The Master of Arts in Publishing and Writing program offers courses in the publishing of books and magazine media via print, web, mobile, video, social media, and other platforms. These courses cover a full range of skills from writing to editing, from design to marketing, from management to product development. Opportunities for experiential learning can be found in class projects and by working on the Emerson College-owned digital publication The Independent and with community partners (current and former partners include The Boston Globe Magazine, Bookbuilders of Boston, and Artists for Humanity). Students may also take courses in creative writing, literature, and teaching college composition as electives. Students are taught and mentored by faculty with significant industry experience. Internship opportunities are available, for credit, in publishing firms, with magazines, and at literary agencies. This program is designed primarily to meet the needs of students who are interested in pursuing careers in publishing or as writers or professionals in a writing-related field.
Following are the Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for the Publishing and Writing program:
● Students will develop and demonstrate a range of publishing skills in disciplines such as writing, editing, design, production, marketing, sales, and product development and for platforms such as print, web, mobile, video, and social media.
● Students will demonstrate critical thinking skills and knowledge about the history and future of publishing, new technologies, literary forms, business models, professional ethics, and issues of diversity and equity.
Admission Requirements
Students must hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and, generally, have attained a 3.0 grade point average or better. In addition, they must submit three letters of recommendation. Students may also submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test scores, but they are not required. Applicants for admission to the MA in Publishing and Writing program may have majored in a field other than undergraduate writing or English.
MA program applicants are required to submit a nonfiction writing sample (maximum 5 double-spaced pages). The quality of the writing sample, as judged by the faculty, will be a primary factor in determining admission. The sample should not be an academic paper, but one that reflects work done in campus publications or in a professional context.
Degree Requirements
The MA in Publishing and Writing requires 40 credit hours: 24 credits of Publishing (PB) courses (including the three required foundational courses), the option to do a 4-credit master’s project, and 16 credits of department elective courses from Writing, Publishing, and Literature.