Study Abroad & Away

Summer Sessions in Prague
Session 1 - Five Weeks: May 23 - June 25, 2009
Session 2 - Five Weeks: June 27 - July 30, 2009

For centuries, writers and artists have left home to travel across oceans and to other countries, other continents, in pursuit of new experiences; fresh ideas and story material; deeper understanding of culture, society, geography, and global issues that might contribute to or affect their work on the page and canvas.  Ernest Hemingway visited and lived in Paris, Spain, and Cuba; Ray Bradbury wrote in London; Mark Twain traveled the globe, traveled the globe, and wrote about incidents abroad.  The Fiction Writing Department’s Summer Sessions in Prague are designed to provide students with the opportunity to live as ex-pats for five weeks, to expend their horizons and world view, to study the work of writers and artists who navigated the narrow streets and lived in the historic buildings of one of Europe’s most beautiful, complex, and fascinating cities.  Excursions, tours, and field trips will complement the work and writing done for the courses, and students will have ample time to explore the city on their own, to further pursue their own stories. Classes meet twice a week for five weeks. Many weekends are free for travel. Students can sign up for one or both sessions.

Information Meeting
Wednesday, November 12
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm Room 1206
624 S. Michigan Building.

Semester in L.A.
Session: January 26 - February 27, 2009
Adapting your novel to the big screen or interested in scriptwriting for the movies?  Learn the business of film-making for writers with five intensive weeks on-site in the heart of the movie industry: Los Angeles, California.

Summer Session in Florence
Session: June 26 - July 26, 2008
Along with  programs in the Czech Republic and England, the Fiction Writing Department, as of the summer 2008 session, offers students the opportunity to study abroad in Florence, Italy.  Along with photo, fashion, and art classes from other departments in the School of Fine and Performing Arts, we offer an intensive, four-week Story Workshop Fiction Seminar course at Lorenzo de' Medici in the heart of one of the most beautiful and historic cities in Europe.  This course is open to undergraduate majors and non-majors, as well as at-large students, and graduate students, all of whom register for credit at the standard Columbia rate.  Waivers of course requirements may be arranged with permission of the department chair.  Since space is limited, permission of the department is required in order to register.

Students live and study in the heart of Florence, with the package price covering housing, registration fee, studio fee, and field trips. Computers and printers are available, but students may also bring their own laptops.   The Fiction Seminar class is created to take maximum advantage of the city, culture, and literary tradition of Florence.

For more information on any or all of these programs, click the applicable links on the right.