Master of Arts in English

ENGL 500 · Literary Theory and Criticism · 3 credits · Fall

Traces formalism, structuralism, feminist, Marxist, psychoanalytic, and postcolonial criticism through key essays. Students write a critical paper that applies two of the approaches to one text.

ENGL 501 · Research Methods in English Studies · 3 credits · Spring

Covers bibliography, archival and database research, editing conventions, and scholarly argument. Students produce an annotated bibliography and a thesis or exam prospectus.

ENGL 510 · Chaucer and Medieval Literature · 3 credits · Fall

Reads The Canterbury Tales, Piers Plowman, and Middle English lyric and romance in the original language. Topics include manuscript culture, religion, and social class.

ENGL 512 · Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama · 3 credits · Fall, Spring

Studies Shakespeare alongside Marlowe, Jonson, and Webster, with attention to theatrical practice and censorship. Students write a seminar paper drawing on early printed editions.

ENGL 520 · Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature · 3 credits · Spring

Reads Behn, Swift, Pope, Defoe, and Johnson, with emphasis on satire, the rise of the novel, and print culture.

ENGL 530 · Romantic and Victorian Literature · 3 credits · Fall

Examines poetry and prose from Wordsworth and Shelley to Eliot and Hardy. Topics include industrialization, empire, and the novel of social reform.

ENGL 540 · American Fiction since 1900 · 3 credits · Fall, Spring

Reads major novels and story collections from modernism to the present, including work by Faulkner, Morrison, and Erdrich. Students write a critical essay engaging current scholarship.

ENGL 550 · Postcolonial and World Anglophone Literature · 3 credits · Spring

Studies fiction and poetry in English from South Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Oceania. Readings pair primary texts with postcolonial theory.

ENGL 560 · Rhetorical Theory and Criticism · 3 credits · Fall

Surveys classical and modern rhetorical theory from Aristotle to Burke and Perelman. Students analyze a public speech or text using two rhetorical frameworks.

ENGL 570 · Modern and Contemporary Poetry · 3 credits · Spring

Reads poets from Yeats and Eliot to the present, with attention to form, sound, and the poetry of protest and witness.

ENGL 599 · Master's Thesis Research · 3 credits · Fall, Spring, Summer

Independent research and writing of the master's thesis under a faculty director. Students register for 3 credits per term, 6 credits in all.

ENGL 510 · Chaucer and Medieval Literature · 3 credits · Fall

Reads The Canterbury Tales, Piers Plowman, and Middle English lyric and romance in the original language. Topics include manuscript culture, religion, and social class.

ENGL 512 · Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama · 3 credits · Fall, Spring

Studies Shakespeare alongside Marlowe, Jonson, and Webster, with attention to theatrical practice and censorship. Students write a seminar paper drawing on early printed editions.

ENGL 520 · Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature · 3 credits · Spring

Reads Behn, Swift, Pope, Defoe, and Johnson, with emphasis on satire, the rise of the novel, and print culture.

ENGL 530 · Romantic and Victorian Literature · 3 credits · Fall

Examines poetry and prose from Wordsworth and Shelley to Eliot and Hardy. Topics include industrialization, empire, and the novel of social reform.

ENGL 540 · American Fiction since 1900 · 3 credits · Fall, Spring

Reads major novels and story collections from modernism to the present, including work by Faulkner, Morrison, and Erdrich. Students write a critical essay engaging current scholarship.

ENGL 550 · Postcolonial and World Anglophone Literature · 3 credits · Spring

Studies fiction and poetry in English from South Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Oceania. Readings pair primary texts with postcolonial theory.

ENGL 560 · Rhetorical Theory and Criticism · 3 credits · Fall

Surveys classical and modern rhetorical theory from Aristotle to Burke and Perelman. Students analyze a public speech or text using two rhetorical frameworks.

ENGL 570 · Modern and Contemporary Poetry · 3 credits · Spring

Reads poets from Yeats and Eliot to the present, with attention to form, sound, and the poetry of protest and witness.