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MFA Curriculum

During your two years of studies, you will need to complete the coursework described in this chapter. The order in which you take the courses will depend on your overall plans for your , which you should discuss with your advisor.

Regardless of how you plan your coursework, if you are a full time student, you should complete your in two years. Please, consider the following:

• You need to complete 36 hours of coursework in 4 semesters. If you are an online student, you may take longer that 4 semesters, although it is advisable to take at least one class per semester to keep the continuity of your studies.
• To be considered a full time student, you need to register for 9 hours (3 courses) each semester. This is a requirement for students holding a teaching assistantship (see page ).
• You may take courses in our summer sessions. These courses may count towards your 36 hour requirement, but they do not count towards your 9 hours requirement to be a full time student in Fall and Spring.
• Exceptionally, you may take one undergraduate class for credit, see guidelines below.
• You will enroll in Capstone in your fourth semester, concurrently with two other courses to complete your full time requirement. The successful compleiton of is a requirement for your graduation in our program.

Coursework

This section includes the types of courses that make the curriculum of our program.

Workshops (12 hours)

The primary focus is honing writing skills through regular workshops, providing students with the opportunity to give and receive meaningful feedback on their work. The final project for the class will be creative, in some cases with a short preface framing the project.

• CRW 5366 Advanced Fiction Writing
• CRW 5367 Advanced Poetry Writing
• CRW 5369 Advanced Playwriting
• CRW 5371 Writing the Novel
• CRW 5372 Advanced Screenwriting
• CRW 5373 Advanced Creative Nonfiction
• CRW 5374 Ten Problems for the Fiction Writer
• CRW 5363 Writing Children’s Literature
• CRW 5368 Variable Topics
• CRW 5370 Literary Translation

Craft Courses (9 hours)

These classes are designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the craft of writing. They include in-depth readings and analysis of various writing techniques, styles, and genres. º£½ÇÉçÇøs will also work on assignments aimed at developing their craft. Depending on the specific objectives of each class, the final project may be a creative piece, an analytical essay, or a combination of both.

The class Studies in Form is a literature class with a different content each semester. Check the Course Catalog before you enroll in this course.

• CRW 5321 Narrative Theory and Poetics
• CRW 5364 Forms and Techniques of Fiction
• CRW 5365 Forms and Techniques of Poetry
• CRW 5375 Writing Comics and Visual Culture
• CRW 5376 Writing About Popular Music
• CRW 5377 Rewriting America Since 1960s
• CRW 5378 The Politics of Narration
• CRW 5379 Kafka and the Art of Fiction
• CRW 5380 The Physics of Creative Writing
• CRW 5382 Studies in form
• CRW 5383 History of the Short Story Form
• CRW 5384 Forms in the Prose Poem and the Short Story
• CRW 5385 Forms in the Contemporary Short Story
• CRW 5386 Minding Fiction
• CRW 5387 Contemporary Latin American Novel
• CRW 5388 Storytelling in Film and Literature
• CRW 5389 High Modernism in Latin America

Studio Courses (9 hours)

In this immersive studio class, students will be granted dedicated time to focus on their writing projects under the close supervision of a seasoned faculty member. Designed for second-semester students and beyond.

These classes require a “Work in Progress Plan.” This plan is usually developed in the class Narrative Theory and Poetics, availabe during the first semester.

• CRW 5394 Prose Studio
• CRW 5395 Poetry Studio

Electives (3 hours)

These are graduate-level courses taken from any department with your advisor’s approval.

¶ Independent Study (3 hours)

This is not a course per se, but a way of taking a course, and it is designed to allow your development as a writer. You can take an independent study from any department with your advisor’s approval. It may replace a workshop or a craft course.

¶ Undergraduate Course (3 hours)

Exceptionally, you may take one undergraduate class for credit, as long as you follow the following guidelines:

• You can only take 3000 and 4000 series classes from the list approved by the Graduate Council. See the most current list of undergraduate courses under “Advising and Enrollment” on the Graduate School website.
• Your advisor must approve the class you are taking.
• You must contact the instructor and have their agreement in writing that they will adjust the assignments and readings for the class to count as a graduate level course.
• This class will count as one of your electives.
• You can only take one undergraduate class for credit.

Capstone (3 hours)

This will be the final project for the student, a collection of stories, essays, a novel or a collection of poems. The details of the project will be worked out and agreed upon with the faculty advisor.

• CRW 5397 Capstone