Degree Requirements
Manhattanville's unique non-tracked MFA curriculum assures flexibility. Students participate in workshops each semester, working in a single genre or across genres with gifted teachers and mentors who are also award-winning authors. The program curriculum is comprised of three required courses and regular workshops.
Required Courses
To complete their degree, MFA students must submit a passing thesis in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, or Screenwriting. Mixed-genre theses are allowed. Prose students are required to submit a thesis of approximately 75-100 pages; poetry theses are 35-60 pages.
Workshops
Beyond these required courses, MFA students select electives that fit their immediate interests and long-term goals. Course offerings include Research Across Genres; Summer Writers' Week and Fall Writers' Weekend, and a variety of craft-based courses, called 'Topics' classes, that change each semester. Recent Topics classes have focused on The Novel, Episodic Writing, and Formal Experimentations. Each of these courses earn three credits toward the MFA degree. All graduate writing courses are given a 5000-level ENW designation. Course descriptions can be found in the courses section of this catalog.