Introduction | Sessions for Summer 2009 | Courses | Flights to San Juan
Living Arrangements | Weather | Languages of Puerto Rico | Program Costs | Day-by-Day Calendar

Introduction

The summer semester is divided into four separate, two-week sessions. Students may enroll in one or two sessions in any given summer and receive three semester hours of credit for each session. Students may earn only six semester hours of credit during any given summer from this program. They may earn other credit by taking regular courses during the summer that are not taught as part of the Puerto Rico study abroad program.

This program offers committed writers time to write in a "writers' colony"-style environment and to distribute their work for workshopping among their classmates and instructor. Students will enroll in one of several writing courses to pursue a writing project of their own choice during a two-week period of intensive writing and revision. Students may bring a nearly-completed project with them to finish; a draft of a project; or develop an idea that they work into a substantial draft. The final revision of a student's work is due two weeks after the date on which the student returns to Atlanta. The program is not restricted to English majors or to graduate students in the M.A. in Professional Writing Program. Those in other disciplines and individuals without a university affiliation but with a strong desire to write, including area teachers, are welcome into the program.

Sessions for Summer 2009

• Session 1: May 18-30
• Session 2: June 1-13
• Session 3: June 22-July 4
• Session 4: July 6-18

Courses

Most students who attend the Writers Workshops of Puerto Rico are graduate students, although a few undergraduates also attend. You will enroll in a different course for each session you attend. If you are going to be in Puerto Rico for one, two-week session, you can only enroll in one course. If you will be there for two, you must enroll in two different courses. The directed study courses are "catch-all" courses that we can use if you have a project that does not fit into one of the other courses. If you have any questions about the courses, please contact Jim Ellege at 678-797-2039 or via e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Graduate courses:

• PRWR 6410 Feature Writing
• PRWR 6460 Fiction Writing
• PRWR 6470 Poetry Writing
• PRWR 6480 Play Writing
• PRWR 6490 Screen/TV Writing
• PRWR 6520 Creative Nonfiction
• PRWR 7500 Advanced Creative Writing/Poetry
• PRWR 7950 Directed Study

Undergraduate courses:

• WRIT 3100 Poetry Writing
• WRIT 3110 Playwriting
• WRIT 3120 Fiction Writing
• WRIT 3130 Literary Nonfiction
• WRIT 4120 Advanced Creative Writing
• ENGL 4400 Directed Study

Course Descriptions

Flight to San Juan

Students are responsible for booking and paying for their own flights and should select flights that arrive in San Juan, Puerto Rico at around 2:00 in the afternoon. The flight time returning home is up to each student, but everyone must leave on the last day of the session. Round-trip, direct flights from Atlanta to San Juan are currently about $300. Students arrive on the first day of the session and leave on the last day of the session (see "Sessions" above). This means you will arrive on a Monday and leave on a Saturday. If you want to stay for two sessions, you may enroll in sessions 1 and 2 or sessions 3 and 4, but not sessions 2 and 3 ***unless*** you are willing to move into a hotel during the week between sessions 2 and 3.

Living Arrangements

Each student will have their own bedroom and will share a condo that is located within a block or two of the ocean. There will probably be two to a condo, but depending on the situation, there may be three to a condo. Each condo will have a kitchenette, so you can cook for yourself and save money. Bed linens will be provided. Food costs may be somewhat more than in the Atlanta area because of the need for Puerto Rico to import much of its food from the mainland. The neighborhood where you will be staying is called Condado, a very tourist-friendly area with many restaurants, hotels, casinos, bars, and the Atlantic Ocean and beach. Although you will be staying in the heart of the tourist part of town, you will not see many North American tourists. They visit Puerto Rico during the winter months, rather than the summer. In the summer, the typical tourist in Puerto Rico is from South America, where it would be winter.

Weather

You will be in the tropics. It is as hot in Puerto Rico as it is in Georgia. But unlike Georgia, you will have a lovely ocean breeze in Condado to cool things down a bit-and quick dips in the ocean are pretty great, too. Chances are good that it will rain for a few minutes most afternoons, but then the sun reappears and dries it up. It's dark by 7:00-7:30 each night; the sun is amazingly bright by 6:00 each morning. We will be very close to the equator and will have about twelve hours light and twelve of darkness. Most days will be great for the beach, and you ***must*** use sunscreen even if you are not on the beach.

Languages of Puerto Rico

Most of the locals whom you will encounter will be bilingual (Spanish-English), so if you do not know Spanish, it will not be a problem. Because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S., you do not need a passport to to travel there (only a driver's license). Money is U.S. currency, too, so you will not need to worry about rates of exchange, etc.

Program Costs

If you apply on or before December 1, 2008, the program cost is $1,750. You will need to make a deposit of $300 to reserve a spot for yourself. If you apply after December 1, 2008, the deposit is $400, making the total cost of the program $1,850. The final deadline for all applications is January 15, 2009. Students who enroll in more than one session must pay in full for all sessions attended. The program cost includes lodging, two dinners, an all-day field trip, and admission to a museum. The program cost does not include tuition or the flight to and from San Juan.

*The program cost includes the two dinners on May 20 (Bebo's) and May 29 (Pamela's) as well as admissions and transportation (but not meals) during the field trip to El Yunque. The cost of all other meals will be each student's responsibility. Students will pay for all of their alcoholic beverages.

Day-by-Day Calendar

Session I: Summer 2009, May 18-30