English

Robert Williams, Department Chair
Sean Keck, Graduate Program Coordinator
Graduate Faculty

Graduate Program

The graduate program in English, which leads to a Master of Arts or Master of Science degree, prepares students for teaching at the secondary and college levels; for further graduate study in pursuit of the doctoral degree; and for entry into various professions – e.g., technical writing and editing – where critical thinking, communication skills and writing are valued and employed.

Students may elect either the Literature option or the English Education option. Students who choose the Literature option have the opportunity to develop skills in literary scholarship and criticism through an intensive study of British and American literature. The program in literature emphasizes independent research – using both print and electronic sources – and the writing of scholarly papers based on a critical understanding of literature’s aesthetic and humanistic values and of its social, historical and cultural significance. The program also offers students the opportunity to take courses and to pursue interests in contemporary critical theory, creative writing, technical writing, linguistics, and composition rhetoric.

Students who choose English Education as an area of study may receive the M.S. degree with initial teacher licensure or add a master’s degree endorsement to an existing license. Initial teacher licensure is not available with the M.A. degree.

Completion of the Master of Arts or Master of Science degree normally requires three or four semesters for fulltime students.

Admission Requirements

A minimum of 21 semester hours of credit in English at the undergraduate level with a 2.75 GPA

NOTE: Candidates for licensure must have completed 27 semester hours of English at the undergraduate level with a 2.75 GPA. In addition, students who choose the M.S. option with initial licensure may be required to take prerequisite undergraduate courses in addition to their graduate program.

Two letters of recommendation;
A sample of expository writing, which may be a previously graded undergraduate paper.

Applicants for Graduate Teaching Assistantships/Fellowships must submit an additional recommendation (in addition to the two required for graduate admission) and a statement of teaching philosophy to the Graduate Program coordinator. Guidelines for this statement are available from the coordinator, and on the graduate program’s website.

Please refer to here for application deadlines.

General Requirements

The student must maintain a GPA of 3.0 on a 4-point scale.

No more than 20 percent of the total credit hours taken for graduate credit may be in 500-level courses.

Graduate students pursuing initial teacher licensure must also (1) submit passing scores for Virginia on the appropriate Praxis I and Praxis II tests before completion of 12 semester hours; (2) meet qualifications for acceptance and retention in the Secondary Education Licensure Program in English.