English (MA)
This MA provides graduate-level training in English literature, creative writing and rhetoric. Students can pursue a thesis or culminating project, exploring British, American and global literary traditions or producing original creative work. Electives allow specialization, preparing graduates for careers in academia, publishing, writing and professional communication.
Master of Arts in English
Unit: College of Arts and Sciences (GA)
Department: English
Program Website
Academic Plan Code(s): ENGLMA
Program Information
Mission Statement
The Master of Arts in English provides graduate training in literatures written in English, creative writing, and rhetoric and composition.
Goals for the MA are that students will:
- Gain advanced knowledge of British, American, and other literary traditions, and
- Write a thesis or culminating project in which they initiate and complete specialized research addressing a significant question in literary studies or rhetoric and composition, or produce a significant body of creative work.
Admission Requirements
MA with Graduate Teaching Assistant application:
- Fall Semester only: Due January 5
MA without Graduate Teaching Assistant application:
- Fall Semester: Due July 15
- Spring Semester: Due December 1
- Summer Semester: Due April 15
All applicants should submit:
- Online Graduate Application (including application fee).
- A current CV or resume. For applicants who wish to be considered for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship (Fall admission only), the CV should detail your teaching and/or tutoring experience and other relevant background or training. It should also include the contact information for two persons who can comment on your teaching performance and/or potential.
- Complete official transcripts of all college level work. Official transcripts must be sent directly to the Graduate School directly from the previous institution or transcript service.
- Two academic letters of recommendation. Letters from employers and personal references are not acceptable. The reference should speak to the prospective student's ability to succeed in their graduate studies. Discursive letters must be attached to the PDF form.
- A personal statement (1000 words max.) describing your areas of interest within English studies, your future academic/career plans, and your reasons for applying to our MA program.
- A writing sample (ca. 10 pages) that demonstrates your skills in critical and analytical writing. For example, this can be a substantial analysis paper or research paper written for an (under)graduate course, or a chapter from a Bachelor's or Honors thesis.
- For applicants intending to focus on Creative Writing: A creative writing sample, in addition to the critical/analytical writing sample.
- For applicants who wish to be considered for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship: Applicants wishing to be considered for a GTA position should submit a teaching statement (500-1000 words) describing how they would approach teaching in general and teaching writing in particular. If you have experience as a teaching or tutor, describe your teaching philosophy and provide some specific examples of how you turn that philosophy into practice in the classroom or writing center. What are the most important concepts and skills you think student writers need to learn? If you do not have experience as a teacher or tutor, describe what, as a student, you have found effective in your best teachers. What approaches to teaching and what personal qualities did you value in their work? Describe how you would approach teaching based on what you have experienced. What are the most important concepts and skills you think student writers need to learn?
- For international applicants: Official reports of the TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo examination demonstrating English language proficiency. All applicants for whom English is a second language must submit one of the following: official TOEFL scores (213 or higher on the computer based test or 80 or higher on the internet-based test); official IELTS scores with at least a 6.5 overall band score from the academic module exam; or official Duolingo scores of 105 or higher. Only official Duolingo tests with subscores are accepted. Applicants holding a bachelor's or advanced degree from an accredited U.S. institution may be exempt from the English proficiency requirement.
Special notes:
- GRE test scores are not required.
- To be considered for a GTA position, see deadline information above.
Program Requirements
The Master of Arts in English requires 30 credit hours of academic work at the graduate level. In addition to fulfilling the core requirements, students may take additional work in literary studies, creative writing, or rhetoric and composition. Students may take no more than three 500-level graduate courses. Creative writing courses (including up to six (6) credit hours of thesis guidance) may total no more than 15 credit hours. Students may count one elective outside the Department of English toward their degree upon approval by the director of graduate studies. Detailed requirement information can be found in the English Department Graduate Program Guidelines.
- Thesis Option = 24 credit hours of coursework + six (6) credit hours of thesis guidance
- Non-Thesis Option = 30 credit hours of coursework + culminating project
Graduate-level English courses beyond those listed may count towards requirements depending on the topics covered. Detailed course descriptions, available on the English Department website, will provide this information and can be discussed during advising with the director of graduate studies.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| General Requirements | 3 | |
ENGL 601 | Introduction to English Studies | |
| Theory Requirement | 3 | |
ENGL 691 | Contemporary Theories of Interpretation | |
or ENGL 692 | Topics in Interpretive Theory Since 1900 | |
| Literature before 1700 (3 Credit Hours) | 3 | |
ENGL 515 | Introduction to Old English | |
or ENGL 541 | Studies in Old and Middle English Literature - CUE | |
or ENGL 542 | Studies in Tudor and Elizabethan Literature - CUE | |
or ENGL 543 | Studies in Stuart and Commonwealth Literature - CUE | |
or ENGL 561 | Chaucer - CUE | |
or ENGL 562 | Shakespeare - CUE | |
or ENGL 563 | Milton - CUE | |
or ENGL 572 | Studies in American Literature, 1865-1910 - CUE | |
or ENGL 581 | Studies in Renaissance Drama - CUE | |
or ENGL 624 | Old English and Middle English Language and Literature | |
or ENGL 631 | Renaissance Drama | |
or ENGL 632 | Shakespeare | |
or ENGL 633 | Renaissance Poetry and Prose | |
or ENGL 671 | History of Rhetoric I | |
| Literature from 1700-1900 (3 Credit Hours) | 3 | |
ENGL 545 | Studies in British Literature of the Romantic Period - CUE | |
or ENGL 544 | Studies in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature - CUE | |
or ENGL 545 | Studies in British Literature of the Romantic Period - CUE | |
or ENGL 546 | Studies in British Literature of the Victorian Period - CUE | |
or ENGL 642 | Eighteenth-Century Fiction | |
or ENGL 643 | Eighteenth-Century Poetry and Prose | |
or ENGL 644 | Romantic Poetry and Prose | |
or ENGL 651 | Nineteenth-Century Fiction | |
or ENGL 652 | Nineteenth-Century British Poetry and Prose | |
or ENGL 661 | Nineteenth-Century American Fiction | |
or ENGL 662 | Nineteenth-Century American Poetry and Prose | |
| Literature After 1900 (3 Credit Hours) | 3 | |
ENGL 547 | Studies in Modern British and/or Irish Literature - CUE | |
or ENGL 548 | Studies in Contemporary British and/or Irish Literature - CUE | |
or ENGL 549 | Studies in Post-Colonial and/or Ethnic Literature - CUE | |
or ENGL 573 | Studies in American Literature, 1910-1960 - CUE | |
or ENGL 574 | Studies in American Literature, 1960 - CUE | |
or ENGL 577 | The Harlem Renaissance - CUE | |
or ENGL 606 | Creative Writing I | |
or ENGL 607 | Creative Writing II | |
or ENGL 654 | Twentieth-Century Literature | |
or ENGL 664 | American Authors: 1900-Present | |
or ENGL 665 | Contemporary Poetry | |
or ENGL 685 | Seminar in Modern British Studies | |
or ENGL 686 | Seminar in American Studies | |
| Electives (15 Credit Hours) | 15 | |
| One elective may be taken outside of the department. Students pursuing the thesis option take ENGL 615: Thesis Guidance (6 credit hours), which takes the place of two electives. | ||
| Minimum Total Hours | 30 | |