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Programs

Department of English

The Department of English is devoted to the study of literature, media, and creative arts. We offer courses in all periods and genres of English, American, and Anglophone literature—poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama—as well as a wide array of classes in creative writing, film, media studies, journalism, rhetoric, and theater. The department joins critics, scholars, and artists in an environment that fosters interactive learning and teaching, with extensive opportunities to pursue internships and independent research.

Information about faculty and research can be found on the Department of English website.

AdmissionsLink to section

Applying to Master's ProgramsLink to section

Applicants to the MA program should have strong undergraduate records in English or a related field. Application materials include:

  • Personal statement
  • Writing sample
  • Two or three letters of recommendation, preferably from English faculty
  • GRE scores (optional)
  • Online application
  • Application fee

Applying to Doctoral ProgramsLink to section

While most applicants to the PhD program have a BA or MA in English, we also welcome qualified students who studied in other related disciplines and show clear promise for success in English. Application materials include:

  • Personal statement
  • Writing sample
  • Two or three letters of recommendation, preferably from English faculty
  • GRE scores (optional)
  • Online application
  • Application fee

AcademicsLink to section

Master's Degrees and RequirementsLink to section

The MA program is designed to be completed within one calendar year. The program requires at least 30 credit hours. Students must take at least six four-credit courses at either the 400 or 500 level. They also complete a capstone project: either an exam or an essay, which may be scholarly or creative.

Doctoral Degrees and RequirementsLink to section

The PhD requires at least 90 credit hours of graduate coursework. While the program is flexible to meet students’ needs, most students will take 10 four-credit courses in English. Other requirements include English Graduate Colloquium, a language exam, a departmental teaching apprenticeship and writing pedagogy courses, a qualifying exam, a completed dissertation prospectus, and defense of a completed dissertation.

Graduate Course TitlesLink to section

  • ENGL 400. History of the English Language
  • ENGL 401. Old English
  • ENGL 404. Chaucer
  • ENGL 405. Dante’s Divine Comedy
  • ENGL 406. Topics in Medieval Literature
  • ENGL 407. Renaissance Writing and Its Audiences
  • ENGL 408. Renaissance Drama
  • ENGL 409. Doctors and Devils: Literature and Medicine in Early Modernity
  • ENGL 410. Shakespeare
  • ENGL 411. Milton
  • ENGL 413. Revenge Tragedies in the English Renaissance
  • ENGL 415. Early English Novel
  • ENGL 416. Lost and Found: A History for the Search for Lost Texts, 1345–2020
  • ENGL 420. Romantic Literature
  • ENGL 421. Victorian Literature
  • ENGL 422. 19th-Century British Novel
  • ENGL 423. Madness, Marriage, and Monstrosity
  • ENGL 425. American Renaissance
  • ENGL 426. American Realism: Sex, Race, Empire
  • ENGL 428. African American Drama
  • ENGL 429. Ideas of America
  • ENGL 430. African American Autobiography
  • ENGL 431. 20th Century British Novel
  • ENGL 432. Queer Thought, Queer Insurgencies
  • ENGL 433. Modern Poetry
  • ENGL 434. Modern Fiction
  • ENGL 435. 20th Century Drama
  • ENGL 436. Nobel Prize Literature
  • ENGL 436A. Postmodernism: Fiction, Philosophy, Media
  • ENGL 438. Making Modernism New Again
  • ENGL 440. Language in Science and Religion
  • ENGL 443. The Brontes
  • ENGL 445. The Outsider in Literature
  • ENGL 447. Science Fiction
  • ENGL 449. Gender and Anger
  • ENGL 452. Theater in England
  • ENGL 455. Film History: Early Cinema
  • ENGL 456. Film History: 1929–1959
  • ENGL 457. Film History: 1959–1989
  • ENGL 458. Film as Object
  • ENGL 459. Atomic Creatures: Godzilla
  • ENGL 461. Classical Film Theory
  • ENGL 462. American Experiments: Film and Art of the 1930s
  • ENGL 463. The Matter with Men in Film and Society
  • ENGL 465. Race and Gender in Popular Film
  • ENGL 468. Digital Imaging
  • ENGL 469. Museum Practice
  • ENGL 470. Curatorial Theory and Practice
  • ENGL 471. Film Conservation and Restoration
  • ENGL 472. Moving Image Archive Management
  • ENGL 473. Laboratory Work
  • ENGL 474. Personal Project
  • ENGL 475. Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction
  • ENGL 476. Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry
  • ENGL 480. Research Seminars
  • ENGL 484. Orality, Language, and Literacy
  • ENGL 487. Studies in Translation
  • ENGL 491. Master’s Reading Course
  • ENGL 495. Master’s Research
  • ENGL 500. Graduate Colloquium
  • ENGL 504. Forest and City: Enclosing “Nature” in Medieval Literature
  • ENGL 507. Writing the Fairy
  • ENGL 510. Shakespeare: Last Plays
  • ENGL 511. Literature and Violence
  • ENGL 538. 19th-Century American Literature in a Global Age: Practice and Theory
  • ENGL 540. Modernisms, Old and New
  • ENGL 555. Theorizing Horror
  • ENGL 571. Writing Pedagogy
  • ENGL 580. Pedagogical Training     
  • ENGL 595. PhD Research
  • ENGL 895. Continuation of Master’s Enrollment
  • ENGL 897. Master’s Dissertation
  • ENGL 995. Continuation of Doctoral Enrollment
  • ENGL 997. Doctoral Dissertation
  • ENGL 999. Doctoral Dissertation