MASTER'S DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

The Master of Arts Program is designed to encourage a broad familiarity with several fields of historical, theoretical, and genre-centered research within the discipline of English studies. Applicants should check M.A. as their “ultimate degree objective” only if they do not intend to pursue a Ph.D. Students who wish to pursue the M.A. as a step toward the Ph. D. degree at UCR should consult the Doctoral Degree Requirements and apply directly to the PhD program. Our program for the M.A. as a final or terminal degree is a small one, with very limited funding opportunities. Nevertheless, students in the terminal M.A. program are eligible to apply for positions as teaching assistants, which pay fees and a stipend, or for hourly positions as graders or research assistants.

Students in the M.A. program begin their course work with English 200, Introduction to Graduate Study, and go on to complete 9 more seminars chosen from a wide variety of fields vital to the contemporary discipline of English, including the full range of British and American literature, media and cultural studies, and theoretical approaches. Students normally take two 4-unit seminars per quarter. Each student's specific program is individually structured in consultation with the Graduate Advisor.

The M.A. candidate is also required to demonstrate a reading knowledge of a foreign language. Such knowledge should make possible the development of an international dimension to the understanding of historical, theoretical, and genre-centered research.

In their final quarter of the M.A. program, students take a qualifying exam, which includes both a written portfolio containing three student essays and a self-commentary and an oral examination.

Students who complete the terminal MA and wish to go on to the Ph.D. must then apply separately to the Ph.D. program.