Matthew Roudané,
Chair
Randy Malamud, Associate Chair
Calvin Thomas, Director of Graduate
Studies
Tanya Caldwell, Associate Director of
Graduate Studies
The Department of English offers comprehensive
graduate programs for students who wish to concentrate in literary studies,
creative writing, and
rhetoric & composition. In addition to its traditional offerings,
the department provides an opportunity for training in scholarly and textual editing
through several long-term publishing and editing projects.
The department offers the Master of Arts
(M.A.), the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.), and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
degrees. The M.A. and Ph.D. degree programs provide concentrations in literary
studies, creative writing, and rhetoric & composition; the M.F.A. degree
program allows students to concentrate in either poetry or fiction. The M.A.
degree program usually requires two to three years of study, including
coursework and a thesis, and prepares students for further graduate study or
for careers in writing, editing, technical communications, research, or
business. The M.F.A. and Ph.D. degree programs prepare students to write, to
teach at the college level, and to conduct scholarly research. The M.F.A. degree usually requires three to
four years of study, including coursework, examinations, and a substantial
creative thesis. The Ph.D. degree usually requires four to six years of study,
including coursework, examinations, and a dissertation.
The graduate faculty consists of members
whose specializations cover the entire range of British, American, and transnational literatures,
as well as literary theory, folklore, rhetoric, composition, technical and
professional writing and creative writing.
Transfer Credit
No more than six semester hours or two
courses of graduate work completed at another accredited college or university
and approved by Georgia State University may be applied to a graduate degree in
English. All transferred coursework must correspond to courses offered in the
Georgia State Department of English and must have a grade of B (3.0 grade-point
average) or higher. Credits presented for the Master’s degree must have been
earned within seven calendar years of the date of admission into the program.
Credits presented for the Ph.D. degree must have been earned within ten
calendar years of the date of admission into the program.
Financial Aid
Students interested in scholarships and student loans should consult the Office of Student Financial Aid. The Department of English currently provides financial support primariily in the form of Graduate Teaching Assistantships, which carry full tuition waivers. Graduate Teaching Assistantships are available on a competitive basis to a limited number of M.F.A., Ph.D., and second-year M.A. students with superior qualifications (the Department cannot fund M.A. students in their first years). The Paul Bowles Graduate Fellowship and The Virginia Spencer Carr Graduate Fellowship are awarded to entering fiction writing students who have been admitted to the M.F.A. or Ph.D. program. Again, Graduate Teaching Assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis, and admission alone to any graduate program in English does not authomaticallly guarantee funding. Further information and application forms are available from the Department of English.
Further information about these assistantships
and application forms are available from the Department of English.
Grades
Throughout their coursework, students must
maintain a B average or higher. Only those courses in which students earn an A
or a B will be credited toward a degree.
Academic Warning and
Dismissal
A graduate student whose
cumulative grade-point average (GPA) falls below 3.0 at the end of any semester
will receive a warning from the Office of Graduate Services of the College of
Arts and Sciences. At
the end of the next 18 hours of enrollment, the student must achieve a 3.0
cumulative GPA, or the
Non-Degree and Transient
Student Admission
Students may be admitted on a non-degree
status only if classroom space is available. Preference will be given to degree
students. Students must complete an application, submit two transcripts of all
previous college or university work, and provide a list of courses they wish to
take. Only six credit hours earned while on non-degree status may later be
applied to degree programs. Transient students must reapply each semester.
Further Information
Application forms and information about
the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and other materials are available at http://www.english.gsu.edu/graduate.php at http://www.cas.gsu.edu/grad.html, or from the Director of Graduate
Studies. If you have any questions about graduate studies in English, or wish
to make an appointment to see the Director of Graduate Studies, please contact
Dr. Calvin Thomas at cthomas@gsu.edu .
Master of Arts
The Department of English offers four
master’s degree programs:
1. Master
of Arts, Concentration in Literary Studies;
2. Master
of Arts, Concentration in Rhetoric & Composition;
3. Master
of Arts, Concentration in Creative Writing; and
4. Master
of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (M.F.A.).
Admission
Applicants should be aware that admission
is competitive and that meeting the minimum admission requirements does not
guarantee admission to the M.A. program. Before entering the program, a student
must have completed a bachelor’s degree with a major in English or its
equivalent from an accredited college or university with at least a B average (3.0)
in the undergraduate major. The Department of English admits students to its
graduate programs only in the fall semester of the academic year. The Director
of Graduate Studies in English will consider only complete admission files.
Applicants are responsible for seeing that their admission files are complete
by the deadlines for admission published in the online catalog. To apply
online, go to http://www.cas.gsu.edu/grad_admissions.html . Application
materials sent via postal mail, unless otherwise noted, should be sent to the
Office of Graduate Services:
Georgia
College of Arts
& Sciences
Office of
Graduate Services
Applicants
should supply the following materials:
1. A
statement of purpose that includes a brief explanation of what the student
hopes to accomplish, a clear
indication
of which degree program the applicant is seeking admission to, and (if the
applicant has not yet completed a bachelor’s degree) an indication of the term
in which the applicant expects to receive the degree;
2. Competitive
scores (no more than five years old) on the general GRE test;
3. Two
official transcripts of all previous college or university work;
4. Three
letters of recommendation sent directly from persons who testify to the
applicant’s ability to do graduate
work (copies of
the required forms are available in the Office of Graduate Services of the
College of Arts and Sciences, in the Department of English, or on the
application website);
5. A
critical writing sample of approximately eight to twelve pages. The critical sample is not required for the
creative
M.A. or M.F.A.
Applicants for the M.A., Concentration in
Creative Writing, and the M.F.A. program must also submit a portfolio
consisting of a minimum of 10 poems, or 3 short stories totaling no fewer than
30 and no more than 50 pages, or 50 pages of a novel in progress. The portfolio
should not be sent with the rest of the application to the Office of
Graduate Services of the
Registration
and Advisement
Approximately one week before registration
begins, the Office of the Registrar will post registration time-ticket
assignments on the web and students can find out the date and time of their
registration by entering the GoSOLAR website. The Director of Graduate Studies in the
Department of English will act as adviser to all entering M.A. students.
Students are responsible for making appointments with the Director of Graduate
Studies for advisement and for being familiar with the requirements for their
degree as set forth in this booklet and in the Graduate Catalog, College of
Arts and Sciences. Students are encouraged to select a faculty adviser early in
the program.
Foreign
Language
Candidates for the M.A. degree must
demonstrate reading proficiency in one foreign language or proficiency in an
approved research skill in order to complete the degree program. Students who
choose French, German, or Spanish may meet this requirement by achieving a
Level 2 pass in the chosen language of the CLEP Examination (College Level
Examination Program, administered monthly by the University’s Testing Service).
Students who choose these and other foreign languages may also meet this
requirement by passing the foreign language reading proficiency examination
offered by the Department of Modern and Classical Languages or by receiving a
grade of B or higher in an appropriate foreign language course at the level of
2002 or higher taken during the M.A. program. Foreign language courses taken
during the undergraduate or post baccalaureate enrollment may not be used for
the second option, though they should enable the student to pass one of the
proficiency examinations. Foreign language reading courses that use only
English translations of foreign language texts are not applicable at any time.
Alternative research skills are approved by the Director of Graduate Studies in
English.
Time
Limit
All requirements for a master’s degree
must be completed within seven years.
Master of Arts,
Concentration in Literary Studies
This program requires completion of 30
credit hours (10 courses), plus 6 hours of thesis credit, and a critical thesis
(40-60 pages excluding notes and reference material) approved by a thesis
committee consisting of a director and two other faculty members.
Coursework
In the interests of facilitating broad
historical and disciplinary coverage across the areas of language, literature,
and culture, the following courses are required:
1. ENGL
8000: Bibliography and Research Methods (should be taken in the first semester);
2. ENGL
8001: M.A. Proseminar (should be taken in the second
semester);
3. Six
hours composed of courses in language study (8090: History of the English
Language; 8210: Old English;
8250: Middle
English; 8230: American English); literary theory (8060: Literary Criticism;
8065: Foundations of Modern Critical Theory; 8070: Contemporary Literary
Theory); or folklore (6020, 6100, 6110, or 8200), in any combination (note:
M.A. students considering pursuing the Ph.D. in English at Georgia State
University should consult area 3 in the doctoral program course requirements
before deciding how to fulfill this requirement);
4. Six
hours literature before circa 1800;
5. Six
hours literature after circa 1800;
6. A
minimum of three hours in British literature and a minimum of three hours in
American literature (of the
twelve
stipulated in 3 and 4 above);
7. Six
hours of electives (may be taken in a related field or fields of study);
8. Six hours of ENGL 8999 (Thesis Research).
Thesis
It is the student’s responsibility to
select a topic and to find a faculty member who will direct the thesis and two
others who will serve on the thesis committee. Only members of the graduate
faculty may direct theses. Before beginning to write the thesis, M.A. students
must submit a written prospectus for approval by their thesis committee. The
prospectus should include the following:
1. A
description of the subject, including a statement of the way the proposed
approach to the subject differs from,
contributes
to, or modifies the existing scholarship on the subject;
2. A
description of the proposed method of treatment and an account of the research
necessary to complete it; and
3. A
preliminary bibliography, including a discussion of the availability of
materials.
The thesis must conform in all matters of
documentation to the most recent edition of The MLA Style Manual. The
Office of Graduate Services of the
Master of Arts,
Concentration in Rhetoric & Composition
Candidates for the M.A. with an emphasis
in Rhetoric & Composition must
satisfactorily complete 30 hours of graduate coursework (10 courses), plus 6
hours of thesis research credit, and a substantial (40-60 pages excluding notes
and reference material) academic paper or a multimedia digital project approved
by a thesis committee consisting of a director and two other faculty members
Coursework
To provide maximum flexibility for
students to pursue their interests within the fields of Rhetoric & Composition,
the following courses are required:
1. ENGL
8125: Writing and Research Methodology, which should be taken in the first
semester, if possible, and at
the
latest, the semester before writing the thesis. This course requires students
to write a thesis research proposal;
2.
Twenty-one hours composed of rhetoric and composition courses;
3.
Six hours of electives (may be taken in any related fields of study);
4. Six hours of ENGL 8999 (Thesis Research).
Thesis
Thesis research may involve digital and
workplace projects as well as textual studies, and the thesis can be a
substantial (40–60 page) academic paper or a
multimedia/digital project with approval of the advisor. The proposal for
thesis research must be submitted and approved by the student’s committee the
semester prior to writing the thesis. See www.rhetcomp.gsu.edu for thesis guidelines and other
information.
Foreign
Language Requirement
Candidates for the M.A. with a
concentration in Rhetoric & Composition are expected to demonstrate fluency
in one foreign language or to have received a grade of B or higher in both ENGL
8121 (Electronic Writing and Publishing) and ENGL 8123 (Digital Rhetoric).
Master of Arts,
Concentration in Creative Writing
For a comparison between this program and
the M.F.A. program, see the section on the M.F.A. More information about the creative writing
program is available at http://workshop.gsu.edu.
Coursework
Candidates for the M.A., Concentration in
Creative Writing must satisfactorily complete 27 hours of graduate coursework,
including 12 hours of creative writing. In addition to
these requirements, students must earn 6 hours of thesis research credit. A
student must complete either ENGL 8160 (Form and Theory of Literary Craft), ENGL
8201 (Contemporary Poetry), or ENGL 8202 (Contemporary Fiction Craft). Rather
than narrowly specializing in a particular area, a student should select
courses that complement the student’s undergraduate program in order to achieve
a lively understanding of a broad range of English and American literature.
Thesis
The creative writing thesis must contain
at least 35 pages of poetry or 60-100 pages of fiction. It must include an
introduction or an afterword in which the student discusses his or her
approaches, styles, methods, and influences. By the time the thesis is
completed, a student must have registered for at least six hours of English
8999 (Thesis Research).
Master of Fine Arts in
Creative Writing
The requirements for completion of the
M.F.A. in Creative Writing are more demanding than for the M.A. in English,
Concentration in Creative Writing. The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
is a terminal degree that prepares students to write and to teach. It is also
the degree that provides students an excellent foundation if they choose to
continue their graduate work at the doctoral level. Upon attaining the M.F.A.
degree, students will have acquired a productive specific knowledge of their
chosen genre/area of specialization (either poetry or fiction). More information about the creative writing
program is available at http://workshop.gsu.edu.
Coursework
Fiction
Writers:
The M.F.A. student must complete
satisfactorily at least 48 hours of graduate coursework. Any student who
receives more than one C during his or her program will be dropped from the
M.F.A. program. The coursework must include the following:
1. Fifteen
to twenty-one hours of English 8030 (Fiction Writing);
2. Fifteen
to twenty-one hours of English and American literature and/or folklore;
36 hours are
required for Areas 1 and 2 combined.
3. Three
hours of English 8160 (Form and Theory of Literary Craft) in fiction;
4. Three
hours of English 8202 (Contemporary Fiction Craft); and
5. Six
hours of 8999 (Thesis Research)
Students who enter the M.F.A. program with
an M.A. in English or creative writing must satisfy a different set of course
requirements totaling 36 hours:
1. Fifteen
to eighteen hours of English 8030 (Fiction Writing);
2. Six
to nine hours of English and American literature and/or folklore;
24 hours are
required for Areas 1 and 2 combined.
3. Three
hours of English 8160 (Form and Theory of Literary Craft) in fiction;
4. Three
hours of English 8202 (Contemporary Fiction Craft); and
5. Six hours of English 8999 (Thesis Research).
Poets:
The M.F.A. student must complete
satisfactorily at least 48 hours of graduate coursework. Any student who
receives more than one C during his or her program will be dropped from the
M.F.A. program. The coursework must include the following:
1.
Fifteen to twenty-one hours of English 8020 (Poetry Writing);
2.
Nine to fifteen hours of English and American literature and/or folklore;
30 hours are
required for Areas 1, 2, 3, and 4 combined.
3.
Three hours of English 8203 (20th-Century American & British Poetry
Craft I);
4.
Three hours of English 8204 (20th-Century American & British Poetry
Craft II);
5.
Three hours of English 8160 (Form and Theory of Literary Craft) in
poetry;
6.
Three hours of English 8201 (Contemporary Poetry);
7. Six hours of 8999
(Thesis Research).
Students who enter the M.F.A. program with
an M.A. in English or creative writing must satisfy a different set of course
requirements totaling 36 hours:
1.
Fifteen hours of English 8020 (Poetry Writing);
2.
Three hours of English and American literature and/or folklore;
3.
Three hours of English 8203 (20th-Century American & British Poetry
Craft I);
4. Three
hours of English 8204 (20th-Century American & British Poetry Craft II);
5.
Three hours of English 8160 (Form and Theory of Literary Craft) in
poetry;
6.
Three hours of English 8201 (Contemporary Poetry);
7. Six hours of 8999 (Thesis Research).
M.F.A.
Examination
Before students can take the M.F.A.
examination, they must have completed all coursework and the foreign language
requirement. The M.F.A. examination is a two-part written test based on a
reading list available to students when they enter the program. The examination
will be administered in two four-hour sessions on separate days. A student may
take this exam in either spring or fall semester. Students must give the
Director of Graduate Studies written notification of their intention to take
the examination by the departmental deadline. Each examination will be graded
by at least three faculty members who will not be informed of the identity of
the examinee.
Thesis
The M.F.A. thesis must be a minimum of 50
pages long for a manuscript of poems or a minimum of 150 pages for a manuscript
of prose fiction. It must include an introduction or an afterword in which the
student discusses his or her approaches, styles, methods, and influences. After students have completed initial work on
the manuscript, they will meet with their committee to edit the thesis. By the
time the thesis is completed, a student must have registered for at least six
hours of English 8999 (Thesis Research).
Doctor of Philosophy
The Ph.D. degree programs prepare students
to write, to teach on the college and university levels, and to conduct
scholarly research. At the end of their Ph.D. coursework, students will have
acquired a productive general knowledge of the various fields of literary study
in English and will have developed a concentrated preparation in their areas of
specialization. More information about
the creative writing program is available at http://workshop.gsu.edu.
Admission
Applicants should be aware that admission
is competitive and that meeting the minimum admission requirements does not
guarantee admission to the Ph.D. program. Before entering the Ph.D. program,
students are generally expected to have completed a master’s degree in English
or a closely related discipline from an accredited college or university. The
Department of English admits students to its doctoral programs only in the fall
semester of the academic year. The Director of Graduate Studies in English will
consider only complete admission files. Applicants are responsible for seeing
that their admission files are complete by the deadlines for admission
published in this catalog. All application materials, unless otherwise
noted, should be sent to:
Georgia State
University
College of Arts
& Sciences
Office of
Graduate Services
75 Poplar
Street, Suite 800
P.O. Box 3993
Atlanta,
Georgia 30302
All
applicants must submit the following materials:
1. Two official transcripts of all
previous college or university work;
2. Three letters of recommendation sent directly
from persons who testify to the applicant’s ability to do graduate
work. Applicants from
the M.A. program in English at Georgia State must submit new letters of
recommendation, preferably from English department faculty (copies of the
required forms are available in the Office of Graduate Services of the College
of Arts and Sciences, or in the Department of English);
3. Competitive scores (no more than five years
old) on General portion of the GRE;
4. An essay composed by the applicant stating
goals and career objectives; and
5. A 10-15 page critical writing sample.
A
student who wishes to specialize in creative writing must also submit the
following:
6. A
portfolio consisting of a minimum of 10 poems; or 3 short stories totaling no
fewer than 30 and no more than
50 pages; or 50 pages of a novel in progress. The portfolio should not be sent
with the rest of the application to the Office of Graduate Services the College
of Arts and Sciences. Instead, it should be sent to the Director of Graduate
Studies, Department of English, Georgia State University, University Plaza,
Atlanta, GA 30303-3970. With the portfolio, the student must submit a cover
letter stating the applicant’s desired degree program, intended semester of
enrollment, and social security number.
Advisement
The Director of Graduate Studies will
serve as the student’s initial faculty adviser, whom the student should consult
regularly. However, very early in the program, the student should begin to
design a course of study leading towards the areas of primary and secondary
specialization upon which the student will be tested in the doctoral
examinations (the examinations and the coursework required for taking them are
described below). Optimally in the first semester of the doctoral program, but
certainly before the end of the second semester, the student should form a
three-member faculty advisory committee composed of two faculty members
representing the primary area of specialization and one representing the
secondary area of specialization. Working with this committee, the student will
define and develop the areas of specialization and determine the courses that
can be used to satisfy the specialization requirements.
Doctoral
Degree Plans
Students may choose to follow one of three
plans. Plan 1 focuses on literary studies. Plan 2 emphasizes rhetoric and
advanced writing courses. Plan 3 emphasizes creative writing.
Basic
Coursework and Residency Requirements
Depending on the plan chosen by a student,
the total credit hours required vary from 50 to 59 beyond the M.A. (30-39 hours
of coursework plus 20 hours of dissertation research). To fulfill the residency
requirement for the Ph.D. degree, students must enroll for a minimum of 6 hours
per term for 4 semesters. Two of these semesters must be consecutive. Each plan
has further particular coursework requirements which are specified below.
Foreign
Language
A reading proficiency in one foreign
language appropriate to the area of specialization is required.
Although an alternative research skill (such as digital rhetoric) may be used
to satisfy the language requirement at the M.A. level, at the doctoral level
the language requirement must be fulfilled by demonstrating reading proficiency
in a foreign language: e.g., French, Spanish, German, Italian, or another
foreign language appropriate to the area of specialization (appropriateness is
to be determined by the Director of Graduate Studies). If the student fulfilled
the M.A. language requirement with a foreign language as described above, that
language fulfills the Ph.D. foreign language requirement. If the student
fulfilled the M.A. language requirement with a course in digital rhetoric or
another alternative research skill, that course does not fulfill the Ph.D.
foreign language requirement: proficiency in a foreign language as described
above must be demonstrated.
Students who choose French, German, or
Spanish may meet this requirement by achieving a Level 2 pass in the chosen language
of the CLEP Examination (College Level Examination Program, administered
monthly by the University’s Testing Service). Students who choose these and
other foreign languages may also meet this requirement by passing the foreign
language reading proficiency examination offered by the Department of Modern
and Classical Languages, or by receiving a grade of B or higher in an
appropriate foreign language course at the level of 2002 or higher taken during
the M.A. or Ph.D. programs. Foreign language courses taken during the
undergraduate of post baccalaureate enrollment may not be used for the second
option, though they should enable the student to pass one of the proficiency
examinations. Foreign language reading courses that use only English
translations of foreign language texts are not applicable at any time.
Doctoral
Examinations
Students must pass two on-site
examinations, one in an area of primary specialization and another in an area
of secondary specialization.
The primary specialization examination
will be the area in which the student plans to write the dissertation and will
last four hours. As described in the list of required courses below, in order
to take an examination in an area of primary specialization, the student must
have completed 12 hours of courses in or strongly related to that area. The
exam itself will be based on a reading list composed of no fewer than forty
texts, devised by the student in consultation with the faculty adviser who will
be the primary reader of the exam. The examination
reading list must be composed, and approved by the faculty adviser, at least
one semester prior to the semester in which the student will take the exam. The
examination itself must be approved by the Director and Associate Director of
Graduate Studies.
The secondary specialization examination
may be in an area that compliments, augments, or contrasts with the primary
area and will last three hours. As described in list of required courses below,
in order to take an examination in an area of secondary specialization, the
student must have completed 9 hours of courses in or strongly related to that
area. The exam itself will be based on a reading list composed of no fewer than
thirty texts, devised by the student in consultation with the faculty adviser
who will be the primary reader of the exam. The examination reading list must
be composed, and approved by the faculty adviser, at least one semester before
the semester in which the student will take the exam. The examination itself
must be approved by the Director and Associate Director of Graduate Studies.
The two examinations may be (but need not
be) taken in the same semester. Examinations are not offered in the
summer. Students must give the Director
of Graduate Studies in English written notification of their intention to take
either a primary or secondary examination by the departmental deadline.
Suggested areas for examination, which in practice may be subdivided, include
but are not limited to the following:
· English Language
· Medieval Literature
· Renaissance Literature
· Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature
· Nineteenth-Century Literature
· Modern British Literature
· Twentieth Century World English Literature (British Isles,
Commonwealth, Post-Colonial)
· American Literature to 1830
· American Literature from 1830 to 1914
· American Literature from 1914 to the present
· Rhetoric & Composition
· Literary Theory
· Fiction (restricted to creative writing students)
· Poetry (restricted to creative writing students)
Students pursuing the Ph.D. with an
emphasis in creative writing must take their examinations in Fiction and
Poetry. The English Language examination
will cover three of the following fields: Old English, Middle English, History
of the English Language, and American English. A student who chooses to write
an English Language examination (either major or minor) must indicate in the
letter of intent the three fields on which he or she wishes to be tested.
Examinations in Rhetoric & Composition may draw on several different
sub-areas for both primary and secondary specialization, and this is generally
possible for other area examinations.
Each doctoral examination will be graded
by at least three faculty members. A student must pass each examination on
either the first or second try in order to remain in the Ph.D. program.
Examples of past examination questions are available to students preparing for
the examination by contacting Patricia Chapman at pchapman@langate.gsu.edu .
Dissertation
Doctoral students must submit a
dissertation acceptable to the Department of English and to the Office of
Graduate Services of the College of Arts and Sciences. Stages in the
preparation of the dissertation include the following: choosing a dissertation
director and dissertation committee, submitting a dissertation prospectus,
defending the dissertation prospectus, writing the dissertation, defending the
dissertation.
Soon after completing written doctoral
examinations, a doctoral student must submit to his or her dissertation
committee a written dissertation prospectus that should include the following:
1.
A description of the subject, including a statement of the way the
proposed approach to the subject differs from,
contributes
to, or modifies the existing scholarship on the subject;
2. A
description of the proposed method of treatment and an account of the research
necessary to complete it; and
3. A
preliminary bibliography, including a discussion of the availability of materials.
After consulting informally with the
dissertation director and the other members of the student’s dissertation
committee, the student must defend the prospectus orally in a meeting with the
committee and the Director of Graduate Studies. If the committee judges the
student’s prospectus to be acceptable, the student will be given permission to
proceed with the project. While writing the dissertation, the student must
register for at least 20 hours of English 8999 (Thesis Research). Each student
must pass an oral defense of the dissertation administered by the members of
the student’s dissertation committee and the departmental Director of Graduate
Studies.
Time
Limit
Work on the doctorate must be completed
within ten years of admission to the program.
Particular
Requirements of Individual Ph.D. Plans:
Plan 1: Literary
Studies
In the interests of facilitating
professional specialization within the broad fields of linguistic, literary,
and cultural study, the following are required:
1. Thirty
hours of course work beyond the M.A. level (including, if desired, a maximum of
nine hours of
coursework
in related fields offered by other departments);
2. Fulfillment
of the M.A. course requirements;
3. An
additional three-six hours in language study OR theory (note: if the student
satisfied the six hour requirement
stipulated in
section 3 of the M.A. course requirements by taking three hours in language
study and three in theory, then this requirement can be satisfied with a course
of the student’s choice, either language study or theory; if, however, the
student satisfied section 3 with six hours in language study only, or theory
only, then this requirement must be satisfied with 3 hours in the field not
covered in the M.A.; finally, if the student satisfied section 3 with six hours
in folklore or has not taken a language study or theory class at the M.A.
level, a language study class AND a theory class—six hours—are required);
4. Twelve
hours of courses in or strongly related to the area of primary examination
specialty (may include courses
taken at
the M.A. level and a maximum of one course in a strongly related field offered
by another department);
5.
Nine hours of courses in or strongly related to the area of secondary
examination specialty (may include courses
taken at
the M.A. level and a maximum of one course in a strongly related field offered
by another department);
6. Electives
as needed to complete the 30-hour requirement;
7. Twenty hours ENGL 8999 (Thesis Research).
Plan 2: Rhetoric
& Composition
To facilitate professionalism within the interdisciplinarty fields of Rhetoric & Composition, the
following courses are required:
1.
A total of thirty hours of coursework beyond the M.A. level (including,
if desired, a maximum of six hours of
coursework
in related fields offered by other departments);
2.
Six hours of language, theory, literature, or in any related fields of
study outside of English upon approval from
the
student’s advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies:
3. ENGL
8125 Writing and Research Methodology, if not taken at the M.A. level; should
be taken in the first or
second
semester. This course requires students to write a thesis research proposal;
4. Twenty-one
hours of rhetoric and composition courses;
5.
Electives as needed to complete the thirty-hour requirement;
6. Twenty hours of ENGL 8999 (Thesis Research).
Plan 3: Creative
Writing
Students who specialize in creative
writing must take either poetry or fiction as their major examination and must
choose the other genre as their minor area. They must complete 30-39 hours of
graduate coursework beyond the M.A. level, with 12 of those hours in creative
writing workshops in the student’s major genre, plus 20 hours of dissertation
research. The following coursework requirements must be completed during the
Ph.D. program unless they have already been satisfied during a student’s M.A.
or M.F.A. program:
Fiction Writers
1 Twelve
hours of ENGL 8030 (Fiction Writing);
2.
Three hours of ENGL 8160 (Form and Theory of Literary Craft in fiction);
3.
Three hours of ENGL 8202 (Contemporary Fiction Craft);
4.
Three to six hours of courses in or strongly related to area of primary
examination specialty;
5. Nine
hours of courses in or strongly related to area of secondary examination
specialty, including three hours of
ENGL 8160 (Form
and Theory of Literary Craft in Poetry);
6. Three
hours of language study, unless satisfied at M.A. level;
7. Three
hours of theory, unless satisfied at the M.A. level.
Poets
1. Twelve
hours of ENGL 8020 (Poetry Writing);
2. Three
hours of ENGL 8160 (Form and Theory of Literary Craft in poetry);
3. Three
hours of ENGL 8201 (Contemporary Poetry);
4. Three
hours of ENGL 8203 (Twentieth-Century American & British Poetry Craft I);
5. Three
hours of ENGL 8204 (Twentieth-Century American & British Poetry Craft II);
6.
Three hours of ENGL 8160;
7.
Six hours of courses in or strongly related to area of secondary
examination specialty;
8. Three
hours of language study, unless satisfied at M.A. level;
9. Three
hours of theory, unless satisfied at the M.A. level.
Dissertation
The dissertation must be a minimum of 50
pages long for a manuscript of poems or a minimum of 150 pages for a manuscript
of prose fiction. It must include a critical introduction that is acceptable to
the Department of English and to the Graduate Office of the College of Arts and
Sciences. After students have completed
initial work on the manuscript, they will meet with their committee to edit the
thesis. By the time the dissertation is completed, a student must have
registered for at least 20 hours of English 8999 (Thesis Research).
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