Master of Arts in English

Director: Jon Adams

Advisor: Nicolas Witschi,
Room 625, Sprau Tower

The Master of Arts in English provides advanced study of literature, literary history, literary theory, and other literary concerns. A student desiring to enter the program should present a thirty-hour undergraduate major with a grade-point average of at least 3.0 and a sample of critical writing about literature. Applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination General Test and forward their scores to the Department of English. Applicants must fill out an application form at www.wmich.edu/english/academics/graduate/MAapp.pdf as well as WMU’s application at www.wmich.edu/apply.

For more detailed information and for an application form, see the department’s pages on the World Wide Web at the following URL: www.wmich.edu/english/academics/graduate/grad-admissions.html#MA.

Program Requirements

At least twenty hours of the undergraduate major must be in courses in literature; no more than 15 of the undergraduate major should be at the freshman-sophomore level. Applicants lacking an undergraduate major but who have at least 20 hours of work in English with a substantial number of courses in literature and who are otherwise judged eligible may be granted admission to the program on condition that they remedy perceived deficiencies in preparation by taking some undergraduate courses as prerequisites.

Required courses in the program are the following:

ENGL 6150 - Literary Criticism Credits: 3 hours
ENGL 6300 - Introduction to Graduate Studies Credits: 3 hours
ENGL 6400 - The Nature of Poetry Credits: 3 hours
ENGL 6900 - Scholarship and Writing in the Profession Credits: 3 hours

Additional Courses

The additional courses needed to complete a thirty hour program are selected in consultation with the graduate director. On admission, students should consult with the advisor at the earliest opportunity concerning their program of study.