University General Course Catalog 2024-2025
English, M.A.
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The M.A. program is designed for students who plan to continue work toward the Ph.D., for potential community college teachers, for individuals who want to acquire overall background in the study of language and literature, and for those interested in writing and editing careers.
The M.A. degree is offered with areas of concentration in
- Language
- Literature
- Public Engagement
- Rhetoric and Writing Studies
Both a thesis plan and a non-thesis plan are available. Proficiency in one foreign language (the equivalent of four semesters of college-level coursework) or equivalent interdisciplinary literacy (MA Public Engagement) is required.
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Program Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge of several of the historical fields in, literary genres of, and major critical approaches to British, American, and World Literatures in English; writing studies issues and methodologies; literary and rhetorical public engagement and its methodologies; or linguistics issues and methodologies.
- demonstrate specialized competence in the primary and secondary literature of an appropriate specialized sub-field of literature or writing or public engagement or language.
- apply their MA program of study through the development of conference presentations, journal articles, statements of teaching philosophy, syllabi, and other professional documents.
Admission Requirements
Applicants to the M.A. program must hold a bachelor’s degree with an undergraduate major or minor in English and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Potential applicants who do not meet these minimum requirements should talk with the Graduate Program Director to determine which undergraduate English courses to take should they wish to prepare for graduate studies in English.
I. General Requirements
The following general requirements apply in all emphases within the M.A. program, except where clearly stated in the specific descriptions for each emphasis.
A. Time Limit
All requirements must be satisfied during the six calendar years immediately preceding the granting of the degree.
B. Choice of Thesis or Non-Thesis Plan
Most of our M.A. emphases allow students the option of writing a thesis or of substituting course work for the thesis. We encourage students to follow the non-thesis plan unless there is a compelling reason to select the thesis plan.
C. Total Credits
Both the non-thesis and thesis plans require 31 credits of graduate work; for the thesis plan, 6 of those will be thesis credits. No more than 3 credits of Internship and 3 credits of ENG 790 Special Topics (Independent Study) may be counted toward the degree. Except in the case of required internships, independent study and internships credits may not be used to fulfill course requirements but may be counted for total number of credits required for degrees.
D. Foreign Language Requirement
Competence in one foreign language is required. French, German, Spanish, Italian, Latin, or Greek are recommended, but other languages may be approved by the student’s advisory committee. The student is strongly advised to complete the work necessary to meet this requirement before becoming a graduate student, or as soon as possible after beginning graduate study. The requirement may be met either by course work or by examination. Course work: competence is demonstrated by the student completing fourth- semester college-level course work in the language with a grade of C or better in the final term of the course, or by the student completing the second semester of a sophomore reading course with a grade of B or better. Examination: the student must pass a proficiency exam given by the Department of World Languages and Literatures at the University of Nevada, Reno.
II. Language Emphasis
The M.A. program of study in Language and Linguistics is designed primarily for students who have some background in linguistics but did not major in the field as undergraduates. The program provides students the opportunity to study the English language and to master the analytical tools of linguistics, which can be applied to the study of any language. In addition to a firm grounding in the basic concepts of linguistics, students receive training in phonology, morphology, syntax, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, the history of the English language, and Old English.
A. Course Requirements
Note that ENG 281 or equivalent course is a prerequisite for all linguistics courses.
1. Research Methods
ENG 711, Introduction to Graduate Study, is required and must be taken at the first opportunity. It is customarily offered each fall semester.
2. Required Language Courses
3. Language Electives
For the non-thesis option, these should include nine additional credits. For the thesis option, these should include six additional credits. Below is a list of possible courses. Other courses not listed (including those from outside the English department) may also be selected in consultation with student’s committee or with the approval of linguistics faculty.
4. Other Electives
Other courses should be selected in consultation with the student’s advisory committee to complement the student’s interest in language. Courses may include graduate courses in English, or in other disciplines such as Anthropology, Psychology, Computer Science, World Languages, Basque Studies, Speech Pathology, Philosophy or in the College of Education.
B. Comprehensive Examination (written)
1 unit of ENG 795 - Comprehensive Examination is required.
C. Thesis (Thesis Plan)
The student must register for 6 credits of ENG 797 - Thesis.
D. Comprehensive Examination (oral) Thesis and non-Thesis, and Thesis Defense
Approximately three weeks after passing the written examination, the Non-Thesis Plan candidate will take an oral examination lasting no longer than one and a half hours, administered by the student’s advisory committee. Like the written examination, the oral exam will be based on the student’s knowledge of the structure and history of the language and on the student’s course work, although its range may be broader. For a student studying under the Thesis Plan, the oral exam will be given when the thesis is completed and approved by the advisory committee. While the exam will focus on the student’s own research, it may also explore areas in which the student has had course work. The student must register for ENG 795, Comprehensive Examination, one credit, the semester he or she will be completing the oral exam.
III. Literature Emphasis
The English department offers a wide range of courses in English, American, and Anglophone literatures and cultures. Our faculty members publish in leading journals and have authored recent books on topics ranging from Shakespeare’s first folios to postmodern American lyric. We have particular strengths in modernist studies; archival and media studies; twentieth-century and contemporary American, British, and comparative literatures; and cultural studies and theory. Faculty members also teach in a variety of programs across campus, including the Gender, Race, and Identity Program.
1. Research Methods
ENG 711, Introduction to Graduate Study, is required and must be taken at the first opportunity. It is customarily offered each fall semester.
2. Distribution Requirements
The student must take at least one course in nine of the following 10 fields:
- Poetry
- Fiction
- Drama
- Linguistics
- Nonfiction/Intellectual Prose
- Rhetoric
- Literary Criticism
- American Literature
- British Literature before 1800
- British Literature after 1800
Five of the distribution requirements may be met by courses taken at the advanced undergraduate level (the equivalent of our department’s 400-level courses) in which the student earned a B or above. The Graduate Program Director, in consultation with the faculty, determines which distribution requirement(s) specific courses may meet.
3. Literature Topic or Field
The student must take at least two courses in a particular field of interest, determined in consultation with his or her M.A. committee chair. Fields or topics might, for instance, include the Renaissance, African American literature, or the American novel.
B. Professional Paper (non-thesis plan only)
In consultation with their committee chair, each student will complete a professional paper. No credit toward Course Requirements (see above) will be granted for work on the professional paper or portfolio. The professional paper is a substantial literary-critical essay. The student selects one seminar paper written in the M.A. program and revises it, working with their chair and with the professor in whose course it was originally written, who must be a member of the student’s committee. When revised, this paper will be presented to the committee as an example of the student’s ability to perform research and write a convincing, reasoned argument on a topic related to literature. The paper should be approximately twenty pages long and should be of professional, publishable quality.
C. Comprehensive Examination (written)
1 unit of ENG 795 - Comprehensive Examination is required.
D. Thesis (thesis plan only)
The student must register for 6 credits of ENG 797 - Thesis.
E. Comprehensive Examination (oral) Thesis and non-Thesis, and Thesis Defense
The oral exam lasts about an hour and a half and is administered by the student’s M.A. committee. In the non-thesis plan, the student takes the oral exam after completing the professional paper or portfolio and the written exam; the oral will include questions on each of these works. In the thesis plan, the student takes the final oral exam after the completed thesis has been approved by his or her committee. In addition to those works covered in the exam for the non-thesis plan, the oral for students who choose the thesis plan also includes a defense of the thesis. It is the responsibility of the student to schedule the oral exam with his or her committee.
IV. Public Engagement Emphasis
The Public Engagement emphasis prepares students with a required seminar in public intellectualism and emphasizes experiential learning and the development of interdisciplinary literacy. It includes core coursework in rhetoric and in literature. But it also incorporates any course in the English department that may serve a public engagement student’s particular commitments. The Public Engagement M.A. emphasis is designed to serve students whose career goals may include teaching, working for non-profits, and/or going on for a Ph.D. in literature or rhetoric programs that emphasize community activism.
1. Research Methods
Either ENG 711 (Introduction to Graduate Study) or ENG 730 (Introduction to Graduate Study in Rhetoric and Composition) must be taken at the earliest opportunity. ENG 711 is typically offered every fall semester, and ENG 730 every other fall semester.
2. Public Intellectualism
ENG 740: English Studies and Public Intellectualism must be taken at the earliest opportunity. It is typically offered every spring semester in even years.
3. Experiential Learning
Options for fulfilling this requirement include ENG 736, an internship, or another course (either taught or taken) that has a significant experiential learning component. An Experiential Learning Application (available on Nevada Box) must be completed and approved for experiential learning courses other than ENG 736.
4. Power, Place, and Publics
Two PPP courses are required. A PPP Application (available at the English department website) must be completed by student and instructor for each course and approved by the MAPE committee.
5. Rhetoric
One course from the University Catalog’s list of Rhetoric and Writing Studies electives.
6. Literature
One course from the University Catalog’s list of Literature electives.
7. Interdisciplinary Literacy
Competence in a foreign language (see General Requirements), two 600- or 700-level courses in a cognate discipline, or three advanced courses in linguistics; plan must be approved by committee chair. Interdisciplinary literacy courses that are not ENG courses (or cross-listed as such) count neither toward the 15 700-level credits nor the 31 graduate credits required for the M.A. degree.
B. Professional Portfolio
The professional portfolio requires the student to develop critical and professional materials specific to an issue of civic engagement. The materials should include a historical and critical framework for understanding the issue as well as professional materials that display application of that framework. Ideally, these materials should develop the writing done in courses as well as community engagement work. The portfolio will be developed in consultation with the student’s committee and will be discussed during the oral exam. There is no thesis option for the Public Engagement emphasis.
C. Comprehensive Examination
1 unit of ENG 795 - Comprehensive Examination is required.
V. Rhetoric and Writing Studies
The M.A. in Rhetoric & Writing Studies is designed for students who wish to strengthen their skills as writers while deepening their understanding of theories of writing from the fields of rhetoric, composition, and writing studies. Cognate work in linguistics, literature, or literacy studies further enriches the study of writing. Students may choose either a non-thesis or thesis program of study. This emphasis supports a range of professional pursuits, including technical and professional writing, literacy studies, the teaching of composition, and rhetorical studies.
1. Research Methods
ENG 730, Introduction to Graduate Study in Rhetoric and Composition, is required and should be taken at the earliest opportunity. It is customarily offered every other fall semester.
2. Rhetoric and Writing Studies Electives
At least 2 courses for the Thesis Plan, or 3 courses for the Non-Thesis Plan, must be chosen from the following electives:
3. Other Electives
In consultation with the advisory committee, the student will choose at least 2 courses (Thesis Plan) or 3 courses in (Non-Thesis Plan), to complement his or her interests. No more than three courses may be taken outside the Department of English.
B. Comprehensive Examination
1 unit of ENG 795 - Comprehensive Examination is required.
C. Thesis (Thesis Plan only)
The student must register for 6 credits of ENG 797 - Thesis.
D. Thesis Defense (Thesis Plan only)
The final oral exam, given by the candidate’s advisory committee, will last about an hour and a half and will be a defense of the thesis. Candidates who prepare writings as a thesis project may instead present their thesis as a public reading and discussion of that work.
VI. Total Units (31 units)
The M.A. program (all emphases) is 31 units with 1 unit required for the comprehensive examination (ENG 795 ). The comprehensive examination can be used to fulfill the required units of 700-level coursework.
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