DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

Program of Study

1. English (12 credits, minimum): Courses as advised, including:

  Admission

All applicants for the English M.A. programs must submit the results of the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test. In addition, applicants must submit a writing portfolio of 10 to 20 pages of creative and/or critical writing, and are strongly encouraged to provide a range of writing samples.

Dual Program Leading to the MA/MS in English and Information Science and Policy

The Department of English in conjunction with the School of Information Science and Policy offers a dual degree program combining the M.A. in English and the M.S. in Information Science and Policy. By applying six credits in Information Science and Policy to the English degree program and seven credits from English to the Information Science and Policy program, a student can reduce the total number of credits needed for both degrees to 59. However, faculty responsible for concentrations in both programs may require additional course work. Students may be admitted to a dual master's degree program at the beginning of their graduate studies, but not later than after completing 20 graduate credits applicable to a dual master's degree program. Work done for an awarded master's or doctoral degree may not be used for this program. Students may leave a dual program before completion of both degrees. If the requirements for one degree have been fulfilled, that degree may be awarded. You must be admitted to graduate study in both the M.A. in English and M.S. in Information Science and Policy degree programs for the dual degree program.

Program of Study - English and Information Science and Policy – 59 credits

English (32 credits)
1. English (12 credits, minimum): Courses as advised, including:
   a. Textual Practices IA – Eng 500 (4);
   b. One course numbered 600 or above (4);
   c. Eng 699 Master’s Thesis (4); or Eng 698 Master’s Research Tutorial (4) and Examination
2. Supporting courses (16 credits): Selected subjects in English or other academic fields as advised.
    Up to 8 credits may be taken in other fields (Information Studies), but this coursework must be
    approved by the MA Director.

Information Science and Policy (42 credits minimum)
1. Required core courses: Ist 601, 602, 603, 605, 614, Ist 523 for 6 credits (21 credits);
2. Required internship Ist 668 or independent study Ist 669 (3 credits)
3. Required research methods and statistics course: Ist 608 (3 credits).
4. Supporting courses as advised: (15 credits). A maximum of nine credit hours may be taken in other
     professional and academic fields as advised. Seven credit hours of approved course work in English
     must be part of the supporting courses sequence.

Program Leading to the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in English in Writing, Teaching, and Criticism

The Doctor of Philosophy in English with emphases on writing, teaching, and criticism is a professional degree designed primarily for those planning on or already engaged in careers as teachers and writers in four-year colleges and universities. Focusing attention less on bodies of knowledge than on the making of knowledge and on the questions that arise out of the movement between theory and practice, this program prepares individuals for positions in which particularly strong credentials in rhetoric, poetics, pedagogy, and theory are desirable. Flexible enough to be adaptable to the individual student's needs and interests, the Ph.D. program nevertheless requires that all students develop competence in the history of English studies, the teaching of writing and literature, and the interrelations among rhetoric, writing of various kinds, and literary scholarship.

In order to achieve this end, all students will participate in a number of core courses that set forth questions and debates concerning theory and practice while drawing upon students' own experience and expertise as writers and teachers. Additionally, during their second year of full-time study, all students will have an opportunity to test both what they have learned in courses and what are becoming their own convictions about the relation between theory and practice in the practicum in English studies and in the English internship, both of which are required and offered under the direct supervision of members of the faculty in English.

The requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in English can be completed in four years of full-time academic work (or the equivalent over a longer period) beyond the baccalaureate degree. For those entering with a master's degree or its equivalent, the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree can be completed in three years of full-time academic work (or the equivalent over a longer period). A longer period may, however, prove necessary for some students. Two semesters of full-time work in residence are required.

Requirements for Admission

In addition to meeting the general University requirements for admission to doctoral study, an applicant should present, preferably, an undergraduate preparation in the liberal arts with a major in English. Applicants with preparation in other fields, however, may be considered on the condition that undergraduate deficiencies be made up. All applicants must submit the results of the Graduate Record Examination, including the Advanced Test (Literature in English), and a writing portfolio of 20 - 30 pages of creative and/or critical writing, and are strongly encouraged to provide a range of writing samples.

Program of Study (72 credits, minimum)

The program of study, planned with the Director of Graduate Studies in English, and incorporating no more than 30 credits of previous graduate study, should be directed toward the student's interests and specific career objectives. It consists of the following:

a. Required Courses (16 credits):

b. Concentration Courses (16 credits):

c. Elective Courses (40 credits): At least 8 of these 40 elective credits must be taken outside the student’s
    concentration area and up to 12 credits should be taken in a related discipline. Students must seek
    approval from the Director of Graduate Studies to take courses in other departments that support
    but also extend their work in English. Expertise developed in a supporting field must be incorporated
    into doctoral examination areas.

Competence in a Foreign Language: Either on admission to the Doctor of Philosophy program or before admission to candidacy for the degree a student must demonstrate reading competency in two languages other than English or fluency in one. At the discretion of the Director of the graduate program, this requirement may be met in one of the following ways:

a. Demonstrate reading-level competence in two foreign languages by 1) earning a C or better for
    two years (or the equivalent) of undergraduate-level study; 2) earning a B or better in a graduate-level
    foreign language reading course (or the equivalent); or 3) satisfactorily passing a reading examination
    administered by the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.
b. Demonstrate fluency in one foreign language by 1) earning a C or better for four years (or
    the equivalent) of undergraduate-level study; 2) earning a B or better in a graduate-level foreign
    language course that requires substantial written assignments (e.g., essays, reports, or exams)
    submitted in the language being studied; or 3) satisfactorily passing a fluency-level examination
    administered by the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.

Qualifying Examination: After the student completes formal coursework, including the Practicum in English Studies, he or she must pass a written and oral examination on a specific area of study. Designed in consultation with an examination committee approved by the Director of Graduate Studies in English, and directed toward the critical, scholarly, or creative project the student plans to pursue in the dissertation, the examination has three parts: Part I situates the project methodologically, focusing on how the student will explore his or her chosen subject matter; Part II situates it topically, in terms of a recognized field or content area of English Studies; while Part III focuses on the intersection of Parts I and II, and is based in particular on a draft prospectus of the dissertation the student aims to undertake.

Admission to Candidacy: Students are nominated by the department for doctoral candidacy as soon as all program requirements except the dissertation are satisfactorily completed. A student must be admitted to candidacy at least one regular session before submitting a dissertation.

Dissertation: Students are allowed considerable latitude with regard to the dissertation’s form and focus. Dissertations may take such forms as critical argument, fiction, poetry, reports of empirical research, or drama; they may also feature some mixture of these. They may focus on the imaginary, the theoretical, the historical, the interpretive, the pedagogical, or the linguistic.

The dissertation will ordinarily grow out of the student's coursework and even more directly out of the qualifying examination, and is designed so that the student can complete it within the academic year following that examination.

Continuous Required Registration: University regulations require that all doctoral students register for at least 3 graduate credits each fall and spring session until they are admitted to doctoral candidacy. Thereafter doctoral students need only register for 1 dissertation credit until they receive their degree.