Master of Arts in Teaching English

The University of Idaho Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) English is an ideal choice for certified secondary English teachers who want to enhance their expertise and boost their professional credentials. Comprehensive study in writing, language and literature – combined with excellent summer learning opportunities – will give you the sharpened knowledge and improved teaching skills to significantly strengthen your effectiveness in the classroom.

As a student in the M.A.T. English program, you will develop a broad knowledge of:

• Early American literature (colonial through Civil War)
• Later American literature (post-Civil War through contemporary)
• Linguistics
• History of the English language or other linguistics courses
• American ethnic literature
• Critical theory
• Adolescent literature
• Theory/practice of the art of teaching writing
  

The hallmark of the University of Idaho M.A.T. English program is the Grace Nixon English Institute, an intensive four-week summer program. The program offers teachers generous stipends to cover most fees, including tuition and board. This program allows you to continue teaching as you earn your degree over the period of several summers.

Prepare for Success

The Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) English is designed for secondary schoolteachers. You must have an undergraduate degree and teaching certification in English. There is no language requirement for the M.A.T.

Your First Year

To apply to the Department of English graduate program, you must meet admission requirements and send required materials to the University of Idaho Graduate Admissions Office.

Once you are admitted into the non-thesis M.A.T. degree program, you will be required to complete 33 credit hours (24 credits at the 500 level), including the following:

• 24 credits in the University of Idaho Department of English
• Six credits in professional education courses through the University of Idaho College of Education

Up to 12 credits may be non-matriculated (taken prior to admission).

The MAT is a non-thesis degree. However, you will complete a three-credit project in consultation with your project committee, which includes a major professor in the Department of English and a co-adviser from the College of Education. Your project is part of the 33-credit program, and is tailored to your professional goals. An oral defense prior to completing your degree is also required.

What You Can Do

The Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) provides you with greatly enhanced subject expertise and instructional skills. You’ll graduate prepared to integrate this knowledge into your classroom curriculum, and you’ll have the additional tools you need to successfully teach writing and English literature to students at the secondary level.

Opportunities

An M.A.T. will not only improve your effectiveness as a teacher, but the additional credentials also will improve your earning potential.

Graduates with M.A.T. degrees are highly qualified for a position of department chair or as a district language arts specialist. They also are leaders in state and local professional organizations.

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. Current department research projects include:

• Arthurian themes in video games
• Rhetorics of global warming
• Novels, memoirs and poetry of the American West
• Interface between the humanities and the sciences
• New media literacy

Activities

Sigma Tau Delta, Eta Chi Chapter: An honor society for students of 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

Master of Arts in Teaching Project: You will develop a three-credit teaching project tailored to your professional goals. Projects may be in the form of a teaching plan that includes a collection of materials for a secondary school English course; or it may consist of materials that can be used by other teachers across grade levels; or it may be a classroom based study of some aspect of the writing process or of methods of teaching reading, writing or literature.

Teaching Assistantship (T.A.): Paid T.A. positions are 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.

Fugue Literary Journal: As a student in the Department of English, you may work on this nationally recognized, student-run literary magazine of poems, essays, stories, interviews and artwork. Recent contributors to Fugue include Melanie Rae Thon, Stephen Dunn, Philip Levine, Franz Wright and Terrance Hayes.

Public Readings: Students participate regularly in poetry and fiction public readings on campus and in the surrounding community.

Distinguished Visiting Writers Program: It brings three to five nationally recognized authors to campus each year to provide selected students with intensive instruction in poetry, fiction or nonfiction writing, both in workshop settings and in one-on-one sessions. Recent visiting writers include Billy Collins, Anne Beattie, 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.

Faculty Involvement

Department of English Faculty