Program Coordinator: Dr. Ruth Haber
Phone: 508-929-8706
Email: rhaber@worcester.edu
In addition to the standard admission requirements set by Worcester State at: http://worcester.edu/Graduate/graduateadmissions applicants to the Master of Arts in English must have either earned an undergraduate degree in English or completed at least 18 semester credit hours in English and/or American literature/rhetorical theory courses at an accredited institution of higher education.
Applicants without undergraduate training in the English discipline are required to take survey courses in American and English literature and a course in undergraduate literary theory as part of the required 18 undergraduate credits.
The program has the following convenient features:
• A part-time evening schedule
• A rolling admission that allows students to start their studies in
any semester
• Possibility of transferring in up to 12 credits of graduate work
after coordinator review
• Note: transfer credits may include coursework taken at
Worcester State University prior to Matriculation
Requirements of the Program
I. English Foundation courses
EN 901 Methods of Graduate Research: 3 credits
EN 902 Approaches to the Literary Experience: 3 credits
II. English Elective courses
Students will select, with the approval of a graduate advisor, 21 credits from the graduate English courses listed in the catalog.
III. Additional electives
Students will select, with the approval of a graduate advisor, 6 graduate credits in English or another area.
IV. Thesis/Exam Option
Upon completion of their course work, candidates must successfully fulfill a last requirement in the form of either two substantial area examinations or a thesis. While the general focus of the examinations and the thesis must deal with literature and/or rhetoric, the individual student and his or her advisor together will decide on the specific subject(s) to be explored.
Thesis option EN 999 is a 3-credit option.
Total credits: 36