Concentration

The 24-credit undergraduate concentration in Literary Arts and Studies is designed for students who wish to complement their studio major with more in-depth studies in literature and writing. The concentration can be completed as part of a typical 4- or 5-year degree program and is open to all RISD BFA candidates. Students may opt to focus on courses in literary history and traditions, critical theory and creative writing (including workshops in poetry and fiction writing), postcolonial literatures and cultures, environmental humanities, race and gender, film and performance. LAS concentrators may take courses in as many of the areas covered by the department as possible or develop a personal course of study that allows for deeper exploration of a range of literary genres, periods and theoretical approaches. Concentrators often choose to study the development of a particular literary tradition and investigate its relation to other traditions, focus on an issue or genre and investigate its relationship to contemporary critical theories or focus on creative writing (poetry, fiction, new genres), among many other options.

In addition to providing a strong disciplinary foundation, LAS courses aim to promote understanding of the relationship between literary cultures and other forms of cultural production. To this end, a number of interdisciplinary courses have been added recently, including Dialogue Across the Diaspora: Haiti, South Africa, Art, and Narratives of Resistance, Illustrating Dante’s Comedy, Ekphrasis and Its Reverse: Writing from Art, Art from Writing, Paleography: Western Handwritten Letterforms, Exploring the Art and Science of Biodiversity in Guyana and Savage Iconographies: Art, Race and Public Space from Roger Williams to Barack Obama.