The performing and Literary Arts Track is a cross-disciplinary program for students interested in one or more aspects of creative accomplishment. About the Track Students may focus on any of the creative arts, such as creative writing (fiction, poetry, playwriting), film-making, music composition/performance, visual art, photography, acting - or any combination thereof such as visual art and writing, musical composition and writing, photography and poetry, etc. The outcome will be a completed artifact and a public performance, held on campus and open to the college community and the community-at-large. As is true for the other tracks in the University Honors College, Performing and Literary Arts is not a major, but a distinctive set of courses that adds breadth to, and reinforces, a student's chosen major. With the approval of the Track Director, each student selects five courses to assist him/her in both the preparation of the creative project and the formal presentation thereof. One of the five courses will be the PLA Thesis course in the student's final year. During this course, the student will develop and complete his/her project. What projects have students completed in the past? Students in the Performing and Literary Arts Track have produced theses with the following titles: Bria Barnes, An Original Anthology: Part One, 2015 Sarah Dinetz, Strung Along (novel excerpt), 2015 Eric Dolan The Art of the Interview, 2015 Greg Farkas, Adding Perspective, 2015 Joshua Forrest, One Song, Three Stories, 2015 Kelly Ginart, Coincidencias Excepcionales, 2015 Phillip Gorokhovsky, Life After William Paterson, 2015 Jennifer Hastings, Travel Log, 2015 Jason Krobatsch, Short Plays, 2015 Samuel Lowry, Welcome to Another World, 2015 Christine Marshall, Reap, 2015 Harry Metzler, Parkway Divides, 2015 Miguel Rodriguez, Life of Pi Suite- Music & Storytelling, 2015 Megan Stefanski, Witched, 2015 Meghan Triolo, A Collection of Thoughts Before Daybreak, 2015 Ryan Walsh, Eleven, 2015 Nicole Bernstein, Graceless, 2014 Christina Dellosso, Take Out the Trash, 2014 Ruti Frankel, The Unveiling, 2014 Catherine Matteucci, Charlie's Nightmare, 2014 Kara Peterson, A Different Kind A Novel, 2014 Brianna Rittinger, A Collection of Poems, 2014 J. M. Safranski, Blue Fear, 2014 Carrie Tolve, Caroline: The Story of a Crush, 2014 Stephan Bisaha, Tide A Radio Drama, 2013 Emilija Bitinaityte, The Sum of all Things, 2013 Brian Cornish, The Future of Jazz, 2013 Sarah Culp, The Six Wives A Libretto, 2013 John Demeski, Life and Character: A Collection of Short Stories, 2013 Michael Dorcelly, Our Neighbor's World, 2013 Peter Kennedy, Sketches, 2013 Elizabeth Masci, My Not-So-Euro-Chic European Holiday, 2013 Amanda McDonald, Stories of Mine, 2013 Bethany McMinn, Koti Parker, 2013 Philip Rasmussen, Adventures in Flight-Reflections on the Birth of an Album, 2013 Sandy Sainvil, I am Haitian, 2013 Caroline Sanchez, Some Kind of Fiction-A Collection of Short Stories, 2013 Erin Sterbinsky, Broadcasting Fables-A Poetry Collection, 2013 Pardis Shohrati, Lull Me Away, 2013 Cortney Wisbauer, The Purpose of Darkness, 2013 Alaina Blekicki, Take Me Away, 2012 Lauren Cucci, Group, 2012 Anthony Gabrielle, SNOAH, 2012 Nathan Giroux, A Study in the Composition of Literature and Music, 2012 Morgan Lawson, Hellbent, 2012 Melissa Mayer, Pieces of Me, 2012 Julie Minicozzi, The Benefit for Closure, 2012 Kristen Pettet, The Missing Piece, 2012 Jacqueline Segal, Annie and Cara Take on the Camp, 2012 Jenna Semeraro, Kiera's Big Move, 2012 Jessica Semeraro, Hopeless, 2012 Natalie DaSilva, Struggles of a Woman: A Collection of Short Stories and Screenplays, 2011 Kaci Higgins, Unexpected-A Novella, 2011 Travis McGrath, Awake and Dreaming: A Collection of Creative Non-Fiction, 2011 Dania Moheisen, It's This Thing…Called Life: The Story of a Palestinian American Muslim Girl Coming of Age, 2011 Holly Phillips, Touching Lives: A Collection of Short Stories, 2011 John Strevens, The Modern Man's Hustle, 2011 Pam Imhof, The Mysteries of Human Behavior -Paintings that Represent Literature, 2010 Patrick Hanan, Arachnid, 2009 Jessica Mongiello, Artful Expectations, 2009 Lindsay Tierstein, Seven Cycles, 2009 Phebe Varghese, Nothing Special-A Collection of Short Stories, 2009 David Molczyk, Fiction and the Super Natural, 2008 Lisa Paitchell, Judith-A Novella, 2007 Latoya Pinckney,, The Color of Dignity, 2005 Laura Sassano, Avenging the Hat, 2005 Dan Faraguna, Loss of the Moment, 2004 Chantel Phipany, Random Days, 2004 Kevin Thomas, Gypsy & The Lost Treasure: A Play for Children, 2003 Lisbeth Cobas, To Hell with Dante and Forward, 1992 Kyle Allen, In God's Country Erica Caine, Sepia's Song-A Musical Rumki Chowdhury, Her Perfect Chime Philip Donchevich, Our Father-A Collection of Essays Remi Groner, I, Candidate Lori Haddix, Ilsilab Peter Helff, About Time: A Short Collection of Writings Frank Herbert, Dune-A Novel Lori Michael, Vagabond Visions Rachel Kaplan, Rain Paloma Kelly, The Cosplay Curse Terry McGahan, Merry Street Jillian Mulderig, The Fine Mingling Phoebe North, Nostalgia: A Mixed-Tape in Memories Jessica Pepe, With Heartfelt Serenity Jennifer Smith, Her Love: Women in Myth, Legend and Fairy Tale-A Fiction Collection Amy Van Druten, The Redemption of a Teenage Nobody James Van Wyck, Chains: Fit for Mercy Karin Diann Williams, Justine-A Comedy How do I enroll? To enroll in the Performing and Literary Arts Track, contact the Director, Dr. Philip Cioffari, at (973) 720-3053 or at cioffarip@wpunj.edu. You could also contact Jan Pinkston at (973) 720-3776 or at pinkstonj@wpunj.edu. A completed track application must also be submitted to the Honors College. About the Track Director: Philip Cioffari is the author of three books of fictions: the mystery/thriller, Catholic Boys; the short story collection, A HISTORY OF THINGS LOST OR BROKEN, which won the Tartt Fiction Prize and the D.H. Lawrence Awards for fiction; and, most recently, JESUSVILLE. His short stories have been published widely in commercial and literary magazines and anthologies, including North American Review, Playboy, Michigan Quarterly Review, Northwest Review, Florida Fiction, and Southern Humanities Review. He has written and directed for Off and Off-Off Broadway. His Indie feature film, which he wrote and directed, LOVE IN THE AGE OF DION, had won numerous awards, including Best Feature Film at the Long Island Int’l Film Expo, and Best Director at the NY Independent Film &Video Festival. He is a Professor of English, and director of the Performing and Literary Arts Honors Track, at William Paterson University. www.philipcioffari.com
