English

As a student in the Master of Arts (M.A.) in English program at the University of Idaho, you’ll carve your own way. You’ll customize a study plan that complements your interests and best supports your personal goals. This flexibility – coupled with one-on-one mentoring from our well-published faculty – will prepare you for whatever it is you want to do with your advanced degree, from writing or editing to teaching or pursing a doctorate.

Through course selection, choice of thesis topic and faculty guidance, M.A. students may emphasize any area of literary studies they choose, such as composition/rhetoric or literary theory and criticism.

The strengths of the M.A. program arise from the credentials of its faculty. Recently arrived faculty from the University of Virginia, Penn State and the University of Washington join professors from Harvard, Chicago, Cornell, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri to offer you a comprehensive opportunity to study language, rhetoric and literature. You’ll conduct independent scholarly research, be encouraged to present your work at regional and national conferences and compete for admission to high-profile Ph.D. programs.

Moscow’s progressive small town atmosphere and the sense of community within the department are two important reasons people undertake graduate study here. M.A. students at the University of Idaho work very closely with the faculty and side-by-side with students in other departmental graduate programs. Monthly seminars featuring graduate students’ works-in-progress are social events, as well, providing a chance to spend informal time with classmates and professors.

Prepare for Success

If you want to closely examine language and literary history and be challenged to think and write critically at an advanced level about how words can reflect and shape the world, then a Master of Arts (M.A.) in English could be for you. The individualized University of Idaho program allows for great autonomy, so you should be self-motivated with the ability to work independently.

Your First Year

Once you are admitted into the 33-credit M.A. program, you will choose a major professor, who will provide academic guidance throughout the program. Because there are no specific course requirements for the M.A., you will work closely with your major professor and the director of graduate studies to design a plan of study that best supports your educational and career goals.

You will be encouraged to develop a thesis topic during your second and third semesters in the program. Your major professor (who directs your thesis) will help you form a thesis committee and prepare a program of study, research and writing leading toward a finished 60-100 page master’s thesis.

By the time they complete all degree requirements, candidates for the M.A. must demonstrate a reading proficiency equivalent to four semesters of study in one of the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Latin or classical Greek.

What You Can Do

Although its primary focus is on preparing students to teach at the college and junior/community college level or to pursue further graduate study, the Master of Arts in English can also help prepare you for a wide range of exciting and rewarding career opportunities, such as:

• Environmental science and travel writing
• Editing and publishing
• Professional research
• Journalism
• Business and technical writing
• Web development
• Corporate management

Opportunities

The Master of Arts in English is an ideal degree for those who plan to continue studying at the Ph.D. level. It’s also excellent preparation for careers in writing and editing or to teach at the postsecondary level.

Our graduates have found teaching jobs as instructors at colleges and universities throughout the country. In fact, every higher education institution in the state of Idaho has had or now has a University of Idaho M.A. English graduate on faculty. Also, many of our graduates have found teaching positions at institutions in neighboring Washington state.

Our alumni also have been accepted into Ph.D. programs at University of Washington, Washington State University, University at Buffalo – The State University of New York, University of North Carolina, University of South Carolina, University of Chicago, University of Indiana, University of Illinois, Florida State University, University of California (Berkeley, Davis and Irvine), Stanford, Columbia, University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria.

Current Research

University of Idaho faculty members in the Department of English are accomplished authors with nationally recognized expertise in creative writing, composition, English education, technical writing, British literature, American literature and linguistics. Faculty members have been awarded nationally competitive awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship and National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts (NEH/NEA) Fellowships. Current Department of English faculty projects include:

• Arthurian themes in video games
• Rhetorics of global warming
• Cultural history of Nez Perce jazz bands
• Interface between the humanities and the sciences
• Gothic literature in the 19th century

Activities

Sigma Tau Delta, Eta Chi Chapter: An honor society for students of the English language and literature, in undergraduate, graduate and professional studies. Members host department events, work on a community service project, publish in a literary magazine and attend a national conference.

Hands-On Experience

Thesis: Each candidate for the M.A. will complete and orally defend a thesis.
Teaching Assistantship (T.A.): Paid T.A. positions are competitively available to graduate students in the Department of English. Assistants teach three sections of freshman composition per year under the supervision of the director of writing.
Teaching Practicum: Graduate students can earn credit for apprenticing with a faculty member in teaching undergraduate courses such as Introduction to Literary Genres, Surveys of British and American Literature, or Business/Technical Writing.
Fugue Literary Journal: A nationally recognized literary magazine of poems, essays, stories, interviews and artwork, edited by students in the M.F.A. program, often with the assistance of graduate students in other programs. Recent contributors to Fugue include Melanie Rae Thon, Stephen Dunn, Philip Levine, Franz Wright and Terrance Hayes.
Public Readings: Students have numerous opportunities to attend poetry and fiction public readings on campus and in the surrounding community. Recent visiting writers include Billy Collins, Patricia Hampl, Yiyun Li, Tony Hoagland, Chris Abani and David James Duncan.
Writing Center: A collaborative learning program dedicated to providing one-on-one assistance to student writers. Graduate students may be selected to work as tutors.