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Total Credits
Minimum Program Hours
Program Graduation Requirements
Fulfilling the Foreign Language Requirement
Students in all programs, except the MFA, must demonstrate proficiency in one or more foreign language. MA students are required to demonstrate standard proficiency in one language; PhD students are required to demonstrate either standard proficiency in two languages or advanced proficiency in one language. See the policies section for each program for definitions of the specific levels of proficiency required for the degree. Students must have proper documentation demonstrating that the requirements have been met. They must also have the Graduate Advisor approve the Graduate Language Verification form with all of the necessary signatures and documentation.
There are three ways to fulfill the language requirement:
Students may take a language placement test by making an appointment through the Department of World Languages & Cultures. More information on this procedure can be found at:https://english.utah.edu/graduate/graduate-language-requirement.php
The language requirement may be fulfilled through coursework; please see the specific requirements of each program for details on this option.
The language requirement may be fulfilled through a written translation exam administered by the department. Departmental examinations will be based on one or two passages (roughly 500 words total), typically nonfiction or critical prose of above average difficulty. Students will be evaluated on the correctness and fluency of their translation, and on the amount they translate. The exam will last 90 minutes, and students can use a dictionary; no other notes or resources are allowed. Student and examiner will both remain anonymous. For additional information, contact the Graduate Advisor.
Simple Requirements
Students will take ten courses of at least three credit hours each and may take up to two courses at the 5000-level for graduate credit. (Students must register for 5000-level courses as English 6910: Independent Study, and enrollment in 5000-level courses for graduate credit requires the prior approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.) Teaching colloquia do not count toward the ten courses required for the degree, nor does English 6910 (unless approved in advance by the Graduate Director).
Three courses in literary history, including one covering literature before 1700 and one covering literature between 1700 and 1900.
Six additional courses (up to two of which may be taken in departments other than English, with the prior approval of the Director of Graduate Studies).
The MA degree culminates in the writing of a scholarly essay that develops a sustained critical argument over the course of 25 to 30 pages. The MA essay generally arises out of a student's coursework; it is written during the second year of the MA program under the supervision of a faculty sponsor. The essay gives students the opportunity to pursue topics suggested by their coursework in greater detail and at greater length, and it reflects a substantial course of independent reading and research. Students present their projects publicly at the MA symposium held at the end of the Spring semester, which is attended by faculty sponsors and readers, other interested faculty members, and graduate and undergraduate students in English as well as other disciplines. The symposium provides students the opportunity to discuss and defend their work.
Students must secure a faculty sponsor for the MA essay, usually by the end of the Spring semester of their first year. They are encouraged to choose a faculty sponsor with whom they have taken a course, and, because it is recommended that faculty members work with a limited number of students, they should have in mind more than one possible topic and sponsor. While students generally complete the essay in the Spring semester of their second year, this timetable can be adjusted to allow students applying to PhD programs to complete it by the end of the Fall semester (and thus use the essay as a writing sample). Prior to the MA symposium, essays must be approved by the faculty sponsor and one other faculty reader (selected by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the sponsor). If there is a substantial disagreement between the sponsor and the second reader, a third reader (usually the Director of Graduate Studies) will evaluate the essay.
Most MA essays are scholarly, critical papers. With the support of the faculty sponsor and the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, however, students may also satisfy the requirement with an equivalent project that takes a different form (for example, a digital humanities project).
Three core courses in rhetoric and composition selected from:
WRTG 6020: Responding to Student Writing
ENGL/WRTG 6350: Composition Theory and Research
Studies in Writing and Pedagogy
ENGL/WRTG 6770: Studies in Discourse Analysis
ENGL/WRTG 7760: Rhetoric/ Composition/Discourse
from ENGL
Courses must be approved by the WRS Graduate Coordinator and the Director of Graduate Studies.
from: COMM, ECS, ENGL, or LING
Administered during the spring semester, the exam will be in two parts:
One question that addresses perspectives on rhetoric and composition from allied disciplines, including English/literary studies, communication, education, and linguistics (timed).
One question exploring a topic that arises from the student's core courses in rhetoric and composition (take-home). Students have three opportunities to pass the exam; students who fail the exam three times are dismissed from the program. Students must be registered for at least three hours during the semester in which the exam is taken.