Creative Writing

Elevate Your Thinking with a B.F.A. Degree in Creative Writing from Northern Vermont University  

As a student in our creative writing program at NVU-Johnson, you’ll work with award-winning professors who share your passion for the well-turned phrase, the blinding insight, the masterful plot twist. We teach the craft of fiction, poetry, and prose through literature courses and writing workshops. Our small classes and individualized instruction help you find your voice and fine-tune your craft.

As an aspiring writer, you’ll find yourself in good company. You’ll learn from the poets and writers who visit campus for lectures and readings. The internationally known Vermont Studio Center, just minutes from campus, presents a regular reading series for the many resident and visiting writers hosted there every year.

You’ll graduate from NVU with a strong writing portfolio and solid publishing experience. Through internships with our nationally recognized Green Mountains Review literary journal and work on our undergraduate student literary journal, Pamplemousse, you’ll gain real-world publishing skills and experience.

Our creative, collaborative, and supportive community of writers will help you develop your voice and speak it.

Secondary Licensure

Students who earn a bachelor of arts degree in creative writing are eligible to pursue endorsement for secondary education teacher licensure. Learn more about licensure requirements here.  

Anthropology and Sociology

Experience the World with a Degree in Anthropology and Sociology

Detectives. Globetrotters. Time travelers. Anthropologists and sociologists are all of these and more, studying that most fundamental of topics: ourselves.

Anthropologists and sociologists explore the world’s diverse cultures and social behaviors — from the beginning of time to ten minutes ago. They investigate the overlapping social structures of family, economy, politics, education, religion, and media that both form and inform our behavior and relationships.

Students in this program probe such diverse topics as art, environment, evolution, symbolism, values, healing, and religion to understand the range of cultural and biological differences among the world’s peoples. They study how the distribution of power affects issues of social justice and sustainability. Courses such as “Anthropology of Death,” “Gender and Society,” and “Religion, Culture and Alternate Realities” provide a global perspective on topics that have shaped civilization. 

This major is a popular choice for students considering graduate study or careers in social work, law and criminal justice, politics, policy analysis, and public administration.

Students in the B.A. in global studies program at our NVU-Lyndon campus can also pursue a concentration in anthropology and sociology. We also offer related minors in Global StudiesGender Studies, and Wellness and Alternative Medicine

A CULTURE OF HANDS-ON LEARNING

At Northern Vermont University, you’ll learn by doing. Travel and discover new cultures, dig deep in your fieldwork and internships, and learn from your on-campus peers and instructors.

Travel the World

There is no better way to understand world cultures than to experience them for yourself. Class trips between the Anthropology and Sociology, Global Studies, and Psychology departments take students around the globe — including Paris, Russia, Amsterdam, and Martinique. 

Field Work and Internships

Through high-impact internships and fieldwork, you’ll take the knowledge you learn in class and apply it to the real world of anthropology. Recent graduates have interned at nonprofits, schools, wellness centers, research centers, farms, animal shelters, and mental health clinics. Learn more about internships at NVU

Campus Connections

Take advantage of on-campus activities that relate to your Anthropology and Sociology degree. You’ll have the opportunity to join Students for Global Change, a club striving to help alleviate suffering and inequality in the world. You’ll also get the chance to work with a humanitarian center that helps to distribute medical and educational supplies around the world. 

Certification in Social Justice and Social Change

Earn a certificate in Social Justice and Social Change to boost your resume! To complete the certification program in addition to your degree, you’ll take a cluster of sociology and anthropology courses that provide diversity training and opportunities for activism. Upon graduation, you’ll leave NVU with your diploma and certificate to show prospective employers that you enrolled in a variety of workshops that involved reducing inequality and injustice on a local, regional, and global scale.

Student and Alumni Spotlight

Jason Shafer

Fadhili Achinda ’20

Fadhili Achinda ’20 is focusing her research on body image, mass media, and the effect of the beauty industry on society. Her high-impact video project BODY IMAGE ties together her personal journey and research on body image and body dysmorphia.  

Jason Shafer

Courtney Gabaree ’10

Like all NVU students, Courtney Gabaree ’10 didn’t just learn — she worked to make a difference. Courtney interned with the Polaris Project in Washington, D.C., a leading nonprofit dedicated to globally combat human trafficking and slavery. When she returned to Vermont she continued her work with the Attorney General of Vermont to establish the state’s Human Trafficking Task Force and Law Enforcement Advisory Board.