Master of Professional Writing
Course Requirements

The MPW degree requires a minimum of 32 credit hours, excluding any undergraduate deficiency coursework.

Minimum of 32 hours total

Core Courses (15 credit hours):

JMC 5514    Writing the Novel-Graduate

JMC 5734    Writing the Screenplay

JMC 5594    Writing the Commercial Nonfiction Book

And one of the following:

JMC 5073    Conceptual Issues in Journalism and Mass Communication

JMC 5063    Readings in Mass Communication

JMC 5083    Mass Communication Theory

JMC 5093    Introduction to Research Methods

Professional Writing Electives (9-12 credit hours from the list below):

Students will select appropriate coursework from the list below in consultation with their adviser. Students may focus on one of the three areas covered in the core writing courses or choose to develop their abilities across more than one of those areas. In the case of individualized courses such as JMC 5503 Tutorial in Writing and JMC 5990 Independent Study, content will be tailored to the interests and needs of the student. (JMC 5514 Writing the Novel-Graduate, JMC 5594 Writing the Commercial Nonfiction Book and JMC 5734 Writing the Screenplay are listed both here and in the core curriculum because they may be repeated once with a change of content.)

NOTE: Students who wish to include any other JMC course not on the list must petition the JMC graduate liaison and the dean of the Graduate College.

JMC 5023    Advanced News Editing                        

JMC 5053    Advanced Reporting                                    

JMC 5503    Tutorial in Writing                                    

JMC 5514    Writing the Novel-Graduate                        

JMC 5553    Contemporary Problems in Professional Writing                        

JMC 5563    Category Fiction

JMC 5570    Special Topics in Professional Writing

JMC 5594    Writing Commercial Nonfiction Book

JMC 5734    Writing the Screenplay

JMC 5970    Seminar

JMC 5990    Independent Study

Outside Supporting Electives (3-6 hours)

With the approval of the adviser, students are to take supportive coursework offered by other departments appropriate to the student’s focus in the program.

The following courses are possibilities that may be of interest to a variety of students in the program:

ENGL 5223        Seminar-Film

ENGL 5923        Advanced Fiction Writing

ENGL 5943        Advanced Creative Nonfiction

DRAM G4773    Playwriting I

DRAM G4783    Playwriting II

DRAM 5733       Graduate Play Structure and Analysis

Other areas of study will vary depending on students’ focus but may include history, psychology, physical sciences, anthropology, women’s studies, arts, modern languages, classics, or any other disciplines that should be helpful in developing the student’s final project. For example, a student writing a historical novel for a project might benefit from history courses.

JMC 5880 Graduate Project (2-4 hours)

The student must write a book-length manuscript (minimum of 50,000 words -- about 200 pages) or a feature-length screenplay (90 to 120 pages, approximating a film of 90 to 120 minutes) in the appropriate professionally recognized formats. The content of the project must be substantially new material and cannot repeat that submitted in previous coursework. This work is done under JMC 5880 Graduate Project.

The student must assemble a project committee, as the College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Graduate College require for thesis students. The student must then submit a written project proposal for approval. The proposal shall detail whether the project is to be a book or screenplay; it shall specify appropriate professional markets for future submission of the work; it shall include the major points of content; and it shall state any specific research methods necessary to support the development of the work. Upon completion of the project, the student must successfully defend the work before his or her committee and be able to provide a marketing strategy for submission to publishers or studios. (The work does not have to be accepted for publication but must be judged by the committee to be of publishable quality.)

Admission
Deadlines

Students may be admitted throughout the year, but courses are scheduled to facilitate a fall semester start.

Fall Semester
July 1

International Students
April 1

Assistantships &
Scholarships
February 1

Spring Semester
November 1

International Students
September 1

Summer Semester
April 1

International Students
February 1