Aims of the course:
- To explore a range of styles and techniques in writing about nature.
- To develop participants’ skills in observing and capturing nature in words.
- To increase participants’ awareness and appreciation of nature.
Course content overview:
- This course offers students fresh perspectives on producing creative nature writing.
- Students will learn how to sharpen their senses and heighten awareness and understanding of wildlife.
- The course will show how nature writing can be ‘enlivened’, making it real to the reader
Schedule (this course is completed entirely online):
Orientation Week: 13-19 July 2020
Teaching Weeks: 20 July-23 August 2020
Feedback Week: 24-30 August 2020
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards,etc).
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.
Course textbook/required sources
- No textbook is required reading but students would be advised to use the great outdoors as a source of inspiration, ideas and as a writing laboratory.
- Students should read widely from nature writing – both historic and contemporary. A suggested reading list will be provided.
What our students say - October 2018
“I enjoyed this course much more than I anticipated. I felt the progression over the weeks was well structured and gave us something concrete to practise and build on.”
“Derek’s very fast feedback on our exercises was much-appreciated (and spot-on). His personality also came across in his comments and the respect and care he showed for the students and their work was evident.”
