CURRICULA + CAREER SUMMARY
I have built two Creative Writing programs from scratch: a hybrid graduate program for Oregon State University - Cascades and an interdisciplinary undergraduate program for the New College of Florida.
In both instances, I was the first ever professor of Creative Writing and my job was to translate the DREAM of a Creative Writing program into a REALITY. Each time I innovated from tradition to design a curriculum that would prepare apprentice writers to thrive in today’s workforce and evolve into tomorrow’s leaders.
OSU-Cascades MFA in Creative Writing | Founder & Program Director | 2013-2019
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
When I was hired in 2013, I was the first and only Creative Writing professor. There was no department, no faculty, no curriculum, no students, no budget, no dormitories, and very few classrooms—but there was a fledging branch campus with vision, an entrepreneurial spirit, and close ties to the local community. Within six months of my hire, I had designed a hybrid, social-justice-infused curriculum; crafted a fiscally-responsible budget; built a synergistic relationship with Caldera Arts, an educational nonprofit with a mission of “nurturing creativity, igniting self-expression, and transforming the way that youth from underserved rural and urban communities engage in their lives, families, and communities through innovative year-round arts and environmental programs;” secured housing for students and faculty at a Caldera’s gorgeous mountain arts facilities; hired two adjunct faculty and three distinguished visiting artists; admitted and enrolled our first cohort of eight students; and coordinated meals and transportation for everyone.
For the next six years, I would manage intensive ten-day residency sessions at a remote mountain arts facility; serve as the brand ambassador and primary point of contact for students and faculty; act as chair of what was, at the time, one of the most diverse low-residency MFA’s in the country; successfully advocate for pay raises for adjunct faculty; and raise funds for and act as festival director for Rendezvous with Risk, a seven-day, ten-event festival featuring an international array of author-activists. During my tenure, enrollment increased at an average rate of 34% per term.
As Program Director, Curriculum Developer, Arts Administrator, and Brand Ambassador, my position involved:
☆ Designing and managing a hybrid, two-year Creative Writing curriculum for 30 nontraditional adult learners.
☆ Managing a $500,000+ program budget.
☆ Designing and managing 10-day, biannual, in-person retreats for a team of 40 teachers, students, and staff with a $25,000 budget.
☆ Planning and managing an annual 7-day literary festival with 150 participants and a $35,000 budget.
☆ Recruiting, training, and supervising a team that included 8 remote adjunct faculty, 1 residency assistant, and 1 chef.
☆ Training teachers in remote relationship building, blended learning, and online engagement.
☆ Managing program LMS.
☆ Designing quarterly virtual and in-person open houses to recruit and onboard new students.
☆ Designing a hybrid alumni ambassador program and trained 6 ambassadors per year.
☆ Co-creating quarterly digital and print promotional materials and monthly social media campaigns.
☆ Writing weekly internal and monthly external newsletters.
☆ Utilizing assessment data to drive changes in curriculum, implement action strategies, and create asynchronous and synchronous learning content that was accessible to learners of all abilities.
☆ Growing donor relationships to raise $50,000+ to fund student internships.
☆ Growing enrollment at an average rate of 34% per term.
In 2018, I was tasked with coordinating a five-year external review of the MFA. This included building a team and creating a plan for reviewing, analyzing, and summarizing all quantitative and qualitative data, preparing a formal report, and creating and implementing an action plan based on the reviewer's recommendations. These reviewers wrote: "We were extremely impressed with the MFA at OSU - Cascades. The program’s curriculum is first-rate—innovative and intensive, with a far greater emphasis on professionalization than is to be found at most residential programs. The one-on-one mentoring sessions are a particular strength, in that they allow the students to develop close personal and professional ties with the faculty. Its director, Emily Carr, has not only come up with an original and compelling vision for the program but has managed to make that vision into a reality despite significant impediments and challenges. Her belief in what she is doing, to say nothing of the sheer energy she brings to the directorship, should both be commended."
The MFA I built for OSU-Cascades is now ranked #4 on the Best College Review list of Top Master’s in Creative Writing Online.
PROMOTIONAL VIDEO
As project lead, I collaborated closely with a seven-person team from OSU-’s Marketing Department to clearly and concisely communicate the MFA’s distinct personality and unique mountain location. I wrote all copy, drafted the initial storyboard, interviewed faculty and students, and oversaw the on-site photoshoot.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Caldera Arts | 2013-2019
Negotiated an MOU with Caldera Arts each year.
Grew mutually beneficial relationship with the Director of Programs, the Arts Center Program Manager, Arts Center Facilities Associate, and Programs Coordinator (Central Oregon).
Taught creative writing workshop in Caldera's summer camp and year-round programming for middle and high school students.
Trained and supervised graduate students teaching as interns in Caldera's summer camp.
As a result of this collaboration, Caldera provided the MFA with gorgeous, isolated, state-of-the-art mountain facilities and the MFA provided Caldera with staffing (MFA faculty and student interns).
Deschutes Library | 2013-present
Consulted on Deschutes Library's Write Here.
Offer ILT & VILT for adult learners using an innovative HIIT for the ♥︎ format
Rendezvous With Risk | literary festival | 2016-2019
I am committed to community engagement, intergenerational learning, and art as activism and envisioned Rendezvous With Risk, an annual literary festival that grew from a one-day, two-event festival with a $5,000 budget to a four-day, twenty-event festival with a $35,000 budget.
As Festival Director, I was responsible for all aspects of event production: fundraising, travel coordination, volunteer coordination, author coordination, marketing, hospitality, catering, and MORE!
The final 2019 festival featured a diverse array of international authors, program alumni, and local celebrities. The signature event was a Beer & Books pairing at the Oregon’s famous Deschutes Brewery; I invited local stakeholders and community leaders to collaborate on beer and book pairings before the festival. This way, I was able to generate some anticipation and community buy-in and “trick” community members into engaging with literature that they might otherwise find difficult, intimidating, or too risky.
New College of Florida B.A. in Liberal Arts | Founder + Program Director | 2019-2023
I was hired as the first and only professor of Creative Writing, with the task of building an interdisciplinary undergraduate B.A. from scratch. I designed a curriculum for students studying at the intersection of writing, technology, and design. During my tenure, enrollment steadily increased at an average rate of 28% per term.
As Program Director, Curriculum Developer, and Brand Ambassador, my role involved:
☆ Designing and managing a hybrid, four-year curriculum for 80 students working at the intersection of art, technology, and design.
☆ Planning and managing an annual 3-day conference with 80 participants and a $20,000 budget.
☆ Recruiting, training and supervising 4 adjunct faculty and 8 student teaching assistants per year.
☆ Designing a hybrid program to recruit and onboard new students.
☆ Advising the team that oversaw the transition to online learning in 2020.
☆ Training teachers in remote relationship building and blended learning.
☆ Managing program LMS.
☆ Growing donor relationships to raise $100,000+ to fund a Visiting Writers Series.
☆ Growing enrollment in Creative Writing at an average rate of 28% per term.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Dragonfly Poetry Cafe at Booker Middle School | Sarasota, Florida | 2019-2023
Collaborated with founder and Language Arts teacher Joanna Fox on public events and teaching tutorials. The primary goals of this collaboration were to create a pipeline for students from Booker Middle to apply to and enroll at New College and to create teaching internships for New College students at Booker Middle. Joanna and I held 3-4 public events per year and we co-taught Spring Training, an internship in which college students learn how to teach middle school poets.
Ringling Museum | Sarasota, Florida | 2021-present
Designing and leading an Ekphrastic Poetry Bootcamp as part of the E.A. Michelson Vitality Arts Project.
Collaborating with Elizabeth Doud, Curator of Performance Programs, a Fitness for Creative Professionals Bootcamp series.
Collaborating and leading Creative Flow: Poetry + Partner Yoga Workshop and Photopoetry Recess for the Wonder: Human Experience & the Arts Symposium.
Selby Library | Sarasota, Florida | 2021-present
Teach writing workshops for adult learners with a focus on Writing & Resilience.
Designing and teaching summer workshop series for students in the GIRLS Inc. summer program, including Poetry Recess, Story Slam Bootcamp, and GYM Together.
Bay Conservancy | Sarasota, Florida | 2022-present
Collaborating with the Director of Marketing & Development and Activation and Program Manager to build free fitness programming for the local community.
Designing and teaching an Ecopoetry Workshop as part of the annual EcoSummit & Expo.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Southern Illinois School of Medicine | Instructional Designer + Wellness Specialist | 2023 - 2024
As the first and only poetry professor on faculty, I was responsible for creating the ideal conditions for an entire community of medical educators, students, and professionals to flourish and avoid burnout. I designed curricular and extracurricular offerings for stressed stakeholders to connect, share their stories, build trust and empathy, practice active listening, and facilitate workplace wellness. I worked with internal and external stakeholders to create a culture in which storytelling was the norm, and in which creativity, awe and perspective (which positive psychology argues are key to flourishing) were valued.
I held a dual appointment in Medical Education + Medical Humanities, and my role involved designing and managing curricula in wellness, communications, storytelling, and the physician-patient relationship for 320 students and 700 employees with the goal of boosting employee and student retention, improving students’ diagnostic efficacy, and enhancing patient and physician satisfaction. Projects included a weeklong digital storytelling and mindfulness workshop, an interactive Story Gathering Box installation, monthly storytelling workshops, quarterly narrative medicine rounds, biannual Story Slams with one-on-one coaching, and a personal statement eLearning course with one-on-one coaching.
My learning content helped healthcare professionals to connect to higher values, meanings, and purpose and align them with their professional endeavors, leading to greater resilience, satisfaction and wellbeing. Via my storytelling initiatives, healthcare workers discovered a more profound sense of meaning and purpose in their work, helping them to avoid burnout.