Required Coursework

The MFA degree is a 48-unit degree (32 core units + 16 elective units) normally requiring full-time residency. The final thesis must be finished and accepted by all committee members in the spring of the second year of study. Requests for a waiver of this time limit are granted only for such reasons as documented serious health or personal problems. These requests require formal petition to the Creative Writing faculty, and must be approved unanimously by all members of the thesis committee and the English Department Chair. Any grade of “Incomplete” must be completed prior to the student’s graduation date.

This program should be completed in two years at roughly 11-13 units per semester. The following coursework sequence is highly recommended. Departures from this schedule may take place only after consultation with and approval by the chairperson of the student’s thesis committee. Course requirements are arranged into “core” and “elective” categories.

FIRST YEAR

Fall
ENGL 505A or 506A (4 units)
ENGL 696 (4 units)
Plus Electives

Spring
ENGL 505B or 506B (4 units)
Plus Electives

SECOND YEAR

Fall
ENGL 605A or 606A (4 units)
ENGL 698 (3 units)
ENGL 590 (3 units)
Plus Electives

Spring
ENGL 605B or 606B (4 units)
ENGL 698 (3 units)
ENGL 590 (3 units)
Plus Electives

Core Courses

The specific courses listed form the mandatory core coursework for all MFA students. These required courses have been designated with the following unit value towards the completion of the 48-unit degree:

English 505A, 505B, 605A and 605B are 4-unit seminar-workshops in Prose Writing. English 506A, 506B, 606A and 606B are 4-unit seminar-workshops in Poetry Writing. Of the 48 units, 16 are comprised of these graduate creative writing seminar-workshops. Please note that only MFA students are permitted to enroll in these classes and audits are not allowed.

English 696 is a 4-unit Seminar in Theory, Criticism and Research that must be taken in the first year, preferably in the fall semester. Like the graduate Creative Writing seminar-workshops, English 590 is required of and restricted to MFA students. Only second-year MFA students are allowed to enroll in this sequence, which is taken by both the prose and poetry students. As with the creative writing seminars, this course rotates among the professors.

During both semesters of the second year, MFA students will also enroll in a three-unit “thesis writing” course (English 698). This course provides academic credit for the work of writing the final thesis draft.

All of these core courses amount to 32 units of the required 48 units. The remaining coursework is made up of Electives, listed below.

(NOTE: Students who graduated from CSULB with a B.A. degree in English, and have taken the equivalent 400-level course, will not receive credit for the 500-level course. For example, if a student took English 455 as an undergraduate at CSULB, the student will not receive graduate credit for English 555.)

Electives

*Students may NOT enroll in any 500-level course if they earned credit for the class at the 400-level as an undergraduate at CSULB.

Up to six units total of 400-level coursework may also be taken to fulfill the electives requirement, subject to the following restrictions.

Students may NOT enroll in any 400-level Creative Writing course if they earned credit for that class as an undergraduate at CSULB.

Students may NOT enroll in any 400-level Creative Writing course that is in their own degree focus.

Students wishing to take any 400-level course must obtain advance written approval from an MFA advisor.

Students wishing to take any class in another department must obtain advance written approval from an MFA advisor.

MFA Thesis

The MFA thesis can be a challenging and yet exceptionally satisfying part of the MFA program. The thesis may not contain all of the creative writing you produce and revise as part of your workshop seminars, but it does organize your best representative work and gives you an opportunity to describe the poetics and process of your prose and poetry. In a sense, your thesis is a creative writing portfolio and it can serve as a draft of a future manuscript that you can circulate for publication. In general, a prose thesis will contain approximately 100 pages of stories, creative nonfiction essays, or an excerpt of a novel, plus a substantial introductory section called “Methodology.” A poetry thesis will contain around three dozen poems plus the “Methodology.” The contents and length of each student’s methodology should be discussed with the chairperson of his or her thesis committee.

MFA students need to remember that the thesis is primarily an academic document that will become a permanent part of their record. As such, each thesis is available as part of the CSULB library’s public collection, and each student must submit the thesis in a format that meets the library’s template. It is the student’s responsibility to visit the Thesis and Dissertation Office and become familiar with the template needed to complete this process.

Formation of a Thesis Committee

Each MFA student must assemble a committee of three professors who will serve as readers for the thesis. One of these professors will serve as committee chair and will be the primary person to whom the student turns for advice on the Methodology and arrangement of the creative writing that will constitute the Appendix. The other two professors will also contribute their advice and recommendations. Faculty outside the genre can occasionally serve as a third reader on a committee. Prose professors may serve on poetry committees, and poetry professors may serve on prose committees, but it is recommended that you choose readers from the faculty of your own genre.

It is the responsibility of MFA students to determine which combination of professors would best suit the formation of a thesis committee. Since second-year students are actively focused on the completion of their thesis projects, first-year students should seek recommendations from their senior peers in the workshop about potential combinations of professors on MFA committees. It is highly recommended that students make appointments to meet and confer with professors who are not teaching the 505/506 seminars in the first year of a student’s residence. Each first-year student must obtain the written consent of three professors to be on his or her thesis committee by May 1st of the academic year.

ACADEMICS

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Required Coursework

Core Courses

Electives

MFA Thesis

Formation of a Thesis Committee