Program Curriculum & Schedule

You will submit 3-4 packets of writing per tutorial semester to your faculty mentor, generally 3-4 weeks apart (you will set individual writing goals and deadlines in coordination with your mentor). Each packet will include a cover letter, new and/or revised original creative writing, and reading list annotations. The final packet of the semester will also include a short critical paper. Mentors will respond with detailed critical comments on the submitted work, pointing out strengths and weaknesses and suggesting fruitful avenues for further development. The norm for low-residency MFA courses is for students to devote 25 hours per week to their MFA work.

The fourth tutorial semester is the final tutorial semester. This semester is devoted to the completion of your manuscript-length creative thesis and its critical, literary-tradition-informed introduction. The fourth and final tutorial semester is followed by the fifth and final residency. Graduating students must submit all their work to the MFA director before this final residency.

• Residency semester courses – 20 credits (five semesters, 4 credits each)
• Tutorial semester courses – 24 credits (four semesters, 6 credits each)

Reading List, Annotations and Critical Papers

In close consultation with your faculty mentor, you will formulate a genre-based literary reading list. Readings will be chosen from two categories: exemplary works from literary tradition and contemporary works that may serve as models and inspiration for your immediate creative needs and gifts. Special emphasis will be placed on gaining a deeper understanding of the classic works in your chosen genre. By the end of the two-year MFA program, you will have read about 60 books.

Program Schedule

Your two-year schedule will begin with either a summer (July/August) or winter (January) residency, alternating each residency with a tutorial. For example, if you begin with a January residency, then you will complete the winter residency, a spring tutorial semester, a summer residency, a fall tutorial semester, a second winter residency, a second spring tutorial, a second summer residency, a second fall tutorial semester, and a third and final winter residency.

During each residency semester, you'll participate in:

• The Art & Faith Seminar (2 credits), engaging with the intersections of art and religious faith
• A genre-specific workshop* (1 credit), actively participating in peer critique, guided by one or more faculty members
• A Craft Seminar (1 credit), focusing on craft issues that occur in and among the various genres

*You'll complete all five workshops within one genre.

During each tutorial semester, you'll work with a mentor (4-credit tutorial) to produce three to four packets of written material, including:

• New and revised parts of your original creative project
• Short critical responses (annotations) to each literary work selected from your reading list
• A short critical essay

You will also participate in The Writer's Life, a 2-credit course in which you'll explore the publishing world, consider occupations related to writing, and explore the place of writing in your broader life.

*You'll complete all 16 tutorial credits within one genre.