Fall 2025 Course Offerings

Schedule of Graduate Classes¶

Offerings are projected but not guaranteed. This schedule is subject to change.

Course Descriptions¶

Faculty-submitted course descriptions can be found here.

Class Caps & Waitlisting¶

All graduate courses currently have enrollment caps set at 14 students. On December 12, these caps will increase to 20 as non-restrictive registration begins.

If a course you’d like to take is currently full, be sure to add yourself to the waitlist. Students in positions 1–6 on a waitlist will be automatically enrolled once the cap is raised.

For guidance on registration, using permission numbers, and how to waitlist for classes, visit https://www.csun.edu/current-students.

How to Fulfil Your Requirements¶

The following information provides an explanation of the requirements each course fulfils for each option.

ENGL 507 - Introduction to Graduate Studies is a course all students are required to take in their first or second semester. Any section of this course serves students in all three options: Creative Writing, Literature, and Rhetoric & Composition. A permission number is required to add this class. Contact Frank de la Santo (frank.delasanto@csun.edu), our Graduate Support Coordinator, to request a permission number.

ENGL 513 - Composition Studies (formerly ENGL 525WS) is an advanced introduction to major concepts in the field of Composition Studies and their application in college-level writing instruction. It is the gateway course for our Teaching Associates Program. For Rhetoric & Composition students, it can fulfil a graduate-level Rhetoric & Composition seminar requirement. For Literature and Creative Writing, it can fulfil an Elective.

ENGL 525CWA - Crosswriting Activism is a literature seminar. For Literature students, it can fulfil a graduate-level Literature seminar requirement, an Elective, or the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement. For Creative Writing and Rhetoric & Composition students, it can fulfil the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement or an Elective.

ENGL 525GS - Graphic Self is a literature seminar. For Literature students, it can fulfil a graduate-level Literature seminar requirement, an Elective, or the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement. For Creative Writing and Rhetoric & Composition students, it can fulfil the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement or an Elective.

ENGL 608 - Seminar in Narrative Writing is a creative writing workshop in prose writing. For Creative Writing students, it can fulfil a graduate-level creative writing workshop, the Genre Studies requirement, the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement, or an Elective. For Literature and Rhetoric & Composition students, it can fulfil the Genre Studies requirement, the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement, or an Elective. This course can be repeated once.

ENGL 609 - Seminar in Poetry Writing is a creative writing workshop in prose writing. For Creative Writing students, it can fulfil a graduate-level creative writing workshop, the Genre Studies requirement, the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement, or an Elective. For Literature and Rhetoric & Composition students, it can fulfil the Genre Studies requirement, the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement, or an Elective. This course can be repeated once.

ENGL 630WWT - Walt Whitman and Transcendentalism is a literature seminar. For Literature students, it can fulfil a graduate-level Literature seminar requirement, the Genre requirement, the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement, or an Elective. For Creative Writing and Rhetoric & Composition students, it can fulfil the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement or an Elective.

ENGL 638 - Critical Approaches to Literature is the theory requirement for the Literature option. For Creative Writing and Rhetoric & Composition students, it can fulfil the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement or an Elective. It is only offered in the Fall.

ENGL 652 - Creative Writing Studies is the theory requirement for the Creative Writing option. For Literature and Rhetoric & Composition students, it fulfils the Cultural or Textual Studies requirement or an Elective. It is only offered in the Fall.

LING 510 - Foundational Concepts in Linguistics is a graduate-level linguistics course. It can fulfil the Seminar in the Study of Language requirement or an Elective for all three options.

Suggestions and Reminders¶

• All classes listed above are on-campus classes. CSUN does not offer fully online courses at the graduate level.

• Students should take ENGL 507 (Introduction to Graduate Studies) in their first or second semester. Registration for 507 is by permission number only. Contact Frank de la Santo (frank.delasanto@csun.edu), our Graduate Support Coordinator, to request a permission number.

• Creative Writing students ideally should take no more than one workshop per semester. Creative Writing students must take at least two workshops in their primary genre (narrative writing, poetry, or drama) in order to complete their MA degree.

• Graduate students may take only three 400-level courses for credit toward degree requirements.

• Fall 2026 classes that can fulfil the Seminar in the Study of Language Core Requirement for all three options include ENGL 513. Students may also take any 400, 500, or 600-level class in the Linguistics Department to fulfil this requirement (we recommend LING 510 - Foundational Concepts in Linguistics or LING 530 - Intro to TESL).

• ENGL 698D - Graduate Project** is a capstone class that most students in our program take to fulfil their Culminating Experience requirement.

• Thinking of changing your option? You will probably need to consult with me to ensure that you will be able to fulfil the requirements for your new option in a timely manner. Once you have made the decision, you will need to fill out the Change of Objective form and submit it to Graduate Studies.