Student Learning Outcomes and Program Requirements

Students graduating with an M.A. in English will be able to:

• Create sophisticated academic arguments that situate texts within aesthetic, social, and historical context.
• Produce work in dialogue with current and historical conversations in the field;
• Evaluate and engage methodological approaches appropriate to academic discourse; 
• Develop and defend, both orally and in writing, their critical perspectives;
• Synthesize an understanding of interrelations across diverse fields of study;
• Demonstrate a broad grounding in the diversity of fields in English studies. 

The Department of English offers three graduate programs: the Master of Arts: English; the Master of Fine Arts: Creative Writing and Media Arts; and the Interdisciplinary Ph.D.  The Department also offers a Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing.

Master of Arts: English

The Department of English offers the Master of Arts in English, which focuses on literary study, as well as two tracks that allow students to concentrate their studies in a particular area: 1) Language and Literature, and 2) Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing. Through courses in English and American literature, creative and expository writing, film, linguistics, composition/rhetoric, literary criticism, the history of books and print culture, as well as editing, these programs of study are designed to prepare students for teaching, research, and writing careers, for careers in editing, and for further study at the doctoral level.

The 31-hour M.A. in English is designed for students desiring a general background in English and American literature and is strongly recommended for students planning further graduate study in English and/or American literature.

The Language and Literature track is designed for students who wish to combine graduate study of literature with the study of linguistics and/or composition and rhetoric. This track is recommended for students interested in teaching in community colleges or secondary schools and for students interested in pursuing the Ph.D. in composition and rhetoric or linguistics.

The Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing track is designed for students who wish to combine the study of literature with the study of book history, print culture, and editing. This track is recommended for students interested in editorial careers, offering several internship experiences in print and online media, and for students interesting in pursuing the Ph.D. in book history and print culture.

Members of the graduate faculty are assigned as advisers to newly admitted M.A. students. New graduate students should meet with their advisers as soon as possible to prepare an official program of study.

Admission

The application process is competitive. Satisfying the admission requirements does not guarantee admission to the program.

The applicant must hold:

• a B.A. in English, or a B.A. degree that includes at least 30 hours of sophomore-, junior- or senior-level English courses, or the equivalent. Applicants with fewer than 30 hours of undergraduate English courses may be admitted and assigned additional coursework as part of their program. These extra hours are added to the hours required for graduation.
• a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average in undergraduate work and a 3.0 average in undergraduate English coursework. In unusual circumstances, the graduate committee may consider applicants with lower grade-point averages.

The applicant must submit:

• a complete application to the university. The university application should be sent to the UMKC Admissions Office. All other materials should be sent to Graduate Programs, Department of English, Cockefair Hall 106.
• a complete Application for Admission to the Master of Arts: English.
• a recommended 60 percent or higher score on the verbal aptitude portion of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).
• a writing sample that demonstrates the applicant's writing abilities in up to 15 pages of recent academic prose.
• a statement of purpose that describes the applicant's academic and professional objectives. In an essay of 400 to 500 words, applicants should discuss in detail their interest in their emphasis area and their research or writing in the area.
• three letters of recommendation that evaluate the applicant's readiness for graduate study written by three professors or others who know the applicant's abilities and potential well.

Students may not take more than six hours of graduate credit in English before entering the program as a "fully admitted" student.

M.A. in English Degree Requirements

Students must earn 31 graduate credits to complete the M.A. in English. Of these credits, at least 15 hours must be at graduate level (courses numbered 5000 and above) and taught by a member of the graduate faculty and at least 9 hours must be in 5000-level seminars or other 5000-level courses which are not cross-listed with 400-level courses.

Students must take ENGLISH 5000 and successfully complete one hour of ENGLISH 5601 (Literature), ENGLISH 5602 (Language & Literature), or ENGLISH 5603 (Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing) for their "Culminating Experience," as is appropriate depending on the focus of their studies.

Students must maintain a 3.0 (B) grade-point average to remain in the M.A. program and to complete the degree.

By the time of graduation from the M.A. program, students must fulfill a foreign language requirement by satisfactorily completing (with a C or better) one year (two university semesters) of the same foreign language. Alternatively, the foreign language requirement may be satisfied by scoring a "C" on the final exam of the first-year, second-semester course in a foreign language.

Students must remain continuously enrolled, except in summer, for a minimum of 1 credit hour per semester. ENGLISH 5899 is the continuous enrollment course number.

Students must complete a formal Program of Study and have it signed within a year after admission. A final Program of Study must be submitted and signed during the semester a student files to graduate.

Students must complete all coursework within seven years.

Students must take at least one course from five of the seven designated areas, including at least one course from areas I & II, one course from areas III & IV, and one course from areas V-VII:

I. Criticism and Scholarship
ENGLISH 447/5547, ENGLISH 5550G, ENGLISH 5555G  
II. Language and Rhetoric
ENGLISH 400CH, ENGLISH 445/5545, ENGLISH 470, ENGLISH 5519, ENGLISH 5520, ENGLISH 5550J, ENGLISH 5550M, ENGLISH 5555J, ENGLISH 5555M

III. Literature Through the Middle Ages
ENGLISH 400CF, ENGLISH 412/5512, ENGLISH 422/5522, ENGLISH 452/5552, ENGLISH 5503, ENGLISH 5550A, ENGLISH 5550R, ENGLISH 5555A

IV. Renaissance Literature
ENGLISH 400CA, ENGLISH 413/5513, ENGLISH 414/5514, ENGLISH 423/5523, ENGLISH 451/5551, ENGLISH 452/5552, ENGLISH 461/5561, ENGLISH 5550B, ENGLISH 5555B, ENGLISH 5555R

V. Late 17th- and 18th-Century Literature

ENGLISH 415/5515, ENGLISH 416/5516, ENGLISH 426/5526,

*ENGLISH 455/5556,

ENGLISH 462/5562, ENGLISH 5550C, ENGLISH 5555C

VI. Nineteenth-Century Literature
** ENGLISH 410/5510,

*ENGLISH 416/5516,

ENGLISH 418/5518, ENGLISH 426/5526,

** ENGLISH 440/5540,

*ENGLISH 455/5556,

ENGLISH 5550D, ENGLISH 5550E, ENGLISH 5555D

VII. Twentieth-Century Literature

** ENGLISH 410/5510,

ENGLISH 417/5517, ENGLISH 427/5527, ENGLISH 428/5528,

** ENGLISH 440/5540

ENGLISH 453/5553, ENGLISH 463/5563, ENGLISH 465/5565, ENGLISH 5550F, ENGLISH 5555E, ENGLISH 5555F

*Satisfies 18th- or 19th-Century requirement, depending on the content.
**Satisfies 19th- or 20th-Century requirement, depending on the content.

Other courses in the catalog may satisfy an area requirement if the content is appropriate, e.g., ENGLISH 5550H Graduate Seminar: Studies in Fiction or ENGLISH 433/5533 Histories of Writing, Reading, and Publishing.

Students who focus on Literature must complete ENGLISH 5601 Culminating Experience (1) on a topic related to the study of Literature.

Language and Literature Track

If desired, a student may elect the Language and Literature Track when obtaining the M.A. in English. At least 12 hours selected from the following list of courses are required: ENGLISH 445/5545, ENGLISH 447/5547, ENGLISH 470, ENGLISH 5519, ENGLISH 5520, ENGLISH 5550G/5555G, ENGLISH 5550J/5555J, ENGLISH 5550M/5555M, and ENGLISH 5550P. For students interested in teaching in community colleges or secondary schools or in pursuing a Ph.D. in composition and rhetoric, ENGLISH 5519 is highly recommended. ENGLISH 5519 is required for graduate teaching assistants.

In addition to the requirements for areas I & II, students must take at least one course from three of the five remaining areas (III-VII), including at least one course from areas III-IV and at least one course from areas V-VII.

Students who focus on Language & Literature must complete ENGLISH 5602 Culminating Experience (1) on a topic related to the study of Language & Literature.

 

Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing Track

If desired, a student may elect the Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing Track when obtaining the M.A. in English. This track examines the social, cultural, economic, and political history of the written word. It considers relationships among authors, editors, publishers, printers, illustrators, and booksellers as well as the reception of texts by readers, reviewers, and critics. In addition, it allows students to study the production of texts through the centuries while also gaining hands-on editing experience through internal and external publishing internships. Students will take a wide variety of courses covering a range of historical periods that have a significant emphasis on the history of reading, writing, and authorship as well as courses that focus on aspects of contemporary publishing and editing.

This track also follows the distribution requirements for the M.A. in English, and it requires that students take twelve (12) of the 31 required credit hours in courses that have been designated as ones fulfilling the goals of the concentration in Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing; some courses will always be so designated, including the following:

ENGLISH 448 External Internship
ENGLISH 449A Publication Practicum
ENGLISH 449B Publication Practicum
ENGLISH 5501 Magazine Editing
ENGLISH 5533 Histories of Writing, Reading, and Publishing
ENGLISH 5541 Girls and Print Culture

The following courses may also be used to fulfill the requirements for the concentration in Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing if approved by the Graduate Committee. Each semester, courses so designated will be listed on the Department of English website: ENGLISH 5508, ENGLISH 5510, ENGLISH 5512, ENGLISH 5513, ENGLISH 5514, ENGLISH 5515, ENGLISH 5516, ENGLISH 5517, ENGLISH 5518, ENGLISH 5522, ENGLISH 5523, ENGLISH 5526, ENGLISH 5527, ENGLISH 5528, ENGLISH 5531, ENGLISH 5534, ENGLISH 5540, ENGLISH 5545, ENGLISH 5550A, ENGLISH 5550B, ENGLISH 5550C, ENGLISH 5550D, ENGLISH 5550E, ENGLISH 5550F, ENGLISH 5550I, ENGLISH 5551, ENGLISH 5552, ENGLISH 5553, ENGLISH 5555A, ENGLISH 5555B, ENGLISH 5555C, ENGLISH 5555D, ENGLISH 5555E, ENGLISH 5555F, ENGLISH 5555I, ENGLISH 5556, ENGLISH 5561, ENGLISH 5562, ENGLISH 5563, ENGLISH 5565. New courses may receive the designation if approved by the Department of English’s Graduate Committee.

Students who elect the MPCE track must complete ENGLISH 5603 Culminating Experience (1) on a topic related to the study of Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing.

Culminating Experience

At the end of their M.A. course work (either in the last semester or the second to last semester), all M.A. students in English will revise a seminar paper (written in a previous course and/or in their area of interest) under the guidance of a faculty mentor. The goal of the revisions will be to create a polished paper of about 20-30 pages that could be the basis for a conference paper, a writing sample, or a publishable article.

Students will enroll in and successfully complete one hour of ENGLISH 5601 (Literature), ENGLISH 5602 (Language & Literature), or ENGLISH 5603 (Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing) for their "Culminating Experience," as is appropriate depending on the focus of their studies. Enrollment is required in order to work on this final paper with their chosen faculty mentor.

Final papers will be reviewed by a faculty committee that will rotate each semester. The committee will consist of two assigned members of the graduate faculty appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies, who will work with the student's faculty mentor.

Students will turn in their revised papers to their mentors and the review committee at least two weeks prior to the end of the semester. The mentor is responsible for arranging a meeting with the student and the review committee before the end of the semester in which the Culminating Experience is taken. After conducting a defense about the paper and providing feedback for the student, the mentor and the review committee will assign a grade of pass or fail. Students must complete the oral defense in order to pass.

In addition to the department requirements above, graduate students in English must comply with the requirements listed in the General Graduate Academic Regulations and Information section of this catalog.