Master of Arts - English

Plan Description

The M.A. program involves course work at the graduate level in English and American literature or in language studies with an optional thesis. Work toward this degree is designed to supplement and complete the student’s undergraduate study in the field of English and to familiarize the student with professional standards, methods of research, and modes of thought in the discipline. Possession of this degree normally leads to advancement in the teaching profession for the secondary school or community college teacher; to careers in writing, publishing and editing; or to further study in English at the doctoral level.

For more information about your program, including your graduate program handbook and learning outcomes please visit the Degree Directory.

Plan Admission Requirements

Application deadlines

Applications available on the UNLV Graduate College website.

1. Applicants must meet the minimum requirements of the Graduate College, including holding an undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or better from a regionally accredited college or university. In addition, the English department requires a minimum of 21 credits in English courses above the Freshman Composition level.
2. Applicants must submit the following:
   1. Two letters of recommendation, which can be uploaded directly through the online system.
   2. A letter of application to the Graduate Committee that includes a statement of purpose and reasons the applicant wants to study English at the graduate level at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
   3. Applicants must send one official set of transcripts from all colleges or universities attended to the Graduate College and one unofficial set directly to the English Department.
   4. A minimum of ten pages of critical writing
   5. Official scores on the Verbal portion of the General Test and the Literature in English Subject Test of the Graduate Record Examination
3. All domestic and international applicants must review and follow the Graduate College Admission and Registration Requirements.

Accomplished UNLV undergraduates may apply for an Advanced Program Track after completion of 75 credit hours. Students admitted to the program must complete 6 credits of graduate-level work in their senior year with a B or better and must satisfy all of the requirements for the BA in English in order to advance to graduate status. Students must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible for the Advanced Program Track:

1. Minimum of 3.5 GPA in English courses
2. Department chair or graduate coordinator’s recommendation
3. Submission of two letters of recommendation and a completed Enrollment Request form to the English department no less than two weeks before the beginning of the semester for which they would like to register for graduate courses

Students are accepted into a degree program as described in the Graduate Catalog. The faculty and corresponding sub-disciplines and sub-plans within the described programs are subject to change at any time.

Plan Requirements

See Subplan Requirements below.

Subplan 1: Literature Emphasis Track - Thesis
Subplan 2: Literature Emphasis Track - Non-Thesis
Subplan 3: Language/Composition Theory Track - Thesis
Subplan 4: Language/Composition Theory Track - Non-Thesis
Subplan 5: Advanced Track - Thesis
Subplan 6: Advanced Track - Non-Thesis

Subplan 1 Requirements: Literature Emphasis Track – Thesis

Total Credits Required: 30

Subplan 2 Requirements: Literature Emphasis Track – Non-Thesis

Total Credits Required: 30

Subplan 3 Requirements: Language/Composition Theory Track – Thesis

Total Credits Required: 30

Subplan 4 Requirements: Language/Composition Theory Track – Non-Thesis

Total Credits Required: 30

Subplan 5 Requirements: Advanced Track - Thesis

Total Credits Required: 24

Subplan 6 Requirements: Advanced Track - Non-Thesis

Total Credits Required: 24

Plan Degree Requirements

1. No more than a total of 6 credit hours may be selected from 600-level courses.
2. A comprehensive examination is required of each M.A. student, who will choose either a three-hour written exam or a sixty- to ninety-minute oral exam and prepare a reading list for the examination with the supervision and approval of the advisor and the examination committee. The reading list will comprise at least twenty authors, and the selections should recognize diversity of genre, gender, culture, and period. At least seventeen of those authors should be chosen from the master reading list on the English Department website. Three other authors not on the master list may be added. If taken during the semester of graduation, the exam must be scheduled no later than three weeks before the end of classes The Graduate College designates deadline dates for each semester. See graduatecollege.unlv.edu.
3. Students must demonstrate competency in the reading of one foreign language. This requirement may be satisfied by earning a B or better in WLC 198 or by passing a translation examination (with aid of a dictionary if desired) administered and evaluated by the English Department.
4. Students who did not take History of the English Language (ENG 414A) as undergraduates must add it to their master’s program as 614A. It may be used toward the 30 hours with the permission of the student’s advisor.
5. A master’s thesis, which carries six credits, is optional (although recommended) for the literary study emphasis and optional for the language studies emphasis. It is normally written during two consecutive semesters and must conform to the guidelines set forth by the Graduate College in this catalog and in its Thesis and Dissertation Manual.
   1. In consultation with his/her advisor, a student will organize a thesis committee of at least three departmental members. In addition, a fourth member from outside the department, known as the Graduate College Representative, must be appointed. An additional committee member may be added at the student and department’s discretion. Please see Graduate College policy for committee appointment guidelines.
   2. The M.A. thesis should be an original contribution to knowledge about a suitable literary or linguistic subject and comprise about seventy-five pages. Thesis projects must be designed, developed, and written in close consultation with an appropriate thesis advisor and with the student’s thesis committee.

Plan Graduation Requirements

1. The student must submit all required forms to the Graduate College and then apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing his/her degree requirements.
2. The student must successfully pass the comprehensive exam and submit the Final Exam Results by the posted deadline.
3. If a thesis is completed, the student must submit and successfully defend his/her thesis by the posted deadline. The defense must be advertised and is open to the public.
4. After the thesis defense, the student must electronically submit a properly formatted pdf copy of their thesis to the Graduate College for format check. Once the thesis format has been approved by the Graduate College, the student will submit the approved electronic version to ProQuest. Deadlines for thesis defenses, format check submissions, and the final ProQuest submission can be found here.