2024-2025 Academic Catalog
English, MA
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Program Description
The English MA program in the School of Humanities and Cultural Studies offers a flexible graduate education designed to meet various employer and student needs, including those of prospective or practicing educators, professional writers, ESL specialists, 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 cultural studies, as well as in nontraditional and interdisciplinary studies. Elective options allow students to design programs to meet their personal, educational, and professional 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 and gender 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. 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, college teaching, or 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 a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with an overall undergraduate GPA of at least 2.7 (based on a 4.0 system) or an overall undergraduate GPA of at least 2.5, but with a 3.0 or better for the last 60 semester or 90 quarter hours earned toward the undergraduate degree; if an applicant to a master's degree program has previously completed 9 semester or 12 quarter credit hours at the graduate level, then the overall graduate grade point average must be at least 3.0.
Conditional admission
Applicants who have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university but whose overall grade point average is between 2.5 and 2.7 (based on a 4.0 scale)—or less than 2.5 but above 2.3, if the grade point average for the last 60 semester or 90 quarter hours earned toward the undergraduate degree is 2.7 or better—may be admitted to conditional standing by action of the Graduate Director of English. To attain regular standing, students must maintain a 3.0 GPA or better in the first three graduate courses (9 credit hours) taken.
International Students
Those seeking regular admission for whom English is a second or other language must also meet one of the following minimum language proficiency requirements: TOEFL IBT 100, IELTS 7.5, or PTE-A 68. To be considered for conditional admission, those for whom English is a second or other language must present a score of TOEFL IBT 80, IELTS 6.5, or PTE-A 53.
All applicants must also present a satisfactory writing sample of 5-8 pages that demonstrates their preparation for advanced study in English.
Upon petition of the student seeking admission, reasonable exceptions to these requirements may be made for sufficient cause.
Program Learning Outcomes
All graduates of the MA program in English will learn how to:
- comprehend, evaluate, interpret, and analyze significant texts in genres, traditions, and mediums appropriate for their focus of study
- produce written documents that conform to the conventions of style and argumentation commonly used in the disciplines associated with English
- conduct research using the methods, materials, and documentation systems that are standard in the disciplines associated with English
- critically appraise the roles that literature, language, and writing play in culture
- apply skills and concepts relative to the fields of English Studies to a range of professional endeavors that emphasize critical thinking, reading, writing, communication, and research
- develop the ability to plan, manage, revise, complete, and evaluate advanced research-based projects
All graduates of the MA program in English can:
- comprehend, evaluate, interpret, and analyze significant texts in genres, traditions, and mediums appropriate for their focus of study
- produce written documents that conform to the conventions of style and argumentation commonly used in the disciplines associated with English
- conduct research using the methods, materials, and documentation systems that are standard in the disciplines associated with English
- critically appraise the roles that literature, language, and writing play in culture
- apply skills and concepts relative to the fields of English Studies to a range of professional endeavors that emphasize critical thinking, reading, writing, communication, and research
- plan, manage, revise, complete, and evaluate advanced research-based projects
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Concentrations
The English MA program in the School of Humanities and Cultural Studies comprises three concentrations: Literature, Rhetoric and Writing, and TESOL. The concentration in Literature enables students to increase their knowledge of literary texts, histories, and cultural contexts; improve their critical reading and writing skills; and demonstrate their grasp of scholarly research methods. The concentration in Rhetoric and Writing provides training in writing theory and pedagogy. The concentration in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) provides those who wish to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) with thorough grounding in linguistics, language acquisition theory, and classroom practice. To meet the goals of these concentrations, the program uses three groups of courses:
1. The 6000-level courses offer widely varied topics in literature and language and are especially suitable for students wishing to extend their knowledge of literature, critical theory, professional writing, pedagogy, and linguistics.
2. The 7000-level core courses provide students with the necessary scholarly and critical skills for graduate-level work. All students in the Literature concentration are required to take both ENG 7010 and ENG 7800; students in the Rhetoric and Writing concentration 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.
3. The 7000-level seminar courses offer opportunities for intensive and specialized scholarly and critical study focusing on a broad range of topics relevant and related to the disciplines associated with English; three seminars are required of all students in the program.
Additional elective courses are available, and the program allows students to take up to three elective graduate-level course (9 credits) in another discipline.
MA Culminating Project
All candidates for the Master of Arts degree in English must submit a Culminating Project in their last semester of the program for evaluation, and present selected contents of that project at a designated event hosted by the School of Humanities and Cultural Studies. The MA Culminating Project must include an introductory essay, and the project itself must demonstrate original and advanced research relevant to any of the disciplines associated with English. 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 School of Humanities and Cultural Studies.
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.
English, MA, Literature Concentration
The concentration in Literature enables students to increase their knowledge of literary texts, histories, and cultural contexts; improve their critical reading and writing skills; and demonstrate their grasp of scholarly research methods.
All students in the Literature concentration must take both ENG 7010 and ENG 7800. ENG 7010 provides students with the necessary scholarly and critical skills for graduate-level work, and should be taken during the student’s first semester of study. In ENG 7800, taken during the final semester of study, students will complete, submit, and present their Culminating Projects.
In addition to these core requirements, students in the Literature concentration must complete 5 courses (15 credit hours) of focused coursework in English, 12 hours of which must be taken at 7000-level. Students in the Literature concentration must complete an additional 3 elective courses (9 credit hours), which may be taken in English or a related discipline at the graduate level.
Students who elect the 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.
Core and Electives - Literature
English, MA, Rhetoric and Writing Concentration
Core and Electives - Rhetoric and Writing
English, MA, Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages Concentration
Core and Electives - TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
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