Primary Faculty: Professors ARAC, BARTHOLOMAE (Chair), BOVÉ, BRISCOE, BRUMBLE, DERRICOTTE, EMANUEL (Director, Writing), FEUER, FISCHER (Director, Film Studies), GUTKIND, KNAPP, LANDY, MacCABE, MOONEY, NORDAN, NOVY, OCHESTER, TOBIAS, WEST; Associate Professors BREIGHT, J. CARR, S. CARR, CLARKE, N. COLES, CURRAN, DOBLER, FLANDERS, GLAZENER (Director, Literature), HARRIS (Director, Composition), HELFAND (Director of Graduate Studies), JUDY, KAMEEN, KINDER, R. MARSHALL, PETESCH, SALVATORI, SEARLE, SIMS, P. SMITH, S. SMITH, WION; Assistant Professors ANDRADE, CHEONG, GAMMON, HIGGINS, KRIPS, LUCKETT, M. MARSHALL, McBRIDE, PURI, ROBERTSON, SEITZ, TWYNING; Lecturers ORBACH, PUGLIANO (Academic Advisor), RAWSON

Affiliated Faculty (Adjunct faculty and those with primary appointments in other areas): Professors BRUTUS (Africana Studies), PETROSKY (Education); Associate Professor BERRIAN (Africana Studies)

Emeritus Faculty: Professors W. COLES, CULVER, DAVID, EVERT, GALE, GULBRANSON, HINMAN, MARRS, O'BRIEN-SCHAEFER, PHILBRICK, TAUBE, WHITMAN

All applications for admission to the graduate programs in literature or cultural studies (MA, PhD) must be accompanied by certified scores on the verbal section of the Graduate Record Examination; the Advanced section of the GRE is optional but highly recommended. Those seeking admission to the graduate programs in writing (MFA) must provide the verbal score. Applications for financial aid must be completed before January 15.

Students should consult the Graduate Student Handbook, available in 526 Cathedral of Learning, for a fuller description of the requirements and procedures for each degree. The minimal requirements for the degrees established by the Graduate Faculty of the University and by FAS Graduate Studies, as described elsewhere in this bulletin, should be read in conjunction with the specific departmental requirements for these degrees in the following sections.

Graduate courses are also open to qualified persons who may not be formally enrolled in the graduate program; details are available from the departmental office.

For the MA degree, the department requires reading knowledge of one foreign language. French, German, Latin, Classical Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian are acceptable languages; others may be offered only with departmental approval. This requirement will be fulfilled by examinations administered by faculty of University language departments or in consultation with members of language departments at other institutions. A student may substitute for the examination a specifically designated graduate course in a language department (requiring extensive translation) passed at the A or B level. Under certain circumstances, language examinations passed at other graduate schools may be applied toward fulfillment of this requirement. The MFA does not include a language requirement.

The MA examination requirement is satisfied by passing, with a grade of B or higher, four designated graduate courses.

Students in the MFA program who wish to enter the PhD program will be required to meet the same requirement or they may complete two or three of these courses and submit a portfolio of work (not from creative writing courses) which they have completed in this department.

MA students who wish to continue for the PhD degree should apply in writing to the department's Director of Graduate Studies by February 1 of the year in which they expect to begin PhD studies. Due to the competitive nature of the program, MA students cannot be guaranteed a place in the PhD program.

Candidates for admission to the MFA in English need not have been undergraduate writing or English majors but should be prepared to submit a sample of recent writing. Applicants will be judged upon Graduate Record Examination scores (general aptitude only in the writing program), undergraduate grades, recommendations, and–especially–writing samples. The applicant should submit as a writing sample approximately 50 pages in fiction or nonfiction or approximately 20 pages in poetry of his/her best work.

The MFA in English will be awarded for the completion of a minimum of 36 course credit hours with a minimum quality point average of 3.00, plus the completion of an acceptable final manuscript (details later in this section).

Twelve of these credits are to be earned in four three-credit writing courses, at least nine of the twelve in workshops in the student's area of major interest (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry), and three in a graduate-level readings course. The graduate-level readings course should be taken as early as possible. The first workshop taken upon the student's entering the program should be one in the area of major interest. (Allowance can be made for a student's possible change of mind about the area of major interest.)

Twelve of the 36 credits are to be earned in the literature program. Nine are to be earned in English literature courses at the graduate level. A maximum of three may be earned in English or American literature courses at the 1000 level. Twelve elective hours may be taken in literature or writing. (See the Graduate Student Handbook for restrictions on electives.)

Teaching seminars will not be required of all students; students applying for teaching assistantships or teaching fellowships, however, should note that registration and participation in teaching seminars are required of students holding those positions.

There are no foreign language requirements for the student in the writing program.

The final manuscript is equivalent to the MA comprehensive examination. It consists of a book- length manuscript of the student's best work in the area of major interest. The manuscript shall be submitted to a committee of three Department of English faculty members–two writing Graduate Faculty in the student's area of major interest and one member of the literature Graduate Faculty. The student may recommend committee members, but the writing program director has final approval.

For the PhD, the student must earn at least 48 credits in addition to those earned for the MA. These must include at least 24 credits in course work and six credits in dissertation research. The remaining 18 credits may be earned either in course work or in dissertation research. Several seminars each year will be held specifically for advanced students. A PhD candidate may not include courses from the 1000 series. The student's advisor may approve courses in other departments if such courses will strengthen the student's program.

All PhD students are required to teach for at least two terms and to complete successfully the teaching seminar (2510).

The department requires reading knowledge of two foreign languages or comprehensive command of one language. The language requirement passed at the MA level will partially satisfy the PhD language requirement. Any language relevant to the student's project or, more generally, to the anticipated conditions of future scholarship and teaching may fulfill this requirement. This requirement will be fulfilled by examinations administered by faculty of University language departments or in consultation with members of language departments at other institutions. A student may substitute for the comprehensive command examination a graduate course in a language department (when taught in the language in question) passed at the A or B level. Under certain circumstances, language examinations passed at other graduate schools may be applied toward fulfillment of this requirement. Tools of research other than languages (such as proficiency in computer science) may be substituted for a second language subject to departmental approval.

As part of learning to initiate a serious critical project, each student, in conjunction with an exam committee, should define the program of study and readings on which he or she would be tested. Work on the exams might well lead fairly directly into the dissertation, but it should not be considered as simply a first attempt at that task. Rather, it should be a broader investigation of topics and issues that might then be the subject of a more detailed written inquiry. Preparation for the exams might well include course work/readings in other disciplines and genealogical research on the topic as well as the traditional literary historical studies.

The critical project may include composition or film. The department offers an optional minor in composition.