The Master of Arts in English

The flexible Masters of Arts degree at the University of Idaho allows you to focus on your interests, tutored by faculty specializing in British and American literature as well as in rhetoric/composition and literary theory. The degree has no specific course requirements, so students (consulting with their major professor) are free to design their own course of study. We typically offer three 500-level courses in literature and one or two 500-level courses in rhetoric and composition each semester, and graduate students may also take up to six hours of 400-level courses. 

Our graduate faculty regularly publish with highly-regarded academic presses and in prominent national and international journals.  They have held Fulbright Fellowships and research library fellowships; they have won nationally-competitive grants and appointments to national governing boards; and they have served as visiting scholars around the country and globe.  They are also excellent teachers: over the past two decades the English faculty has garnered a large number of university teaching awards.

Students opting for this degree ordinarily plan to pursue a career in writing and editing, to teach at the community college level, or to continue their studies at the Ph.D. level. In the last few years, our graduates have found teaching jobs as instructors at colleges and universities throughout the country, and acceptance in Ph.D. programs at Washington, Washington State, SUNY-Buffalo, North Carolina, South Carolina, Chicago, Indiana, Florida State, Cal/Berkeley, Cal/Davis, Cal/Irvine, Stanford, Columbia, British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and Illinois.

CREDIT AND GRADE REQUIREMENTS

A minimum of 33 semester hours of credit is required for the degree of Master of Arts in English. Of these, at least 24 credits must be earned in the Department of English at the University of Idaho; of these, no more than nine credits may be earned at the Grace Nixon Summer English Institute (a four-week program designed for public-school teachers). At least 27 credits must be taken at the 500 (graduate) level; however, up to six credits of work at the 400 level may be included. All students complete a master’s thesis, for which they receive 6 credits.  By the time they receive their M.A., all students must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or better.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

The Master of Arts has no area requirements. With the Director of Graduate Studies in Literature and their major professor, students design a program that best suits their individual goals.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT

Candidates for the Master's degree in English must demonstrate reading proficiency in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Latin, or Classical Greek (or other languages by petition to the Curriculum Committee). Students may do this in one of the following ways:

Successfully completing a course of study (with a final grade of "C" or "P" or higher) in one of the required languages at the undergraduate level through the intermediate year (i.e., four semesters or six quarters).

Passing a reading and translation exam on a primary text in an approved language (the text to be determined in consultation between the student and the director of Graduate Studies in Literature).

Completing 12 semester hours (or 16 quarter hours) of the upper division undergraduate and graduate level courses in linguistics and the history of the English language. At least three credits (four quarter credits) must be at the graduate level, and no more than three credits can be counted toward the degree.

Native speakers of other languages are considered to have met the language requirement.

THESIS

As soon as possible (but no later than the third semester of full-time enrollment), each student, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies in Literature, should choose a thesis director. The director will help the candidate form a thesis committee and prepare a program of study, research, and writing leading toward a finished thesis of 60-100 pages in length.  Candidates receive six hours of 500-level credit for writing and successfully defending the thesis.

THESIS DEFENSE

Following the completion of the thesis, each student must successfully complete an oral M.A. examination conducted by the members of his or her thesis committee. The date and time of the thesis defense are announced to the department, and anyone may attend.  This examination tests the student's ability to defend his or her thesis intelligently and articulately and to place the work within the larger context of studies in the field.

This page last revised Thursday May 01, 2008.