Biography and Memoir

This is a golden age for biography and memoir. Many leading publishers have series that focus on biography and memoir, while agents are keen to consider those who write more creative non-fiction. Oral history projects continue to obtain funding and grow exponentially, while radio, podcasting, film, television, and video streaming services are open to new voices and forms of content that center upon life writing in all its forms. The M.A. in Biography and Memoir provides students with the academic rigor and creative fulfillment to seize this moment and pursue a diverse range of careers in journalism and media, professional writing and publishing, oral history studies, documentary filmmaking, digital communications, archival work, and other professions, or to continue their academic pursuits with a Ph.D. 

The Graduate Center’s M.A. Program in Biography and Memoir is one of the only programs in the world to offer a uniquely rich series of courses to students who wish to study biography and memoir, or to become biographers and memoirs writers themselves. Our affordable program offers academic excellence and serves as an intellectual and cultural hub of activities, talks, and opportunities for mentorship.

Our students come from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds, and complete a foundational course of study that addresses topics such as research and methodology, ethics, and writing style. Students also choose from an array of electives from across the Graduate Center's masters and doctoral programs, including English, history, art history, film studies, urban politics, and psychology, and study side-by-side with students in these programs.

Executive Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography (and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer) Kai Bird introduces The Graduate Center’s Master’s Program in Biography & Memoir