English

College of Liberal Arts
Department of English
(907) 474-7193
www.uaf.edu/english/

B.A., M.A., M.F.A. Degrees

Minimum Requirements for Degrees: M.A.: 30-36 credits; M.F.A.: 45 credits

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The English department offers core courses in writing and literature, and upper-division courses in literature, linguistics, creative writing, technical writing and literary criticism. The department also offers a two-year M.A. degree in literature and a three-year M.F.A. degree in creative writing. Teaching assistantships are available for both programs. The M.A. degree offers advanced study of literature and literary theory, as preparation for teaching or for entering a Ph.D. program. The M.F.A. degree is a terminal degree, culminating in the production of a publication-quality thesis manuscript of poetry, fiction, drama or creative non-fiction.

Graduate Program--M.A. Degree

  1. Complete the following admission requirement:
    1. Submit GRE scores.
    2. Submit academic writing sample.
  2. Complete the general university requirements.
  3. Complete the master's degree requirements.
  4. Pass a written comprehensive examination based on a standardized reading list; the examination is to be taken in the student's second year of work. The examination will be held on the Saturday ending the fourth full week of classes in the spring semester.
  5. Students may advance to candidacy when their advisory committee deems that they have made satisfactory progress toward completion of their degree.
  6. Pass an oral defense of the thesis or non-thesis project.
  7. Complete the thesis or non-thesis requirement:
    Thesis
    1. Complete the following:
      ENGL 601--Bibliography, Methods and Criticism--3
      ENGL 685--Teaching College Composition (3)*
           or ENGL 600-level elective course (3)--3
    2. Complete the following:
      ENGL 699--Thesis--6
      ENGL electives**--18
    3. Complete three of the following electives:
      ENGL 603--Studies in British Literature: Old and Middle English--3
      ENGL 604--Studies in British Literature: Renaissance and 17th Century--3
      ENGL 606--Studies in British Literature: Restoration and 18th Century--3
      ENGL 607--Studies in British Literature: 19th Century--3
    4. Complete one of the following electives:
      ENGL 609--Early and Romantic American Literature--3
      ENGL 611--American Realism and Modernism--3
      ENGL 612--Twentieth Century American Literature--3
    5. Complete one of the following electives:
      ENGL 608--Studies in British Literature after 1900--3
      ENGL 614--Studies in Comparative Literature--3
      ENGL 615--Contemporary Literature--3
    6. Pass an oral defense of the thesis.
    7. Minimum credits required--30
    Non-Thesis
    1. Complete the following:
      Complete required courses and distribution of electives in a, c, d and e in the thesis option. 21
      Complete additional approved ENGL 600-level electives--9
      Complete ENGL 698--Research (maximum)--6
      Complete a research paper which the advisory committee judges to be of publishable quality.
      Pass an oral defense of the project
    2. Minimum credits required--36

* Recommended if you are a teaching assistant or planning to teach.
** To maximize breadth of study, M.A. students and their advisors will draft individualized courses of study with the following program requirements in mind. The advisor will direct students to courses covering the required areas, subject to particular exemptions based upon undergraduate course work. Exemptions and any subsequent revisions of the course of study must have the agreement of the advisor and department head. Plans can be revised to substitute an appropriate seminar for one of the courses.
Note: Students may apply up to 3 credit hours of independent study toward the English M.A. degree requirements.

Graduate Program--Creative Writing, M.F.A. Degree

  1. Complete the following admission requirement:
    1. Submit GRE scores.
    2. Submit creative writing sample.
  2. Complete the general university requirements.
  3. Complete the master's degree requirements.
  4. Complete and pass a written comprehensive examination, based on a standardized reading list; examination to be taken no later than student's fourth semester of work. Examination will be held on the Saturday ending the fourth full week of classes in the spring semester.
  5. Students may advance to candidacy when their advisory committee deems that they have made satisfactory progress in both academic and writing areas.
  6. Complete the following:
    ENGL 601--Bibliography, Methods and Criticism--3
    ENGL 671--Writers' Workshop--9
    ENGL 685--Teaching College Composition (3)*
         or ENGL elective course 600-level (3)--3
    ENGL 699--Thesis--6
    ENGL approved electives--6
    Literature seminars**--12
  7. Complete two of the following:
    ENGL 681--Forms of Poetry--3
    ENGL 682--Forms of Fiction--3
    ENGL 684--Forms of Non-Fiction Prose--3
  8. Minimum credits required--45

* Recommended if you are a teaching assistant or planning to teach.
** Minimum of four to be determined by student's advisory committee. A literature class is one that does not have as its primary purpose the training of a student to be a creative writer or to teach composition. The following English courses are considered those that meet the literature-seminar requirement for the MFA degree: ENGL 603, 604, 606, 607, 608, 609, 611, 612, 614, 615, 620 and versions of 692 and 693 that meet the above criteria.
Note: A student may petition the Thesis Advisory Committee and the Department Chair to take up to 6 credit hours of Independent Study to be applied toward the English MFA electives requirement. Note: The English department requires that a student receive an A or B grade for all 600-level courses that the student wishes to apply toward the master's degree programs.