English (M.A.)

Program: Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department of English and Linguistics
College of Liberal Arts

Liberal Arts Building 145 ~ 260-481-6841

Troy Bassett, Graduate Program Director

To earn this degree, you must complete at least 36 credits in courses administered by the department (courses are generally 3 credits each). You must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0 or better in courses taken to fulfill degree requirements; no course with a grade below B will count toward the degree.

Your program must include one course in critical theory (ENGL 60501 or equivalent), one course in composition (ENGL 50501 or equivalent), and three 60000-level seminars offered by the Department of English. Your program must also include the selection of one area of concentration: (1) Literature; or (2) Writing Studies.

You must complete all M. A. degree requirements within five years of your admission to the program.

Teaching Assistantships

Graduate students may qualify for appointment as a teaching assistant (TA). To qualify, the student must have completed ENGL 50501, Teaching Composition, with a final grade of B or better, be recommended by the instructor of that course, the Associate Director of Writing, and be approved by the Director of Writing. Newly appointed TAs must complete the one-credit-hour course ENGL 50601, Practicum in Teaching Composition, with a final passing grade in one of the first two semesters of their teaching. To become and remain a graduate TA, students must be in good academic standing.

Limited spaces are available for teaching. New TAs will typically be assigned one or two sections of ENGL 13100, Introductory Composition. Subsequent assignments may include the assignment of other courses at the discretion of the Director of Writing. TA appointments carry a stipend and partial remission of fees.

College Scorecard

The U.S. Department of Education has created a scorecard for each university and its programs. The scorecard shows data for the university such as graduation rate, average annual cost, and median earnings. Then, when certain minimum standards have been met, data are available for a specific program. That data could include median earnings, median total debt, and number of graduates. The link below will help you learn more:

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?151102-Purdue-University-Fort-Wayne&fos_code=2301&fos_credential=5

Program Requirements

Core Courses: Credits 6

ENGL 60501 - Critical Theory Cr. 3.
ENGL 50501 - Composition: Issue And Critical Approaches Cr. 3.

Concentration: Credits 15-24

Choose five courses from one of the following two areas of concentration:

Literature Concentration:

ENGL 50001 - History Of The English Language Cr. 3.
ENGL 50102 - Old English Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 51201 - Chaucer Cr. 3.
ENGL 51302 - Middle English Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 52201 - Elizabethan Poetry Cr. 3.
ENGL 52401 - Elizabethan Drama And Its Background Cr. 3.
ENGL 52501 - Shakespeare Cr. 3.
ENGL 52701 - English Poetry Of The Early 17th Century Cr. 3.
ENGL 52801 - Milton Cr. 3.
ENGL 53501 - British Literature 1660-1790 Cr. 3.
ENGL 53901 - British Fiction to 1800 Cr. 3.
ENGL 54401 - Victorian Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 54501 - British Fiction 1800-1900 Cr. 3.
ENGL 54801 - 20th Century British Poetry Cr. 3.
ENGL 54901 - 20th Century British Fiction Cr. 3.
ENGL 55101 - American Literature 1800-1865 Cr. 3.
ENGL 55201 - American Literature 1865-1914 Cr. 3.
ENGL 55401 - American Literature Since 1914 Cr. 3.
ENGL 55501 - American Fiction To 1900 Cr. 3.
ENGL 55601 - 20th Century American Fiction Cr. 3.
ENGL 55702 - Modern And Contemporary American Poetry Cr.3.
ENGL 56601 - Survey Of Children’s Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 56801 - Topics In Children’s Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 57301 - Studies In Women And Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 57501 - Studies In American Ethnic And Minority Literature And Culture Cr. 3.
ENGL 58801 - Irish Literature And Culture Cr. 3.
ENGL 60501 - Critical Theory Cr. 3.
ENGL 64300 - Victorian Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 65300 - Major American Writers 1855 To The Present Cr. 3.
ENGL 68001 - Special Topics In Literary Study And Theory Cr. 3.
ENGL 68002 - Special Studies In British And American Literature Cr. 3.
ENGL 69500 - Individual Readings In English Cr. 1-3. (Cr. 3.)

Writing Studies Concentration:

ENGL 50201 - Introduction To Literacy Studies And The Teaching Of College English Cr. 3.
ENGL 50501 - Composition: Issue And Critical Approaches Cr. 3.
ENGL 50601 - Teaching Composition Practicum Cr. 1.
ENGL 51101 - Writing Fiction Cr. 3.
ENGL 51301 - Writing Poetry Cr. 3.
ENGL 51303 - Advanced Poetry Writing Cr. 3.
ENGL 51402 - Using Poems To Beat Death (Finding Poetry To Live) Cr. 3.
ENGL 51501 - Writing Prose Nonfiction Cr. 3.
ENGL 51700 - Professional Scholarship In Writing Studies Cr. 3.
ENGL 52001 - Publications Managment Cr. 3.
ENGL 52202 - Creativity And Community Cr. 3.
ENGL 52502 - Research Methods For Professional Writers Cr. 3.
ENGL 55701 - Recent Writing Cr. 3.
ENGL 56501 - Theories And Practices Of Editing Cr. 3.
ENGL 56602 - Project Management For Writers Cr. 3.
ENGL 56701 - Writing For Multiple Media Cr. 3.
ENGL 57201 - Composing The Self Cr. 3.
ENGL 57601 - Writers Reading Cr. 3.
ENGL 58201 - Topics In Rhetoric And Composition Cr. 3.
ENGL 59001 - Internship In Writing Cr. 3.
ENGL 60101 - History Of Rhetoric Cr. 3.
ENGL 61101 - Writing Fiction Cr. 3.
ENGL 62301 - Literacy & Family History Research Cr. 3.
ENGL 64401 - Designing A Poetry Course - Using Poetry For The People Cr.3.
ENGL 68003 - Special Studies In Rhetoric And Composition Cr. 3.
ENGL 69700 - Independent Study In Writing Cr. 1-3. (Cr. 3.)

Elective Courses

Sufficient additional credits applicable to the degree to bring the program to a total of at least 36 credit hours.

Master’s Thesis Option

A student may elect to write a Master’s Thesis (3 credit hours) in lieu of one of the required 60000-level seminars. To do so, a student must apply to the department’s graduate program director at least one full semester prior to enrolling in ENGL 69901.

ENGL 69901 - Master’s Thesis Cr. 3-6. (Cr. 3.)

Total Minimum Credit Hours: 36

Student Responsibility

You are responsible for satisfying the graduation requirements specified for your selected program. Thus, it is essential that you develop a thorough understanding of the required courses, academic policies and procedures governing your academic career. If you cannot complete all program requirements by your stated graduation date but fail to remove those from your plan of study, the Registrar’s Office in consultation with your academic advisor will remove unmet pursuits from your plan of study. All requests for exceptions to specific requirements must be made in writing and may be granted only by written approval from the Graduate Director.