Master of Fine Arts in Writing: The Curriculum

The Introductory Course

• MFA - 600 The First Person: Autobiographical Writing

The Fiction Concentration Courses

• MFA - 651 Developments in the Novel
• MFA - 661 Evolution of the Short Story
• MFA - 662 Contemporary Experiments in Fiction
• MFA - 671 The Techniques of Long Fiction
• MFA - 672 The Craft of Short Fiction
• MFA - 680 Style in Fiction
• MFA - 687 Deepening Prose

The Nonfiction Concentration Courses

• MFA - 673 The Prose of Fact
• MFA - 682 Classics of Literary Nonfiction
• MFA - 683 The Art of the Essay
• MFA - 684 Narrating Nonfiction

The Poetry Concentration Courses

• MFA - 654 American Poetry and Poetics
• MFA - 664 Poetry International
• MFA - 674 Prosody: The Meaning of Poetic Form
• MFA - 686 Visionary Poetics

Special Courses

• MFA - 663 Ethical Issues in Writing
• MFA - 681 Blurred Boundaries: Writing Beyond Genre
• MFA - 675 Teaching Writing
• MFA - 690 Special Topics

Workshops

• MFA - 612 Writing Workshop I
• MFA - 622 Writing Workshop II
• MFA - 632 Writing Workshop III
• MFA - 642 Writing Workshop IV

The Major Project

• MFA - 689 Major Project I
• MFA - 699 Major Project II

Learning Goals/Outcomes for the M.F.A. in Writing Program

• Students should be able to demonstrate in their writing a fluid knowledge of the fundamentals of artistic composition and craft.
• Students should be able to read as writers: to recognize structural elements and esthetic choices in a given work of literary art, and understand the ways in which literary meaning is made.
• Students should be aware of the diverse historical and cultural traditions that inform the genre in which they are working.
• Students should be able to evaluate and critique works of literary art (whether by themselves or others), and be able to participate in constructive critical discussion of such works.
• Students should understand the process of revision, the criteria for completion, and the methodology by which writing may be brought to the public as published work.