Degree Tracks and Courses
The degree offers two tracks—one requiring 33 hours of course work followed by qualifying examinations, and the other requiring 27 hours of course work followed by a 6-credit-hour thesis project. Students must take courses in an author or topic, a literary period, and a genre. These are all variable-content courses and may be taken more than once. The curriculum also requires a course that introduces students to the history of literary studies and provides them with the conceptual and critical vocabulary of the discipline, as well as instruction in research methods.
Exam Track: 33 credit hours of coursework plus qualifying examinations.
Thesis Track: 27 credit hours of coursework plus a 6-credit-hour thesis.
Admission Requirements for GVSU and the M. A. in English Program
Core Requirements
12 credit hours
- ENG 600: Graduate Literary Studies Seminar
- ENG 624: Genre Studies
- ENG 651: Literary Period Seminar
- ENG 661 or 663: Author or Topic Seminar/ Shakespeare Seminar
Note: Degree-seeking students must take ENG 600, Graduate Literary Studies Seminar, before completion of more than 9 credit hours in the program.
Electives
21 credit hours for Exam Track
15 credit hours for Thesis Track
- ENG 603: Seminar in British Literature
- ENG 605: Seminar in American Literature
- ENG 612: Women Writers
- ENG 614: Literature of American Ethnic Minorities
- ENG 616: World Literature in English
- ENG 624: Genre Studies
- ENG 651: Literary Period Seminar
- ENG 655: History of Literary Criticism and Theory
- ENG 661: Author or Topic Seminar
- ENG 663: Shakespeare
- ENG 680: Special Topics
- ENG 695: Master's Thesis
- ENG 699: Independent Study
Study Abroad
Ormskirk, United Kingdom — This program will take place at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, situated near Liverpool and Manchester in a 12th Century market town. Students will visit the physical settings of some of the most important authors in the English literary tradition, including Shakespeare, the British Romantic poets and Charles Dickens.
- Stay in on-campus residence halls
- ENG 661: Author/Topic Seminar
- ENG 603: Seminar in British Literature
- Click here to learn more
- UK Summer, 2015 PDF