The Audience and the Market
Credit Hours: 3
This survey course covers real-world situations involving identifying and writing for a particular market or audience. Students will study traditional print audiences and markets as well as the growing number of new ones generated by digital media and the internet, ways of marketing their works both traditional (submissions to publishers of printed books and journals) and contemporary (including online publication, self-publication, and new opportunities for writers in electronic media). Students in the course will use a reference work such as the current edition of Writer’s Market to learn about these various possibilities for placing their work. Students will identify likely markets and audiences for their work in their chosen concentration (creative or professional writing), prepare letters of inquiry and other documents related to publication, and learn to be entrepreneurs.
Planning and Drafting
Credit Hours: 3
This course takes students through the entire writing process, from assignments, ideas and inspirations through the various stages of planning, drafting and revising. Students will work through projects (the nature of these will vary with the student’s chosen concentration) and analyze the various steps thereof so as to arrive at their own “best practices” as professional writers.
Research and Documenting
Credit Hours: 3
This course teaches practical skills for finding, evaluating and using information from various sources in various professional settings. The course will cover the various documentation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) as well as other methods of correct, legal and ethical documentation. Students will learn to evaluate sources for reliability and appropriateness in relation to various kinds of projects. Students will learn the basics of copyright and intellectual property laws. They will design and complete a writing project making use of the knowledge and skills taught in the course.
Capstone Experience
Credit Hours: 3
This course is a coordinating seminar taken by students in their final semester of study; content will vary with the student’s chosen concentration. The primary work of the Capstone Experience will involve the preparation of a professional portfolio presenting the student’s work over the course of the program. These portfolios will also form the basis of our program assessment.
Creative Writing Concentration:
Advanced Writing: Academic and Argumentative
Credit Hours: 3
This course emphasizes academic and argumentative writing with a focus on literary analysis. Students will learn rhetorical concepts and terminology and learn to apply these in formulating their own arguments. The use of literary analysis as primary subject matter for student writing will also enrich students’ experience of the creative writing concentration.
Fiction
Credit Hours: 3
This creative writing course focuses on the study and writing of fiction, including short stories, micro forms and longer forms, including the short story collection and novella.
Graphic Literature
Credit Hours: 3
This creative writing course focuses on the study and writing of graphic fiction and non-fiction. Students will learn to integrate graphic imagery, narration and dialogue in constructing their own works of graphic literature.
Memoir
Credit Hours: 3
This creative writing course focuses on the study and writing of a memoir.
Poetry
Credit Hours: 3
This creative writing course focuses on the study and writing of poetry in traditional verse forms and in modern, free-verse forms.
Creative Reading
Credit Hours: 3
This is a course in reading literature as a writer. By examining texts in various genres and historical periods of literature in English, students will learn to see what strategies employed by established writers might be adapted for use in their own work.
Literary Theory
Credit Hours: 3
This course surveys literary-critical theory from antiquity through the twentieth century, intended primarily for students choosing our creative writing concentration, with special emphasis on how critics and theorists have construed the relations among authors, texts and readers over the ages. Students will learn the major theoretical positions and schools of thought in this long history and learn to apply the concepts and categories to their own thinking about their own work. Students will demonstrate their practical understanding of this material in analyzing their own creative work and that of their peers.
Scriptwriting for Film
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the elements of storytelling through scriptwriting in contemporary cinema with an emphasis on narrative structure, conflict and sequencing.
Scriptwriting for Video
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the elements scriptwriting for informational video and interactive media with an emphasis on creativity, client and audience needs.
Professional Writing Concentration:
Copywriting for Advertising
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the processes of research and creative strategy involved in writing copy for print, broadcast, and online advertisements Communication for Not for Profits This course introduces strategies for creating effective written and oral communication in not-for-profit organizations. Topics will include communication for public relations, marketing, fund-raising, and grant-writing
Public Relations Writing
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the basic formats of writing for public and media relations.
Writing for Traditional Media
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the basic formats of writing for traditional broadcast and print media, including magazines.
Corporate Communication—Internal
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the basics of corporate communication by development of internal managerial business communication, and by examination of workplace technology. They will review case studies, gather current data and work in online forums to present online reports.
Corporate Communication—External
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the basics of corporate communication by development of external managerial business communication, and by examination of workplace managerial strategy. They will review case studies, gather current data and work in online forums to present online reports.
Strategic Technical Communication
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the basics of strategic technical communication by development of business and technical communication documents, and by examination of workplace examples of business and technical communication. They will review case studies, gather current data and work in online forums to present online reports.
Writing for Social Media
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the basics of online publication by development of social media materials, and by examination of online social media. They will research and write copy on topics in a variety of online venues.
Scriptwriting for Film
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the elements of storytelling through scriptwriting in contemporary cinema with an emphasis on narrative structure, conflict and sequencing.
Scriptwriting for Video
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the elements scriptwriting for informational video and interactive media with an emphasis on creativity, client and audience needs.
Course Descriptions.
TRS 504: A “Story-Formed” Church (3 credits, every fall, online).
This course will historically trace the development of doctrine and theology, but also the will also encounter the men and women whose lives incarnated the Christian faith over a span of two thousand years.
TRS 505: Christology - Discovering Jesus the Christ-Fully Human and Fully Divine (3 credits, Summer A).
This course sets out to investigate the identity of Jesus. We will explore the writings of the New Testament, the early Church Fathers, Ecumenical Councils and the theological insights offered by theologians through the centuries. This course will include but is not limited to the following topics: the relationship of persons within the Divine Trinity, the Incarnation, the Christological titles, the hypostatic union, the consciousness of Christ, the resurrection and various theories of redemption.
TRS 506: Ecclesiology - The Mystical Communion of Believers (3 credits, Summer B).
This course provides a careful study of the nature and mission of the Church. Issues to be explored include: the Church as visible and invisible entity, the mystical union of believers, the nature and origin of authority in the Church, Eastern Orthodox and Reformation ecclesiology, the number, nature and role of the sacraments, Christian worship, and current ecumenical aspirations.
TRS 507: Encountering the Old Testament as Christian Scripture (3 credits, summer A).
Introduces students to the content of the Old Testament with an eye toward how to teach this material as Christian Scripture in an engaging manner. Emphasis is on the theology of the primary source texts, that is, what we learn about God, the world, ourselves, and others through a direct encounter with these ancient texts. Each student will teach a portion of at least one class session to reinforce the learning experience.
TRS 508: Engaging Jesus and the New Testament (3 credits, summer B).
This course welcomes the student into the world of the New Testament—the Gospels, Acts, the Letters, and Revelation. The course will highlight the life and teachings of Jesus and the theology of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as subsequently developed by the Apostle Paul. Each student will teach a portion of at least one class session to reinforce the learning experience.
TRS 509: Interpreting the Bible in the Contemporary World (3 credits, online every fall).
In today’s world, students of theology and religion tend to have more questions about the correct way (or ways) to interpret the Bible and the appropriate role of the Bible in the contemporary discourse than about the content of the Bible itself. How does the Bible relate to science? To church teachings and traditions? To business? To the ethical life in our complex modern societies? Should we understand this verse literally? Does the Bible contain errors? How were the various books that are contained in the Bible chosen? By examining diverse models of engagement, this course equips those involved in religious education to answer such questions.
TRS 513: Christian Marriage – Evangelizing and Evangelized Communion of Persons (3 credits, Summer B).
This course takes up primary sources from the whole of the Christian tradition to understand theologies of Christian marriage. Among the sources will be Scripture, patristics, Aquinas, Martin Luther, Vatican II, and others. Students will be required to articulate and critically assess the strongest theological and biblical arguments surrounding the various sides of these debated questions: nature and ends of marriage, divorce, annulment, marital indissolubility, covenant vs. contract, the marital sacrament, and sexual complementarity.
TRS 529: Introduction to Moral Theology: The Gospel Enacted (3 credits, Summer A).
This course studies the development of multiple (Catholic and non-Catholic) moral theological methods from the earliest apostolic and scriptural tradition, through the patristic sources, into the scholastic period, the manual tradition, probabilism, proportionalism, the modern development of person-centered approaches, Veritatis splendor, and the return of virtue ethics. Students will independently apply these methods to current moral questions.
TRS 530: Christian Social Ethics: Sharing the Church’s Best Kept Secret (3 credits, online every spring).
This course studies Catholic and non-Catholic primary sources, ranging from papal encyclicals and Dorothy Day, to Niehbur and Stanley Hauerwas, to discover various methods for social ethics, the riches of the Church’s tradition, the principles of social ethics, and their application to issues such as the economy, immigration, voting, religious liberty, food, marriage and sexuality, and a consistent ethic of life/culture of life.
TRS 540: Teaching Methods and Theory (3 credits, online spring elective).
Students are introduced to pedagogical theory and various practical methods of classroom instruction. The emphasis will be hands-on and practical—for example, as part of the instruction the students will plan a course on theology/religion for an academic or ecclesial setting, including a course syllabus, daily lesson plans, and classroom learning exercises.
TRS 543: The Life and Teaching of Jesus (3 credits, online spring elective).
Who is Jesus? What did he claim about himself? What were his aims? His teachings? This course, through a close reading of the canonical Gospels, some select non-canonical Gospels, and a few noteworthy modern attempts to paint a portrait of the historical Jesus, attempts to discover the authentic Jesus.
TRS 542: Theology of the Body (3 credits, online spring elective)
Catholic parishes and Protestant youth ministries are increasingly using some version of Theology of the Body in their programs, thus MRE graduates should be conversant with the topic. This course studies John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Students will also learn the philosophical and theological backdrop (John of the Cross, Scheller, Kant, et al.) for John Paul II’s personalism. Students will trace both praise and critique of this theology in popular and academic contexts, as well as learn various methods for presenting the topic.
TRS 515: Theology of Death (3 credits, online spring elective).
This course is designed to help the student to explore the mystery of death in the light of faith. Our approach will involve anthropology and philosophy as well as theology. We will look at the meaning of death as it provides insight into the meaning of life. Works of literature will aid us in reflecting upon death and grief. The writings of saints, spiritual masters and theologians will also be employed. We will investigate eschatology’s “last things” and conclude with a treatise on the Christian understanding of eternal life.
TRS 550: Christianity in Dialogue (3 credits, online spring elective).
In a world that is becoming increasingly diverse, Christians have the challenging task of understanding and engaging in dialogue with many voices. In the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, this course will place Christianity in dialogue with some notable interlocutors. These partners in dialogue will include Jewish believers, Muslims, the scientific community, modern atheism and the world of the arts among others. We will investigate the relationship of faith and reason with a mind to promoting fruitful discourse with believers of other faiths and philosophical perspectives.
TRS 598: Culminating Experience (3 credits, any term after student has completed 24 credits).
The student, with faculty guidance and approval, will chose the culminating experience most suitable for his/her life circumstances and career goals—portfolio, practicum, or comprehensive exam. The portfolio option will include an array of materials (written and/or multi-media) that will provide evidence of the student having mastered the theological content as well as understanding how to successfully convey the content to others. This portfolio would be put constructed so as to be suitable to show a potential employer. The practicum option will require a student to plan, execute and evaluate a project related to religious education within a professional academic or ecclesial setting. The comprehensive exam option will involve reading a set bibliography suitable for a three-credit course on the topics of Bible, Christian theology, and Christian ethics to be concluded with a 3-hour written examination.
Admission Requirements
Applications are accepted on a revolving basis so you can
begin your study at the start of any session. Here’s how to
apply:
• Submit a completed Quincy University Graduate
Studies application with a $25 non-refundable
application fee.
Official Transcripts - Official transcripts from every college or university attended. (An English
translation of the original transcript(s) by an accredited transcript evaluation service is
required.)
• Recommendations - Two recommendations from individuals who address the student’s
academic and/or professional potential.
• Educational Requirements - A minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average
(GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Conditional admission may be possible according to program
criteria.
• Resume - A current professional resume.
• Written Statement - A written statement that meets the criteria specified by the graduate
program.
• Submit official results of the Graduate Record Exam
with a satisfactory score.
• International Students - Applicants from non-English speaking educational institutions
must submit the results of the TOEFL. Generally, a score of 550 or above is acceptable
evidence of a student’s ability to successfully study in an English-speaking environment at
the graduate level. Also, the applicant must submit documentation showing how his/her
education will be financed. A bank official must authorize this financial documentation.
