Applying to the Graduate Program in English | Department of English

Applying to the Graduate Program in English

CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO APPLY TO OUR DEGREE PROGRAMS:

The faculty of the Department of English comprises dynamic teachers and researchers committed to thought, conversation, inquiry, and instruction in literary and cultural studies, creative writing, and rhetoric and composition. Our expertise ranges in universality and time: we engage with works produced across several continents--including Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe--from the earliest periods to the present day. Courses in literary criticism and theory educate students in classical and postmodern modes of analysis, and various special topics courses offer students the opportunity to study literature and culture across interdisciplinary contexts. The department prides itself not only on the quality of its teaching but also on its international scholarly reputation. Our faculty publish their work in premiere academic journals and scholarly presses. The department sponsors the American Studies Colloquium, the Medieval and Renaissance Colloquium, the Visiting Writers Series, the quarterly journal Studies in the Novel, and the online journal American Literary Review.

The creative writing faculty features nationally- and internationally- recognized writers whose books have been published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Harper Collins; University of Illinois Press; LSU Press; and Oxford University Press, among others. Stories, essays, and poems by the faculty also appear in publications such as The Paris Review, The Yale Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The New York Times, Image, Ploughshares, Denver Quarterly, TriQuarterly, The Threepenny Review, Best American Poetry, and Best American Spiritual Writing. Graduate students in creative writing have the opportunity both to work closely with the creative writing and literature faculties and to explore ways in which knowledge of literary traditions develops craft. The concentration in creative writing requires students take workshops in fiction, poetry, and/or creative nonfiction alongside a range of literature courses. To complete the degree, students write either a creative thesis (for the MA with a major in creative writing) or a creative dissertation with a critical preface (for the PhD in English with a concentration in creative writing). Each year the department sponsors a Visiting Writer Series that brings distinguished writers to campus to give readings and meet with students in Q&A sessions. Students also have opportunities to pursue editorial positions with the department's national literary journal, American Literary Review, and with the local student-run journal, North Texas Review.