One craft course in your primary genre (3 credits)

This is a required course for MFA students specializing in fiction. Students will experiment with creating scene, sense of place, summary, dialogue, framing, flashbacks, and transitions. Students will be introduced to the workshop method and given instruction on sending work out for publication.

This is a required course for MFA students specializing in creative nonfiction. Readings and writing will include exploration of scene construction, sense of place, point of view, character and narrator development, tone, lyricism, structure and oral presentation of the work. Students will be introduced to the workshop method and given instruction on sending work out for publication.

This is a required course for MFA students specializing in poetry. Reading and writing will center on the craft of poetry including music and rhythmic devices in both traditional and experimental forms. Students will be introduced to the workshop method and given instruction on sending work out for publication.

This course, required for all MFA students specializing in writing for children, examines the basic principles that guide writers for children and adolescents, beginning with concept and picture books and extending into full-length works of fiction and nonfiction. Students will explore multiple genres and audiences in this wrting-intensive course.

Primary genre craft course must be taken during the fall of student’s first year. Craft courses are Prerequisite(s): for all workshops of any genre.

One readings course in student’s primary genre (3) chosen from the following:

This course is a graduate seminar focusing on the close reading of poetry drawn primarily from the modern and contemporary periods. Designed to complement the poetry workshop, this course is required of all MFA students specializing in poetry.

This course is a graduate seminar focusing on the close reading of important novels and stories drawn primarily from the modern and comtemporary periods. Designed to complement the fiction workshop, this course is required of all MFA students specializing in writing fiction.

This course is a graduate seminar focusing on the close reading of creative nonfiction drawn primarily from the modern and contemporrary periods. Designed to complement the creative nonfiction workshop, this course is required of all MFA students specializing in creative nonfiction.

Two advanced writing workshops (6 credits) in your primary genre chosen from the following:

A poetry writing workshop to focus on form. Pre Requisite: ENG583

A poetry workshop focusing on readings from a particular poetic movement, and writing poetry that models or responds to movement. Pre-requisite: ENG583

A creative non-fiction workshop focused on lyric and experimental essay forms.

A creative non-fiction workshop focusing on literary journalism. Pre Requisite:ENG 582

This course is designed to teach the techniques and practice of creative nonfiction through participation in a process of peer review and commentary, reading and discussions of selections of other writers and stories, and regular submissions of original creative compositions. The course is taught in a workshop format. Pre-requisite: ENG582

This course further techniques and practices of fiction writing via focusing on the novel. Varied models will be read and analyzed for aspects of sustaining voice, structure, and momentum. Students participate in ongoing discussions, developmental exercises, and weekly peer review. This course is taught in a workshop format. Pre Requisite: ENG581

This course furthers one's technique and practice of fiction writing via focusing on the short story. Classic models are read and analyzed for variety of P.O.V., character developement, story structure, etc. Students are expected to participate in ongoing discussions and weekly peer review. This course is taught in a workshop format. Pre Requisites: ENG581

This course is designed to teach the techniques and practice of poetry writing through participation in a process of peer review and commentary, reading and discussions of selections of other poets and poems, and regular submissions of original creative compositions. The course is taught in a workshop format. Pre requisites: ENG583

This course is designed to teach the techniques and practice of fiction writing through participation in a process of peer review and commentary, reading and discussions of selections of other writers and stories, and regular submissions of original creative compositions. The course is taught in a workshop format. Pre Requisite: ENG581

This course is designed to teach the techniques and practice of writing poetry and prose for children and adolescents through participation in a process of peer review and commentary, reading and discussions of selections of other writers and their work, and regular submissions of original creative compositions. The course is taught in a workshop format. Pre-requisite: ENG586

This course furthers one's technique and practice of fiction writing via studying booklength story collections and/or story cycles. Contemporary models are considered for their creative melding of varied themes. P.O.V.'s structures, etc. Students are expected to participate in ongoing discussions and weekly peer review. This course is taught in in a workshop format. Pre requisite: ENG581

Focused on developing personal histories into stories that entertain, inform, and inspire, students will write auto-biographies and biographies for young audiences using solid research techniques and story-telling skills. Pre requisite: ENG586

This writing workshop requires students to compase and revise via in-class critiques. Students develop writing skills essential to suspenseful narrative including the creation of: character, setting, atmosphere, critical details, plot. Readings include high quality mystery books and stories for young readers.

This course explores the pairing of words and images in creating literature for young children. Students write and revise for children from infancy through the early elementary grades, aiming for lively, lyrical, spare texts that address a young child's growth, development, concerns, and abilities.

This course examines non-fiction and fiction writing for children based on history. Students examine the use of historical settings and events in high quality books for young readers. As they prepare their own manuscripts, students develop active research strategies, which include the investigation, annotation, and development of primary and secondary sources. Pre-Requisite: ENG586

One of Nature Writing or Travel Writing:

This is a multi-genre course that focuses on the art and craft of nature and environmental writing. Students will read and study contemporary nature and environmental writing, and will be expected to generate creative work that illustrates a deep understanding of the literary tools available to writers in this genre.

This course focuses on the art and craft of travel writing. Students will read and study contemporary travel writing, and will be expected to generate creative work that illustrates a deep understanding of the literary tools available to writers in this genre.

Four content courses (12 credits), at least 2 of which must be literature-based courses. Sample courses include:

A number of narratives, novels, diaries, and poems recording the responses of women to the American frontier have become available in recent years. By reading about these experiences, and examining differences in perception and conception based apparently on gender, students will better understand how the frontier functioned within American culture.

Focus on American fiction that records physical as well as metaphysical journeys; writers’ exploration of new territories such as the frontier West, Polynesian Isles, and South Pole; their imaginative discovery of new truths about nature, society, and self. Includes works by Poe, Cooper, Melville, Simms, Kirkland, and Chopin.

This course focuses on the connection between geographic places and cultural identities. Ethnic, regional, and linguistic markers help define writers’ distinctive voices. Dislocation from the place of origination can also result in a creative tension. Students will read a variety of texts that explore the borderlands between ethnicity and place.

Students read poetry, nonfiction and fiction that explores the relationship between wilderness and humans as well as the relationship between wilderness and culture. This seminar will trace the idea of wilderness in American literature through the twenty-first century.

This course brings together theoretical, non-fictional, and fictional approaches to the study of women and the environment. This course focuses particularly on how representations of women and environment can help students rethink and re-imagine their relationships to the Earth.

Designed to complement "Writing for Children and Adolescents," this course surveys the best of children’s fiction and nonfiction and encourages the student to examine issues of plot, story development, character, setting, and creative use of language.

One ENG 710 Summer Community of Writers

One Thesis Seminar corresponding to the student’s primary genre (3). Choose from:

A workshop focusing on generating a thesis proposal, bibliography and significant creative work towards completion of the student's thesis. Readings will focus on creating and articulating a creative process and vision as well as models for longer creative projects. Normally taken the first semester of the student's second year, this course is a prerequisite for ENG698 Final Manuscript.

A workshop focusing on generating a thesis proposal, bibliography and significant creative work towards completion of the student's thesis. Readings will focus on creating and articulating a creative process and vision as well as models for longer creative projects. Normally taken the first semester of the student's second year, this course is a prerequisite for ENG698 Final Manuscript.

A workshop focusing on generating a thesis proposal, bibliography and significant creative work towards completion of the student's thesis. Readings will focus on creating and articulating a creative process and vision as well as models for longer creative projects. Normally taken the first semester of the student's second year, this course is a prerequisite for ENG698 Final Manuscript.

A workshop focusing on generating a thesis proposal, bibliography and significant creative work towards completion of the student's thesis. Readings will focus on creating and articulating a creative process and vision as well as models for longer creative projects. Normally taken the first semester of the student's second year, this course is a prerequisite for ENG698 Final Manuscript.

*The Thesis Seminar is a prerequisite for Final Manuscript (698)

One elective from any course in the MFA program that does not require prerequisites.

By taking a craft course and two writing workshops in their secondary genre, students may attain their MFA with a Dual Concentration. Thus, students choosing this option will take one craft course, one reading course and six credits in workshops for their primary genre and one craft course plus six credits of workshops for the secondary genre. The Thesis Project for Dual Concentration may be composed of work in either genre or a combination of both.

Students who wish to earn a Concentration in the Teaching of Writing take an additional nine credits specifically in courses designed to study the pedagogy of writing. Students earning this concentration take related course work throughout the degree program aimed at increasing their knowledge and understanding of current theoretical and practical approaches to the teaching of creative writing. During the final semester, students teach in a field placement that they design and implement in a working classroom or other approved setting.

3 required courses chosen from the following:

This course is a pre-requisite for ENG515 and focuses on the theoretical and pedagogical readings related to the teaching of creative writing.

Students will explore the genres of poetry, fiction, drama, and nonfiction from the perspective of a teacher, producing lesson plans, as well as developing a final curricular creative writing unit/course. Aspects of lesson design, classroom environment/management, the writing process, writing workshops, assessment, publication, and performance will be emphasized. Prerequisite(s): ENG 514

During this course, taken in one of the final semesters of the M.F.A., students teach/study in a supervised field placement and practice the pedagogy of creative writing in a working classroom. Prerequisite(s): ENG 514 and ENG 515

Students who wish to concentrate in literary publishing may take nine hours of related courses to do so.

3 required courses chosen from the following:

This course gives students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience as publishers. Students will research independent literary presses or magazines of their own choosing, and then they will publish a literary chapbook by an author other than themselves.

This course is a practicum in which grad students publish the print edition of Chatham's national literary journal, Fourth River. All phases of the publishing process are addressed, with a special emphasis on design, production, proofreading, marketing, and distribution.

Students who wish to concentrate in Travel Writing must take nine hours of related courses to do so.

3 required courses chosen from the following:

This course focuses on the art and craft of travel writing. Students will read and study contemporary travel writing, and will be expected to generate creative work that illustrates a deep understanding of the literary tools available to writers in this genre.

The field seminar is a traveling creative writing workshop designed to push students outside the realm of comfort and make them question their assumptions about themselves and their culture. Travel locations and specific topics will vary, but will always be outside the United States. An additional fee applies to this course. May be repeated for credit.

Same as ENG674 but destinations will be within the United States. An additional fee applies for this course. May be repeated for credit.

Same as ENG674 but destinations will be within Pittsburgh and Western PA. An additional fee applies to this course. May be repeated for credit.

Students who wish to concentrate in Nature and Environmental Writing must take nine hours of related courses to do so.

3 required courses chosen from the following:

In this course, students will read, dicuss, and practice a variety of methods of communicating about environmental science, from popular culture to news to government reports. By the end, students will be able to competently translate scientific results into conversational English, and you should be able to evaluate scientfic results from the news in terms of its accuracy and clarity.

This course brings together theoretical, non-fictional, and fictional approaches to the study of women and the environment. This course focuses particularly on how representations of women and environment can help students rethink and re-imagine their relationships to the Earth.

Students in this course study Shakespeare's sonnets and plays from a "green" perspective. This course looks at how Shakespeare's works engage deforestation, enclosure, (ab)use of animals, stewardship, cultivation, and the exploitation of natural resources. Pedagogical strategies for teaching Shakespeare will will also be discussed.

This is a multi-genre course that focuses on the art and craft of nature and environmental writing. Students will read and study contemporary nature and environmental writing, and will be expected to generate creative work that illustrates a deep understanding of the literary tools available to writers in this genre.