MA & PhD in English
Programs of study for the MA and PhD are organized into tracks, which specify recommended and required courses. These provide a focus and coherence to each student’s coursework, and are designed to help create a rigorous and diverse plan of study. Individualized tracks can also be developed with the approval of the Graduate Coordinator.
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- African-American/Africana Literature
- American Literature
- American Studies
- Children’s Literature
- Comics & Visual Rhetoric
- Composition & Rhetoric
- Cultural Studies
- Early Modern/Renaissance
- Feminisms, Genders, & Sexualities
- Film & Media Studies
- Individualized Track
- Literature & Psychology
- Medieval/Early Modern
- Postcolonial Studies
- Romantics
- Theory Studies
- 20th-Century Studies
- Victorian Studies
Requirements for the MA Degree
The MA degree may be taken with or without a thesis, as described below.
MA with Thesis
- 3 Courses in track area = 9 hours
- 2 Related courses = 6 hours
- 3 Elective courses (1 outside area of specialization) = 9 hours
- Master’s Research, Thesis, and Final oral examination on the Thesis = 6 hours
Total = 30 hours
Non-Thesis Option
- 3 Courses in track area = 9 hours
- 3 Related courses = 9 hours
- 4 Elective courses (1 outside area of specialization) = 12 hours
- Oral examination on texts drawn up by the student and the track committee = 2 hours
Total = 32 hours
Language requirement for both options: Translating competency in one foreign language (French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, Russian, Spanish, or any other approved by the Graduate Coordinator).
Normal duration of work for the degree: 4 semesters plus at least one summer term. The Department will support MA candidates for up to two calendar years of satisfactory progress.
For more detailed information regarding all requirements for the MA Degree, see the Graduate English Handbook.
Requirements for the PhD Degree
Requirements for the PhD degree fall into three categories, in addition to the language requirement.
1. Course Work. Students must earn 21 semester hours beyond the MA plus hours of dissertation credit and research hours necessary to meet the Graduate School’s minimum enrollment requirements. The track paradigm for the PhD:
- 3 Courses in track area = 9 hours
- 3 Related courses = 9 hours
- 1 Elective course = 3 hours
Total = 21 hours
2. Area Examinations and Dissertation Prospectus. Formal admission to candidacy follows the successful completion of two area examinations and approval of the dissertation prospectus. The area exams, designed by the student in consultation with his or her four-member Supervisory Committee, must include an oral and a written component. They are based on reading lists drawn up by the student and his or her committee, and they are expected to relate to and support the dissertation proposed by the student.
3. Doctoral Dissertation and Final Oral Examination on Dissertation.
Language requirement: Translating competency in one language (see above, under MA requirements) and in a second if the supervisory committee judges it necessary and appropriate.
Normal duration of work for the degree: 6–8 semesters (4 of course work and area examinations plus 2–4 of dissertation preparation). The Department of English will support students pursuing the PhD for up to 6 years of satisfactory progress (including support received for the MA)
For more information regarding requirements for the PhD, see the Graduate English Handbook.
Contact
For further information about the MA and PhD programs, contact:
Kathy Williams
Program Assistant to the Graduate Coordinator
Department of English
University of Florida
P.O. Box 117310
Gainesville, FL 32611-7310
(352) 392-6650, ext. 227
email: <kcwill@english.ufl.edu>
