English M.A.
Dr. Julian Knox, Coordinator
E-mail: julian.knox@gcsu.edu
Mission
The Master of Arts degree in English is designed for students who desire the challenge of an intense study of literature. Graduates of the program will have a critical appreciation of literature, a thorough knowledge of scholarly tools, and the preparation necessary to become competent writers and teachers of writing. The degree requires a total of 36 semester hours of graduate-level courses in English.
Students in the program receive substantial individual attention from faculty. There are opportunities for students to do research and publish on their own or with faculty and for meeting important scholars and writers at both on-campus and off-campus conferences and events. In addition, graduate assistants gain valuable professional experience as editors, scholars, or instructors.
Regular Admission Requirements
Applicants for admission to the program leading to the Master of Arts degree in English must comply with the general requirements of the University System and the University as described earlier in this catalog. A student may receive regular admission with all of the following:
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a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution;
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a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher (4.0 scale) on all undergraduate work;
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an undergraduate major in English.
The application must also be supported by a writing sample and two letters of recommendation from referees who know the student’s work well and are prepared to comment on its quality. The writing sample should be no more than fifteen pages and must be submitted directly to the MA Program Coordinator.
The complete application, including all supporting documents, should be filed with the Graduate Admissions Office no later than July 1 of the year in which admission to the M.A. program in English is desired.
Provisional Admission
A student may receive provisional admission with all of the following:
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a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution;
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a cumulative GPA of 2.75 or higher (4.0 scale) on all undergraduate work;
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an undergraduate coursework in English or a closely related field with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in such coursework (4.0 scale).
The application must also be supported by a writing sample and two letters of recommendation from referees who know the student’s work well and who are prepared to comment on its quality. The writing sample should be no more than fifteen pages and must be submitted directly to the MA Program Coordinator.
Deadlines and procedures for provisional admission are the same as for regular admission.
A provisionally admitted student may gain regular status through the completion of the first 9-12 graduate hours in English with grades of B or better in all courses attempted.
Conditional Admission
Applicants who apply too late for full consideration for admission or who have not submitted all required documents for evaluation may be assigned conditional admission status. While in this status, a student may register for one semester only by completing a Georgia College Conditional Registration Agreement for Graduate Students; this form requires the signatures of both the student and the graduate coordinator. Any student who registers under this agreement must be admitted either to regular or to provisional status by the end of the first semester of enrollment in order to continue taking courses in the degree program.
Students may take no more than 12 semester hours of course work in conditional and provisional status combined.
Academic Dismissal Policy
A graduate student will be placed on graduate academic probation if the student's institutional graduate grade point average falls below a 3.00 at any point during his or her graduate studies. A student whose institutional graduate grade point average remains below 3.00 for two consecutive terms will be placed on academic dismissal and will need to seek readmission to the program.
Foreign Language Requirement
The student should demonstrate reading proficiency in a foreign language as early as possible, and must do so before signing up for thesis credit (ENGL 6970). This proficiency may be demonstrated either by the successful completion of a fourth-level language course with a grade of B or better in the four years prior to admission or by passing a translation examination administered by the Department of Modern Languages & Cultures on a passage relevant to English literature.
The MA Committee: Purpose and Tasks
The MA Committee will consist of the MA Coordinator and two to three additional members of the MA Faculty, to be constituted at the start of each new academic year. In its first meeting of each year, the MA Committee will set universal deadlines for all stages of MA Capstone Projects, whether the Thesis or Portfolio option. The MA Committee will receive and evaluate all Capstone Project proposals, due the semester before the student starts credit hour work on the thesis, or work on the portfolio. The MA Committee will pair each student pursuing the Thesis Option with a thesis committee of three advisors from the ranks of the English MA faculty (in place of one of these, the student may ask a willing member of the MFA Faculty or the graduate faculty of another department to serve on the committee, provided said faculty member’s expertise is relevant to the project). The MA Committee will pair each student pursuing the Portfolio Option with one Portfolio Advisor from the ranks of the English MA Faculty. The MA Committee will assess and determine a grade for all portfolios.
Capstone Project Thesis Option
Thesis and Thesis Defense: During the term that the student is completing 18 semester hours, the student should inform the MA Coordinator of plans to write a thesis, and should develop a two-page thesis proposal to be submitted to the MA Committee no later than Week 10 of the semester prior to beginning thesis work along with preferences for a Thesis Committee Chair and, if applicable, the name and consent of a graduate faculty member from the MFA Program or another department. The student may not sign up for semester hours of ENGL 6970: Thesis before the proposal is approved in writing by the MA Committee and a Thesis Director is assigned.
The student should sign up for a total of 9 hours of ENGL 6970: Thesis and ideally should be enrolled in thesis hours during the term the thesis is completed and defended. Thesis defenses only occur in fall and spring during the academic year. If the student has already completed nine hours of thesis credits, the student does not need to be registered for additional thesis hours during the semester of the defense provided that it is during the fall or spring. If the thesis advisor feels that the thesis still requires significant work, the advisor can require the student to sign up for additional hours as needed, but the program will not require the student to pay for additional hours for the defense if 9 hours have already been successfully completed. The thesis must demonstrate scholarly research on a literary, film, or new media topic of considerable depth, should normally have between 50 and 100 pages of text, and should also include a comprehensive list of works cited. The thesis should be prepared in the documentation style recommended by the Modern Language Association and should meet the criteria for theses as established by the University. Following the submission of the proposal, students must submit to the MA Committee and thesis committee chair a sample chapter, followed by a full rough draft, followed by a revised and completed thesis, by the established deadlines. Requests for extensions or exceptions must be submitted to the MA committee in writing.
The oral defense of the thesis before the thesis committee should be held no later than Week 14 of the semester. The thesis defense will be open to any interested member of the University community. The defense will normally take at least one hour and will demonstrate the student's knowledge of the thesis topic and the implications of the thesis for the general study of literature, film, or new media.
After the defense, the student should make final corrections to the thesis as soon as possible. Theses will be accepted digitally, and the MA in English thesis will conform to current MLA style. See the Graduate Coordinator for additional information. The original copy of the signature page should be signed by the members of the thesis committee, the Graduate Coordinator, the Department Chair, and the Dean of the College. The student should then deliver the original signed copy and the photocopies, if any, of the thesis to the library, fill out the bindery form available there if needed, pay the required binding fees, and then present a copy of the receipt to the Graduate Coordinator. The Graduate Coordinator will not sign the release for graduation until a copy of the receipt is presented.
Capstone Project Non-Thesis Option: Portfolio
During the term that the student is completing 18 semester hours, the student should inform the MA Coordinator of plans to create a portfolio, and should develop a two-page portfolio proposal to be submitted to the MA Committee no later than Week 10 of the semester prior to beginning the portfolio. The committee will then assign a portfolio advisor based on the requests coming in that term. The portfolio proposal should list the three distinct documents that the student envisions including in the portfolio, along with a justification for why these documents are included and how the student plans to use them. One of these documents must be a scholarly article of between 20-30 pages in length, suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. The second should be a conference-ready version of that or another article, including any visual aids. The third document should reflect the student’s professional aspirations in addition to disciplinary expertise; it could take the form of 1) an additional scholarly article, 2) a fully prepared and vetted grant or fellowship application, 3) the documented development of a high-impact teaching practice, 4) an archival study of a volume or object in GCSU’s Special Collection or other repository, or 5) an annotated bibliography or researched catalog of secondary pursuits such as alternative academic careers, digital humanities, pedagogies in writing and writing centers, along with application statements and related materials for employment in those fields. The student may develop a third document distinct from the options listed above, provided that the MA Committee and the Portfolio Advisor agree that it has merit. Final determination for the three documents will be made after consultation with the Portfolio Advisor. In addition to the three documents, the portfolio should include an introduction that gives background on said documents’ development and an explanation of their purpose, along with any concrete plans for their implementation.
The portfolio should be submitted to the MA Committee and Portfolio Advisor for a critical reading by Week 14 of the semester. Along with written comments, it will be awarded a pass with distinction, pass, or fail by the MA Committee and Portfolio Advisor. Students whose portfolio is not awarded a passing grade may revise and resubmit the portfolio during the following fall or spring semester.
Selecting and Changing Options
Students should confer with the Coordinator of the MA in English during the semester when they are completing 18 hours of coursework in order to complete the application for degree candidacy. Students will be asked to choose in writing either the thesis or non-thesis option when they apply for candidacy. Students may change from either thesis to non-thesis or the reverse only once after making application for candidacy. If a student has begun thesis hours before changing to the non-thesis option, the student may petition to have thesis hours changed to hours of independent study. However, these hours cannot be used to substitute for the three additional courses of classroom instruction that bring the non-thesis option to a total of 36 semester hours.
Career Information
The program will prepare the student for doctoral work in English or for careers demanding advanced skills in critical reading and writing. The degree can make one eligible for teaching at a two-year college, and certified teachers who complete the degree can extend their certification to the fifth-year level. The degree is also useful for anyone interested in a career in professional writing, administration, entertainment, or public service. Whatever the career plans of students, the program requires a serious commitment to literary scholarship. Through this commitment, students will be rewarded with the intellectual company of the world’s finest writers.
Further Information
Inquiries concerning the nature of the program, the availability of given courses, and the availability of graduate assistantships should be directed to the Coordinator of the MA in English, CBX 044, Georgia College, Milledgeville, GA 31061. Telephone: (478) 445-8687. Fax: (478) 445-5961. The coordinator’s e-mail address is julian.knox@gcsu.edu
Other information can be viewed at: www.gcsu.edu/artsandsciences/english/english-ma
Program of Study
The student must complete 36 semester hours in English (ENGL) at the graduate level with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. With the approval of the Coordinator of Graduate Studies in English, a student may transfer graduate hours from another accredited institution, but no more than 9 semester hours will be accepted. All credit applied to the Master of Arts degree in English must be earned within the prescribed period of five years before graduation. Students may select either the Thesis or the Non-Thesis Option.
Core Courses (Both Options)
All students should take ENGL 6601 as soon as possible, preferably in the first term of graduate work. ENGL 6601 is a prerequisite for ENGL 6970 Thesis.
Please note that whereas 6000-level courses are graduate seminars, 5000-level courses are cross-listed at the 4000-level and therefore include graduate and undergraduate students.
Major Area Courses
Thesis Option: Satisfactorily complete 15 semester hours of Major Area Courses from the following list and 9 semester hours of ENGL 6970 Thesis.
Non-Thesis Option: Satisfactorily complete 24 semester hours of Major Area Courses from the following list.
Capstone Project
THESIS OPTION REQUIREMENTS:
- 9 semester hours of ENGL 6970
- Completion of thesis and an oral defense
NON-THESIS OPTION REQUIREMENTS:
- 9 semester hours of additional Major Area Courses required in lieu of 9 semester hours of ENGL 6970
- Portfolio consisting of a scholarly article suitable for publication, a conference-ready version of that or another article, and a third document pertinent to the candidate's career aspirations and to be defined via consultation with the portfolio advisor and MA Committee.
- Composition of an introductory essay that explains and gives pertinent background for the contents of the portfolio, including existing or projected venues for publication, conference presentation, and any other avenues of dissemination.
Total Credit Hours: 36