GRADUATE PROGRAM
M.A. in ENGLISH

Twenty-three faculty members staff a stimulating and innovative department. The graduate faculty consists of published scholars whose specialties are as diverse as the courses listed in the Program of Study (see below for details about the Program of Study). Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies, Irish Studies, the Georgia Author Series, the Averitt Lecture Series, and the Cinema Arts Program provide added dimensions to the program. Many graduates go on to pursue the Ph.D. in English. Graduate Assistants work closely with faculty members on teaching and research, and all Graduate students have access to a Graduate Student Office across from the main departmental office.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have further questions about the M.A. in English at Georgia Southern University, please contact the Graduate Director, Dr. Doug Thomson at 912.681.5779 or 912.681.5471, or send e-mail to dhthom@georgiasouthern.edu. He will be happy to talk with you about the program and the career opportunities that can result from having an M.A. in English.

M.A. 36 Hours

Total Hours: 30 + 6 hours Thesis

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

REGULAR:

1. Completed requirements for the bachelor's degree in a college accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting associations.

2. A 3.0 (4.0 scale) cumulative grade point average or higher on all undergraduate work.

3. A score of no less than 550 on the Verbal section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

4. Analytical writing score of 3.5.

5. An undergraduate major or the equivalent in the proposed field of study.

6. Two letters of recommendation by persons familiar with the applicant's academic experience.

PROVISIONAL:

A minimum score of 450 on the Verbal section of the GRE accompanied by a better than 2.75 (4.0 scale) cumulative grade point average on undergraduate college work. Students who do not meet provisional requirements may appeal to a departmental committee of graduate faculty members for admission.

PROGRAM OF STUDY

Students must file their Program of Study with the College of Graduate Studies not later than the end of the semester prior to the expected graduation term. Candidates for the M.A. in English must complete 30 hours of graduate courses, including English 7111 and 7121 and at least 18 hours (six three-hour courses) on the seminar (6000-7000) level. Upon approval of the director of the M.A. program in English, students may take up to six hours from outside departments, but no more than one course from any particular outside department. To complete the degree, students may choose one of the following two options.

1. THESIS OPTION (Must have the Department Chair's approval):

In cooperation with a thesis advisor and committee, the student will write an M.A. thesis (minimum length of 60 pages, not counting "Notes" and "Works Cited"). The student must pass an oral examination consisting of a discussion of the thesis and of questions related to it. In depth and scope, the thesis must demonstrate originality in research as well as independent and critical judgment in interpreting materials. The major professor shall supervise the research, direct the writing of the thesis, and approve the thesis in its final form. Prior to final approval, the members of the thesis committee will have read the thesis. Both second and third readers shall report all comments to the major professor. See the Graduate Student Manual for additional Thesis information. Prior to beginning the thesis, students will complete the Thesis Prospectus Form.

2. NON-THESIS OPTION

After completing thirty hours of course work, students who do not plan to enter a Ph.D. program may opt to take two additional courses at the 6000-7000 level instead of writing the thesis. They will prepare one of the papers (of fifteen twenty pages) that they write in those courses to present before a faculty forum, followed by a question and answer session. The paper and the presentation will be assessed by a panel consisting of the student's teacher for the course and two other professors.

OTHER PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT:

All programs leading to the Master of Arts degree require a reading knowledge of a foreign language. Either French, German, or Spanish is generally required, but another language may be specified by the major professor when the latter is appropriate to the area of research proposed by the student in the thesis prospectus. A foreign national may not use English or his or her native language to satisfy the language requirements. Georgia Southern University offers the following two options for graduate students who need to complete a foreign language requirement:

1. The language requirement may be satisfied by a grade of "C" or better in the fourth course of a college-level foreign language that is approved by the student's advisor.

2. A student primarily interested in reading research in his or her field should prepare to take the Foreign Language Graduate Reading Exam administered by the Department of Foreign Languages. The exam is given during the third week of each quarter. The student must register for the exam with the Department of Foreign Languages no later than the last week of the quarter before the test is to be taken.

The examination will be based on material selected in advance by the student and approved by the by the examiner. The student can select either a book of al least 150 pages or several articles totaling at least 75 pages, excluding graphs, tables, etc. The exam will have a limit of two hours, during which time the student will be expected to prepare a reasonably accurate written translation of several passages selected by the examiner. The use of dictionaries an grammars during the exam will be permitted. The examining committee for foreign languages shall report "pass" or "fail" to the College of Graduate Studies.

SEMINARS

ENGL 6090 - Seminar in Selected Topics
ENGL 6630 - Seminar in Medieval Literature
ENGL 6631 - Seminar in Shakespeare
ENGL 6632 - Seminar in Literature of the English Renaissance
ENGL 6633 - Seminar in Eighteenth-Century and Restoration Literature
ENGL 6634 - Seminar in Major Authors
ENGL 6635 - Seminar in Women's and Gender Studies
ENGL 6637 - Seminar in Criticism and Theory
ENGL 7630 - Seminar in World and Comparative Literature
ENGL 7631 - Seminar in the British Novel
ENGL 7632 - Seminar in American Novel
ENGL 7633 - Seminar in Nineteenth-Century British Literature
ENGL 7635 - Seminar in Nineteenth-Century American Literature
ENGL 7637 - Seminar in Twentieth-Century American Literature
ENGL 7638 - Seminar in Twentieth-Century Poetry
ENGL 7630 - Seminar in World and Comparative Literature

A student may repeat a seminar once, when it is taught with a different subtitle.

Since faculty members do not receive compensation for independent study work, our departmental policy is that we do not arrange for independent study with students. The same policy applies to undergraduates.

THESIS GUIDELINES (printable version)

In Spring 2003, the department approved a set of thesis guidelines for graduate students.

1. Students who choose the thesis option are encouraged to begin thinking about and researching possible topics during the first year of study. (A student who does not have a strong idea for a thesis topic by the end of the first year of study should begin seriously to consider the non-thesis option.) Before the beginning of the second year of study (or at some point after the completion of 18 credit hours), the student who chooses the thesis option asks a professor to direct the thesis. The subject matter of the thesis should be within the professor's field(s) of expertise. The professor and the student should discuss the significance and originality of the thesis topic, and at the beginning of the second year of full-time study (or after the completion of 18 credit hours) the student submits a prospectus to the thesis committee for approval. The prospectus will then be forwarded to the Department Chair for approval. A copy will also go to the Graduate Office (for information and not screening). In consideration of the tight schedule outlined below (see #4), students are urged to complete at least 3 thesis hours before the semester in which they plan to finish and defend the thesis. During the first term of taking 3 thesis hours the student will make substantial progress on the thesis in order to be able to complete the thesis in time to submit it by the deadline of the term when the student plans to graduate.
2. With an eye on the deadlines, the student and director devise a time-table for completion of the thesis.
3. The student should seek feedback and criticism from the director as the thesis progresses. A good idea would be for the student to submit each chapter as it becomes completed, and the professor should meet within a week to discuss the marked draft with the student. The director and student will work around occasional delays necessitated by other commitments of the director.
4. The student should consult and follow this timetable for the thesis process. The dates are geared to the deadline for the “Final Review of Thesis and Dissertation by College of Graduate Studies”* specified each term in the Graduate Catalog. The specific dates for each semester will be posted on the Department’s graduate web page.
Eight weeks before the “Final Review”: last possible date to submit completed draft of thesis to the director. When the draft thesis has been completed and the director has found it generally satisfactory (the student and director may meet several times before this happens), then and only then is it ready to be sent on to the other committee members (readers). By this point the draft must be free of all surface and grammatical errors.
Six weeks before the “Final Review”: last possible date for the director to submit the thesis to the main office, which distributes it to the readers. The readers must be allowed at least two weeks to critique and return the thesis to the major professor, who will then sit down with the student to discuss the called-for changes, or suggestions for revision. These may be substantive or minor. The student will make the revisions. When these are completed, the director and student will meet again to discuss whether they have been satisfactorily implemented.
Three weeks before “Final Review”: The director submits the thesis to the main office of the Literature and Philosophy Department. The main office distributes copies of the thesis to the other readers and schedules a date for the defense (orals) that is agreeable to all parties.
One week before “Final Review”: final date for the defense of the thesis. The committee may find it necessary for the student to make further but probably non-substantive changes.
5 . Having followed carefully the guidelines in the “Master’s Thesis Guidelines” manual, the student submits the approved and defended thesis to the College of Graduate Studies, with title page and signatures of the thesis committee.
6 . Once the thesis has been approved by The Graduate College, the thesis will be bound and delivered to the Graduate School, library, and major professor.
*The “Final Review of Thesis and Dissertation by College of Graduate Studies” should not be confused with the “Deadline to submit final Thesis and Dissertation copies for binding to College of Graduate Studies,” which generally occurs ten days later.

NEW THESIS DEADLINES

Spring 2007

March 12: last possible date to submit completed draft of thesis to the director.

March 26: last possible date for the director to submit the thesis to the main office, which distributes it to the readers.

April 13: last possible date to submit final copy of the thesis to readers and to schedule the defense

April 27: last possible day to hold the defense

May 4: Deadline to submit final verified (approved) electronic theses or dissertation to College of Graduate Studies

NON-THESIS GUIDELINES

After completing thirty hours of course work, a student may opt to take two additional courses at the 6000-7000 level instead of writing the thesis. Following or concurrent with enrollment in these additional courses, the student will prepare one paper (of fifteen-twenty pages) that he or she has written in any seminar to present before a faculty forum. The student is encouraged to revise and polish the paper for the presentation. The paper and the presentation will be assessed by a panel consisting of three professors of the student’s choosing. The student should expect to take up to 20 minutes to communicate the argument of the paper, relying upon summary and also reading important or illustrative passages from the text; faculty will take 20 minutes to ask the student questions about the paper. After the presentation, faculty will fill out the “Report on Non-Thesis Presentation” form and submit it to the director of the M.A. program, who will then send a copy to the College of Graduate Studies. A successful report is required for the student to graduate with the M.A. under the non-thesis option.
Time guidelines for the non-thesis option: The student must complete and send the “Non-Thesis Option Program of Study” form to the College of Graduate Studies the semester before which he or she intends to graduate. At least 6 weeks prior to the date of the presentation, the student should notify the director of the M.A. program in English and the three faculty who will attend the presentation. The student should make sure that the attending faculty have a completed copy of the paper no later than one week before the presentation. The “Report on Non-Thesis Presentation” form must be sent to the College of Graduate Studies.

OTHER FORMS

Non-Thesis option Program of Study
Program of Study (thesis option)

AFTER THE DEGREE

If you decide to continue with graduate work beyond the M.A., you should know about a policy adopted by the Council of Graduate Schools. "Acceptance of an offer of financial support (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties. Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15." For more information, see the full policy.