English CSJM. Who Do You Think You Are: A Creative Nonfiction Workshop

Instructor: Saeed Jones
Thursday, 12:00-2:45 pm | Location: TBD
Enrollment: Limited to 12 students

People don't just happen. In this workshop-based class, students will explore the capacity of memoir and cultural criticism to illuminate their understanding of memory, connection, and self-making. This course is as invested in the craft of writing as it is in interrogating how storytelling functions within systems of power. Students will be asked to consider what the work is doing to us, and what we are using our own work to do to others. In particular, this course will investigate the role social determinants of health play in self-making. Classes will alternate between workshop discussions, in-class writing exercises, and close readings of nonfiction by Lucille Clifton, Eula Biss, Carmen Maria Machado, Toni Morrison, Vivian Gornick, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Kiese Laymon, among others.

Supplemental Application Information: This course will be taught by Saeed Jones, MFA. If you are interested in joining the course, please complete this application by August 10, 2026 (available soon). A maximum of 12 students will be selected to join the course. The application requires a 2-3 page writing sample and a 250 work maximum reflection on why this course appeals to you. We will follow up with everyone who applies for the course by email once decisions are made.

This course is also offered through the Harvard Medical School as MMH 709.