English (M.A.)
Degree: Master of Arts
Major: English
Total Hours: 36
The Department reserves the right to waive these requirements under special circumstances.
The degree of Master of Arts in English offers a thesis option and a non-thesis option.
The thesis option requires the completion of 30 semester hours of graduate work: 24 in English (or 18 with an approved 6 graduate hours outside of the department) and six in the thesis. Students may write a creative or critical thesis or complete an approved written academic project and students must orally defend their theses.
In the non-thesis option, students substitute 12 semester hours of coursework for the thesis, resulting in 36 hours of coursework (with the possibility of 6 graduate hours outside of the department). Students must orally defend their coursework.
For Both Options:
- Students must take ENGL 5335 Introduction to the Profession, or have taken ENGL 4335 Intro to the Profession as an undergraduate.
- Students should take at least 12 hours in one concentration offered within the department: literature, writing, rhetoric, or pedagogy.
- With written justification and approval from the department chair, students may take up to 6 hours outside of the department, with the exception of the alternative certification option.
- With the approval of the chair and a graduate faculty member’s endorsement and sponsorship, a student may pursue up to 6 hours of coursework in independent writing, research projects, or internships intended for potential publication or vocational use.
- Students who have completed the 12-hour language requirement for the BA (four semesters of a modern language other than English) or who are able to exhibit a reading knowledge of a language by examination may take the thesis option or the non-thesis option in any concentration.