Dec 11, 2024  
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

English, M.S.


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M.S. in English with Literature Option


Program Requirements 33 hrs.


Required Core Courses 18 hrs.


Scholarly Methods: (3 credit hrs. required)


Earlier British Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Later British Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Earlier American Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Later American Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Electives 15 hrs.


Elective courses for the Literature option:  15 credit hours to be chosen from the list below.

M.S. in English with Option Concentration in English Education with Licensure


Program Requirements 52 hrs.


Earlier British Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Later British Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Earlier American Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Later American Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Required Courses 15 hrs.


Supporting courses required for licensure but not included in the 33 hours for the B.S. non-licensure program (19 credit hrs.)


  • HUMD 300 or EDEF 600  
  • EDUC 440 - Teaching Methods (3)
  • EDUC 441 - Field Experience (3)
  • EDET 445 or EDET 620  
  • EDSP 404 or EDSP 504  
  • ENGL 423 - Teaching Reading in the English Classroom (3)
  • ENGL 428 - Student Teaching Seminar (1)

Also required for licensure:


Passing scores for Virginia on the Core Praxis Math, VCLA, and Praxis II tests prior to being admitted to the blocking semester supporting courses.  SAT scores of 1100 or higher, with scores of at least 530 on both the critical reading and mathematics section may be submitted in lieu of passing Praxis Core scores.  Students must also meet qualifications for acceptance and retention in the Secondary Education Licensure Program in English.

M.S. in English with Option in English Education without Licensure


Program Requirements 33 hrs.


[Results in the M.S. in English with a Teaching Language Arts in the Digital Age Certificate]

Earlier British Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Later British Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Earlier American Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Later American Literature: (3 credit hrs. required)


Masters Final Exam: Goals of a Comprehensive Exam


A Radford University graduate student seeking an M.A. or M.S. in English will complete the Comprehensive Exam in accordance with the following criteria. The exam must:

  1. provide an opportunity for the candidates to demonstrate through a written argument a significant level of scholarly or critically literate knowledge gained through classwork and independent scholarship, and
  2. provide an opportunity for candidates to demonstrate knowledge sufficient to be successful in year one of a PhD program, or to teach a college-level literature or composition class, or the subject area of high school English, or to be proficient as a professional writer or editor.
Process and Breadth
  1. Format and administration
    The English Graduate Comprehensive Exam is a 48-hour open-book test. It will be given on a single weekend each semester, with the date to be announced at the beginning of the preceding semester. A student who has an unresolvable conflict that weekend may petition the Graduate Program Coordinator for a change of date.
     
  2. Subject Matter
    The student’s committee will devise a comprehensive examination consisting of a single question.  The purpose of this examination will be to give students the opportunity to synthesize and to make connections from the student’s program of study.
     
  3. Committee composition and function
    The composition of the committee will be reported by the student to the Graduate Program Coordinator by the end of the third week of the semester in which the comprehensive examination is to be taken. Based on his or her major interest, each student will ask a professor to serve as chair of the comprehensive examination committee; the remaining members of the committee will be selected jointly by the student and the committee chair.

    The role of the committee will be to read the student’s written examination and evaluate it as satisfactory, marginal, or unsatisfactory.

    Satisfactory: If the written examination is satisfactory, there will be no follow-up.

    Marginal: If the written examination is marginal, the committee will ask the student to complete either an oral examination or a written follow-up, depending on the deficiencies in the original. At that time, the committee will determine whether the comprehensive exam is satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

    Unsatisfactory: If the written examination is unsatisfactory, there will be no follow-up. According to the policies of the Graduate College, the student will have one opportunity to retake the comprehensive exam.

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