Requirements | Department of English Literature and Linguistics

Track Requirements for Poetry, Fiction and Creative Nonfiction:

Over the course of three years, you need to take:

1. Three Creative Writing workshops- 2 from within your genre (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry), and 1 from a different genre within Creative Writing. Courses that are "outside" your genre include hybrid courses, such as "Prose" (designed for fiction and nonfiction) and "Documentaries" (designed for nonfiction and poetry). There is also a "hybrid literature" workshop offered every other year.

You should consider whether you would prefer to frontload these workshops and take two your first year and one your second year, or vice-versa. Please keep in mind that the second year is also the year in which you write your thesis. Consider whether one or two workshops would suit you better as you work on the thesis. It is a personal decision.

2. You are also required to take 3 literature seminars as electives, which are upper-level courses, from 700 and upward, ideally courses at 800-level. Poets are required to take the genre seminar in prosody, and creative nonfiction writers are required to take the genre seminar in life writing. You may find the list on our timetable: Timetable.

3. You are required to take Jewish Arts seminar (37931), which is a course about the long traditions of Jewish writing and assumes no previous knowledge. However, you may substitute a different seminar if you are not Jewish. All students are welcome.

4. Basic Jewish Studies courses: Bar-Ilan University requires all Jewish MA students to take 8 semestrial credits from the Basic Jewish Studies listing, outside the Department of English Literature and Linguistics. If you've completed your BA at Bar-Ilan, you need to take only 4 semestrial credits. (Most of the tests are multiple choice and some of the instructors may allow you to be tested in English.)

Non-Jewish students may substitute the Jewish Studies courses with general courses from any department outside of English Literature and Linguistics.

List of Basic Jewish Studies courses in Hebrew

List of Basic Jewish Studies courses in English

Track Requirements for Literary Translation:

Print requirements page (Word File)

The Core Curriculum

1 Required course - 829- Literary Conversations: Introduction to Advanced Studies in Literature

2 Translation Workshops

3 Elective Graduate-level Literature seminars from 700 and upward level - see here for the latest Literature Program.

1 Creative Writing Workshop. You are automatically approved for the undergraduate upper division prose and hybrid workshops (450, 451). You may enroll in the graduate level genre workshops with permission from the instructor.

Basic Jewish Studies courses. Bar-Ilan University requires all Jewish MA students to take 8 semestrial credits from the Basic Jewish Studies listing, outside the Department of English Literature and Linguistics. If you've completed your BA at Bar-Ilan, you need to take only 4 semestrial credits. (Most of the tests are multiple choice and some of the instructors may allow you to be tested in English.)

Non-Jewish students may substitute the Jewish Studies courses with general courses from any department outside of English Literature and Linguistics.

List of Basic Jewish Studies courses in Hebrew

List of Basic Jewish Studies courses in English

One-on-one mentoring - All students will receive a full-year of one-on-one mentoring with a faculty member for the purpose of completing a creative thesis: the translation of a manuscript (or partial manuscript) in poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction.

Requirements/Prerequisites

BA degree or equivalent

Fluency/near-fluency in English

Competency in ANY second language

Translation sample

Statement of purpose

NOTE: Students without a BA in English literature or a related field may be required to take several basic literature courses.

NOTE: The English Literature requirements defined above are valid for those students who do not have to take prerequisites. Students with little background in English literature will be asked to take between one and four additional courses in English literature.

All administrative questions should be directed to the department's graduate registrar Judie Liri.

Questions about the curriculum may be directed to Prof. Marcela Sulak.