Students admitted to graduate study in the Department of English normally follow
a thirty-hour program of courses leading to the Master of Arts in English.
Students whose undergraduate degree was not in English will usually be asked to
complete a 39-hour program. All students take English 500: Introduction to the
Graduate Study of Literature, and at least 15 hours of graduate literature
courses. Students in the composition concentration take additional courses
exploring current theories about writing, the teaching of writing, and the
contexts of writing—including linguistics, critical theory, and discourse
analysis. Students in the creative writing concentration take an equal number of
courses in literature and in writing. Students in the women’s studies
concentration take additional courses in women’s literature and women’s studies.
With an advisory committee’s approval, students in the literature and
composition concentrations may select a six-hour thesis option as a part of
their study. All students in the creative writing concentration produce a thesis
consisting of a substantial body of original work (a novel, a collection of
short stories, a collection of poetry) prefaced by a discussion of the creative
process that gave rise to the work and/or critical analysis placing the work in
the context of literary traditions and movements.
All options are designed to promote breadth and depth of knowledge in British
and American literature. The degree provides valuable training for teachers of
English at the secondary level, and a solid preparation for pursuing doctoral
work in the field. In the scheduling of its courses and in the scope of the
comprehensive examination required by all students, the Department presents a
substantial and coordinated curriculum of graduate study. The English Department
supports two journals, Paideuma: A Journal Devoted to Ezra Pound Scholarship,
and Sagetrieb: A Journal Devoted to Poets in the Imagist/ Objectivist Tradition,
to which graduate students have contributed editorial assistance as well as
articles.
Students unable to commute or be in residence during the academic year may earn
the M.A. through the summer session. The department schedules its summer
graduate offerings in such a way that students will have access to most of the
graduate curriculum over every four-summer cycle. Students transferring the
allowable maximum of six hours of graduate credit or 400-level courses will be
able to complete the coursework for the thesis degree in as few as three summers
and the non-thesis degree in four. Admission and degree requirements are the
same as for regular academic-year students. Applications for the summer degree
program may be submitted at any time during the year.
Applicants normally are expected to have at least a 3.0 grade-point average in
English from an accredited institution, and a verbal score of 600 or more on the
General Test of the Graduate Record Examination. The GRE Subject Test in
Literature in English is recommended but not required.
Applicants should specify on their application forms the concentration or
concentrations to which they wish to apply. They should also submit a 10-20 page
writing sample: for the literature concentration, a sample of literary analysis;
for the composition concentration, a sample of expository or other analytical
prose (having to do with writing or writing theory if possible); for the
creative writing concentration, poetry or fiction. Applicants wishing to be
considered for teaching assistantships should also include a statement about
their philosophy of teaching and their teaching experience, if any.
The Department requires a reading knowledge of one foreign language for
admission. An applicant who has not met this requirement by passing six credit
hours of a college intermediate language course with a “C” or higher may be
admitted on a provisional basis and must then meet the requirement through
coursework or by taking a written equivalency test before registering for more
than 12 credit hours of graduate work.
Applicants wishing to be considered for a teaching assistantship should be sure
their complete files are submitted by February 15.
All students are required to complete ENG 500: Introduction to the Graduate
Study of Literature, within their first twelve hours of work. Graduate teaching
assistants in the Department are also required to take ENG 693: Teaching College
Composition, during their first semester of teaching.
The program usually requires 30 hours of coursework, and at least 24 hours must
be in English courses numbered 500 or above, including up to six hours of thesis
credit (ENG 699). Students with teaching assistantships will normally need two
years to complete the program; other full-time students sometimes finish more
quickly, while part-time and non-resident students usually take longer.
Typically, seven to eight graduate courses are offered each semester and three
to four each summer; many are offered in the late afternoon or evenings.
A six-hour comprehensive written examination, graded “Pass” or “Fail,” is
required of all students. Based on the department’s M.A. Reading List, the
written examination is offered twice each year, in spring and fall. All thesis
candidates, including creative writers, do one-hour defenses of their theses.
Coursework requirements for thirty-hour programs follow:
Literature Concentration. 30 hours of graduate coursework, to include ENG 500;
literature courses predominate; thesis candidates take up to six hours of thesis
credit.
Concentration in Composition: Theory, Practice, Pedagogy. 15 hours of graduate
literature courses, including ENG 500; ENG 579: Theory of Composition; and ENG
693: Teaching College Composition. Thesis candidates take 9 hours additional
composition-related coursework, including 3-6 hours thesis credits. Non-thesis
candidates take 9 hours of additional coursework, at least six to be related to
composition.
Concentration in Creative Writing. Thesis program only. 15 hours of graduate
literature courses, to include ENG 500; 15 hours of writing courses (workshops,
thesis credits, ENG 693).
Concentration in Women’s Studies. 30 hours of graduate coursework, to include
ENG 500; WST 510: Advanced Studies in Feminist Theory; ENG 549: Studies in
Women’s Literature; and one other women’s studies or women’s literature course,
the remaining 18 credit hours must be in English. Thesis candidates take up to
six hours of thesis credit. This concentration cannot be combined with any other
except literature.
For more information on the English Department and its graduate program, see our
website at: http://www.umaine.edu/english.
Robert A. Brinkley, Ph.D. (Massachusetts at Amherst, 1979), Associate Professor
and Chair. Romanticism, critical theory, Spenser, Milton.
Paul Bauschatz, Ph.D. (Columbia, 1972), Associate Professor. Literature and
linguistics, critical theory, medieval literature.
Joseph E. Brogunier, Ph.D. (Minnesota, 1969), Associate Professor.
Twentieth-century American poetry and fiction. Melville, Faulkner, Pound, Hart
Crane.
Richard T. Brucher, Ph.D. (Rutgers, 1978), Asso-ciate Professor, British and
American drama, technical writing.
A. Patricia Burnes, Ph.D. (St. Louis University, 1977), Associate Professor.
American literature, the development of writing ability.
Laura Cowan, Ph.D. (Princeton, 1988), Associate Professor. Modernist literature.
Poetry.
Josephine Donovan, Ph.D. (Wisconsin at Madison, 1971), Professor. Feminist
critical theory, critical theory, women’s literature. (On leave, 2000-2001.)
Steven Evans, Ph.D. (Brown, 1999), Assistant Professor. Postmodern American
poetry, critical theory.
T. Jeff Evans, Ph.D. (California at Davis, 1974), Associate Professor. American
literature, film.
Welch D. Everman, Ph.D. (SUNY-Buffalo, 1988), Professor. Creative writing,
critical theory, popular culture.
Elaine Ford, B.A. (Harvard, 1964), Professor. Creative writing.
Benjamin Friedlander, Ph.D. (SUNY-Buffalo, 1999), Assistant Professor. Poetry
and poetics; nineteenth- and twentieth-century American literature.
Burton N. Hatlen, Ph.D. (California at Davis, 1971), Professor. Milton, Spenser,
Donne and the Metaphysicals, Shakespeare, modern American poetry.
Constance Hunting, B.A. (Brown, 1947), Professor. Creative writing, the
Bloomsbury Group, modern British and American poetry.
Naomi Jacobs, Ph.D. (Missouri, 1982), Professor. British and American fiction,
women’s literature, utopian literature.
Harvey Kail, Ph.D. (Northern Illinois, 1977), Associate Professor. Composition
theory and practice, American poetry and poetics.
Margaret A. Lukens, Ph.D. (Colorado, 1991), Associate Professor.
Nineteenth-century American literature, Native American literature, and
multi-cultural studies.
Linne R. Mooney, Ph.D. (Toronto, 1981), Professor and Graduate Coordinator.
Medieval literature.
Virginia Nees-Hatlen, Ph.D. (Iowa, 1980), Asso-ciate Professor and Associate
Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Composition theory and practice;
teaching literature and writing; Renaissance.
Kenneth W. Norris, Ph.D. (McGill, 1980), Professor. Canadian literature and
creative writing.
Deborah D. Rogers, Ph.D. (Columbia, 1982), Professor. Restoration and
eighteenth-century English literature.
John R. Wilson, Ph.D. (Kansas, 1969), Associate Professor. Victorian literature,
Religion and literature. Liberal Studies.
Graduate School
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