Master of Arts
Our program encourages individuality and collaboration as it prepares candidates for academic and non-academic careers. Graduates have gone on to top-tier Ph.D. programs or opted to work in industry or for national and local nonprofits.
Admissions Requirements
Graduate studies in English is open to all qualified applicants who hold a BA or a BS in English or a related field from an accredited college or university.
Financial Assistance
Teaching assistantships are available and are awarded on the basis of the applicant's scholastic record, letters of recommendation, and the student's letter of interest. All applicants that are accepted by the Graduate School in good standing are eligible for an assistantship in the Department of English. Letters of interest (if applicable) for teaching assistantships should be submitted at the same time as the application to the program is submitted to the Graduate School and should address prior experience and qualifications.
Graduate students are awarded teaching assistantships for the academic year only. University graduate tuition charges (not fees) are waived for all TAs. Teaching Fellowships are available to selected TAs after completing course work. Moreover, the Department of English annually awards the Rooney Scholarship and the Madeline S. Giddings Scholarship.
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 Classroom Strategies For TA'Sis required of all GTAs who have not taken a similar class elsewhere.
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| Composition Theory | |
| Graduate Scholarship | |
| Critical Theory | |
| Total Credits | 30 |
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
Muriel Brown, Ph.D., Emerita
University of Nebraska, 1971
Field: Medieval Literature, Modern Drama, Women's Studies
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
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
Holly Hassel, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2002
Field: Writing Program Administration, Writing Assessment, Feminist Pedagogy, Placement, First-Year Writing, The Profession
Linda L. Helstern, Ph.D., Emerita
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, 2001
Field: Native American Literature, Modernism, Contemporary Poetry, Literature and the Environment
Daniel Kenzie, Ph.D., Affiliated Faculty
Purdue University, 2017
Rhetoric & Composition, Professional & Technical Writing, Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, Disability Studies
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.
University of Minnesota, 1994
Field: International Technical Communication, Rhetoric and Composition, Linguistics
Mary McCall, Ph.D.
Purdue University, 2017
Rhetoric & Composition, Usability & User Experience, Professional & Technical Writing, Writing Across the Curriculum, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Robert O'Connor, Ph.D., Emeritus
Bowling Green State University, 1979
Field: Romantic Literature, Science Fiction and Fantasy
Kelly Sassi, Ph.D.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2008
Field: English Education, Composition and Rhetoric, Native American Literatures, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Dale Sullivan, Ph.D., Emeritus
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1988
Field: Rhetoric Theory and History, Rhetoric of Science, Rhetoric of Religion, Technical Communication
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
Rebecca Weaver-Hightower, Ph.D.
University of Kentucky, 2002
Postcolonial Studies, Settler Narratives
Emily D. Wicktor, Ph.D.
Kansas, 2010
Field: 19th Century British Literature and Culture, particularly Victorian Sexuality and Sexual History; Rhetoric, Composition, and Pedagogy; Literary Theory; Modern British and American Drama; Research Methods and Methodology
