Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

 

Other Information

Please see our extended course descriptions of course offerings by term. See the Registrar's Course Schedules for current course offerings and the FAU Course Catalog.

For transfer students: at least 75% of the major must be completed in the English Department at FAU. Transfer work to be credited toward the degree must be evaluated by the Department.  

For more about the objectives and structure of English courses, please refer to FAU's Student Learning Outcomes Assessment for the English Department.

Master of Fine Arts

MFA students specialize in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction, pursuing half of their coursework in creative writing workshops and half in literature and theory seminars.

• MFA Program in Creative Writing Website
• Student Advisement Checklist: Creative Writing
• Coastlines - This website supplements our annual publication, Coastlines, the literary magazine featuring the creative writing and artwork of Florida Atlantic University students.

Admission

The Department of English at Florida Atlantic University offers an MA and an MFA in Creative Writing. Applicants should specify degree and genre.

The necessary application form can be obtained from the English Department or the FAU website.

Applications must include:

1. Writing sample
   For Fiction: 20 to 25 pages of literary fiction
   For Creative Non-Fiction: 20 to 25 pages of literary creative non-fiction For Poetry: 15 to 20 pages of poetry
2. A brief statement of intent that discusses your desire to earn an MFA degree and places your writing within a literary tradition, describing your experiences as both a reader of literature and a writer specific to the genre in which you are applying. For example, what writers do you see as standouts within that same tradition, and what specifically do you admire about their writing? What aspects of craft and technique do you hope to learn from them—or what have you already learned from them? What traditions do those writers follow (or break away from), and do you feel you are similarly writing within a particular set of parameters (or breaking from expectations of the genre)? Applicants should consider these questions simply as a guideline; the statement of intent should be composed creatively and in whatever way that best captures the interests and influences of the individual writer.
3. Two letters of recommendation
4. Undergraduate transcripts (minimum 3.0 GPA)
5. Application form
6. Application fee

The writing sample, statement of intent, and two letters of recommendation should be sent directly to the Department of English; all other application materials should be sent to the Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions with copies sent to the Department of English.

Deadline for Fall admission: January 15.
Deadline for Spring admission: November 1.

MA Program Requirements and Optional Concentrations

Students pursuing the MA in English should be advised in their selection of courses each semester in order to assure progress toward the degree. For an advising appointment, please contact Erin Kiley at ekiley1@fau.edu or 561-297-3830. Graduate Advising is located in CU 306.

The department offers two optional concentrations: Science Fiction and Fantasy or Rhetoric and Composition. We are one of the only programs in the world offering graduate-level coursework in SFF. This year we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of SFF at FAU! Recent course offerings have included Theorizing the Fantastic, Mythologies in Latinx SFF, Afrofuturism: Race to the Future, Cyborg Rhetorics, Artificial Intelligence in Literature and Film, Cyborg and Posthuman Rhetorics, Utopia/Dystopia, and Superheroes. SFF graduate students in the program regularly present and publish their research.

Students in our Rhetoric and Composition concentration gain theoretical background and situate their own practices of writing and approaches to teaching within current discussions in composition studies. Students have opportunities to develop portfolio materials that demonstrate their experience in professional and technical writing. Recent course offerings have included Composition Theory and Methodology, Rhetoric of Race in Social Discourse, Rhetorics of the Body, Cyborg and Posthuman Rhetoric, and Professional Writing: Pedagogy and Practice.

Core Courses and Requirements

MA students take two core courses (6 credits):

1. Research Methods for Advanced Literary Study (ENG 6009)
2. Literary Criticism I (ENG 5018)  OR  Literary Criticism II (ENG 5019)

MA students must also fulfill three historical coverage requirements:

1. one Medieval and/or Early Modern (pre-1700) course
2. one 18th and/or 19th century (1700-1900) course
3. one 20th and/or 21st century (1900-present) course.

MA students must complete a thesis or a comprehensive exam (6 credits, taken over two semesters).

If the foreign language requirement (two semesters of college-level study in a language other than English) is not already met, it may be fulfilled by taking LIN 6107: History of the English Language, Readings for Research, or by a FLATS or CLEP exam demonstrating proficiency. 

No course with a grade below "B-" (2.67) will count toward the Master's degree, and students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 ("B") for graduation.