Iowa’s acclaimed International Writing Program is offering a new free online course focused on taking a creative fiction and non-fiction approach to understanding and recognizing information, misinformation, and disinformation.
The International Writing Program at the University of Iowa is a “unique conduit for the world’s literatures, connecting well-established writers from around the globe”, Its principal program is its Fall Residency; since 1967 over fourteen hundred writers from more than 150 countries have participated.
In 2014 the International Writing Program offered its first MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). These courses, funded by the University of Iowa and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, welcome all participants; no application is required and there is no charge for enrollment. In its first year alone, 15,789 readers and writers from around the world participated in these online courses.
This November the International Writing Program is offering new free online course. No experience is necessary and the course is open to all writers at all levels.
Hidden Meanings: Creative Fiction, Non-fiction, and Facts
In November 2019, the world will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. At the same time, there is a continually growing global spread of misinformation and disinformation campaigns. This course takes a creative fiction and non-fiction approach to understanding and recognizing information, misinformation, and disinformation.
You as participants will work with iconic pieces such as The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells and Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges as well as more recent fiction and non-fiction texts, technically exploring how elements of information are used, and experimenting with these elements in your own creative fiction and non-fiction responses, contributing to the identification and strengthening of the roles of mythbusters, debunkers, and individuals in countering disinformation.
The course content includes writers who are both native and non-native English speakers, and we welcome those of you who are working on your own English language skills. Reading and listening to writers from a variety of backgrounds, and locating your own voice and and recounting your own experiences through creative writing are strong language practice techniques.
Instructor-led sessions run until Tuesday 31 December 2019, but the course site will remain open until mid March. You may take the course at your own pace during that window of time.
For further information and to enrol visit the University of Iowa website.
The International Writing Program has warned that they are not planning to run any MOOCs in 2020, so sign up while you can!
