Core Courses:

Six credits of core courses:

• ENGL 601 - Methods of Interpretation [3]
• ENGL 607 - Language in Society [3]

Additional Courses

Additional courses must be selected from graduate English courses, or up to 2 approved graduate courses from  MLLI, GWST, AMST or LLC, in order to fulfill the following distribution requirement:
At least one course in each of the following areas:
(A) Critical Theory, Genre Study, Composition, Rhetoric, Communications, Media Studies
(B) World Literature; Gender, Minority, and Ethnic Studies
(C) One course focused before 1800

All students must choose either the MA Thesis Option (six credits of ENGL 799) or the MA Portfolio Option (three credits of ENGL 798), which are described in more detail below.

M.A. Thesis Option

The thesis (six credits of ENGL 799) demonstrates a student’s ability to produce scholarship that draws upon primary and secondary sources as well as empirical data of various sorts. The thesis is generally 40 to 80 pages in length, but it may, if approved by the advisor, be presented in forms other than print.  During students’ first semester of ENGL 799, they work with their advisor to create a thesis proposal of 10-20 pages.
The proposal generally includes:
(1) a discussion of the research question that the thesis proposes to explore,
(2) a review of the literature concerning this question
(3) a preliminary bibliography and discussion of the sources to be used,
(4) a discussion of the research methods to be used, and
(5) a proposed outline.  
At semester’s end the proposal must be approved by a three-member thesis committee: the advisor and two faculty members chosen by the student.  Committee members must sign the Thesis Proposal Approval Form before the student may register for the second semester of ENGL 799. During the second semester of ENGL 799, the student completes the thesis under the advisor’s direction, and it is evaluated in an oral defense at semester’s end in front of the three-member thesis committee.

M.A. Portfolio Option

Students who choose the Portfolio option must complete the Portfolio Proposal Approval Form during the semester prior to enrolling in ENGL 798, Portfolio Independent Study (three credits) with the approval of their advisor.  During this semester students create a portfolio that includes papers and projects that they produced in their previous MA coursework.  These are selected according to some criteria the student identifies, e.g., subject matter similarities, related research foci or methods, relevance to their workplace concerns, etc.  Then, in consultation with their advisor, they produce a synthetic essay or project that connects and builds upon strands of their previous work.  The portfolio essay or project is, typically, between 30 and 40 pages in length but may, when approved by the advisor, be presented in forms other than print (see the Portfolio Guidelines)  At semester’s end, the portfolio is evaluated in an oral defense that is attended by two faculty members: the advisor and one other faculty member chosen by the student.