Most Affordable Masters Program in English Language and Literature

In addition to offering the perfect major for anyone who has a passion for reading and writing, the English offers programs that lead to numerous career opportunities. While traditional careers in education, publishing, and journalism come most immediately to mind, students may choose careers in many other areas, including law, business, industry, public relations, advertising, web content management, social media management, and technical writing.

The Bachelor of Arts in English in particular offers a solid foundation for those students who want to add a teaching credential, enter the workforce directly, or continue their studies in graduate or professional programs. For any field that requires excellent oral and written communication, critical thinking, and problem solving, the programs in English offer in-depth mastery of these essential workplace skills.

The English offers these programs of study:.

Technical and Professional Writing-M.A. (Curriculum) (Online, MGA Online Campus).

Creative Writing-Grad Cert (Curriculum) (Online, MGA Online Campus).

Teaching College Writing-Grad Cert (Curriculum) (Online, MGA Online Campus).

Technical Writing and Digital Communication-Grad Cert (Curriculum) (Online, MGA Online Campus).

Three English students sit at a desk in the classroom learning grammar.

Our English Department joins together a spirit of practicality, creativity, and critical analysis. We strive to produce polished writers and careful readers whose communication skills are in high demand across a wide spectrum of professions.

Find the degree that fits you best at Southeast Missouri State University!

Put your passion for English into the program that will launch your career.

One University Plaza, MS 2650Cape Girardeau, MO 63701.

This information is reviewed for accuracy at least once every year in the month of June, but information will be updated ahead of this schedule if new and specific Program information is officially revealed to UNLV. Program representatives have collected this information and determined its accuracy to the best of their ability. If changes are made, UNLV will alert affected students by email, directing them to the information. If there are no changes, no emails will be sent. If you are an enrolled student at UNLV and officially report a change in the state where you are physically located and or change to a different professional Program, UNLV will also direct you to the information by email.

Please also keep in mind that there are many requirements for the Program in addition to curriculum requirements. Licensure boards in different states and territories most often require that other criteria also be met for licensure certification, including but not limited to:.

Graduating from programs accredited by specific accrediting agencies .

It is important that you understand, should you change your Program, change your state of residence, and or change where you intend to practice during your matriculation at UNLV, the Program requirements can be very different based upon the state involved.

Finally, you are reminded that you are obligated to give notice to UNLV to update your state of residence if you do relocate to another state during the term of your Program. Changes to the address for your physical location can be updated through MyUNLV.

Must submit application for licensure with program completion verification from students' educator prep program. May be able to obtain OK certification based upon transcript evaluation. View caveat.

Must obtain license in educator prep program state View caveat.

Core Writing Course Descriptions Core Writing Course Descriptions.

Earn a master degree in English (M.A.) and get a a deeper understanding of how literature, theory, language and culture can be made relevant in the modern world.

Review the MA in English handbook to find out if the program is right for you.

The English offers four areas of emphasis within its M.A. program. Those emphases allow students to pursue research goals that align most closely with their personal interests.

The M.A. can serve as a terminal degree or as preparation for further study in a linguistics Ph.D. program.

The public engagement emphasis is designed to serve students whose career goals could include teaching, working with nonprofits and or going on for a Ph.D. The interdisciplinary program includes a wide range of courses in literature, writing and rhetoric that fall under the theme of power, place and publics.

This emphasis is designed for students who wish to strengthen their skills as writers while deepening their understanding of literature and language. M.A. writing students may opt for intensive study in composition research and pedagogy or in writing workshops, with cognate work in linguistics, literature or literacy studies.

For the M.A. program, candidates are accepted for fall (January 15 deadline) and spring (October 1 deadline) semester admission.

Applicants are required to submit for English graduate committee approval:.

Scholarly writing sample approximately 15-25 pages in length, demonstrating readiness for graduate study in English.

The graduate application system in the U.S. tends to be an open application process.

The following general requirements apply in all emphases within the master in English program, except where clearly stated in the specific descriptions for each emphasis.

All requirements must be satisfied during the six calendar years immediately preceding the granting of the degree.

For all emphases except public engagement, the program allows students the option of writing a thesis or of substituting course work for the thesis. The department encourages students to follow the non-thesis plan unless there is a compelling reason to select the thesis plan.

Both the thesis and non-thesis plans require 31 credits of graduate work in the thesis plan, six of those will be thesis credits. No than four credits of internship and three credits of English 790 Special Topics (independent study) may be counted toward the degree. Except in the case of required internships, independent study and internship credits may not be used to fulfill course requirements but may be counted for the total number of credits for degrees.

No than nine total credits applicable to the approved program of study may be accepted from graduate courses taken at another institution and or taken at the University of Nevada, Reno on graduate special status.

Graduate School regulations require graduate students to maintain continuous registration of at least three credit hours per semester to remain active in the pursuit of a degree. This means that students studying for comprehensive exams or writing theses must (even if they are not in residence) register for at least three credit hours each semester (summers excluded) until they graduate.

All MA students are required to take a substantial portion of their course work at the 700 level.

Competence in one language other than English is required. The requirement may be met either by course work or by examination.

Course work: Competence is demonstrated by the student completing fourth-semester college-level course work in the language with a grade of C or better in the final term of the course or by the student completing the second semester of a sopho reading course with a grade of B or better.

Examination: The student must pass a proficiency exam given by the World Languages and Literatures at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The program requires a comprehensive exam as a part of the degree requirements. In general, the exam includes three parts:.

A written examination over a set reading list or over course work.

A student must have completed the professional paper or portfolio and have passed the written exam before taking the oral exam. Failed written or oral exams can be retaken only once. Students must register for English 795, Comprehensive Exam, 1 credit, the semester they will be completing their exams.

Filed a completed program of study with the Graduate School.

Completed all but the last semester of coursework toward the degree for the Master of Arts.

In the writing program, the final oral defense is separate from the discussion of the portfolio and written exam. While the thesis is in progress, the candidate should register for the six required hours of thesis credit (English 797), including one hour to be taken during the writing of the prospectus. Documentation and bibliography should follow the current MLA style manual. Precise guidelines for thesis format and submission are available at the Graduate School.

The student is responsible for knowing the degree requirements and for submitting all Graduate School forms on time. Early in their graduate careers, students should become familiar with the most important forms: the program of study, the notice of completion and the application for graduation. Most Graduate School forms are available online.

Teaching assistant positions also are available to M.A. students on a competitive basis. Teaching assistants in the English receive an annual stipend, health insurance and a tuition waiver. New applicants to the English Graduate Program are automatically considered for a teaching assistantship when they apply for admission, unless the applicant specifies they do not wish to be considered. No separate application is needed.

A teaching assistantship in the M.A. program may be held for a maximum of two years. The M.A. degree must be completed within six years from the time you first earn graduate credits that you apply toward the degree. This timeline represents a very general model for your progress toward the degree.

Check progress toward degree requirements, including foreign language requirement.

Consider and begin to research longer-term goals ( graduate school vs. careers, etc.).

Apply to graduate schools with early deadlines (if applicable).

File notice of completion (and thesis) by Graduate School deadline.

To audit a class the student must sign up through Admissions and Records. You cannot sign up for an audit through MyNevada. Audit credits do count toward the six credits required to maintain a teaching assistantship or the three credits required to maintain active standing. But audit credits do not count toward the total number of credits required for the degree and audited courses may not be used to fulfill degree requirements. Audit credits are covered by grant-in-aid. Although audited courses cannot be applied to a degree program, they do appear on a student transcript.

To enroll in the Comprehensive Exam (795), students must have completed their foreign language requirement(s) and filed their program of study. To enroll in thesis (797) or dissertation (799) hours, students must have filed their program of study.

The Graduate School grant-in-aid for TAs is capped at nine credits per semester, but exceptions can be made.

However, the Graduate School does not grant fee reductions for an open-enrollment course through the University 365 Learning. Summer foreign language courses are not covered by grant-in-aid.

Internships may not be used to fulfill course requirements for the degree (unless the degree requires an internship).

No than four credits of 736 may be counted toward the degree.

The Graduate School grants a leave of absence for medical reasons and other emergencies. As the application states, leaves of absence are treated the same as withdrawals for financial aid purposes. Note that the Graduate School clock still ticks during the student leave-six years for M.A.s, eight years for Ph.D.s.

Students in graduate programs at the University of Nevada, Reno are required by the Graduate School to enroll in a minimum of three graduate-level credits in each fall and spring semester to remain in graduate standing. Those failing to do so will be dropped from graduate standing to graduate special status. It is at the discretion of the English, subject to the regulations of the Graduate School, whether students who fail to maintain graduate standing are to be readmitted to the program at any subsequent date. Students who are unable to take the minimum number of credits in a given semester should thus request a leave of absence in writing, using the form available from the Graduate School, if they wish to retain their standing in a graduate program.

To keep a teaching assistantship, a graduate student must continue to make satisfactory progress in a graduate degree program. A teaching assistant must register for a minimum of six graduate credits each semester to maintain an assistantship.

The overload work must be approved by the Graduate School before the TA begins the work.

M.A. students should complete their program of study form in their second semester of study, while Ph.D. students should do so in their third semester. Filing your program of study on this schedule will reduce delays in your time to graduation. You may not sign up for the Comprehensive Exam (795) until your program of study is filed and your foreign language requirement has been met.

The following is an ordered plan for programs of study, from first to last step. Although it looks involved, we have found that this procedure saves everyone time in the long run.

The Graduate School checks the form, signs, files and returns copy to the English.

The English notifies you that your approved program of study is on file or that revision is necessary.

Establishing Scope and Sequence for Newcomers and English Learners.

Research findings show that English Learners are the fastest growing subgroup in American public schools. It is the responsibility of the public schools to provide an appropriate and supportive education to these students. inclusion in the mainstream classroom, and strategies for teaching English learners. With research findings in mind, a school improvement plan was created to revise a current ESL program in a rural Iowa school district to increase student achievement in language acquisition and core content knowledge. This plan improves a current ESL program by creating a scope and sequence for newcomers and English learners, along with improving clarity and consistency for teachers and administration.

If literature and language pique your interest, consider studying English. Here you will embark on a literary journey across the centuries and around the globe. You will develop the ability to think analytically, appreciate different cultures and learn to express yourself both verbally and in writing. A degree in English prepares you for a lifetime of learning and a wide array of opportunities.

Students sitting around a table in English class.

In the English program at AU, you will:.

Gain rewarding, real-world experience through internships with Ashland Poetry Press or the Ashland Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program.

When you graduate with a degree in English, you graduate with a deeper understanding of the world around you. The cultural foundation you build will carry you to a rewarding future on any number of paths.

Graduates of our English program work in a positions such as:.

Students talking to each other in English class.

The program price includes instruction, two meals per day, housing, transportation and field trips. $200 reserves your spot in the program, and $175 is applied to your program price when you arrive on campus!

We offer two four-week sessions for both low-intermediate learners and high-intermediate advanced learners. Participants may apply for either one or both summer sessions.

Participants in the short-term language and culture program can receive a certificate of completion or participation, but they do not receive official grades and do not progress through the English Language Program levels. This program is separate from the CEA-accredited English Language Program.

The English Department at the University of Wyoming provides a diverse and exciting educational experience to students from all over the country. Here, students can pursue an engaging curriculum in an incomparable natural setting.

In the heart of the west, we aim to sustain and promote cultural understanding and participation through extensive reading, thoughtful intellectual inquiry and rigorous academic, professional and creative writing. We encourage students to pursue studies that intrigue and challenge them.

UW Grad Student Accepted to Prestigious Cornell Summer Program.

When completing the Master of Arts in English, Master of Arts in Writing and Master of Science in Education in English you will perform guided and independent work both inside and outside the classroom.

Your core English courses include literature, writing, linguistics and theory, but you will be able to customize your degree by choosing a specific track to pursue.

Complete a research component, either a thesis or degree paper(s).

These courses come from a variety of English disciplines and provide a solid background for your program.

You will need to complete either a thesis or a degree paper.

You will typically research an original subject or take an original approach to a subject. You may also, if appropriate, submit a creative work.

If you are considering doctoral work, we typically recommend you write a thesis. It will give you extensive experience in independent research.

If you are working toward an MA in English in creative writing, you will usually write a creative thesis. This may be a collection of poetry, a collection of short fiction, a novel, a novella, a collection of personal essays, a memoir, a graphic narrative, or a work of mixed genre. The thesis should also include a critical introduction with a bibliography.

As a graduate student, you will typically write seminar papers for your 600-level courses. These papers can serve as the source material for your degree paper. When appropriate, they may also be creative works.

You should plan to begin studying for your comprehensive exams as soon as you begin your graduate coursework. Exams for Master of Arts in English candidates contain two, two-hour essays. Exams for Master of Science in Education in English candidates contain two, one-hour essays. The exam for the Master of Arts in Writing candidates consists of two, 90-minute essays and an oral component.

Comprehensive exams are offered in October, March and June each year.

5301 RENAISSANCE LITERATURE AND CULTURE The course studies the development of Christian humanism and the influence of the Reformation, among other factors, upon major dramatic and non-dramatic works by such writers as Shakespeare, Wyatt, Sidney, Spenser, and Marlowe.

5305 MEDIEVAL LITERATURE AND CULTURE Engages English medieval literature, including Chaucer. Anglo-Saxon and some Middle English texts will be taught in translation, but Middle English will be retained whenever possible.

5311 18TH-CENTURY BRITISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE Covers major writers from the Restoration to the end of the eighteenth century. May include such authors as Behn, Dryden, Haywood, Defoe, Swift, Pope, Johnson, and Radcliffe. Lecture, discussion, writing.

5312 EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE Covers American literature and culture from its beginnings to 1830. May include such authors as Bradstreet, Franklin, Wheatley, and Cooper, as well as Native American storytellers. Lecture, discussion, writing.

5321 20TH AND 21ST-CENTURY BRITISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE Covers poetry, drama, and prose of major English writers from World War I to today. May include authors such as Woolf, Joyce, Conrad, Stoppard, Churchill, Rushdie, and Smith.

5325 POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE AND CULTURE May include topics of current, historical, or theoretical interest in postcolonial literature. May include authors such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Jamaica Kincaid, Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcott, and Colson Whitehead.

5 2 SHAKESPEARE Engages selected works of Shakespeare. Possible analytical approaches may include historical, linguistic, performative, psychological, and cultural.

5340 MAJOR AUTHORS Engages in focused study of major authors from the canon of English-language literatures. Possible authors covered vary from foundational figures such as Chaucer and Milton to contemporaries like Toni Morrison and Cormac McCarthy.

5358 METHODS OF TEACHING ENGLISH AND COMPOSITION May not be taken as part of the MA in English. Required of students seeking licensure to teach English. The course includes a study of methods used to teach literature, grammar, and composition, and evaluated teaching presentations before other candidates. Lecture, discussions, writing. Prerequisites: Admissions to the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program.

5360 HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE A survey of English from the Anglo-Saxon to the modern period. Attention will be paid to the social, political and literary matrix within which the language developed.

May include writings from the colonial period through the twenty-first century.

5363 TOPICS IN ADVANCED FILM AND LITERATURE An elective for the MA. A graduate-level narrative course that explores and compares literary and cinematic forms by considering classic and or modem literature through the medium of film. Lecture, discussion, writing.

5366 LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM This course may be taught using historical models or modern theoretical schools of thought. Literature (poetry, drama, and prose) will also be included as a means of applying various theoretical models.

5370 GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN LITERATURE This variable-topics course includes poetry, prose, and drama that engages the intersection of gender as social constructions, gender as lived experiences, sexuality, and literature.

5382 RACE IN AMERICAN LITERATURE An elective for MA. The course will explore the depictions of racial definitions, identities, and conflicts offered by American writers of various races although primarily African-American and white. Focus will be on writers such as Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, W. Du Bois, Booker T.

5383 ASIAN AND ASIAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE This course is designed to introduce students to some important texts from the various literatures of Asia, along with the aesthetic, religious, and cultural contexts of those works. In addition, students will be introduced to a variety of modern texts by Asian-American writers so they may consider any connections that might exist between the traditional texts and their ethnic American successors.

5385 TRAVEL SEMINAR IN LITERATURE This course combines literary study with travel to the culture that produced the works. When American, British, or English-language literature is covered, the course may satisfy three elective hours of MA graduate credit.

6V94 INDEPENDENT STUDY (Variable credit: 1 or 3 credit hours.) Aspects of language and literature which an individual graduate student desires to study but which are not intensely covered in any existing course. May be taken for up to 3 credit hours.

6190 GRADUATE TEACHING PRACTICUM IN ENGLISH This one-hour practicum will familiarize students with a range of methods for teaching literature in the college classroom. The course will provide some theoretical grounding in pedagogy but will place emphasis on practical strategies for the classroom, assignment-design, and grading. Students will design a syllabus and construct lesson plans and assignments for the course they have been assigned to teach as well as participate in classroom observations. Readings will consist of a combination of theoretical and practical approaches to pedagogy (articles and books) primarily within the discipline of English. Prerequisite: At least 18 hours of graduate coursework in English.

6301 SEMINAR IN MEDIEVAL ENGLISH LITERATURE Concentrated study of a special topic in English medieval literature.

6302 SEMINAR IN THE RENAISSANCE Concentrated study of a special topic in English Renaissance literature.

6303 SEMINAR IN NEOCLASSICISM Concentrated study of a special topic in English Neoclassical literature.

6304 SEMINAR IN ROMANTICISM Concentrated study of a special topic in English Romantic literature.

6305 SEMINAR IN THE VICTORIAN PERIOD Concentrated study of a special topic in English literature of the Victorian period.

6320 SEMINAR IN 19TH-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE Critical and textual studies of major writers of the American 19th century, who may include Irving, Cooper, Emerson, Thoreau, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, Dickinson, Douglas, and Twain.

6 7 GRADUATE INTERNSHIP The course enables students to professionalize and focus their MA experience via a wide range of possible internship experiences.

6393 RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGLISH Familiarization with the tools and methods of literary research and criticism at the graduate level and with common types of scholarly writing.