Dual-Genre Option

Are you unbound by genre restraints? Would you like to try two genre tracks while you're at Bennington? New applicants and current students who meet the criteria below are eligible to apply for the dual genre.

Students will study three terms in the major genre and two terms in the minor genre. Dual-genre students are not required to produce more writing or submit more packets per term than single-genre students.

To be considered for a dual-genre degree, applicants must apply in two different genres. If the applicant’s manuscripts are accepted in both genres, the applicant will study three terms in the major genre and two terms in the minor genre, successfully completing 80 graduate-credit hours over a minimum of five terms. Dual-genre students will work with three different teachers in the major genre and two different teachers in the minor genre and will attend a total of six residencies. The sequence of study will be:

• terms 1 and 2: major genre
• terms 3 and 4: minor genre
• term 5: major genre

Students who do not initially apply in more than one genre may, in the first or second term, apply to study in a second genre.

Application Deadlines

September 1 for the upcoming winter term, and March 1 for the upcoming summer term.

Though dual-genre students will complete a mandatory five-term course of study, students accepted into this option late in their tenure may be required to complete a longer course of study. The decision to approve or deny students into this option will be made by the program's executive director and director, and a faculty advisory committee.

Any changes over the course of the dual-genre student’s study, including, in particular, any change in the designation of major and minor genres, may be made only in consultation with the program director and the student’s immediate and most recent faculty advisors.

Contact: Megan Culhane Galbraith, Director, 802-440-4454, megang@bennington.edu