The Rutgers-Camden MFA comprises 39 total credits, or 13 courses:
Five creative writing workshops (15 credits)
Our workshops are small, personal, and productive. In keeping with our multi-genre approach, at least two workshops will be in your genre of concentration (fiction, poetry, or nonfiction), and at least one will be in different genre.
Three literature classes (9 credits)
Our world-class faculty is at your disposal, and we allow you to pursue your literary interests by taking classes in our graduate program in English. Offerings change regularly and have included:
- Environmental Justice in Literature and Theory
- Banned Books
- History & Theory of Children’s Poetry
Three craft classes (9 credits)
Craft classes are literature classes taught from the writer’s perspective. In these classes, we examine the techniques published writers use to create their successful works. Offerings change regularly and have included:
- Writing the Child
- Truth and Lies: Autobiographical Fiction and Fictional Autobiography
- Point of View
- Practicum in the Teaching of Writing (required in the first semester for all entering Teaching Assistants)
Thesis Independent Study (3 credits)
The thesis independent study is a semester-long course that allows you to work one-on-one with the professor of your choice to prepare your final project for graduation and publication.
One elective (3 credits)
Interested in botany? Want to write about a physicist or a history professor? Take a linguistics class, a foreign language, a criminal justice class or a class in the fine arts. We encourage you to branch out and try a new subject—and thus enhance the world you write about. Current course offerings can be viewed here.
Transferring credits
You may transfer up to twelve graduate-level credits toward your MFA at Rutgers-Camden.
For a current schedule of classes, please visit https://www.acs.rutgers.edu/soc or view the Fall 2023 course guide.
For graduation information, such as deadlines, requirements, guidelines, and forms, please visit the graduate school website at: https://graduateschool.camden.rutgers.edu/graduation/