Graduate Program Overview

Particular strengths of the department include Twentieth-Century American literature, Postcolonial Literatures, African-American literature, Gender Studies, Rhetoric and Composition, and Creative Writing. In recent years, we have supplemented our course offerings in traditional fields with courses in Irish studies, postcolonial theory, African and Caribbean literatures, Latino literature, cultural rhetorics, jazz studies, American Indian literature, and cultural studies.

The English department offers three options for M.A. candidates. M.A. students enrolling for the first time must choose one of the four options listed below.

Option 1a - Literature

• One graduate course from Field A, English Language and Literature in Old and Middle English, and one from Field B, English Literature 1500-1800.
• One graduate course in each of two of the following fields: C, English Literature post 1800; D, American Literature; E, Composition/Rhetoric and Literary Theory.
• English 800, Introduction to Graduate Study in English (to be taken at the first opportunity).
• A total of 30 hours in English courses carrying graduate credit. At least 15 of these, in addition to English 800, must be at the 700 level or above and must include at least one seminar passed with a grade of A or B.
• Thesis or Exam Option: students electing the MA exam will take the final oral examination described below (page 12). For students electing the MA thesis, the thesis defense will constitute the final oral examination. Students may enroll in ENG 899 (Thesis/Exam hours) as necessary, but 899 will not count toward the 30-hour course requirement.

Option 1b - Literature & Literary Theory

• One graduate course from Field A, English Language and Literature in Old and Middle English, or one from Field B, English Literature 1500-1800.
• One graduate course from Field C, English Literature post 1800, or from Field D, American Literature.
• Two graduate courses in literary theory from Field E, Composition/Rhetoric and Literary Theory;.
• English 800, Introduction to Graduate Study in English (to be taken at the first opportunity).
• A total of 30 hours in English courses carrying graduate credit. At least 15 of these, in addition to English 800, must be at the 700 level or above and must include at least one seminar passed with a grade of A or B.
• Thesis or Exam Option: students electing the MA exam will take the final oral examination described below (page 12). For students electing the MA thesis, the thesis defense will constitute the final oral examination. Students may enroll in ENG 899 (Thesis/Exam hours) as necessary, but 899 will not count toward the 30-hour course requirement.

Option 2 - Language, Literature, & Composition

• Courses in literature: At least 6 hours, including at least 3 hours from Field B, English Literature 1500-1800, and 3 hours from either Field C, English literature post 1800, or Field D, American literature.
• Courses in language and composition: At least 6 hours in English Language courses (from Field A) and/or in Composition/Rhetoric courses (from Field E).
• English 800, Introduction to Graduate Study in English.
• A total of 30 hours in English courses carrying graduate credit. At least 15 of these, in addition to English 800, must be at the 700 level or above and must include at least one seminar passed with a grade of A or B.
• Thesis or Exam Option: students electing the MA exam will take the final oral examination described below (page 12). For students electing the MA thesis, the thesis defense will constitute the final oral examination.  Students may enroll in ENG 899 (Thesis/Exam hours) as necessary, but 899 will not count toward the 30-hour course requirement.

Note on Fields: Please see Appendix A for M.A. Fields. A student may count an appropriate graduate course in a department or program other than English as meeting the requirement for Field E, subject to the approval of the Graduate Director.

Note: A student wishing to enroll in English 998 (Investigation and Conference) must secure the prior approval of the member of the graduate faculty with whom he or she intends to work and the approval of the Graduate Director, who will indicate that approval by countersigning the graduate adviser's signature on the enrollment card. Further, a candidate for the Master of Arts may apply no more than 6 hours of English 998 toward the 30-hour course requirement, and no more than 3 hours of English 998 may be used to fulfill the Field distribution requirement for the M.A. degree.

Additional requirements for M.A. degree

• A reading knowledge of one approved foreign language.
• Thesis (optional).
• Final Comprehensive Exam or thesis defense.

Please consult with your advisor to confirm requirements for degree.

KU's MFA program offers students tracks in fiction writing, poetry writing, playwriting, and creative nonfiction. The full-time creative writing faculty of seven has been widely published and anthologized and has been awarded such distinctions as the Gertrude Stein Award, the Kenyon Review Prize, the Sue Kaufman Prize, the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion, and the Pushcart Prize. Students who finish their course work in two years may have the third year devoted almost entirely to the writing of the thesis. Internships are available with Cottonwood, KU's nationally recognized literary review, and students with assistantships have the opportunity to teach a course in creative writing. In recent years, writers Salman Rushdie, Rita Dove, Cristina Garcia, Kent Haruf, Ted Kooser, Sherman Alexie, Cherrie Moraga, Nuruddin Farah, Diane Williams, Paul Muldoon and many others have come to the campus to give seminars and readings.

• Total of forty-eight (48) hours of credit
• Twelve (12) hours of writing workshop credit
• Twelve (12) hours of literature course credit
• Nine (9) other hours
• Fifteen (15) hours of ENGL 899, Thesis
• FLORS requirement
• Thesis defense

For a full description of the M.F.A. program, please see the M.F.A. in English website.

• At least 24 hours of credit in appropriate formal graduate courses beyond the M.A. At least 15 hours (in addition to 800 if not taken for the M.A.) of this course work must be taken from among courses offered by the Department of English at the 700-level and above. English 997 and 999 credits cannot be included among the 24 hours. Students may petition to take up to 6 hours outside the Department.
• English 800.
• Two seminars offered by the Department of English at the University of Kansas beyond the M.A.
• English 999, Dissertation (normally at least 24 hours).

Students with M.A.s earned at an institution other than K.U. may be required by the Coordinator of Graduate Studies, acting on behalf of the Graduate Committee, to take additional course work.

Note on English 998: A student wishing to enroll in English 998 (Investigation and Conference) must secure the prior approval of the graduate faculty member with whom he or she intends to work and the approval of the Coordinator of Graduate Studies, who will indicate that approval by countersigning the graduate adviser's signature on the enrollment card.

Additional Requirements For Ph.D. Degree

• A reading knowledge of two approved foreign languages or fluency in one.
• At least one year of supervised quarter-time teaching.
• At least two semesters spent in resident study.
• Comprehensive examination.
• Dissertation Proposal Review.
• Doctoral dissertation and defense.
• Please consult with your advisor to confirm requirements for degree.

Our faculty boasts an outstanding publication record, having produced 17 single-authored books in the past five years alone. The department combines this scholarly success with a deep concern for teaching and mentoring. Our faculty have won numerous university-wide and national teaching awards (thirteen in ten years), and the department as a whole was given an award for outstanding teaching by the University's Center for Teaching Excellence in 2003.

From 2004 to 2009 the department has graduated 45 PhDs. 25 of these PhDs are tenure-track (or tenured) faculty members at colleges and universities (55.5%).  In total, combining tenure and non-tenure track, 32 of 45 PhDs over the 2004-2009 period are teaching as assistant professors (71%).

Because we help our PhD students to develop into well-rounded academics, our rate of placement in tenure-track positions has been impressive, particularly given the downturn in the academic job market. More than 80% of our Ph.D.s who take the Department's job-placement workshops and who do national searches find tenure-track jobs within three years of finishing the degree. Our recent success may also have been helped by the department's support for job seekers. Eight years ago we created the position of Job Placement Advisor; the Advisor is a faculty member in charge of running workshops and mock interviews for graduate students, as well as providing one-on-one advising for those students preparing for the job market. In the past few years, our graduate students have accepted tenure-track jobs at institutions such as Rutgers University, University of Washington, University of New Mexico, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Eastern Illinois University, Xavier University, Valparaiso University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Ithaca College, and Lafayette College.

Our department has a strong tradition of democratic inclusion and sense of community. Faculty and graduate students participate as equals in various reading groups, community organizations, and events involving visiting speakers. Perhaps more importantly, graduate students have a strong voice in the administration of the department; for example, they are on almost all departmental committees, including hiring committees.

Diversity

Our focus on inclusion and community also manifests itself in our attention to diversity. The department has been recognized by the university's Black Faculty and Staff Council for its "outstanding leadership in creating a multicultural academic environment," and 10% of our students come from traditionally underrepresented groups or are international. Not only are we interested in promoting diversity in faculty and student population, but we are also committed to promoting diversity and multiculturalism as important objects of intellectual inquiry both in our own classrooms and across the university and larger communities. The Ad-Hoc African/Americanist (AHAA) faculty group, for instance, fosters vigorous conversations about African, African-American, and African diaspora literatures among faculty and students, promotes diversity, and makes connections between the English Department and other units within the University of Kansas and the larger community for the sponsoring of multicultural events. Faculty and graduate students in our department have served as leaders and participants in the Hall Center's ongoing Gender Seminar. Faculty regularly crosslist courses with Women's Studies, African Studies, and the Center for Indigenous Nations. Both faculty and graduate students have spearheaded significant service-learning programs with the local community, including the Douglas County Jail.

Graduate Student Organization

Finally, our student organization, SAGE, fosters a sense of community among graduate students. SAGE stimulates and coordinates student activity in such areas as curriculum, academic standards and ethics, graduate teaching assistantships, professionalization, and orientation of new graduate students. SAGE also sponsors a colloquium and readings each semester, and publishes a graduate student newsletter.

Summer Institutes

The English Department hosts two intensive summer institutes which bring in nationally-known scholars for a two-week graduate seminar in a topic of interest in current scholarship: the Holmes Institute sponsors a visiting scholar in either American or British literature and the Institute for Rethinking Literature sponsors scholars using innovative, cutting-edge approaches to literary study. The Science Fiction Institute held on campus each summer is nationally recognized and offers graduate students opportunities to help in the programming process.

The university is set on top of Mount Oread and offers beautiful vistas of the surrounding area, while at the heart of the campus itself is Jayhawk Boulevard with its historic stone architecture. The appeal of KU does not end with the campus, however; we have a charming downtown with diverse restaurants and shops, many of which are independent and locally owned. Lawrence's music scene is considered among the best in the Midwest. Additionally, Kansas City, which boasts a wide variety of cultural venues, is only 30 miles away.

Both the department and the university offer numerous intellectual and cultural activities. The department itself sponsors a number of visiting speakers each year. Among recent luminaries have been Fredric Jameson, Salman Rushdie, Rita Dove, Cristina Garcia, Marjorie Garber, Lyn Hejinian, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. The Hall Center for the Humanities aims to bring together faculty and graduate students with common interests from various disciplines to them to build on each others' ideas, and to share their knowledge within the university and with the wider community. Last, but by no means least, the university has an outstanding performing arts center, the Lied Center, which presents high-quality performances by established and emerging professional, national and international performing artists for the people of Kansas and the region.enable