Requirements for the M.A. in English

This page lists information about each of the requirements for the Master of Arts in English.

Course Study

Stetson's Master of Arts program in English offers flexibility for students with a variety of goals, from personal enrichment to preparation for secondary or community college teaching or admission to doctoral studies. Each candidate for the Master's degree is expected to demonstrate advanced skill in reading literature, in responding to texts orally and in writing from informed theoretical perspectives, and in researching critical contexts. Candidates for the M.A. in English must complete 12 core credits (the Graduate Colloquium, which is an intensive study of critical methodology and professional issues; one course in Literary Theory/Criticism; a Directed Research project leading to the Master's thesis; and a Master's thesis of publishable length and quality), at least 6 additional credits at the 600 level, and 12 or more additional credits at the 500 or 600 level.

Required Courses

Candidates for the M.A. in English must complete a total of 30 credit hours:

  • ENGL 600 Graduate Colloquium 3
  • ENGL 698 Directed Research 3
  • ENGL 699 Thesis 3
  • One course in Criticism/Theory 3
  • Two courses at the 600 level 6
  • Four courses at the 500 level or above 12

Total credits 30

Full-Time Status

Full-time status for graduate students is defined as 6 credit hours per term.

Course in CriticismTheory

Any of the following courses fulfills the criticism/theory requirement: ENGL 520, ENGL 522, ENGL 523, ENGL 524, ENGL 527, ENGL 528, ENGL 581, ENGL 582, ENGL 681.

Transfer Credit

Up to 6 hours of post-graduate work may be accepted for transfer credit in the degree program, with a grade of B or higher. Students wishing to apply such transfer hours to the distribution requirements for the degree should submit a written request stating the requirement to be fulfilled along with a copy of the syllabus for the course and any additional materials which will serve to demonstrate the nature of the course content.

Language Requirement

A reading knowledge of a modern language approved by the department is required for the M.A. Program before the student may register for ENGL 699; students may not attempt to fulfill the language requirement while taking ENGL 699. Students may satisfy this requirement in one of three ways.

  • First, students may make an acceptable score (usually 76%) on the reading examination administered by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. French, German, and Spanish are approved languages; students may apply to substitute another language to fulfill this requirement if that language is appropriate for the student's course of study. Students have used this option in the recent past for Portuguese, Latin, and Japanese. Application for an examination should be made to the Chair of the Department of Modern Languages, Sampson Hall, who will report the student's score to the Office of Graduate Studies.
  • Second, the foreign language requirement may be fulfilled by an undergraduate major in a foreign language or an undergraduate minor in a foreign language, with a grade point average of B or better in the major or minor. In order to use this option, present the appropriate transcript to the director of graduate studies.
  • Third, the requirement may be fulfilled by passing a course in a foreign language at Stetson University at the 200 level or higher.

Thesis

Students who have earned at least 24 credits toward the degree; who have fulfilled the modern language requirement; and who have completed ENGL 698 must file a form in the Office of Graduate Studies showing that the thesis topic has been approved by the Director of the Thesis, the Department Chair, and the Dean of the College. Once that form has been filed, the student may register for ENGL 699. Prior to the final typing of the thesis, the candidate must have the approval of his or her thesis committee. After securing that approval, he or she must submit for verification of correct form three copies of the thesis, typed and ready for binding, to the Thesis Director at least two weeks before the date set for the oral examination.