Nina Levine, Chair  

Overview

The Department of English offers programs leading to the M.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. degrees with areas of emphasis in English and American literature (M.A. and Ph.D.), composition and rhetoric (M.A. and Ph.D.), and speech communication (M.A.). The department also offers joint master’s degrees with the School of Library and Information Science (M.A./M.L.I.S.) and the Moore School of Business (M.A./M.S.) (see Graduate Dual Degree Programs ). The M.A.T. degree in English is offered in cooperation with the College of Education. Interdisciplinary affiliations with African American Studies, Southern Studies, and Women’s Studies increase the range of course options and research opportunities within degree programs.

As the number and variety of degree programs suggest, our graduates pursue careers in many fields, including college- and university-level teaching, public and private secondary education, librarianship, publishing, creative and technical writing, journalism, public relations, and business administration. Graduates of our doctoral programs are especially well qualified for academic careers, and they enter tenure-track positions upon graduation at a rate consistently higher than the national average.

Admission

Applicants for admission to the M.A., M.F.A., or Ph.D. degree programs in the Department of English must have completed a minimum of 24 semester hours of upper-division undergraduate courses in English or an appropriate related discipline, with grades indicating ability for successful graduate work in the department. Applicants for all degrees must submit all application forms required by The Graduate School, satisfactory scores on the GRE general test, a sample of academic writing, a statement of purpose, and at least two satisfactory letters of recommendation from persons familiar with their academic achievement. The GRE subject test of literature in English is required of applicants to the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in English and American Literature. The GRE subject test of literature in English is not required of applicants to the MA programs in speech or in composition and rhetoric, nor is it required of applicants to the Ph.D. program in composition and rhetoric.

To particularly well-qualified candidates, the Department offers the chance to apply for Direct Admission to the Ph.D. Program. All those applying for direct admission will also be considered for regular admission to the M.A. program.

Successful applicants to the M.A., M.A.T., and M.F.A. programs typically have GRE verbal scores of 550 and above (for tests taken before October 2002), GRE analytical scores in the 3-5 range (for tests taken October 2002 and after), and an undergraduate GPA of 3.00 or better. Students admitted to the Ph.D. program generally have GRE verbal and analytical scores of 600 (for tests taken before October 2002) and a GPA of 3.50 or better in their undergraduate (direct-admission applicants) or master’s degree course work. These numbers are provided as guidelines; we do not set absolute cut-off scores. All parts of an application are carefully considered, with especially close attention given to the writing sample.

An applicant who lacks adequate undergraduate course work may have to take up to 12 credit hours of 400-level literature or communication courses (depending on the degree emphasis sought) before the application will be considered.

The application deadline is December 15 for those wishing to be considered for graduate assistantships and fellowships. For all others the deadline is April 15.

Degree Requirements

Residence and other basic requirements for degrees in English are established by The Graduate School. Special requirements established by the department are outlined below.

Graduate credit for degree candidates in English normally is restricted to courses numbered 700 or above. Qualified graduate students may enroll in courses numbered 500-699 with the approval of the department’s director of graduate studies and may receive graduate credit by doing such additional work as required by the department and the instructor. The chair of the department may authorize students in other departments or schools to obtain graduate credit in most English courses numbered 500-699.

Programs and Courses

Programs

• Creative Writing, M.F.A.
• English, M.A.
• English, Ph.D.

Courses

• ENGL 550 - Advanced English Grammar
• ENGL 565 - African American Theatre
• ENGL 600 - Seminar in Verse Composition
• ENGL 601 - Seminar in Verse Composition
• ENGL 602 - Fiction Workshop: Short Story
• ENGL 603 - Nonfiction Prose Workshop
• ENGL 604 - Seminar in Composition for the Visual Media
• ENGL 605 - Seminar in Composition for the Visual Media
• ENGL 606 - Playwriting Workshop
• ENGL 610 - Fiction Workshop: Book-Length Manuscript
• ENGL 611 - Writing the Longer Nonfiction Project
• ENGL 612 - Writing Poetry: Traditional and Modern Forms
• ENGL 613 - Writing the Full-Length Play
• ENGL 615 - Academic and Professional Writing
• ENGL 616 - Writing Children’s and Young Adult Literature
• ENGL 620 - Computer Methods for Humanistic Problems
• ENGL 620P - Laboratory for Computer Methods for Humanistic Problems
• ENGL 650 - Special Topics in Literature
• ENGL 680 - Survey of Linguistics
• ENGL 690 - Special Topics in Composition
• ENGL 691 - Teaching of Literature in College
• ENGL 692 - Teaching of Composition in College
• ENGL 700 - Introduction to Graduate Study of English
• ENGL 702 - Old English
• ENGL 703 - Beowulf and Old English Heroic Verse
• ENGL 705 - Chaucer
• ENGL 708 - Medieval Literature
• ENGL 710 - The Renaissance
• ENGL 711 - Shakespeare I: The Comedies and Histories
• ENGL 712 - Shakespeare II: The Tragedies
• ENGL 713 - Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline Drama to 1642
• ENGL 715 - English Non-Dramatic Literature of the Earlier 17th Century
• ENGL 716 - Milton
• ENGL 717 - English Literature of the Restoration and Earlier 18th Century
• ENGL 718 - English Literature of the Later 18th Century
• ENGL 720 - The English Novel Before 1800
• ENGL 723 - English Poetry of the Romantic Period
• ENGL 724 - English Prose and Novel of the Romantic Period
• ENGL 725 - The English Novel of the Victorian Period
• ENGL 726 - Victorian Poetry
• ENGL 727 - Victorian Prose, Excluding the Novel
• ENGL 728 - British Drama From 1800 to the Present
• ENGL 729 - British Poetry Since 1900
• ENGL 730 - Modern British Fiction
• ENGL 732 - Principles in Literary Criticism
• ENGL 733 - Classics of Western Literary Theory
• ENGL 734 - Modern Literary Theory
• ENGL 735 - Post-Colonial Literature and Theory
• ENGL 737 - Topics in British Women Writers
• ENGL 738 - Topics in American Women Writers
• ENGL 742 - American Colonial and Federal Literature
• ENGL 744 - American Romanticism
• ENGL 745 - American Realism and Naturalism
• ENGL 750 - The American Novel to the Civil War
• ENGL 751 - The American Novel from the Civil War to World War I
• ENGL 752 - The Modern American Novel
• ENGL 753 - The American Novel Since World War II
• ENGL 755 - American Drama
• ENGL 756 - The History of the Book in America to 1900
• ENGL 757 - Twentieth Century African-American Literature
• ENGL 758 - Southern Literature Before 1900
• ENGL 759 - Southern Literature After 1900
• ENGL 760 - American Poetry Since 1900
• ENGL 761 - Survey of 20th-Century British and American Poetry
• ENGL 762 - Literary and Historical Approaches to Children’s Literature
• ENGL 763 - Literary and Historical Approaches to Young Adult Literature
• ENGL 765 - Advanced Film Study
• ENGL 776 - Introduction to Bibliography and Textual Studies
• ENGL 781 - History of English Language
• ENGL 782 - Varieties of American English
• ENGL 788 - Stylistics
• ENGL 789 - Poetics
• ENGL 790 - Survey of Composition Studies
• ENGL 791 - Introduction to Research on Written Composition
• ENGL 792 - Classical Rhetoric
• ENGL 793 - Rhetorical Theory and Practice, Medieval to Modern
• ENGL 794 - Modern Rhetorical Theory
• ENGL 795 - The Teaching of Business and Technical Writing
• ENGL 796 - Special Topics in the Teaching of English
• ENGL 797 - Current Scholarship in Rhetoric and Composition
• ENGL 799 - Thesis Preparation
• ENGL 800 - Studies in Old and Middle English Language and Literature
• ENGL 801 - Studies in Old and Middle English Language and Literature
• ENGL 802 - Studies in Old and Middle English Language and Literature
• ENGL 810 - Studies in 16th- and Earlier 17th-Century English Literature
• ENGL 811 - Studies in 16th- and Earlier 17th-Century English Literature
• ENGL 812 - Studies in 16th- and Earlier 17th-Century English Literature
• ENGL 813 - Studies in 16th- and Earlier 17th-Century English Literature
• ENGL 815 - Studies in Restoration and 18th-Century English Literature
• ENGL 820 - Studies in Romantic and Victorian Literature
• ENGL 821 - Studies in Romantic and Victorian Literature
• ENGL 825 - Studies in Modern British Literature
• ENGL 830 - Studies in Literary Criticism
• ENGL 831 - Theory of Prose Fiction
• ENGL 832 - Theory of Poetry
• ENGL 840 - Studies in American Literature
• ENGL 841 - Studies in American Literature
• ENGL 842 - Studies in American Literature
• ENGL 843 - Studies in American Literature
• ENGL 845 - Studies in Southern Literature
• ENGL 846 - Studies in Southern Literature
• ENGL 850 - Studies in British and American Literature
• ENGL 862 - Special Topics in Children’s and Young Adult Literature
• ENGL 870 - Seminar in Bibliography, Textual Criticism, and Editing
• ENGL 871 - Seminar in Bibliography, Textual Criticism, and Editing
• ENGL 872 - Seminar in Bibliography, Textual Criticism, and Editing
• ENGL 890 - Studies in Rhetoric and Composition
• ENGL 895 - Directed Reading and Research
• ENGL 896 - Directed Reading and Research
• ENGL 899 - Dissertation Preparation

• SPCH 543 - Communication, Law, and Society
• SPCH 700 - Introduction to the Advanced Study of Speech Communication & Rhetoric
• SPCH 701 - Pedagogies of Speech Communication & Rhetoric
• SPCH 712 - Rhetorics of Materiality, Technology, and Science
• SPCH 734 - Theories of Public Argumentation
• SPCH 741 - Theory and Practice of Rhetorical Criticism
• SPCH 744 - Public Advocacy and Civil Society
• SPCH 746 - Rhetoric of Movements
• SPCH 749 - Performance and Cultural Studies
• SPCH 790 - Special Topics in Speech Communication, Rhetoric, and Performance
• SPCH 792 - Classical Rhetorical Theory
• SPCH 793 - Medieval to Modern Rhetorical Theory
• SPCH 794 - Contemporary Rhetorical Theory
• SPCH 796 - Independent Study in Speech Communication, Rhetoric, and Performance
• SPCH 797 - Special Projects in Speech Communication, Rhetoric, and Performance
• SPCH 799 - Thesis Preparation