English
Department of English
Chairperson: Kevin J. Gardner
Graduate Program Director: Richard R. Russell
The undergraduate requirements for admission to graduate study in English normally include eighteen semester hours of English beyond the sophomore level. However, if a candidate’s background in English is deemed inadequate, the graduate faculty of the department has the prerogative to require additional, designated courses as prerequisites for graduate work. Suitable undergraduate GPAs, both in English and overall, and scores on the Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE) predictive of success in this program are significant criteria in admissions decisions in the English Department (all applicants must submit GRE General Test scores).
For admission into the doctoral program one ordinarily must have a master’s degree from an accredited university. However, exceptionally well-qualified students with the B.A. degree who have high GRE scores and a high GPA both in English and overall, as approved by the department, may enter the Ph.D. program. Also, students who enter the M.A. program may petition to enter the Ph.D. program after successfully completing fifteen hours with a GPA of 3.5, without completing the M.A. thesis. The Graduate Program Director appoints a committee of three graduate faculty, usually instructors of the candidate, to study the student’s petition and the student’s performance. The committee may recommend to the graduate faculty either that the student proceed toward the Ph.D. or complete the M.A.
All graduate students are responsible for securing the supplementary departmental requirements for their respective degrees from the English office at the time of initial enrollment. The deadline for applying to the M.A. or Ph.D. program is January 31; however, it is clearly advantageous to the applicant who wishes to receive an assistantship to have all components of the application in by January 15. The English graduate program has three types of assistantships available to both M.A. and Ph.D. students. These assistantships carry stipends and tuition coverage that are highly competitive with those offered by other universities. Also, health insurance premiums are paid for Ph.D. students who are Teaching Assistants. Inquiries should be made of the Graduate Program Director.
English (ENG)
To fulfill requirements for non-thesis master's students who need to complete final degree requirements other than coursework during their last semester. This may include such things as a comprehensive examination, oral examination, or foreign language requirement. Students are required to be registered during the semester they graduate.
Introduction to the Old English language through intensive study of Old English grammar and reading of Old English texts. Required for doctoral candidates.
Continuation of ENG 5301. Introduction to a wide range of Old English literary texts and the textual and critical discussion surrounding them. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Tools and methods for the analysis of language. Subject matter may include phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse, language in society, dialect and variation, or stylistics. Topic varies according to demand. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Practical introduction to the nature of printing and transmission of written material; a guide to the use of the libraries for graduate-level research; approaches to purposes for graduate studies. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Issues in critical theory from Plato to the present with particular attention given to current practice and trends in literary analysis. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Research or reading project undertaken by an individual student working under the direction of a professor. Project to concern literary topics beyond what is included in the defined seminars. Prospectus to be approved by the director of graduate studies in English. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Seminar designed for M.A. and Ph.D. students who intend to teach in higher education or secondary school as a career. While most graduate courses in the program focus directly on the contents of literary knowledge in the form of authors, genres, periods, styles, and so on, this course focuses on curriculum and pedagogy issues. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different. Maximum six semester hours.
Issues in rhetoric from antiquity to the present, focusing on historical development and theoretical problems; contemporary studies in the production of texts and the teaching of writing. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Study by seminar method of an aspect of Middle English literature: Chaucer, the alliterative revival, medieval drama, and romance. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Workshop in creative writing and designed for thesis track and non-thesis track students actively engaged in creative writing. Course content varies according to instructor preference and expertise. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different. Maximum six semester hours.
Poetry, drama, and/or prose of a single author, or of a movement, or of a topic integral to sixteenth-century English literature. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Selected works of Donne and other Metaphysical poets, Jonson and his followers, Milton, Bacon, Browne, Burton, Bunyan, and others to the Restoration Period. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Major writers, literary background, and cultural aspects of the Restoration and eighteenth century. Major emphasis varies with each offering. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
One or more of the poets and essayists of the Early English Romantic period. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
One or more of the poets and essayists of the Later English Romantic period. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Poetry of a single author or a movement or topic embracing several writers of nineteenth-century England. May be repeated once for credit provided topic is different.
Selected works of fiction and/or non-fiction from the Victorian period. Course may emphasize a single author or a movement or topic embracing several writers of nineteenth-century England. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Several key poems with an examination of the evolution of interpretation of these poems. Major focus on The Ring and the Book: its sources, structure, autobiographical content, and interpretation. Students are advised to complete ENG 4364 before registering for ENG 5364. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Poetry, fiction, and/or drama of a single author or a movement embracing several British authors writing between 1900 and 1940. May be repeated once for credit provided topic is different.
Poetry, fiction, and/or drama of a single author or a movement embracing several British authors writing after 1940. May be repeated once for credit provided topic is different.
American, British, or World literature as it crosses national boundaries or treats themes or movements that do so. Topic announced for each session. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different. Maximum six semester hours.
Designed to clarify the plurality of ways in which the integrative study of religion and literature may be engaged. Among the theoretical approaches to be examined, these are representative: humanist, feminist, atheist, Jewish, and Christian. The course will include at least one major theological aesthetician and two or three major literary texts that are susceptible of multiple religious readings. May be repeated one time for credit provided the topic is different.
Imaginative literature with religious concerns broadly defined, of a single author or complementary authors, writing in English. May be repeated once for credit provided topic is different.
Poetry or prose of a single author or of a movement or topic embracing several writers of eighteenth-century America. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Poetry or prose of a single author or of a movement or topic embracing several writers of nineteenth-century America. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Poetry, fiction, or drama of a single author or a movement embracing several writers from 1900-1940. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Poetry, fiction, or drama of a single author or a movement embracing several writers from 1940 to the present. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
American studies, treating such subjects as literature, history, philosophy, psychology, theology, and education. The course focuses on examining texts as cultural documents. May be repeated one time for credit provided topic is different.
Supervised research for the master's thesis. 1-6 semester hours; maximum ten semester hours.
Specialized topics not ordinarily included in regularly scheduled graduate seminars, e.g., the Pre-Raphaelites, American Puritanism, Derridean influences. Topic announced for each semester or session.
Supervised research for developing and writing a Dissertation Prospectus Proposal that will be subject to review and approval by the Supervisory Committee.
Supervised research for the doctoral dissertation. One to twelve semester hours; maximum seventeen semester hours.