2015-2016 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
English, MA
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Program Description:
The Department of English Language and Literatures offers a flexible M.A. program designed to meet various needs, including those of prospective or practicing high school or college English teachers, ESL specialists, professional writers, and predoctoral students. The program is structured around work in language, literature, and writing. Courses are regularly available in the standard areas of literature, linguistics, composition/rhetoric, professional writing, and gender studies, as well as in nontraditional and interdisciplinary studies. Elective options allow students to design programs to meet their educational goals. In addition to the course and thesis options, special options allow students to combine courses in literature or language with work in creative writing, professional writing, technical writing, women’s studies, or the teaching of writing and literature, among other options. The program in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), which includes linguistics and prepares students to teach English to nonnative speakers, may be pursued as an elective option, as an endorsement for certified public school teachers, or as a concentration in itself. Details about the different offerings in the TESOL program are available in the departmental office. Interdisciplinary options allow work in programs such as reading, communications, religion studies, or history. By offering on-the-job experience at appropriate sites, internships within the various options prepare students for professional writing careers, for college teaching, or for positions in special collections, archives, and private and rare book libraries. Full-time or part-time study is possible.
Admissions Requirements:
Regular admission
In addition to meeting the admission requirements of the School of Graduate Studies, applicants for regular standing in the M.A. program in English must present either an undergraduate major in English from an accredited college or university with a major average of 3.2 or better (on a 4.0 scale), or five appropriate upper-division courses in English with an average of 3.5 or better in those classes. Applicants must also present an academic paper on a subject in English using secondary sources, and demonstrate an overall undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or better. Applicants with deficiencies in their undergraduate preparation may be required to take additional courses.
Conditional admission
Applicants whose overall grade point average is between 3.0 and 2.7 may be admitted to conditional standing by action of the English department graduate committee if they meet the other requirements above. To attain regular standing, students must be reviewed by the graduate committee and maintain a 3.5 GPA or better in the first three graduate courses (9 credit hours) taken, which must include the appropriate methods and materials class and at least one other 7000-level course.
Upon petition of the student seeking admission, reasonable exceptions to these requirements may be made for sufficient cause.
International Students
It is essential that applicants for an M.A. in English be able to demonstrate their proficiency in written and spoken English. Nonnative speakers of English seeking regular admission to any graduate program in English must also meet one of the following minimum language proficiency requirements: TOEFL IBT 100, IELTS 7.5, PTE-A 68, or satisfactory completion of LEAP Level 4 TOEFL substitution. Applicants may be interviewed by a representative of the department. To be considered for conditional admission, nonnative speakers of English must also present a score of TOEFL IBT 80, IELTS 6.5, PTE-A 53 or be enrolled in the LEAP Program for the TOEFL substitution. These applicants may also be interviewed by a representative of the department.
Nondegree students enrolled in English graduate courses are subject to review and approval by the English department graduate committee.
Program Learning Outcomes:
All graduates of the MA program in English Composition and Rhetoric will:
- Be skilled critical readers of significant texts in their chosen fields;
- Be effective writers of the kinds of documents required in their special fields;
- Be familiar with the research methods and materials (and know how to use the systems of documentation) appropriate to their field of concentration; and
- Be aware of and appreciative of the place of literature, language and rhetoric in a culture’s identity
All graduates of the MA program in English Literature will:
- Be skilled critical readers of significant texts in their chosen fields;
- Be effective writers of the kinds of documents required in their special fields;
- Be familiar with the research methods and materials (and know how to use the systems of documentation) appropriate to their field of concentration; and
- Be aware of and appreciative of the place of literature, language and rhetoric in a culture’s identity.
All students of the MA program in English TESOL will:
- Be skilled critical readers of significant texts in their chosen fields;
- Be effective writers of the kinds of documents required in their special fields;
- Be familiar with the research methods and materials (and know how to use the systems of documentation) appropriate to their field of concentration; and
- Be aware of and appreciative of the place of literature, language and rhetoric in a culture’s identity.
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Concentrations
Composition and Rhetoric
Program Requirements:
The master’s program in English comprises three concentrations. The concentration in literature enables students to increase their knowledge of British, American, and Anglophone postcolonial literature and to improve their critical skills and their grasp of scholarly method. The concentration in composition and rhetoric provides training in writing theory and pedagogy. The concentration in TESOL provides those who wish to teach ESL with thorough grounding in linguistics, language acquisition theory, and classroom practice. To meet these goals, the program uses three groups of courses:
The 6000-level courses offer widely varied topics in literature and language and are especially suitable for students wishing to extend their knowledge of English and American literature, critical theory, writing pedagogy, and linguistics.
The 7000-level core courses provide students with the necessary scholarly and critical skills for graduate-level work. All students in the concentration in literature are required to take both ENG 7010 and ENG 7110 ; students in the concentration in composition and rhetoric are required to take both ENG 7020 and ENG 7120 ; students in the concentration in TESOL are required to take both ENG 7030 and ENG 7130 .
The 7000-level seminar courses offer opportunities for intensive and specialized scholarly and critical study on a broad range of specific literary and linguistic topics; three seminars are required of all students in the program.
Additional elective courses are available in literature, language, and writing.
All students are required to submit a graduate portfolio.
MA Culminating Project
During the last semester in the program, a candidate for the Master of Arts degree in English must submit a Culminating Project of work for evaluation and present selected contents of that project at a designated English Department event. The MA Culminating Project must include an introductory essay and a revised seminar paper. Every candidate must successfully fulfill the MA Culminating Project requirement in order to receive a degree.
Details concerning the MA Culminating Project are available from the Department of English Language and Literatures.
Thesis
Students who elect the thesis option or the creative writing thesis option are required to enroll for 6 semester hours of credit under ENG 7990 and prepare a thesis under the supervision of an advisor approved by the director of graduate studies in English. This thesis will be read and approved by the candidate’s committee, which will be chaired by the candidate’s thesis advisor.
Dept Core and Electives - Composition and Rhetoric
Literature
Program Requirements:
The master’s program in English comprises three concentrations. The concentration in literature enables students to increase their knowledge of British, American, and Anglophone postcolonial literature and to improve their critical skills and their grasp of scholarly method. The concentration in composition and rhetoric provides training in writing theory and pedagogy. The concentration in TESOL provides those who wish to teach ESL with thorough grounding in linguistics, language acquisition theory, and classroom practice. To meet these goals, the program uses three groups of courses:
The 6000-level courses offer widely varied topics in literature and language and are especially suitable for students wishing to extend their knowledge of English and American literature, critical theory, writing pedagogy, and linguistics.
The 7000-level core courses provide students with the necessary scholarly and critical skills for graduate-level work. All students in the concentration in literature are required to take both ENG 7010 and ENG 7110 ; students in the concentration in composition and rhetoric are required to take both ENG 7020 and ENG 7120 ; students in the concentration in TESOL are required to take both ENG 7030 and ENG 7130 .
The 7000-level seminar courses offer opportunities for intensive and specialized scholarly and critical study on a broad range of specific literary and linguistic topics; three seminars are required of all students in the program.
Additional elective courses are available in literature, language, and writing.
All students are required to submit a graduate portfolio.
MA Culminating Project
During the last semester in the program, a candidate for the Master of Arts degree in English must submit a Culminating Project of work for evaluation and present selected contents of that project at a designated English Department event. The MA Culminating Project must include an introductory essay and a revised seminar paper. Every candidate must successfully fulfill the MA Culminating Project requirement in order to receive a degree.
Details concerning the MA Culminating Project are available from the Department of English Language and Literatures.
Thesis
Students who elect the thesis option or the creative writing thesis option are required to enroll for 6 semester hours of credit under ENG 7990 and prepare a thesis under the supervision of an advisor approved by the director of graduate studies in English. This thesis will be read and approved by the candidate’s committee, which will be chaired by the candidate’s thesis advisor.
Dept Core and Electives - Literature
Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages
Program Requirements:
The master’s program in English comprises three concentrations. The concentration in literature enables students to increase their knowledge of British, American, and Anglophone postcolonial literature and to improve their critical skills and their grasp of scholarly method. The concentration in composition and rhetoric provides training in writing theory and pedagogy. The concentration in TESOL provides those who wish to teach ESL with thorough grounding in linguistics, language acquisition theory, and classroom practice. To meet these goals, the program uses three groups of courses:
The 6000-level courses offer widely varied topics in literature and language and are especially suitable for students wishing to extend their knowledge of English and American literature, critical theory, writing pedagogy, and linguistics.
The 7000-level core courses provide students with the necessary scholarly and critical skills for graduate-level work. All students in the concentration in literature are required to take both ENG 7010 and ENG 7110 ; students in the concentration in composition and rhetoric are required to take both ENG 7020 and ENG 7120 ; students in the concentration in TESOL are required to take both ENG 7030 and ENG 7130 .
The 7000-level seminar courses offer opportunities for intensive and specialized scholarly and critical study on a broad range of specific literary and linguistic topics; three seminars are required of all students in the program.
Additional elective courses are available in literature, language, and writing.
All students are required to submit a graduate portfolio.
MA Culminating Project
During the last semester in the program, a candidate for the Master of Arts degree in English must submit a Culminating Project of work for evaluation and present selected contents of that project at a designated English Department event. The MA Culminating Project must include an introductory essay and a revised seminar paper. Every candidate must successfully fulfill the MA Culminating Project requirement in order to receive a degree.
Details concerning the MA Culminating Project are available from the Department of English Language and Literatures.
Dept Core and Electives - TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
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