Program Overview

English - Master of Arts (MA)

The MA in English program is a two-year degree program focused on giving students a broad understanding of American, British and global Anglophone literature, and the current themes and methodologies in criticism and theory.

Program Requirements

• Students must complete 30 credit hours of coursework (10 courses), at least 21 of which must be taken at CU Boulder.
• All courses must be at the 5000 level or above.
• Subject to approval by the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, up to 6 hours of coursework may be taken in departments other than English.
• Students may earn the MA degree in English through coursework alone; a thesis is optional.
• All graduate students must follow the Graduate School's requirements for graduation.

Distribution Requirement

• The courses required for the MA should be distributed as follows:
  • Two courses before 1800 (courses should survey a broad range of literature from two different periods prior to 1800).
  • Two courses after 1800 (courses should survey a broad range of literature from two different periods after 1800).
  • One multicultural and/or postcolonial course (may overlap with req. 1 or 2).
  • One poetry intensive course (may overlap with req. 1 or 2).

Degree Plans

Plan I: Thesis Option

• Courses in the following fields are required.
• A requirement may be waived if a student has taken an equivalent graduate course at another institution; waivers must be approved by the associate chair for graduate studies.
• A master's thesis is 50–75 pages in length, and represents an original work of literary analysis that is supported by extensive research into primary and secondary sources.
• The decision to write a thesis must be made by the end of the student's first year of study.
• After deciding to write a thesis, the student will put together a three-person committee that includes: 1) their thesis director, who must be a member of the graduate faculty of the English Department, and 2) two other members of the graduate faculty, one of whom may be from another department.

Plan II: Non-Thesis Option

• Courses in the following fields are required.
• A requirement may be waived if a student has taken an equivalent graduate course at another institution; waivers must be approved by the associate chair for graduate studies.
• Students must take one Poetry Intensive course.

Language Requirement

• Students earning the MA in English must complete a foreign language requirement demonstrating proficiency in one foreign language, prior to the semester in which they intend to graduate.
• There are three options for fulfilling this requirement:
  1. Take a language proficiency exam in the language of the student's choice.
  2. Take two semesters of a 2000-level language course for credit and complete them with a grade of B or better.
  3. Transfer in two language courses taken at another college or university.

Advancement to Candidacy

• Students must submit their Candidacy Application for an Advanced Degree by the stipulated deadline.
• The candidacy application confirms that all degree requirements will have been completed by the end of the semester.

Time Limit

• MA students have four years from the semester in which they are admitted and begin coursework to complete all degree requirements.
• To continue past four years, the student must file a petition for an extension of the time limit with the dean of the Graduate School.

Learning Outcomes

• By the completion of the program, students will be able to demonstrate a broad understanding of American, British and global Anglophone literature, and the current themes and methodologies in criticism and theory.