Writing Graduate Major (MFA)
This program is available at the following location:
- OSU-Cascades
The School of Writing, Literature, and Film offers the Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing as a Low Residency MFA program on the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend, Oregon.
OSU-Cascades' Low-Residency MFA is a 49 credit, two-year program combining writing workshops with coursework in craft, critical studies, community engagement, and one-on-one mentoring. The program has a particular focus on difference, power, and privilege, including a bilingual English-Spanish workshop, as well as strong connections to the local environment of central Oregon. The program complements remote coursework with two, intensive 10-day residency sessions. Our curriculum builds sustainable writing habits within a context of critical analysis, develops skills needed to support a creative livelihood after graduation, applies the creative-literary arts to outward-facing engagement, and creates an environment for taking imaginative risks.
Major Code: 8100
Upon successful completion of the program, students will meet the following learning outcomes:
- Conduct research or produce some other form of creative work.
- Demonstrate mastery of subject material.
- Conduct scholarly or professional activities in an ethical manner.
- Analyze elements of the creative writing craft.
- Critique the original creative work of self and peers.
- Design public-facing opportunities for the dissemination of the literary arts.
- Integrate DEI competencies in different program settings and outputs.
- Develop professionalization tools.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Core | ||
| WR 526 | READING FOR WRITERS | 3 |
| WR 529 | COMPASSIONATE CRITIQUE | 3 |
| WR 536 | REVISION | 2 |
| WR 570 | CRITICAL STUDIES: READING DIFFERENCE, POWER, AND PRIVILEGE | 2 |
| WR 571 | CRITICAL STUDIES: WRITING DIFFERENCE, POWER, AND PRIVILEGE | 2 |
| WR 572 | CRITICAL STUDIES: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT | 2 |
| WR 574 | CRITICAL STUDIES: CRITICAL INTRODUCTION | 3 |
| WR 503 | THESIS | 6 |
| WR 538 | CREATIVE WRITING PEDAGOGY | 2 |
| or WR 542 | PUBLISHING | |
| WR 502 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | 3 |
| Foundations | ||
| Select four courses from the following: | 12 | |
| POETRY FOUNDATIONS 1: PROSODY | ||
| POETRY FOUNDATIONS 2: TRANSNATIONAL TRANSLATIONS | ||
| POETRY FOUNDATIONS 3: POETICS | ||
| POETRY FOUNDATIONS 4: EXPERIMENTAL FORMS | ||
| FICTION FOUNDATIONS 1: NARRATIVE CONVENTIONS | ||
| FICTION FOUNDATIONS 2: SHORT FICTION | ||
| FICTION FOUNDATIONS 3: NARRATIVE DESIGN | ||
| FICTION FOUNDATIONS 4: EXPERIMENTAL FORMS | ||
| CREATIVE NONFICTION FOUNDATIONS: NARRATIVE | ||
| CREATIVE NONFICTION FOUNDATIONS: DOCUMENTARY | ||
| CREATIVE NONFICTION FOUNDATIONS: LYRIC | ||
| CREATIVE NONFICTION FOUNDATIONS: EXPERIMENTAL FORMS | ||
| Group A | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| INTRODUCTION TO WRITING POETRY | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO WRITING FICTION | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO WRITING CREATIVE NONFICTION | ||
| CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP IN SPANISH: TALLER DE CREACIÓN LITERARIA EN ESPAÑOL | ||
| Group B | ||
| Select two courses from the following: | 6 | |
| ADVANCED POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP | ||
| ADVANCED FICTION WRITING WORKSHOP | ||
| ADVANCED CREATIVE NONFICTION | ||
| CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP IN SPANISH: TALLER DE CREACIÓN LITERARIA EN ESPAÑOL | ||
| Total Credits | 49 | |
Major Code: 8100