The degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy are offered in English Language and Literature.

Candidates for the M.A. in English may complete the program as either part-time or full-time students. Candidates for the Ph.D. in English must be in attendance as full-time students for at least three semesters of the program.

1. Admission to the Ph.D. in English is limited and competitive. Applicants should have a Master’s Degree in English or its equivalent from a recognized university and should have an outstanding academic record.

2. All candidates will be required to complete 15 credit hours in graduate courses. These courses will be selected by the candidate in consultation with the candidate’s Supervisory Committee.

   While candidates will normally be free to choose graduate courses of interest to them, it will be a primary responsibility of their Supervisory Committees to ensure that any serious deficiencies in their record of previous courses, graduate and undergraduate, are remedied, particularly in the area of proposed thesis research.

3. Candidates who have not previously taken English 7003 or its equivalent will take English 7003, which will count as one of the required courses for the Ph.D. Students who have taken English 7003 or its equivalent before entering the Ph.D. program must still complete 15 credit hours.

4. Candidates who have not completed English 4900 or English 5900 or an equivalent course will be required to complete English 5900, which will not count as one of the required courses for the Ph.D. The course will be graded “pass” or “fail”. As in other graduate courses a grade of 65B or above is considered a pass.

5. Candidates must submit a thesis proposal which includes a statement of topic, a working title, a plan of research and a preliminary bibliography. The thesis proposal should be approved by the Supervisory Committee and submitted to the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee for its approval before the Comprehensive Examination and before the end of the fifth semester. The Departmental Graduate Studies Committee shall return the thesis proposal to the candidate no later than one month after receiving it.

6. Reading knowledge of a second language will be required of all candidates. Reading knowledge is defined as a minimum B grade in a second-year language course taken within the previous five years, a passing grade in an approved second-language course for graduate students, or performance satisfactory to the Department in an arranged reading proficiency test (in which a dictionary may be used).

   The language requirement should be completed before the Comprehensive Examination is taken.

   The second language will normally be French. In exceptional circumstances, and on the recommendation of the Supervisory Committee and the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee, a language other than French may be substituted.

   The Supervisory Committee may also require a demonstrated reading knowledge of an additional language (other than French or the substituted language) if such knowledge is deemed necessary for the student’s research interests.

7. The Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination in English is a written examination prepared by the candidate’s Comprehensive Examination Committee.

   In accordance with General Regulation Comprehensive Examinations, Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination, the candidate’s Comprehensive Examination Committee will include the Head (or the Head’s delegate, usually the Graduate Co-ordinator), the candidate’s Supervisor, and three other members of the Department.

   The written examination shall consist of three parts: a four-hour examination in the student’s area of concentration and two three-hour examinations in two other specified areas. In accordance with General Regulation Comprehensive Examinations, Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination, the examination shall take place before the end of the seventh semester.

   Candidates will be graded “pass with distinction”, “pass”, “re-examination”, or “fail”, in accordance with General Regulation Comprehensive Examinations, Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination, 4. Candidates who are marked for “re-examination” will be re-examined in the area or areas in which the Comprehensive Examination Committee has determined that the candidate's performance is deficient. The nature of this re-examination (and whether it will be written or oral) is left to the discretion of the Comprehensive Examination Committee.

A selection of the following graduate courses will be offered to meet the requirements of candidates, as far as the resources of the Department will allow.

• 5900 Bibliography and Research Methods
• 6403 Etymology (same as Linguistics 6403)
• 6420 English Dialectology I
• 6421 English Dialectology II
• 6999 Master’s Essay (for non-thesis students)
• 7003 Trends in Contemporary Critical Theory
• 7004 English Phonology and Morphology
• 7005 The Syntactic Structure of English
• 7032 Studies in Old English I
• 7033 Studies in Old English II
• 7034 Studies in Middle English I
• 7035 Studies in Middle English II
• 7036 Studies in Middle English III
• 7037 Studies in 16th-Century Literature I
• 7038 Studies in 16th-Century Literature II
• 7039 Studies in 16th-Century Literature III
• 7040 Studies in 16th-Century Literature IV
• 7041 Studies in 17th-Century British Literature I
• 7042 Studies in 17th-Century British Literature II
• 7043 Studies in 17th-Century British Literature III
• 7044 Studies in 17th-Century British Literature IV
• 7045 Studies in 18th-Century British Literature I
• 7046 Studies in 18th-Century British Literature II
• 7047 Studies in 18th-Century British Literature III
• 7048 Studies in 18th-Century British Literature IV
• 7049 Studies in 19th-Century British Literature I
• 7050 Studies in 19th-Century British Literature II
• 7051 Studies in 19th-Century British Literature III
• 7052 Studies in 19th-Century British Literature IV
• 7053 Studies in 20th-Century British Literature I
• 7054 Studies in 20th-Century British Literature II
• 7055 Studies in 20th-Century British Literature III
• 7056 Studies in 20th-Century British Literature IV
• 7057 Studies in Pre-19th Century American Literature
• 7058 Studies in 19th Century American Literature I
• 7059 Studies in 19th-Century American Literature II
• 7060 Studies in 19th-Century American Literature III
• 7061 Studies in 20th-Century American Literature I
• 7062 Studies in 20th-Century American Literature II
• 7063 Studies in 20th-Century American Literature III
• 7064 Studies in 20th-Century American Literature IV
• 7065 Studies in Pre-19th Century Canadian Literature
• 7066 Studies in 19th-Century Canadian Literature I
• 7067 Studies in 19th-Century Canadian Literature II
• 7068 Studies in 19th-Century Canadian Literature III
• 7069 Studies in 20th-Century Canadian Literature I
• 7070 Studies in 20th-Century Canadian Literature II
• 7071 Studies in 20th-Century Canadian Literature III
• 7072 Studies in 20th-Century Canadian Literature IV
• 7073 Studies in Newfoundland Literature I
• 7074 Studies in Newfoundland Literature II
• 7075 Studies in Newfoundland Literature III
• 7076 Studies in Anglo-Irish Literature I
• 7077 Studies in Anglo-Irish Literature II
• 7078 Studies in Modern Drama
• 7079 Studies in Post-Colonial Literature I
• 7080 Studies in Post-Colonial Literature II
• 7081 Studies in Post-Colonial Literature III
• 7082 Studies in Critical Theory I
• 7083 Studies in Critical Theory II
• 7084 Studies in Critical Theory III
• 7085 Special Readings in English I
• 7086 Special Readings in English II
• 7087 Special Readings in English III
• 7020-25 Special Topics in English