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MA in English

Chapter 6 Graduate Program Requirements/Course Descriptions
College of Liberal and Fine Arts

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, CLASSICS, AND PHILOSOPHY

Master of Arts Degree in English

The Master of Arts degree in English offers the student an opportunity to acquire a general knowledge of English and American literature, to understand the historical and cultural contexts in which that literature was produced, to develop skills in critical analysis, and to conduct literary, rhetorical, and linguistic research.

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Admission Requirements. In addition to satisfying the University-wide graduate admission requirements, the applicant must have completed at least 18 semester credit hours of work (exclusive of freshman courses) in English with a grade point average of 3.3 (on a 4.0 scale) in all work taken in English at the upper-division and graduate levels. This work must include at least 12 semester credit hours of upper-division English literature courses, and the student must have a grade point average of 3.3 in these courses. The applicant must submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test. These scores considered in comparison with scores from applicants of similar socioeconomic background will be used as one element in the evaluation of the applicant. These requirements may be waived in unusual circumstances upon the approval of the Graduate Program Committee.

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Degree Requirements. The minimum number of semester credit hours required for this degree, exclusive of coursework or other study required to remove admission deficiencies, is 36. Any grade lower than "B" in a graduate course will not count toward the 36 semester credit hours of coursework required in items A and B below.

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Candidates for the degree must complete the following requirements:

A. 24 semester credit hours in the major, distributed as follows:

1. Core Courses. 6 semester credit hours required:

ENG 5013 Introduction to the Graduate Study of Literature (normally must be taken in the student’s first semester)
ENG 5053 Topics in Literary Genres (3 hours)

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2. Historical Periods. 9 semester credit hours, at least 3 of which must include the study of American literature and at least 3 of which must be from before the 19th century, selected from the following:

ENG 5223 Medieval Literature
ENG 5313 Renaissance Literature
ENG 5413 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature
ENG 5513 Nineteenth-Century British Literature
ENG 5613 Nineteenth-Century American Literature
ENG 5733 Twentieth-Century British and American Literature I

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or

ENG 5743 Twentieth-Century British and American Literature II
ENG 5753 World Literatures in English

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3. Major English Authors. 6 semester credit hours in the following:

ENG 5943 Topics in Major English Authors

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4. American Literature. 3 semester credit hours

ENG 5933 Topics in American Literature

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B. 12 semester credit hours of electives in English. In consultation with the Graduate Advisor of Record, students will select a cogent program of elective courses. Students who have a grade point average of 3.3 or better, with the approval of the Graduate Program Committee, may select a coherent program of 12 semester credit hours in Mexican American studies, composition and rhetoric, cultural studies, the study of women and gender, linguistics, or other approved areas. Students who wish to choose electives outside of English must consult with the Graduate Advisor of Record before enrolling in elective courses.

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Thesis Option: Students who have completed 24 or more semester credit hours in an approved program of study with a grade point average of 3.5 or better, upon submission and approval of a thesis proposal to a Thesis Director and the Graduate Program Committee, may elect to include 3 or 6 hours of ENG 6983,6 Master’s Thesis in their 12 elective hours. Students choosing to write a creative thesis must have completed, among their approved electives, 6 hours of ENG 5143, ENG 5153, or ENG 6043, 3 hours of which must be in the genre of the thesis.

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Note: ENG 5013 must be taken in the student’s first semester.

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As soon as a student completes 12 hours of graduate coursework in English, he or she must meet with the Graduate Advisor to draw up a program of study.

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In addition to the semester-credit-hour requirements set forth above, candidates for the degree are required to pass the Comprehensive Examination. The Comprehensive Examination, composed of both written and oral portions, is offered two times a year, each fall and spring semester, and may be offered during the summer term. It is normally taken in the semester in which the candidate is due to complete his or her graduate study. The Comprehensive Examination may be taken only twice.

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