Academic Year:
English
Telephone: (302) 831-2363
http://www.english.udel.edu/grad_program/
Faculty Listing: http://www.english.udel.edu/faculty_profiles.htm
Program Overview
The Graduate Program in English offers a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy degree program. The program's main objective is to prepare students to be productive scholars and excellent teachers of English studies. To achieve this goal, we offer an ambitious range of courses in English, American and Anglophone literature, literacy theory, cultural studies, film studies, theatre history, rhetoric and composition, and the history of the English language. Students receive rigorous training in the methods of literary research and are encouraged to publish their work in scholarly and professional journals as part of their studies. Pedagogical training in the teaching of writing and literature, prepares students to teach a variety of courses. The department has a large number of full-time faculty, three of whom hold named chairs. Graduate students and faculty meet to share work outside the classroom in a rich array of student-faculty colloquia, scholarly lectures, and readings.
Requirements For Admission
An applicant for the MA program is expected to have an undergraduate major in English consisting of approximately 30 credit hours in English and American literature above the freshman level. The average in this work should be at least A-/B+ (3.5 on a scale of 1 to 4). The applicant must take the Graduate Record Examinations and is expected to score at least 1100 in the combined Verbal and Analytical tests, and for PhD applicants at least 500 in the Advanced Test in English and American literature. Three letters of recommendation and a writing sample (a critical paper) are required.
Students with a B.A. who seek to enter the PhD program must first gain admission to the MA program. Students who distinguish themselves in the MA program may then apply to enter the PhD program.
Transfer students with MAs from other institutions may also apply for the PhD program. They are expected to have an academic index of at least 3.75 in their MA courses, a combined score of at least 1200 in the Verbal and Analytical tests, at least 600 in the GRE Advanced Test in literature, and excellent recommendations from their graduate professors. Their writing samples should evidence strong analytical abilities.
Students are admitted into the graduate program for the Fall semester only. For students applying for funding as well as admission to the graduate program, all application materials must be postmarked by January 1. For those seeking admission without funding, all application materials must be postmarked by May 1.
Admission is selective and competitive based on the number of well qualified applicants and the limits of available faculty and facilities. Those who meet stated minimum academic requirements are not guaranteed admission, nor are those who fail to meet those requirements necessarily precluded from admission if they offer other relevant strengths.
Financial Aid
The Department of English funds approximately 40 students each year, reserving awards for first-year MA through third-year PhD students, contingent upon satisfactory progress. Funded students are granted one of the following awards: a fellowship; a teaching, research, editorial, or administrative assistantship; or a teaching assistantship in the University Writing Center. All students on stipend receive tuition scholarships and have the opportunity to purchase, at low cost, coverage under the University's Graduate Student Accident and Sickness Insurance Plan.
Teaching assistants in the classroom normally teach one section of freshman composition in one semester and two in the other semester. Experienced teaching assistants have opportunities to teach other composition and literature courses. Students who serve as research, editorial, or administrative assistants and those who teach in the Writing Center work 15-20 hours per week each semester.
Requirements For The Degrees
The MA in English is granted when the following requirements have been met: (1) at least ten courses (30 credit hours), or eight courses (24 credit hours) plus thesis (ENGL 869, 6 credits); (2) demonstrated ability to work in a foreign language; and (3) successful completion of the MA Comprehensive Examination.
The PhD is granted when the following requirements have been met: (1) at least eight courses (24 credit hours) beyond those taken for the MA; (2) full-time study in two consecutive semesters; (3) demonstrated ability to work in a second foreign language or advanced ability in one foreign language; (4) passing the PhD Specialty Examination; (5) writing and successfully defending the dissertation.
Although every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information in the Catalog,
students and others who use the Catalog should note that the policies, rules, regulations,
requirements for graduation, course offerings, and other materials reproduced in the Catalog change
from time-to-time and that these changes may alter the information contained in this Catalog.
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