Department of English

English (MA/PhD)

Telephone: (302) 831-2363
http://www.english.udel.edu/programs/grad/Pages/default.aspx
Faculty Listing: http://www.english.udel.edu/people/Pages/graduate-faculty.aspx

Program Overview

The Graduate Program in English offers a fully funded six-year Doctor of Philosophy degree program. Students earn their Master of Arts degree at the end of their second year of the program. The program’s main objective is to prepare students to be productive scholars and excellent teachers of English studies. Our program is focused around three primary research tracks in Print and Material Culture, Race and Ethnicity, and Transatlantic/Transnational Studies. All students are required to pursue research in one of these fields as a complement either to their work in a particular national literature, period, or thematic concern; or leading to innovative approaches that engage with textual analysis, the digital humanities, and/or the public face of the humanities. Students receive rigorous training in the methods of literary research and are encouraged to publish their work in scholarly and professional journals as part of their studies. Pedagogical training in the teaching of writing and literature, prepares students to teach a variety of courses. The department has a large number of full-time faculty, three of whom hold named chairs. Graduate students and faculty meet to share work outside the classroom in a rich array of student-faculty colloquia, scholarly lectures, and readings.

Requirements for Admission

An applicant for the MA/PhD program is expected to have an undergraduate major in English consisting of approximately 30 credit hours in English and American literature above the freshman level. The average in this work should be at least A-/B+ (3.5 on a scale of 1 to 4). The applicant must take the Graduate Record Examinations and is expected to score at least 300 in the combined tests. Three letters of recommendation and a writing sample (a critical paper) are required.

Transfer students with MA degrees from other institutions may also apply for the PhD program. They are expected to have an academic index of at least 3.75 in their MA courses, a combined score of at least 300 on the GRE, and excellent recommendations from their graduate professors. Their writing samples should evidence strong analytical abilities.

Students are admitted into the graduate program for the fall semester only. For students applying for funding as well as admission to the graduate program, all application materials should be submitted by January 1. For those seeking admission without funding, all application materials must be submitted by January 31st. We will review applications until January 31st.

Admission is selective and competitive based on the number of well qualified applicants and the limits of available faculty and facilities. Those who meet stated minimum academic requirements are not guaranteed admission, nor are those who fail to meet those requirements necessarily precluded from admission if they offer other relevant strengths.

Financial Aid

The Department of English funds approximately 40 students each year, contingent upon satisfactory progress. Funded students are granted one of the following awards: a fellowship; a teaching, research, editorial, or administrative assistantship; or a teaching assistantship in the University Writing Center. All students on stipend receive tuition scholarships and have the opportunity to purchase, at low cost, coverage under the University’s Graduate Student Accident and Sickness Insurance Plan.

Starting in the second year of the program, teaching assistants in the classroom normally teach one section of freshman composition in one semester and two in the other semester. Experienced teaching assistants have opportunities to teach other composition and literature courses. Students who serve as research, editorial, or administrative assistants and those who teach in the Writing Center work 15-20 hours per week each semester.

Programs

Master’s

English (MA)

Doctorate

English (PhD)

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