Curriculum
Requirements
- Four Writing Workshops (with Tutorials)
- Modernism and Modernity
- Contemporary Fiction or Nonfiction or Poetry
- Two Craft Seminars in Fiction or Nonfiction or Poetry
- Two Electives
- Thesis
Writing Workshops and Tutorials
The core of the program is the writing workshop, which provides an opportunity for student writers to work and learn with established writers on developing their voices, materials, and styles. Workshop leaders—permanent faculty or writers-in-residence—are dedicated to fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect and professionalism. First- and second-year students work together in the workshop so that over two years students develop a close community and also encounter a variety of perspectives. Each workshop is paired with a writing tutorial, during which the students meet one-on-one with faculty to discuss work in progress.
- Fiction Workshop and Tutorial (English 211 and 221)
This course is an intensive exploration of the ideas, techniques and forms of fiction with primary emphasis on the careful analysis and discussion of student works-in-progress. Students will grapple with the questions of voice, point of view, dramatic movement, structure, rhythm, and imagery, as well as with any and all issues of art and craft that arise from the individual manuscripts. By the end of the course, the students should develop the terminology and the critical skills for revising fiction, and should develop a good understanding about issues and trends in the genre.
- Poetry Workshop and Tutorial (English 212 and 222)
The primary aim of this course is to allow the students as much freedom as possible in their writing while teaching them the skills to identify their strengths and weaknesses. The most important work for the student will be to locate his or her style or voice, with encouragement to produce at least 1 new poem per week. By the end of the course, the students should develop the terminology and the critical skills for revising poetry, and should develop a good understanding about issues and trends in the genre. Students may also be encouraged to write a statement of poetics in which they will analyze their own poems with particular attention to their development over the semester.
- Nonfiction Workshop (English 214 and 224)
This course gives students the opportunity to explore material in various areas of nonfiction, such as memoir, personal essay, or travel writing. The course addresses issues of voice, scene, point-of-view, and theme, as well as any other elements of nonfiction writing that will emerge from individual manuscripts. By the end of the course, the students should develop the terminology and the critical skills for revising nonfiction, and should develop a good understanding about issues and trends in the genre.
Modernism and Modernity (English 200)
For the purposes of this course, "modernism" refers to the international artistic movement that involved many art forms and responded to a sense of social breakdown in the early part of the twentieth century. At the heart of modernism lay the notion that the social, political, religious and artistic structures of human life may, in fact, be falsehoods or fantasies. As a result of this new sense of reality, aesthetics had to be revised: Order, narrative, and unity began to reflect a desire for coherence rather than a mirror placed in front of nature. Some of the defining characteristics of modernist work are the following: social criticism, particularly of Victorian social mores; a radical re-examination of the nature of reality and time; construction out of fragments or "images"; alienation from accepted beliefs and social structures; an awareness of the nature of consciousness. That said, the definition of modernism should be fluid and allowed to evolve over time.
Through lecture and discussion, the course will cover many of the movements of modernism, including symbolism, decadence, futurism, cubism, expressionism, dadaism, and surrealism, offering approaches to a selection of literary texts from the period. In addition, the course will consider modernism after the second World War, looking for connections between modernism and the contemporary period.
Contemporary Literature Courses
These courses are graduate level courses in the contemporary literature of each genre. They allow students to gain further knowledge of the form in which they work as well as familiarity with current practitioners in the field.
- Contemporary Fiction (English 231)
A careful study of a range of important works by contemporary writers of novels and short stories with attention to thematic and formal analysis. Writers to be studied may include Martin Amis, Margaret Atwood, Michael Cunningham, Don DeLillo, Nadine Gordimer, Louise Erdrich, Carol Maso, Toni Morrison, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Edgar Wideman.
- Contemporary Poetry (English 232)
This course will examine a variety of different trends in contemporary poetry and enable students to distinguish between some of the most important voices. The course is likely to explore the relations between contemporary poets and some of their precursors with an eye toward how these writers have affected such post World War II movements as the confessional school, the beats, open field, the New York School, the Black Arts Movement, and the Language poets. It will also consider the poetry of the present day in which there is far less of a consensus as to which poets, trends, or schools are central.
- Contemporary Nonfiction (English 234)
This course is a literary survey of contemporary nonfiction, including the personal essay and narrative nonfiction. Students will investigate the relationship between art and culture, between the writer and his or her society. The course will place special emphasis on formal analysis of themes and patterns in contemporary writing. Writers likely to be included are Jo Ann Beard, Dave Eggers, Joan Didion, Lucy Grealy, Mary Karr, Pico Iyer, Philip Lopate, Richard Rodriguez, Tobias Wolff, and Terry Tempest Williams.
Craft Seminars
Each MFA student is required to take 2 Craft Seminars in his or her genre. Taught by the MFA faculty, the craft seminars cover a range of aesthetic and thematic issues that inform contemporary work in the genre.
- Craft Seminar in Fiction (English 261)
This course focuses on issues that influence the writing of fiction. Some seminars may focus on issues of craft or aesthetics—narrative structure in the novel, point of view, or dialogue—and others may be thematic in nature—historical fiction, realism, or the postmodern ethos. Readings may include a wide range fiction from diverse backgrounds and historical periods as well as the students' own works-in-progress.
- Craft Seminar in Poetry (English 262)
This course focuses on issues that influence the writing of poetry. Some seminars may focus on issues of craft or aesthetics—figuration, the line, or open field theory—and others will be thematic in nature—politics and poetics, revolution and poetics, psychoanalysis and surrealism, nature poetics, etc. Readings may include a wide range of poetry from diverse sources and historical periods as well as the students' own works-in-progress.
- Craft Seminar in Nonfiction (English 264)
This course focuses on issues that influence the writing of nonfiction. Some seminars may focus on issues of craft of aesthetics—narrative structure, point of view, or dialogue—and others may be thematic in nature or explore a subgenre of nonfiction—personal essay, memoir, nature writing, travel writing, humor, book review, historical narrative, biography, etc. Readings may include a wide range nonfiction from diverse backgrounds and historical periods as well as the students' own works-in-progress.
Electives
As part of the requirements for graduation, MFA students must take at least two electives. The following graduate level courses are offered as electives. Students may also satisfy this requirement by taking additional craft seminars or upper division undergraduate courses related to their theses.
- Alternate Genre (English 250)
A writing workshop course in an alternative genre, such as playwriting, screenwriting, or young adult fiction. This course explores the form’s tradition, techniques and possibilities, and focuses on the analysis and discussion of student works-in-progress.
- Internship (English 280)
Students have the opportunity to pursue internships either for elective credit or as an extracurricular activity. The teaching internship is designed to permit the student to observe the conduct of a college course and to share the pedagogical activity of asupervising instructor. Students also have the opportunity to receive credit for internships in publishing, arts administration, or teaching writing in the community.
Thesis (English 290)
During the spring semester of the second year, each MFA candidate is required to pursue a tutorial course of study under the direction of an assigned faculty writer in the student's genre. Through this tutorial, the student performs the revision necessary to turn two years of writing into a coherent, complete, and polished thesis: a collection of essays, poems, or short stories; a novel, a memoir, or other book-length work of nonfiction. Students meet with their advising professor several times during the semester to confer on the following aspects of the thesis: final revision and editing of individual pieces to be included in the manuscript, selection and arrangement of material, and coherence of the work as a whole unit. Each completed thesis will be read and approved by the thesis advisor and an additional second reader from the MFA Program or English Department.
