The Department of English offers a Ph.D. in English (with specializations in composition and rhetoric, English language and linguistics, or literary studies); an MFA in creative writing; and a terminal M.A. in English with a specialization in applied English linguistics. Students enrolled in the literary studies Ph.D. specialization become eligible for an M.A. English degree in the literary studies area when they successfully complete the first-stage doctoral requirements. The literary studies specialization does not offer an M.A. apart from the doctoral program. Students enrolled in the composition and rhetoric track in English must have a master's degree in hand prior to matriculation in the doctoral program. An optional path to the literary studies and composition and rhetoric doctoral programs is through the Afro-American Studies Bridge.
The doctoral program in the literary studies area offers a rigorous course of study leading to the completion of a doctoral dissertation in any field of English, American, or Anglophone literature and culture, or in any field of literary theory and criticism. The program prepares students for active careers in research and teaching at the university, and combines a sharp focus on conceptual approaches to literary and cultural works with a commitment to broad coverage of the field of Anglophone literature. Graduate seminars taken during the first phases of the doctoral program serve to prepare students to develop research projects for the dissertation. As they progress toward the Ph.D., students are invited to consider interdisciplinary subspecialties: literary theory and criticism, visual studies, ecocriticism and environmentalism, transnational and global literature, material culture, print culture and book history, digital humanities, disability studies, gender studies, race and ethnic studies, feminist theory, lgbtq literature and queer theory, postcolonial studies. The program provides opportunities for teaching writing and literature and for administrative experience.
The doctoral program in the composition and rhetoric area offers a vibrant intellectual community of scholar-teachers and supports research in a wide array of subfields, including literacy studies, composition theory & pedagogy, rhetorical studies, and writing centers/writing program administration. Faculty expertise in literacy, composition, and rhetoric includes emphases in migration, race and ethnicity, critical theory, historical and ethnographic methods, space and place, environmental rhetoric, science writing, visual rhetoric, and transnationalism. This multidisciplinary program with a low faculty-to-student ratio offers doctoral students close contact with faculty mentors throughout coursework and dissertation research. It also maintains close collaborations with campus programs in Communication Arts, Linguistics, and Curriculum and Instruction, among others. The program offers varied opportunities for professional development in teaching, research, and writing program administration, and is recognized for its commitment to training well-rounded professionals in the field of composition and rhetoric.
The English doctoral program in the English language and linguistics area is intended for students with a solid foundation at the master's level in the English language, applied linguistics, and related fields. Through a program of course work and seminars, doctoral students attain advanced knowledge in the core areas of English syntax and phonology and in the applied areas of second language acquisition, discourse analysis, and language variation and change. On reaching the dissertation stage, students pursue individual research in close cooperation with their faculty advisor. In recent years, students have written dissertations on code-switching, critical pedagogy, interactional competence, conversation analysis, syntactic problems in second language acquisition, classroom discourse, and psycholinguistics. Graduates of the program have taken faculty positions at universities throughout the country.
Regarding catalog course listings: graduate seminars in English reflect the faculty's current areas of research and therefore change importantly from year to year. Please consult the department website for more detailed information.