College of Arts, Education, & Sciences
School of Humanities
English Graduate Program
The Graduate Program in English offers two academic tracks for its students: Literary
Studies and Creative Writing.
Classes are limited in size so that they may be conducted as participatory seminars
or workshops and provide a range of pedagogical methods. By their second semester,
students choose a field of study within their respective track as well as a Major
Professor and Committee under whose guidance they will pursue this concentration.With
a wide range of expertise from Medieval to Contemporary literature, the graduate faculty
encourages students to individualize their area of focus and facilitates their participation
in conferences and their opportunities to publish. While all Creative Writing students
will complete a thesis, those on the Literary Studies track may choose a thesis or
non-thesis option.
The MA in English may be attained either through a traditional or online course of
study. Even those graduate classes that are not designed to be exclusively online
will provide an option for DENG (online) students so that they can complete the degree
within the same timeframe as traditional students. Graduate assistantships are widely
available for students who can be on campus to assume such responsibilities as tutoring
undergraduates in The Write Place and assisting professors with their classes. Second-year
graduate students have the opportunity to teach their own Composition classes with
the support of their Major Professor.
The close relationship between faculty and students results in not only career counseling
but also in connections that continue far beyond graduation from the program.