Mar 29, 2024  
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog This is not the most recent catalog version; be sure you are viewing the appropriate catalog year.

Creative Writing [M.A.]


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The MA Program in Creative Writing promotes innovation, experimentation and collaboration across artistic fields and cultural practices. The MA emphasizes the importance of aesthetic risk and social application while offering opportunities for writers to explore multiple arts and mixed genres, sound and performance, digital technologies, and new media, as well as community-based and collaborative projects, innovative curating and alternative publishing.

Program Admission


Admit Terms and Deadlines

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; students may start the program in the Fall or Winter. See Application Deadlines.

Minimum Graduate School Requirements

For full admission, applicants must have 1) Earned a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree from a non-U.S. institution, 2) a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale, or 3.0 in the last half of the undergraduate program. Conditional admission may be available to applicants who do not meet minimum admission requirements.

Program Requirements

Applicants must also meet the following program requirements. Requirements may be more stringent than the minimum graduate school requirements.

  • A personal statement discussing the ambitions of your creative work and reasons for pursuing graduate studies in a program that focuses on interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to writing.
  • A portfolio of 15 pages of your strongest writing and, if available, intermedia work such as sound/text, image/text, performance, and works in digital media. Instructions for submitting the portfolio are included in the graduate application. If you have problems submitting the portfolio, you may submit to the English Language and Literature Department c/o Creative Writing Coordinator.
  • 2-3 letters of recommendation (optional, although strongly encouraged)

Application

Your application will be submitted using GradCAS, a Centralized Application Service (CAS) hosted by Liaison. After reviewing the admission requirements, please review the application instructions  and select the appropriate application.

Domestic Applicants Within the application, follow the instructions to submit an official transcript from all previously attended institutions.

International Applicants Before applying, applicants must review the international application/process deadlines at emich.edu/international as they may differ from general program requirements.

For additional information regarding the application process, please see Graduate Admissions or International Admissions.

 

Department Information


English Language & Literature 612 Pray-Harrold, 734.487.4220

Joseph Csicsila, PhD, Department Head

Eric Acton, PhD, Graduate Coordinator

Advisor Information


Rob Halpern, PhD, Program Coordinator, 734.487.4220

Christine Hume, PhD, 734.487.4220

Carla Harryman, PhD, 734.487.4220

Matt Kirkpatrick, PhD, 734.487.0399

Degree Requirements: 30 hours


The M.A. in Creative Writing requires 30 hours of coursework to be distributed among required courses, restricted elective courses, and cognate courses as follows:

Restrictive Elective Courses: 12 hours


Literature Courses: 6 hours

Select from among the graduate-level literature courses. Course selections require graduate coordinator approval.

Cognate Courses: 6 hours

Select six credit hours from any area of contemporary studies — art, foreign language literature, music, history, philosophy, etc. Course selections require graduate coordinator approval.

Critical Graduation Information


Each graduate student is responsible for fulfilling the requirements or equivalents of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

Master’s degree requirements must be completed within six (6) years of first enrollment in the master’s degree program.

In the event a student does not complete the master’s degree requirements within six years of the date of their original registration, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their degree in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

The following are minimum requirements for all master’s degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University. Some programs require more than the minimum in one or more areas below.

  • A master’s degree must require a minimum of 30 credit hours.
  • No more than six credits of independent study courses and no more than 12 credit hours of special topics and independent study courses combined may be applied to a graduate degree.  
  • Residency Requirement:
    • For students admitted to master’s degree programs of 36 or fewer required hours, at least 24 new graduate hours beginning the semester of acceptance and enrollment into the degree program must be earned at EMU. The remaining program requirement hours may be met through transfer or prior degree credit (EMU or elsewhere). 
    • For students admitted to master’s degree programs of 37 or more required hours, at least 30 new graduate hours beginning the semester of acceptance and enrollment into the degree program must be earned at EMU. Minimum degree hours must still be met for graduation. The remaining program requirement hours may be met through transfer or prior degree credit (EMU or elsewhere).
    • Residency and enrollment in multiple programs: Students enrolled in multiple master’s/specialist degree programs must have 24 unique credit hours in each degree program.
  • Only credits from one completed graduate certificate may be applied to a master’s or specialist degree in a relevant field of study, as determined by the Graduate School and with the approval of the degree-granting academic department, and be included in the residency hours above.
  • Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA in all graduate-level courses taken at EMU and in their program of study to remain in good academic standing and be eligible for graduation. Students do not need to be registered for classes during the semester of graduation.
  • The Graduate School does not permit the use of undergraduate courses (499 and below) to meet degree requirements on graduate programs of study.
  • Some master’s programs require a thesis; others require a special project or internship; others require students to pass a final exam. See the Graduate School website for Thesis and Dissertation Manuals, all forms, and information about research and human subject approval. Every completed thesis or dissertation must be submitted to Digital Commons. Any form of graduate student work submitted to Digital Commons must first be approved by a faculty advisor and the Graduate School.

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