English

The Master of Arts program consists of 27 credit hours of letter-graded course work with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better, and (at least) a 3 credit Master's Paper. Note that ENGL 764 Teaching Workshop for Writing Instructorsis required of all GTAs who have not taken a similar class elsewhere.  

 Ph.D. Rhetoric, Writing and Culture

1. Course List

   Code	Title	Credits
   Ph.D. Core		12
   ENGL 755	Composition Theory
   ENGL 756	Composition Research
   ENGL 760	Graduate Scholarship
   ENGL 762	Critical Theory
   Other research methods		3
   COMM 704	Qualitative Research Methods in Communication
   COMM 767	Rhetorical Criticism
   ENGL 649	Usability and User Experience
   SOC 700	Qualitative Methods
   SOC 701	Quantitative Methods
   Pedagogy		3
   ENGL 764	Teaching Workshop for Writing Instructors
   ENGL 765	Upper Division Writing: Pedagogy, Practice, and Technology
   ENGL 766	Teaching Literature
   Additional graduate-level courses 1		21-51
   Experiential learning 2		9
   Dissertation Research		15
   ENGL 899	Doctoral Dissertation

   ¹

   Students select, in consultation with their advisor, additional courses inside the English department that match their research and deepen their understanding of the field. Three additional methods, pedagogy, or theory courses may be taken from outside the English department, as approved by advisor and graduate director. Courses in this category may be at the 600-, 700-, or 800-level. Note that students with no background in English studies must include courses in literature and linguistics in their plan of study and that topics and studies courses may be repeated.

   ²

   Teaching Mentorship (0-6 credits); may be take twice but total may not exceed 6 credits.

   • Students work with faculty to read theory and co-teach 200, 300, or 400 level class. ENGL 7-892 Graduate Teaching Mentorship

   Internship (0-6 credits); may be taken twice but total may not exceed 6 credits.

   • Students work in administrative, editing, consulting, or writing roles. ENGL 7-894 Internship 

   Life experience (0-3 credits).

   • Students submit, in consultation with their advisor and the graduate director, a portfolio that reflects their professional experience prior to enrolling in the program. GRAD_EXL_7-895_Field_Experience (F 22).docx

Comprehensive Exams

Comprehensive exams are taken after the successful completion of 72 credits (grade B or higher) and are administered by the student’s supervisory committee, which is comprised of a committee chair and two readers from within the department. The exams consist of two timed, written exams. 

Dissertation: 15 credits (English 899)

The dissertation proposal precedes formal work on the dissertation. The supervisory committee is comprised of the three members of the exam committee, plus a Graduate School Representative (GSR) from outside the department.

Anastassiya Andrianova, Ph.D.
City University of New York, 2011 
Field: British Romantic and Victorian Literature, Drama, Translation, Pedagogy, Postcolonial Literature, Slavic Literature, Animal Studies

Lisa R. Arnold, Ph.D.
University of Louisville, 2011
Field: Rhetoric and Composition, Writing Program Administration, History of Writing Instruction

Sean Burt, Ph.D.
Duke University, 2009
Field: Ancient Jewish Literature, Genre Theory, Ancient Hebrew Poetry, Poetics, Horror Literature & Theory

Adam Goldwyn, Ph.D.
City University of New York, 2010
Field: Medieval Studies, Medieval Greek World, Influence of Ancient Greek Culture in the Middle Ages

Amy Gore, Ph.D.
University of New Mexico, 2019
Field: Early Indigenous and American literatures, Book history, Gothic literature, Body studies, and the Recovery of marginalized women and Native American writers

Alison Graham-Bertolini, Ph.D.
Louisiana State University, 2009
Field: Contemporary American Literature, Literature of the Southern United States, Women's Literature, Contemporary Ethnic and Postcolonial Literature

Daniel Kenzie, Ph.D., Affiliated Faculty
Purdue University, 2017
Rhetoric & Composition, Professional & Technical Writing, Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, Disability Studies

Verena Theile, Ph.D.
Washington State University, Pullman, 2006
Field: 16th/17th Century Literature, Shakespeare, Early Modern Drama, European Literature, Literary Theory, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Film and Adaptation Studies

Emeritus Faculty

Linda L. Helstern, Ph.D., Emerita
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, 2001
Field: Native American Literature, Modernism, Contemporary Poetry, Literature and the Environment

R.S. Krishnan, Ph.D., Emeritus
University of Nebraska, 1981
Field: Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature, Postmodern Theories, British Novel, Postcolonial Literature

Bruce Maylath, Ph.D., Emeritus
University of Minnesota, 1994
Field: International Technical Communication, Rhetoric and Composition, Linguistics

Robert O'Connor, Ph.D., Emeritus
Bowling Green State University, 1979
Field: Romantic Literature, Science Fiction and Fantasy

Dale Sullivan, Ph.D., Emeritus
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1988
Field: Rhetoric Theory and History, Rhetoric of Science, Rhetoric of Religion, Technical Communication