School of Humanities and Cultural Studies

Master of Arts in English, Literature Concentration

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Why Choose Literature Concentration in English?

A Master of Arts degree in English meets today’s global challenges by equipping graduates with a range of professional options, including teaching college English or English as a second language, technical and professional writing, work in the nonprofit sector, and doctoral study leading to the Ph.D. degree. If pursuing Wright State's M.A. in English, you may choose from one of three concentrations: Literature, Rhetoric and Writing, or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

Careers

View the English program profile for sample occupations, average salary, and employment projections. 

Real-World Experience

Some recent real-world projects for English Department students include:

  • A grant-funded pilot episode of a children’s television show to air on PBS ThinkTV.
  • A series of videos focused on veteran experiences.
  • Writing internship opportunities exist with local organizations. Past organizations have included The Antioch Review, Heavy Feather Review, Antioch Writers’ Workshop, The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, Dayton Visual Arts Center, and elsewhere.
  • The Vibrant Visiting Writers’ Series open to the public. Past writers have included Xhenet Aliu, Philip Metres, Kaveh Akbar, Paige Lewis, Amina Gautier, and others.

Academics and Curriculum

All students in the graduate program complete 33 to 36 hours of graduate study and a graduate portfolio, which includes a targeted revision of a seminar paper. Before graduating, a candidate for the Master of Arts degree in English must

  • Submit a Culminating Project of work for evaluation; and
  • Present selected contents of that project at a designated English Department event.

View the Master of Arts in English program information and requirements in the Academic Catalog.

Admission

In addition to meeting the admission requirements of the Graduate School, applicants for regular standing in the M.A. program in English must present either an undergraduate major in English from an accredited college or university with a major average of 3.2 or better, or five appropriate upper-division courses in English with an average of 3.5 or better in those classes--and have an overall undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). Applicants must also submit a five-page writing sample on a subject related to English using secondary sources. Applicants whose overall grade point average is between 2.7 and 3.0 may be admitted to conditional standing by action of the English department graduate committee. Funding opportunities to offset the cost of tuition are available to students once they have been admitted to the program.

How to Apply

Apply online to the Graduate School.

 


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