English

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

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

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

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, a three-year M.F.A. degree in creative writing and an M.F.A./M.A. combined degree in creative writing and literature that can be completed in three years. Teaching assistantships are available for the three 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. The M.F.A./M.A. is a combined degree designed for qualified individuals who wish to produce a publication-quality thesis manuscript of creative writing, but also would like to pursue in a systematic manner the study of literature and literary theory in preparation for college teaching or entering a Ph.D. program.

Graduate Program — M.A. Degree

  1. Complete the following admission requirements:
    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 F601—Bibliography, Methods and Criticism—3 credits
      Students are required to take ENGL F601 in their first year of study.
      ENGL F685—Teaching College Composition (3)*
           or ENGL F600-level elective course (3)—3 credits
    2. Complete the following:
      ENGL F699—Thesis—6 credits
      ENGL electives**—18 credits
    3. Complete three of the following electives:
      ENGL F603—Studies in British Literature: Old and Middle English—3 credits
      ENGL F604—Studies in British Literature: Renaissance and 17th Century—3 credits
      ENGL F606—Studies in British Literature: Restoration and 18th Century—3 credits
      ENGL F607—Studies in British Literature: 19th Century—3 credits
    4. Complete one of the following electives:
      ENGL F609—Early and Romantic American Literature—3 credits
      ENGL F611—American Realism and Modernism—3 credits
      ENGL F612—Twentieth Century American Literature—3 credits
    5. Complete one of the following electives:
      ENGL F608—Studies in British Literature after 1900—3 credits
      ENGL F614—Studies in Comparative Literature—3 credits
      ENGL F615—Contemporary Literature—3 credits
    6. Pass an oral defense of the thesis.
    7. Minimum credits required—30 credits

    Non-Thesis
    1. Complete the following:
      Complete required courses and distribution of electives in a, c, d and e in the thesis option.—21 credits
      Complete additional approved ENGL F600-level electives—9 credits
      Complete ENGL F698—Research (maximum)—6 credits
      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 credits

* 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 requirements:
    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 F601—Bibliography, Methods and Criticism—3 credits
    Students are required to take ENGL F601 in their first year of study.
    ENGL F671—Writers' Workshop—9 credits
    ENGL F685—Teaching College Composition (3)*
         or ENGL elective course F600-level (3)—3 credits
    ENGL F699—Thesis—6 credits
    ENGL approved electives—6 credits
    Literature seminars**—12 credits
  7. Complete two of the following:
    ENGL F681—Forms of Poetry—3 credits
    ENGL F682—Forms of Fiction—3 credits
    ENGL F684—Forms of Non-Fiction Prose—3 credits
  8. Minimum credits required—45 credits

* 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 F603, F604, F606, F607, F608, F609, F611, F612, F614, F615, F620 and versions of F692 and F693 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 F600-level courses that the student wishes to apply toward the master's degree programs.

Graduate Program — M.F.A./M.A. Combined Degree in Creative Writing and Literature

  1. A student who wishes to be awarded an M.F.A./M.A. combined degree in creative writing and literature must be admitted to both programs;
  2. Fulfill all general university requirements and master's degree requirements and all course requirements within both programs (double counting allowed);
  3. Pass comprehensive examinations in both programs;
  4. Complete a thesis required for an M.F.A. degree and
    1. a thesis required for an M.A. degree,
    2. OR a scholarly essay which from a critical and/or historical perspective supplements the M.F.A. thesis and which the advisory committee(s) must judge to be of publishable quality,
    3. OR a scholarly essay on a topic approved by the advisory committee(s) and likewise judged as publishable.
  5. Pass an oral examination of materials submitted from 4 above.
  6. Finish all requirements in order to be awarded the combined degree instead of the M.A. or M.F.A. separately (i.e., a student may not claim at any time more than one degree for the same work).