Reading across genres, cultures, and era
• Development of of various craft techniques
• Reading as a writer
• Literary criticism and engaged literary theory

You will present your Senior Study in the form of:

• A manuscript of 25-100 pages, depending on the genre, of well-crafted, significantly revised creative work;
• A 15-30 page reflective critical paper on the subject of craft, integrating literary criticism and explication of the writer’s own work;
• A reflective essay on the cultural/societal responsibilities of the writer;
• Bibliography and annotated bibliography;
• A reading of your senior study manuscript work to the residency community, followed by a question and answer period facilitated by members of the BFAW faculty.

You will leave the program with a complete draft of a creative manuscript that has gone through a number of revisions. At the same time, you will have gained a deep connection to your writing peers, many of whom will continue to sustain you as the work of writing continues.