Concentrations

Degree Requirements

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS (72 units)

  1. Students must complete one of the following concentrations. Students cannot apply any courses completed for their B.A. degree toward their M.F.A. degree.

Fiction Concentration

  1. Eng 608. MFA Workshop in Fiction (4) for a total of (24)
  2. Eng 507. Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry (4)
  3. Eng 513. Advanced Creative Writing in Specialized Genres (4)*
  4. Eng 621. Approaches to Imaginative Writing (4)
  5. Eng 622. Creative Writers on Writing (4)
  6. Eng 688. Master's Project Seminar in Fiction (4) for a total of (8)

Poetry Concentration

  1. Eng 607. MFA workshop in Poetry (4) for a total of (24)
  2. Eng 508. Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction (4)
  3. Eng 513. Advanced Creative Writing in Specialized Genres (4)*
  4. Eng 621. Approaches to Imaginative Writing (4)
  5. Eng 622. Creative Writers on Writing (4)
  6. Eng 687. Master's Project Seminar in Poetry (4) for a total of (8)
Focus (24 units)
  1. Students must complete either the Teaching Focus or the Literature Focus

Literature Focus

  1. Eng 600. Critical Approaches to Literature (4)
  2. Twelve units chosen from:
    3. Eng 515. Senior Seminar in Literature (4)*
    Eng 542A. Literary Production (4)
    Eng 542B. Literary Production (4)
    Eng 601. Seminar in Poetry (4)*
    Eng 602. Seminar in Dramatic Literature for Stage and Film (4)*
    Eng 603. Seminar in Fiction (4)*
    Eng 604. Seminar in Nonfiction Prose (4)*
    Eng 651. Seminar in a Literary Topic (4)*
    Eng 670. Creative Writing Internship (4)*
  3. Electives (8 units)
    4. Four units of electives can be outside of the English Department. Electives must be approved in advance by the M.F.A. coordinators.
    *English 513, 515, 601, 602, 603, 604, and 651 (variable topic courses) can be repeated as topics change.

Teaching Focus

  1. Eng 612. Contemporary Composition and Discourse Theory (4)
  2. Twelve units chosen from:
    3. Eng 510. English in the Secondary Classroom (4)
    Eng 511. Creative Writing in the Classroom (4)
    Eng 530. Issues in Tutoring Writing (4)
    Eng 626. TESL Methods and Materials for Reading and Writing (4)
    Eng 657. Sites of Praxis (4)
    Eng 658. Computers and Writing: Literacy and Technology (4)
    Eng 660. Issues in Teaching College Composition (4)
    Eng 670. Creative Writing Internship (4)
  3. Electives (8 units)
    4. Electives must be approved in advance by the M.F.A. coordinators. Four units of electives can be outside of the English Department.
    *English 513, 515, 601, 602, 603, 604, and 651 (variable topic courses) can be repeated as topics change.

Course Progression

Year Quarter Core 1 Core 2 Other
1 1F Grad. Workshop
(Eng 608 or 607)		 ENG 507/508*
Advanced C. W.,
P & F		 1 course from Focus area or elective
1 2W Grad. Workshop
(Eng 608 or 607)		 ENG 513*
Advanced C. W. in Specialized Genres		 1 course from Focus area or elective
1 3S Grad. Workshop
(ENG 608 or 607)		 ENG 621
Approaches to Imaginative Writing		 1 course from Focus area or elective
2 4F Grad. Workshop
(Eng 608 or 607) 		Thesis Class***
Eng 688 or 687		 1 couse from Focus area or elective
2 5W Grad. Workshop
(Eng 608 or 607)		 Thesis Class***
Eng 688 or 687		 1 couse from Focus area or elective
2 6W Grad. Workshop
(Eng 608 or 607)		 ENG 622
Writing Life		 1 couse from Focus area or elective
*Students take one advanced creative writing workshop outside their chosen genre. CSUSB graduates who have already taken, and counted toward their bachelor's degree, a 500-level workshop outside their declared genre may substitute a variable topics 513 course.

**Students who substitute 513 for 507 or 508 must take a different 513 topic to meet this core requirement.

***Students take the thesis class in fall and winter of their second year.