The Creative Spark OpenCourseWare: A Free Undergraduate Creative Writing Course by MIT

Published Apr 20, 2009

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What drives writers, artists, scientists and inventors to create? 'The Creative Spark' is a free OpenCourseWare from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that uses student work to explore the creative process. This material may be helpful to students seeking a Bachelor of Arts in English.

The Creative Spark: Course Specifics

Degree Level Free Audio Video Downloads
Undergraduate Yes No No Yes

Lectures/Notes Study Materials Tests/Quizzes
No Yes No

The Creative Spark: Course Description

This OpenCourseWare presents a selection of essays written by past students of an MIT course on creativity originally taught by Professor Karen Boiko. The first set of essays has students writing about their personal experiences and struggles with creativity. This is followed by a series of essays examining films about creative people, such as The Hours and A Beautiful Mind. For the final set of papers, students wrote about their interpretations of the creative process. The course also offers tips for essay writing, including a style guide for citing sources in humanities papers. This material can be a benefit to students working on a Bachelor of Arts in English.

This course includes student essays, a list of readings and essay guides. To get started reading about the creative mind, visit the creative process course page.

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