Degree Requirements
Required Major Credits — 18 hours
| ENG 500 | Introduction to Graduate Study | 3 |
| ENG 538 | Literary Criticism and Theory | 3 |
| ENG 601 | Advanced Research Methods | 3 |
Choose one course in British Literature before 1800:
Choose one course in British Literature after 1800:
| ENG 627 | British Romantic Literature | 3 |
| ENG 628 | Studies in the Victorian Period | 3 |
| ENG 629 | 20th Century British Literature | 3 |
Choose one course in American Literature:
| ENG 630 | American Literature to the Civil War | 3 |
| ENG 631 | Studies in American Literature Civil War to WW1 | 3 |
| ENG 632 | American Literature WW1 to Present | 3 |
Required Elective Credits - 15 hours
A minimum of four courses must be selected from ENG 500-level and 600-level offerings (12 hours)
In order to prepare for the comprehensive examinations or for the backgrounds section of the Project presentation, students should complete elective courses that will offer them maximum breadth of content in their studies, reaching across time periods, continents, and genres. Depending on their career plans, students may also take elective courses in Education with approval from their advisor. Students should work closely with their advisor to select appropriate elective courses.
Select one of the following options:
- Comprehensive Exam. Students pursuing this track will pass a written comprehensive exam, covering five areas of concentration, during their final semester of study.
- Master’s Project. The Master’s Project consists of a research paper of 30-50 pages, appropriate for journal submission. Students must make a public presentation of the project before an audience of students and faculty. The master’s project may be written under ENG 697 for 3 elective credits.
Accelerated (4 +1) English Liberal Arts B.A. and English M.A.
Motivated and high-achieving students may seek to complete the requirements for the B.A. and M.A. in English in five years. To obtain both degrees, students must complete all the requirements for the B.A. described above (120 credit hours) and all of the requirements for the standard M.A. described in the Graduate Catalog (33 credit hours). However, the accelerated B.A./M.A. program involves 9 credit hours that are shared between the Bachelor's and Master's programs, so the total number of credit hours to complete the accelerated Master’s program is 144. Completing the requirements for both degrees is made possible by taking the 9 double-counted B.A./M.A. credits in the Senior year (paid for at the undergraduate tuition rate) and 6 graduate-level credits (online – graduate-level tuition rate) in the summer following the Senior year and completion of the undergraduate program. Students remain eligible for financial aid as an undergraduate; any Graduate School aid is not available until students are admitted as a Graduate student.
Due to its necessarily streamlined path of progression, admission to the Accelerated B.A. and M.A. in English occurs in the Fall semester only. Students interested in transferring into the accelerated program must:
- Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 to take graduate-level courses as a Senior.
- Meet with the English M.A. Director of Graduate Studies in the fall semester of the Junior year and apply during the spring semester of the Junior year (following the same procedure and meeting the same requirements as other M.A. applicants). Full admission is dependent on completing the B.A. requirements in the senior year while maintaining a minimum 3.0 GPA. The program application will be signed and forwarded to the Graduate School with signatures of the program advisor indicating the approval of graduate course transfer.
- Complete ENG 500 Introduction to Graduate Studies in the fall semester of their Senior year, followed by ENG 538 Literary Criticism and Theory and a second 500-level elective in the spring semester of that year. These are the 9 credits that are double counted within the accelerated program only.
- Fulfill the requirement of taking at least one graduate-level course from each of the three course categories: British Literature before 1800 (ENG623, ENG624, ENG625, ENG626), British Literature after 1800 (ENG627, ENG628, ENG629), and American Literature (ENG630, ENG631, ENG632).
- Students must apply for completion of their UG degree the semester before completing UG degree (i.e. in the fall semester of their Senior Year). To apply, students must be registered for all remaining courses in their final UG semester, that is, the spring semester of their Senior Year.
Outline for degree completion of the Accelerated B.A. and M.A. in English Liberal Arts
Meet with faculty advisor or Director of Graduate Studies and apply for the program in the fall semester, Junior Year.
- Fall Semester, Senior year
ENG 500 Introduction to Graduate Studies (3) [double-counted]
- Spring Semester, Senior year
ENG 538 Literary Criticism and Theory (3) [double-counted]
One 500 level ENG-coded Elective (3) [double counted]
Note: Because students are required to register for their six 500-level spring credits while they are still Undergraduate students, they must complete the Petition to Count Work Toward the Next Higher Degree form with the Graduate School.
Two online 8-week 500-level courses (6) [please note that only two of these courses will be offered each summer]:
ENG 523 - Advanced Studies in the Teaching of Writing (3)
ENG 525 - Studies in the Moving Image (3)
ENG 547 - Visual Rhetoric and Multimodal Literacies (3)
ENG 561 - Genre Study: Poetry (3)
ENG 562 - Genre Study: Fiction (3)
ENG 563 - Genre Study: Drama (3)
ENG 601 - Advanced Research Methods (3)
- Fall Semester, fifth year
Three 600-level ENG-coded courses (9)
- Spring Semester, fifth year
Three 600-level ENG-coded courses (9)
MA comprehensive examination
33 Credits