|
MFA in Creative Writing
Student writers of poetry and fiction explore the processes and products
of their writing in workshops, graduate courses, and seminars. Each student
writes, as a thesis, a poetry or fiction manuscript of publishable quality.
The final third-year essay is a writer's thoughtful analysis of works
in his or her own genre.
Our M.F.A. program gives students
the opportunity to develop their art with help from established writers
on the faculty and exceptionally promising peers, and to earn the degree
of choice for teachers of creative writing.
For more information see the separate Creative Writing Program page.
Degree Requirements
The basic requirements for the degree are 48 hours of coursework, which
includes 3- credit hours for the Essay Seminar and 6 hours of the thesis.
All M.F.A. students are also encouraged to take as part of their coursework
ENG 631: Critical Theory. This course provides an overview of the major
issues in critical theory and sets out debates over meaning, subjectivity,
textuality, and historicity.
Courses
Students must complete 48 credit
hours, composed of 42 credit hours of coursework and 6 hours of thesis
credit (for the preparation of a thesis) over a three-year period.
Students for the degree are
expected to include 9 credit hours of creative writing workshops and 9
credit hours of graduate-level forms courses taught by Creative Writing
faculty. The rest of the coursework will be split between 12-15 credit
hours in other English Department courses and 6-9 credit hours of elective
work outside the department. The elective work can be taken in another
artistic medium; in language, history, philosophy, religion; or in whatever
area would best benefit the student's writing.
A third-year degree essay addressing
some aspect of the work of a major writer (to be written as part of an
Essay Seminar) will also be required.
The M.F.A. thesis will be a
book-length manuscript of poetry or fiction, and students will work closely
with one or two creative writing faculty while preparing the manuscript.
Students may take 6 hours of thesis to complete this project.
Essay Seminar
This seminar will address some
aspect of the work of a single major writer. The emphasis will be on one
writer's understanding in depth of the work of another writer: What was
the nature of that writer's craft and how did it develop? The seminar
will see each student essay through several drafts, with the final essay
being about 5,000 words. The completion of this degree essay will take
the place of the present dossier as the culminating intellectual experience
for M.F.A. candidates.
Thesis
The thesis is to be a collection
of poems or stories commensurate in quality with materials published by
major magazines or presses. Thesis credit may, technically, be earned
at any time in a student's career, but it usually comes in the third year.
The thesis itself is to be prepared in consultation with a member of the
creative writing faculty who must approve it. |
