English - M.A. | Framingham University

Admission Requirements

For candidates who have completed a bachelor’s degree with a major in English:

The applicant must complete the online application form and submit the $50.00 deposit.
The applicant must have earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university;
An overall undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.70 on a 4.00 scale in a degree program acceptable to the admissions committee;
Must have a GPA of 3.00 or higher in the undergraduate major;
A 500-800 word statement of purpose;
Three letters of recommendation—at least two must be from English faculty members from Framingham State or the student’s previous institution.
A writing sample in one of the following formats: an undergraduate literature essay; a sample of professional prose; an essay written in response to a writing prompt provided by the English Department admissions committee

For current Framingham State University students with a major in English:

The applicant must complete the online application form.
The applicant must have earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university;
An overall undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.70 on a 4.00 scale in a degree program acceptable to the admissions committee;
Must have a GPA of 3.00 or higher in the major;
A 500-800 word statement of purpose;
Three letters of recommendation—at least two must be from English faculty members from Framingham State or the student’s previous institution;
An undergraduate literature essay submitted as a writing sample

Learning Outcomes

Having achieved the goals and objectives listed above, students will be able to gain an enhanced professional and scholarly identity through a mastery of disciplinary knowledge. Their expertise will allow them to:

Articulate one’s own critical and theoretical orientations within historical and contemporary scholarship
Critique the aesthetic effects of specific literary forms with attention to the interplay between content and form
Identify how theoretical and disciplinary issues differ between two or more specialized areas of literary study
Critique the complexity of human experience informed by the representation of gender, sexuality, class, race, religion or ethnicity in literary texts
Manage a large-scale independent thesis project from conception to defense
Prepare for a range of professional pursuits or further graduate study

Program Requirements

The degree requires a minimum of nine (9) courses, which are divided into two (2) core courses (which includes a capstone course), and seven (7) English elective courses. Both 800-dual-level and 900-level English graduate courses require additional readings, including works of literacy criticism, and extensive independent research. As part of the capstone course experience, students are required to pass an oral defense of their master’s thesis for a panel of three (3) faculty members which includes the thesis faculty advisor, the Chair of the English Department, and one other member of the faculty chosen either by the master’s candidate or by the Coordinator of this graduate program.

Core Courses

ENGL 901 Introduction to Graduate Study in English
ENGL 985 Master’s Thesis in English (Capstone Course)

Concentration Courses

Students choose seven (7) concentration courses from below. At least two (2) must be at the 900-graduate-level English courses

ENGL 908 Composition Theory and Pedagogy
ENGL 920 Contemporary African-American Fiction
ENGL 924 Contemporary African Literature
ENGL 929 Salman Rushdie and the Postcolonial Novel
ENGL 930 Workshop in Children’s Literature
ENGL 936 Transatlantic Modernism
ENGL 939 T.S. Eliot and Marianne Moore
ENGL 942 Children’s Literature: Critical Approaches
ENGL 946 Young Adult Literature: Critical Approaches
ENGL 962 Harlem Renaissance Poetry
ENGL 990 Independent Study in English

Dual Electives

(Offered in conjunction with the corresponding undergraduate course)

ENGL 800 Studies in Genre
ENGL 804 English Renaissance Literature
ENGL 809 The Nineteenth-Century European Novel
ENGL 813 Medieval and Renaissance Drama
ENGL 814 British Romanticism
ENGL 817 Rise and Establishment of the English Novel
ENGL 818 The Nineteenth Century British Novel
ENGL 822 Studies in British Literature through 1680
ENGL 826 The Novel and the World
ENGL 829 The Victorian Period
ENGL 832 Whitman, Dickinson and Frost
ENGL 837 Studies in Shakespeare
ENGL 838 Modern and Contemporary British and Irish Poetry
ENGL 841 Contemporary Irish Literature
ENGL 842 Studies in British Literature after 1680
ENGL 843 Russian Literature in Translation
ENGL 846 Modern Drama
ENGL 847 Studies in American Literature
ENGL 849 Modern American Poetry
ENGL 852 The Twentieth-Century Novel
ENGL 853 Contemporary African American Poetry
ENGL 854 British Fiction since 1945
ENGL 860 Critical Writing
ENGL 862 American Romanticism
ENGL 864 Postcolonial Literature
ENGL 870 Current Trends in Children's Literature
ENGL 873 Chaucer
ENGL 874 American Realism and Naturalism
ENGL 875 History of Children's Literature
ENGL 876 Modern American Fiction
ENGL 879 Studies in World Literature through 1900
ENGL 883 Contemporary American Fiction
ENGL 884 Contemporary American Poetry
ENGL 890 The English Language
ENGL 896 Seminar in Literature
ENGL 897 Studies in African American Literature
ENGL 898 Studies in World Literature after 1900

Meet Your Program Coordinator

Desmond McCarthy, Ph.D.

Professor and Graduate Coordinator, English Department and Journalism Program Coordinator

(508) 626-4813

dmccarthy@framingham.edu

May Hall

English - M.A.

Learning Format

Types

Elevate Your Writing and Critical Thinking: Join Our M.A. in English

Admission Requirements

Learning Outcomes

Program Requirements

Meet Your Program Coordinator

Desmond McCarthy, Ph.D.

Learn More

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