A. Coursework: 33 semester hours, which must include:
1. General Literature Requirements
• Gateway theory course: Issues in Literary and Cultural Studies (ENG 5079)
• One course pre-1660
• One additional course pre-1800
• One additional course 1660-1900
2. Nine hours in an Area of Concentration selected from the following list:
• Medieval and Early Modern British Literary and Cultural Studies (through 1660)
• British and Irish Literary and Cultural Studies: 1660-1900
• Post-1900 Literary and Cultural Studies (American, British, Irish)
• American Literary and Cultural Studies to 1900
• African-American Literary and Cultural Studies
• History of Text Technologies
• Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• Colonial, Postcolonial, and Transnational Literary and Cultural Studies
3. One literature course whose chief organizing principle is alterity (i.e., a course that focuses on race, class, gender, ability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity). In this one instance, the course fulfilling this requirement may, as well, fulfill another.
B. All candidates for the Master of Arts degree must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language; see University Requirements for the MA/MFA Degree, Section 2.
C. Students should have a major professor and supervisory committee in place by the beginning of their second year.
D. The Literature MA Capstone Essay
ENG 5835 (Capstone Essay in Literature) is offered only at the MA level and should be taken during the second year of the MA program (after a minimum of 15 credit hours have been earned). Its purpose is to help MA candidates further develop the skills required to produce an in-depth, scholarly research project of article length and publishable quality, and in doing so, to enhance those students’ professional writing and critical thinking skills.
1. Registering for the Capstone Essay
Students generally take the Capstone Essay course (ENG 5835) in the semester in which they plan on graduating. To register for this course, students must have a completed MA supervisory committee form (available on the Graduate Curriculum Canvas site) signed by the ACGS. Students then contact the Graduate Program Coordinator for the reference number needed to register for the course.
2. Completing the Capstone Course
In this course, the students will revise thoroughly a critical, historical, or theoretical project prepared for a previous class. The revision will normally be supervised by the LMC professor for whom the paper or project was originally written, and the goal will be to prepare the paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and/or to submit it as a writing sample for a PhD application. The paper must treat a subject that is appropriate for the Area of Concentration selected by that student. The course culminates in a one- to two-hour oral exam. For the defense attendance policy, see University Requirements for the MA/MFA Degree, Section 5.
Students should:
a. Under the supervision of the professor, draw up a relevant, inclusive reading list on the subject of the essay or project.
b. Demonstrate a thorough familiarity with at least three journals in the relevant field. These journals should be selected in consultation with the ENG 5835 instructor.
c. Prepare a critical abstract of the arguments in at least three articles, one from each of the selected journals, in order to demonstrate familiarity with current scholarly discourses in the chosen area of concentration.
d. To defend a capstone essay the student meets formally with the major professor and other members of the supervisory committee to answer their questions about the work submitted. During the defense, students should be prepared to discuss the reading list, the critical abstracts, and the revised version of the essay or project with the supervisory committee.
Contact the major professor and committee members to arrange a time convenient to all, and then see the English Dept. Graduate Program Coordinator to reserve a conference room for the defense (or, at the direction of the major professor, arrange for a defense using distance technology). At the defense, make note of the suggestions and corrections made by the supervisory committee: these notes will facilitate a final revision. For the defense attendance policy, see University Requirements for the MA/MFA Degree, Section 5.
3. Grades for the Capstone Course
ENG 5835 is a graded course, and the major professor may use the full range of grades (A through F). Incompletes will be given only in extraordinary circumstances.