Full-time students complete the program in 15 months, while part-time students choose the pace that fits their needs. Students supplement core seminars that emphasize conceptual skills with practical courses from one of three tracks: data and computer science, game development and design, or literary studies (literature, cinema, transcultural studies, writing, and writing pedagogy). Students pursuing a technology track have the option of obtaining a specialized certificate in addition to completing their MA. An interdisciplinary professional portfolio or academic project demonstrating your skills completes your degree.

Admission to the Program

Open to students with a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. Formal admission to the program requires a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) and departmental approval. Applicants must submit two letters of recommendation and a sample of critical writing. 

Degree Requirements

• 30 credit hours of approved graduate work
• Submission and approval of Capstone Project or Professional Portfolio

Course Requirements

See our Courses page for new classes and all course descriptions.

Required (9 credit hours)

• LIT-613 Cultures of Information and Technology (3)
• LIT-609 Textual Production: Theory and Practice (3)
• CSC-604 Advanced Introduction to Coding for the Arts and Humanities (3)

Literature and Culture (12 credit hours)

Complete 12 credit hours from the following, or other graduate-level courses as approved by program director or advisor:

• LIT-681 Advanced Studies in Culture (3)
• LIT-668 Global Texts, Global Convergences (3)
• LIT-656 Advanced Studies in Form (3)
• LIT-682 Emotions, Texts and Subtexts (3)
• LIT-683 Technological Imaginations: Past, Present, and Future (3) 

Tracks (9 credit hours)

Complete 9 credit hours in one of the following tracks:

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Literature, Culture, and Writing

Complete 9 credit hours from the following or other graduate courses approved by advisor. At least one from the first group, and no more than two from the second group.

At least one from this group (repeatable for credit with different topic):

• LIT-681 Advanced Studies in Culture (3)
• LIT-668 Global Texts, Global Convergences (3)
• LIT-656 Advanced Studies in Form (3)
• LIT-682 Emotions, Texts, and Subtexts (3)
• LIT-683 Technological Imaginations: Past, Present, and Future (3) 
• WRTG-610 Technical Writing and Rhetoric (3)

No more than two courses from this group (repeatable for credit with different topic):

• LIT-611 Literary Editing & Publishing (3)
• LIT-608 Studies in Genre (3)
• LIT-622 Advanced Studies in Contemporary Literature (3)
• LIT-634 Advanced Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Literature (3)
• LIT-635 Advanced Studies in African American Literature (3)
• LIT-637 Advanced Studies in Restoration and Eighteenth Century Literature (3)
• LIT-640 Advanced Studies in Nineteenth Century Literature (3)
• LIT-643 Advanced Studies in Twentieth Century Literature (3)
• LIT-646 Advanced Studies in Film (3)
• LIT-667 Advanced Studies in World Literature (3)  
• LIT-730 The Teaching of Writing (3)
• LIT-731 Teaching of Writing Practicum (3)
• LIT-705 Seminar on Translation (3)
• LIT-710 The Art of Literary Journalism (3)
• LIT-691 Internship (3)
• LIT-794 Directed Research in Literature (3)

Data and Computer Science

Complete 9 credit hours from the following or other graduate courses approved by advisor—see also course descriptions for Statistics, Computer Science 500 level or 600-700 level, and Game Design:

• STAT-612 Statistical Programming in R (3)
• STAT-613 Data Science (3)
• STAT-614 Statistical Methods (3)
• STAT-615 Regression (3)
• STAT-627 Machine Learning (3)
• CSC-510 Legal Issues in Computing (3)
• CSC-535 User Interface Analysis and Design
• CSC-610 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (3)
• CSC-632 Introduction to Simulation and Modeling (3)
• CSC-660 Introduction to Information Visualization (3)
• CSC-668: Artificial Intelligence (3)
• CSC-680 Introduction to Data Mining (3)
• LIT-691 Internship / CSC-691 Internship (3) (3)

Game Development

Complete 9 credit hours from the following or other graduate courses approved by advisor:

• CSC-670 Game Programming (3)
• GAME-601 Game Prototyping (3)
• GAME-612 Digital Art Tools and Techniques (3)
• GAME-615 Game Development (3)
• GAME-625 Advanced Game Development (3)
• GAME-672 Introduction to 3D Modeling (3)
• GAME-682 3D Animation (3)
• LIT-691 Internship / CSC-691 Internship (3)

Capstone Project or Professional Portfolio
approved by Faculty mentor and MA program director

Complete a capstone project or professional portfolio by the end of the second summer in the program. Project details or portfolio contents will be determined in consultation with a faculty mentor and formalized in a 2-3 pp. proposal by the end of January. Projects and portfolios must be approved by August of the second summer.