Overview
MAIS 621: Narrative Possibilities: The Transformative Power of Writing, Story, and Poetry in Personal and Professional Development looks at what writing might have to offer if one’s primary aim is not publication. What other reason is there to write? MAIS 621 will provide some answers to that question.
A range of literature is now available on writing and its potential for contributing to our well-being and personal development. Research shows that writing can help us through losses and transitions and that it can even benefit our immune system. It allows us to consider how culture has shaped our identities and how we can undo particular ways of seeing that hold us back or keep us separated from others.
A variety of writing-based wellness projects have also been established in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada that draw on the idea that the literary arts offer something for our personal and professional development. Writing can be useful to teach us about ourselves, especially when we’re going through difficulty (e.g., divorce, illness, trauma, job loss). By writing, we often come to see that some of the old stories we’ve been telling about ourselves simply no longer work.
Students who took the Paced-Study course MAIS 616: Writing the Self: The Experience and Potential of Writing for the Purpose of Personal Development, which is the prerequisite for this course, spent a week on each writing genre and familiarized themselves with writing in a variety of contexts (e.g., hospitals, prisons). They also explored the concept of self and how we might define identity and the possibilities that disclosure through writing offers, and looked at the possible drawbacks of writing for personal development.
In MAIS 621, an individualized-study course, students will be able to spend time on their personal writing and gain a more in-depth understanding of what narrative (including poetry) has to offer the individual in both personal and professional settings. This includes looking at trauma and healing as well as evaluating the implications of teaching this type of writing in classrooms. How cultural narratives can inform our knowledge of ourselves is one of the units and another is how allopathic medicine may benefit from narrative. Using writing to explore our career identity development is also covered: a method called “Career Writing” is introduced as another narrative possibility.
While MAIS 616 students touched on a variety of problem-solving exercises, MAIS 621 will allow students, through critical thinking, to explore their attachments to entrenched narratives.
The project at the end of MAIS 621 is substantial: four or five weeks are dedicated to its completion. A variety of ideas for projects/papers will be provided in the course to serve as an example of what might be possible; however, students will propose their own interdisciplinary projects that may include, but are not limited to, fiction, personal essay, autobiographical or autoethnographic writing, and/or poetry.
To participate fully in this course, you must be able to initiate and generate writing without specific prompts and be able to structure, revise, and polish your work before submitting it. In other words, you must be able to write a poem, start a piece of fiction, and/or put together a coherent paper of quality without further instruction from your professor. You must have at least a basic knowledge of the use of the arts in a variety of educational and therapeutic settings.
Journal-Writing Practice
During MAIS 621, students will be required to write a minimum of a 1,000 words in a journal each week. This is intended to make writing part of their weekly routine. Their writing fluidity may improve and students may find that journal writing becomes a useful companion on their learning journey.
Inspiration to engage with journal writing is provided in the form of Kim Stafford’s text The Muses Among Us, but students may also make use of other inspirational books to stimulate their practice. They will be required to post summaries of their practice online, but are not obligated in any way to share details of their journal work unless they choose to do so.
Outline
MAIS 621 covers the following five topics:
- Writing narratives (fiction/non-fiction) as a vehicle for self-reflection and personal development: experiential learning through writing and reading in the field and critical reflection on the writing
- Cultural perspectives on “our stories” and the use of narrative in health-care settings as an adjunct to allopathic medicine
- Professional development through writing: reflexive practice, career writing, self-reflection, and writing in classroom settings
- Alternative narratives and the “no story” space—which stories no longer serve our identity development?
- Poetry and transformation: the therapeutic potential of poetry and bibliotherapy
The topics are covered over the course of 10 units:
- Unit 1: Getting Started in the Field of Writing for Well-Being
- Unit 2: Narratives—Foundations & Traditions
- Unit 3: Writing and Healing in the Classroom—Practical and Ethical Considerations
- Unit 4: Cultural Narratives and Healing
- Unit 5: Narratives and Poetry in Health Care
- Unit 6: Career Learning—Writing in Professional Contexts
- Unit 7: The No-Story Space
- Unit 8: Slow Week: Create Your Own Date with Writing
- Unit 9: Poetry as Alchemy
- Unit 10: Final Project Proposal
Evaluation
To receive credit for this course, students must participate in the online activities, successfully complete the assignments, and achieve a final mark of at least 60 per cent. Students should be familiar with the Master of Arts—Interdisciplinary Studies grading system. Please note that it is students’ responsibility to maintain their program status. Any student who receives a grade of “F” in one course, or a grade of “C” in more than one course, may be required to withdraw from the program.
The following table summarizes the evaluation activities and the credit weights associated with them.
| Activity | Weight |
| Unit Writing Assignments (Units 1–9) | 35% |
| Final Project Proposal | 5% |
| Self-Evaluation of Journal Practice | 10% |
| Final Project | 50% |
| Total | 100% |
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Katie, B. (2002). Loving what is: Four questions that can change your life. Harmony Books.
Lengelle, R. (2008). Blossom & balsam: Poems that reveal and heal (2nd ed.). Black Tulip Press.
Lengelle, R. (2017). Happy: Poems and reflections for writing and healing the self. Black Tulip Press.
Instructional Online Resources
Anderson C. M., & MacCurdy, M. M. (Eds.). (2000). Writing & healing: Toward an informed practice. National Council of Teachers of English.
Charon, R. (2008). Narrative medicine: Honoring the stories of illness. Oxford University Press.
Den Elzen, K., & Lengelle, R. (Eds.). (2023). Writing for wellbeing: Research, theory, and practice. Routledge.
Stafford, Kim. (2003). The muses among us: Eloquent listening and other pleasures of the writer’s craft. University of Georgia Press.