english phd university of texas

Graduate Programs

Edit Headline Text

Edit subhead text.

The Department of English at the University of Texas at Austin is home to two fully-funded and highly-rated graduate programs–the Ph.D. in English and the M.F.A. in Creative Writing – as well as a Dual Degree M.S.I.S./M.A. in Information Studies and English, in partnership with with the School of Information, and a 4+1 M.A. program for undergraduate students .

Drawing on the resources of a number of departments and centers, these programs feature a diverse, engaged, and accomplished faculty . The University of Texas and City of Austin provide a vibrant setting for our programs.

Students benefit from the many research resources located on campus including The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (widely considered one of the premier special collections libraries in the world), the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection (which draws researchers from all over the world), the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library , and the Dolph Briscoe Center for the Study of American History . In addition, UT is home to a number of “sibling” graduate programs, centers, institutes, interest groups, and research clusters, including those in American Studies , African and African Diaspora Studies , Communication Studies , Comparative Literature , Creative Writing , History , Mexican American and Latina/o Studies , Radio/Television/Film , and Women’s and Gender Studies , among many others.

Students who undertake our program also receive intensive mentoring and pedagogical training to prepare them for success as teachers, scholars, writers, and administrators, both in and well beyond the academy.

Ranked in the top 20 English Graduate Programs by U.S. News & World Report , our program offers students intensive research mentoring and pedagogical training, in addition to six years of full funding. Students in our Ph.D. program work in and across many disciplines and fields of study. For our faculty's primary teaching and research fields, please see the faculty page .

Admitted students are considered ready for early-level doctoral work upon arrival.  In general, their dossiers display a disciplinary sophistication – an understanding of and talent for inquiry formation within the context of a disciplinary subfield – that is decisively beyond the level typically attained as an English major. We typically accept roughly one in every ten qualified applicants. About 40% of each class enters with an M.A. in English; the 60% who enter with a B.A. earn the M.A. in two years en route to the doctorate. Please note that we do not have a terminal English M.A. program.

More information about the English Ph.D. program can be found at the following pages:

• Program Overview
• How to Apply
• Applications FAQ
• Curriculum & Requirements

The New Writers Project at the University of Texas at Austin is a small, fully funded, three-year studio M.F.A program within the large and highly-ranked Department of English. The program offers students close mentorship, a literary community, and teaching and editing experience. The NWP works in concert with its partner M.F.A. program, the Michener Center for Writers, to provide an artistically adventurous and intellectually rigorous terminal degree. Students in our M.F.A. program work in fiction and poetry but also benefit from and work closely with the faculty in the above fields of study.

For more information about the M.F.A. program in Creative Writing and how to apply, please visit the  New Writers Project website .

The joint English-School of Information M.S.I.S./M.A. Dual Degree is a three-year program that provides students an opportunity to gain professional skills that will qualify them to work as information specialists in important cultural repositories including archives, museums, or libraries, together with a high level of specialized research competency that will serve them in future careers as information professionals or academics. Students in the Dual Degree program come with professional ambitions in information organization, digital humanities, database design, usability, information policy, preservation, and the cultural status of information and communication technologies.

Additional information on the Dual Degree admissions process and degree requirements can be found here .

• Accordion 4 Panel 4. Add body text in this space.
• Accordion 5 Panel 5. Add body text in this space.

Graduate Student Awards

List of recent awards given to our graduate students.

University Catalogs

• General Information
• Undergraduate
• Search Courses

Print Options

For more information, facilities for graduate work, areas of study, graduate studies committee.

Master of Arts Master of Fine Arts (in Creative Writing) Doctor of Philosophy

Campus address: Calhoun Hall (CAL) 210, phone (512) 471-5132 or (512) 475-6356; campus mail code: B5000

Mailing address: The University of Texas at Austin, Department of English, Graduate Program, 204 West 21st Street Stop B5000, Austin TX 78712

URL: http://liberalarts.utexas.edu/english/graduate-program/information.php

Facilities for graduate work include an excellent library system and a world-renowned research library, the Harry Ransom Center. The Ransom Center provides materials for critical, textual, and bibliographical studies, with its extensive holdings in earlier British literature (including the Pforzheimer Library), modern British and American literature, theatre arts, photography, and other significant subjects for literary and cultural research. The Benson Latin American Collection is one of many campus resources for advanced work in non-European literature and language. The Department of Rhetoric and Writing offers rich opportunities for teaching and study; and the Digital Writing and Research Laboratory enjoys a national reputation for investigating the intersections among technology, language, and literature.

Courses are offered in the following areas of study: American literature to 1900; 20th and 21st-century American literature; African American and African Diaspora literature; Mexican American and Latinx literature; U.S. race and ethnic studies; archival studies; comparative literature; film and media studies; literary and critical theory; medieval literary studies; Renaissance literature; 18th-century British literature; 19th-century British literature; modern British and Irish literature; modernist studies; global anglophone literature; book history and bibliography and textual studies; digital literacies and literatures; drama, theatre, and performance; ethnic and Third-World literature; language and linguistics; literature and the environment; disability studies and health humanities; poetry and poetics; popular culture and cultural studies; rhetoric; feminist and LGBTQ studies; and women’s literature.

The department also offers workshops in poetry and fiction for students enrolled in the MFA program, as well as craft seminars in fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. 

The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) in the spring 2023 semester.

• Degree Requirements

Send Page to Printer

Print this page.

Download Page (PDF)

The PDF will include all information unique to this page.

2023-2024 General Information Catalog

2022-2023 General Information Catalog

2023-2024 Graduate Catalog

2022-2023 Graduate Catalog

2022-2024 Law School Catalog

2023-2024 Medical School Catalog

2022-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

• Make a Gift
• Search Search
• Programs : PhD in Information Studies

PhD Program Overview

This doctoral program is for students who wish to advance knowledge and increase our understanding of the world through research, scholarship, and teaching. Doctoral students join the iSchool as apprentice researchers and graduate as independent scholars with great research careers, typically as tenure-stream faculty members at major research universities.

The program provides students with research experience, familiarity with appropriate information studies theories and methods, and participation in an active research community. Students attain this level of research competence through close partnership with our expert faculty who mentor and challenge them. Our curriculum offers flexibility to tailor coursework for individual need, with the intention of preparing all students to produce high-quality, original, and relevant research aligned to our mission as a school: Our Vision & Values  

Completion Timeline

iSchool faculty very strongly recommend full-time study in the doctoral program. Our doctoral program is designed to be completed within five years of full-time study, but for some students it may take four or six years. While every doctoral student’s program is unique, students will complete the program at approximately this pace in full-time study: 

• Coursework: 1.5 - 2.5 years
• Qualifying Procedure: 0.5 year
• Dissertation Proposal: 0.5 year
• Dissertation Completion: 0.5 - 1.5 years

​Program Requirements

Students must successfully complete multiple elements of the iSchool doctoral program. The requirements listed below are minima; the student's committees may require more work, especially with regard to classes, research methods, experiences, and participation in the iSchool’s research life (e.g., Research Colloquium presentations and doctoral research presentations) as well as the field’s research life (e.g., presentations at national conferences). 

• Formation of an initial committee, qualifying committee, and dissertation committee
• Thirty-nine hours of coursework (usually completed in two years)
• Preparation of a plan of study
• Annual review of each student’s progress prior to candidacy
• Authoring of a qualifying research paper
• Completion of a qualifying written examination
• Completion of the qualifying oral examination based on the written examination
• At least two submissions of research to peer-reviewed journals or proceedings
• Admission to candidacy
• Completion and defense of a dissertation proposal
• Completion and defense of a dissertation

For more detailed information about the doctoral program requirements and guidelines, please view the PhD Program Handbook:

• PhD Program Handbook

Please email us at  [email protected] if you have questions about our application requirements and admissions. For information about degree components, funding, and research, please contact the Director of Doctoral Studies at  [email protected] . 

Doctoral Program Overview

• PhD Degree Requirements
• Committees & Annual Review
• Coursework & Plan of Study
• Qualifying Procedure
• Candidacy & Dissertation

PhD Degree Resources

Student handbook.

1616 Guadalupe St, Suite #5.202 Austin, Texas 78701-1213

• News & Events
• Email Lists
• Indigenous Land Acknowledgment
• UT Austin Home
• Emergency Information
• Site Policies
• Web Accessibility Policy
• Web Privacy Policy
• Adobe Reader

• Request Info
• Check Status

English PhD Program

Doctoral Program

The PhD in English offers in-depth, cross-cultural knowledge of the English language and literature, allowing students to produce an original contribution to their field of specialization.

Start Your Bold Future

By submitting this form, I agree that UTSA may contact me by email, voice, pre-recorded message and/or text message using automated technology.

Please enable javascript in your browser

Why Pursue a PhD in English

This doctoral program offers students opportunities for advanced study and research in cross-cultural, transnational approaches to English language and literary studies, with coursework required in U.S. Latinx literature and rhetoric and composition. This program also offers study abroad opportunities in England, Italy, and Mexico.

Research Concentrations

Funding is available for graduate student travel to conferences. In addition, Graduate Certificates in Creative Writing and in Rhetoric and Composition are available. Faculty research concentrations include:

• American Literature
• British Literature
• Comparative Literature
• Creative Writing
• Cultural Studies
• Linguistics
• Rhetoric and Composition
• Technical and Professional Writing

English Department Faculty

UTSA English department faculty engage in innovative research in diverse fields, publish regularly with leading presses and journals, and assume leadership in an array of prestigious national and international organizations. With a low student-to-faculty ratio, graduate students can expect extensive mentoring and guidance from award-winning faculty advisors.

• Admission Requirements

Application Deadlines

Funding opportunities, career options, admission & application requirements.

Applications are submitted through the UTSA Graduate Application . Please upload all required documents (listed below) on your UTSA Graduate Application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure completion and submission of the application, a nonrefundable application fee, and all required supporting documents are on file with UTSA by the appropriate application deadline.

Applicants are encouraged to have their admission file completed as early as possible. All applications, required documents and letters of recommendation, if applicable, must be submitted by 5:00 PM U.S. Central Time on the day of the deadline. Deadlines are subject to change.

The English PhD program offers nationally competitive graduate fellowships (usually lasting 5 years) to our most competitive applicants. Fellowships include a monthly stipend, full tuition/fees, full UTSA health care, and a variety of research and teaching opportunities. Financial aid is also offered to eligible students in the form of scholarships. Students have received University Teaching and Dissertation Fellowships and external fellowships, such as the Ford Dissertation and Smithsonian Graduate Fellowships.

For more information about graduate funding, click below.

UTSA prepares you for future careers that are in demand. The possible careers below is data pulled by a third-party tool called Emsi, which pulls information from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, online job postings, other government databases and more to give you regional and national career outlook related to this academic program.

Course Offerings & Schedule

Graduate classes are generally offered in the evening and may also be offered in the afternoon or morning. A full listing of current classes may be accessed through ASAP (Course Schedules) and syllabi may be accessed through Bluebook.

Recent Graduate Course Titles

• Borderlands Rhetorical Ecologies (Walker)
• Literature of Immigration (Kellman)
• African American Literature (Moody)
• Latina/o/x Digital Archives (Fernandez)
• Language in Contact (Drinka)
• Theory & Practice of Teaching Composition (Hum)
• Graduate Fiction Workshop (Garza)
• Graduate Poetry Workshop (Vance)
• Major Authors: Chaucer (Study Abroad in Urbino, Italy w/ Fonzo)
• Major Authors: Influence of Dante (Study Abroad in Urbino, Italy w/ Fonzo)
• Renaissance Literature (Bayer)
• Community-Based Methods in Environmental Justice (Walker and Team)
• Latina Literatures: Mexican Women Writers (Raymond)
• Major Authors: Shakespeare (Bayer)

Graduate Advisor of Record

Kenneth Walker, PhD

210-458-4743

Texas A&M University Catalogs

Doctor of philosophy in english.

The PhD program in English prepares students to become leading scholars, excellent teachers, and active members of the academic community by fostering critical engagement with the discipline of English Studies and its interdisciplinary practices. Our students develop a knowledge base in a range of literatures and theories in their coursework, and go on to specialize by taking an oral field examination and a written take-home examination that prepares them to write a dissertation. Students gain expertise in articulating a research plan and carrying it out; developing original arguments that contribute to ongoing debates within the field; mastering research techniques and the ability to evaluate resources, including digital resources; and communicating their ideas to varied audiences, both orally and in writing. 

Students are encouraged to enter the profession by presenting their work at conferences and by publishing in scholarly venues, and are supported in their efforts to do so; they also participate in the governance of the department and, thus, learn the importance of departmental citizenship. Our students are trained to be teachers of writing, rhetoric, and literature; they receive sustained pedagogical training and enjoy the opportunity to teach courses in their areas of expertise. 

PhD graduates are qualified for teaching positions at the college and university level; but the program also aids students who plan to pursue careers outside of academia, where they can put the research, writing, and teaching skills they have developed to good use.

Steps to Fulfill a Doctoral Program

Program Requirements

• Student's Advisory Committee

Degree Plan

Transfer of credit, research proposal.

• Preliminary Examination

Preliminary Examination Format

Preliminary examination scheduling, report of preliminary examination, failure of the preliminary examination, retake of failed preliminary examination.

• Final Examination

Report of Final Examination

Dissertation, student’s advisory committee.

After receiving admission to graduate studies and enrolling, the student will consult with the head of his or her major or administrative department (or chair of the intercollegiate faculty) concerning appointment of the chair of the advisory committee. The student’s advisory committee will consist of  no fewer than four members of the graduate faculty  representative of the student’s several fields of study and research, where the chair or co-chair must be from the student’s department (or intercollegiate faculty, if applicable), and  at least one or more of the members must have an appointment to a department other than the student’s major department . The outside member for a student in an interdisciplinary degree program must be from a department different from the chair of the student’s committee.

The chair, in consultation with the student, will select the remainder of the advisory committee. Only graduate faculty members located on Texas A&M University campuses may serve as chair of a student’s advisory committee. Other Texas A&M University graduate faculty members located off-campus may serve as a member or co-chair (but not chair), with a member as the chair.

If the chair of a student’s advisory committee voluntarily leaves the University and the student is near completion of the degree and wants the chair to continue to serve in this role, the student is responsible for securing a current member of the University Graduate Faculty, from the student’s academic program and located near the Texas A&M University campus site, to serve as the co-chair of the committee. The Department Head or Chair of Intercollegiate faculty may request in writing to the Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate and Professional School that a faculty member who is on an approved leave of absence or has voluntarily separated from the university, be allowed to continue to serve in the role of chair of a student’s advisory committee without a co-chair for up to one year. The students should be near completion of the degree. Extensions beyond the one year period can be granted with additional approval of the Dean.

The committee members’ signatures on the degree plan indicate their willingness to accept the responsibility for guiding and directing the entire academic program of the student and for initiating all academic actions concerning the student. Although individual committee members may be replaced by petition for valid reasons, a committee cannot resign  en masse . The chair of the committee, who usually has immediate supervision of the student’s research and dissertation or record of study, has the responsibility for calling all meetings of the committee. The duties of the committee include responsibility for the proposed degree plan, the research proposal, the preliminary examination, the dissertation or record of study and the final examination. In addition, the committee, as a group and as individual members, is responsible for counseling the student on academic matters, and, in the case of academic deficiency, initiating recommendations to the Graduate and Professional School.

The student’s advisory committee will evaluate the student’s previous education and degree objectives. The committee, in consultation with the student, will develop a proposed degree plan and outline a research problem which, when completed, as indicated by the dissertation (or its equivalent for the degree of Doctor of Education or the degree of Doctor of Engineering), will constitute the basic requirements for the degree. The degree plan must be filed with the Graduate and Professional School prior to the deadline imposed by the student’s college and no later than 90 days prior to the preliminary examination.

This proposed degree plan should be submitted through the online Document Processing Submission System located on the website  http://ogsdpss.tamu.edu . A minimum of 64 hours is required on the degree plan for the Doctor of Philosophy for a student who has completed a master’s degree. A student who has completed a DDS/DMD, DVM or a MD at a U.S. institution is also required to complete a minimum of 64 hours. A student who has completed a baccalaureate degree but not a master’s degree will be required to complete a 96-hour degree plan. Completion of a DDS/DMD, DVM or MD degree at a foreign institution requires completion of a minimum of 96 hours for the Doctor of Philosophy. A field of study may be primarily in one department or in a combination of departments. A degree plan must carry a reasonable amount of 691 (research). A maximum of 9 hours of 400-level undergraduate courses may be used toward meeting credit-hour requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy.

Additional coursework may be added by petition to the approved degree plan by the student’s advisory committee if it is deemed necessary to correct deficiencies in the student’s academic preparation. No changes can be made to the degree plan once the student’s Request for Final Examination is approved by the Graduate and Professional School.

Approval to enroll in any professional course (900-level) should be obtained from the head of the department (or Chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if applicable) in which the course will be offered before including such a course on a degree plan.

No credit may be obtained by correspondence study, by extension or for any course of fewer than three weeks duration.

For non-distance degree programs, no more than four courses may be taken by distance education without approval of the Graduate and Professional School and no more than 50 percent of the non-research credit hours required for the program may be completed through distance education courses.

To receive a graduate degree from Texas A&M University, students must earn one-third or more of the credits through the institution’s own direct instruction. This limitation also applies to joint degree programs. 

Courses for which transfer credits are sought must have been completed with a grade of B or greater and must be approved by the student’s advisory committee and the Graduate and Professional School. These courses must not have been used previously for another degree. Except for officially approved cooperative doctoral programs, credit for thesis or dissertation research or the equivalent is not transferable. Credit for “internship” coursework in any form is not transferable. Courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater will be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for a student in degree-seeking status at the host institution. Credit for coursework taken by extension is not transferable. Coursework  in which no formal grades are given or in which grades other than letter grades (A or B) are earned (for example, CR, P, S, U, H, etc.) is not accepted for transfer credit . Credit for coursework submitted for transfer from any college or university must be shown in semester credit hours, or equated to semester credit hours.

Courses used toward a degree at another institution may not be applied for graduate credit. If the course to be transferred was taken prior to the conferral of a degree at the transfer institution, a letter from the registrar at that institution stating that the course was not applied for credit toward the degree must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School.

Grades for courses completed at other institutions are not included in computing the GPA. An official transcript from the university at which transfer courses are taken must be sent directly to the Office of Admissions.

The general field of research to be used for the dissertation should be agreed on by the student and the advisory committee at their first meeting, as a basis for selecting the proper courses to support the proposed research.

As soon thereafter as the research project can be outlined in reasonable detail, the dissertation research proposal should be completed. The research proposal should be approved at a meeting of the student’s advisory committee, at which time the feasibility of the proposed research and the adequacy of available facilities should be reviewed. The approved proposal, signed by all members of the student’s advisory committee, the head of the student’s major department (or chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if applicable), must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School at least 20 working days prior to the submission of the Request for the Final Examination.

Compliance issues must be addressed if a graduate student is performing research involving human subjects, animals, infectious biohazards and recombinant DNA. A student involved in these types of research should check with the Office of Research Compliance and Biosafety at (979) 458-1467 to address questions about all research compliance responsibilities. Additional information can also be obtained on the website  http:// rcb.tamu.edu .

Examinations

Preliminary examination for doctoral students.

The student’s major department (or chair of the interdisciplinary degree program faculty, if applicable) and his or her advisory committee may require qualifying, cumulative or other types of examinations at any time deemed desirable. These examinations are entirely at the discretion of the department and the student’s advisory committee.

The preliminary examination is required. The preliminary examination for a doctoral student shall be given no earlier than a date at which the student is within 6 credit hours of completion of the formal coursework on the degree plan (i.e., all coursework on the degree plan except 681, 684, 690, 691, 692, 693, 695, 697, 791, or other graduate courses specifically designated as S/U in the course catalog). The student should complete the Preliminary Examination no later than the end of the semester following the completion of the formal coursework on the degree plan.

The objective of preliminary examination is to evaluate whether the student has demonstrated the following qualifications:

a.     a mastery of the subject matter of all fields in the program;

b.     an adequate knowledge of the literature in these fields and an ability to carry out bibliographical research;

c.     an understanding of the research problem and the appropriate methodological approaches.

The format of the preliminary examination shall be determined by the student’s department (or interdisciplinary degree program, if applicable) and advisory committee, and communicated to the student in advance of the examination. The exam may consist of a written component, oral component, or combination of written and oral components.

The preliminary exam may be administered by the advisory committee or a departmental committee; herein referred to as the examination committee.

Regardless of exam format, a student will receive an overall preliminary exam result of pass or fail. The department (or interdisciplinary degree program, if applicable) will determine how the overall pass or fail result is determined based on the exam structure and internal department procedures. If the exam is administered by the advisory committee, each advisory committee member will provide a pass or fail evaluation decision.

Only one advisory committee substitution is allowed to provide an evaluation decision for a student’s preliminary exam, and it cannot be the committee chair.

If a student is required to take, as a part of the preliminary examination, a written component administered by a department or interdisciplinary degree program, the department or interdisciplinary degree program faculty must:

a.     offer the examination at least once every six months. The departmental or interdisciplinary degree program examination should be announced at least 30 days prior to the scheduled examination date.

b.     assume the responsibility for marking the examination satisfactory or unsatisfactory, or otherwise graded, and in the case of unsatisfactory, stating specifically the reasons for such a mark.

c.     forward the marked examination to the chair of the student’s advisory committee within one week after the examination.

Prior to commencing any component of the preliminary examination, a departmental representative or the advisory committee chair will review the eligibility criteria with the student, using the Preliminary Examination Checklist to ensure the student is eligible for the preliminary examination. The following list of eligibility requirements applies.

Student is registered at Texas A&M University for a minimum of one semester credit hour in the long semester or summer term during which any component of the preliminary examination is held. If the entire examination is held between semesters, then the student must be registered for the term immediately preceding the examination.

An approved degree plan is on file with the Graduate and Professional School prior to commencing the first component of the examination.

Student’s cumulative GPA is at least 3.000.

Student’s degree plan GPA is at least 3.000.

At the end of the semester in which at least the first component of the exam is given, there are no more than 6 hours of coursework remaining on the degree plan (except 681, 684, 690, 691, 692, 693, 695, 697, 791, or other graduate courses specifically designated as S/U in the course catalog). The head of the student’s department (or Chair of the Interdisciplinary Degree Program, if applicable) has the authority to approve a waiver of this criterion.

Credit for the preliminary examination is not transferable in cases where a student changes degree programs after passing a preliminary exam.

If a written component precedes an oral component of the preliminary exam, the chair of the student’s examination committee is responsible for making all written examinations available to all members of the committee. A positive evaluation of the preliminary exam by all members of a student’s examination committee with at most one dissension is required to pass a student on his or her preliminary exam.

The student’s department will promptly report the results of the Preliminary Examination to the Graduate and Professional School via the Report of Doctoral Preliminary Examination form. The Preliminary Examination checklist form must also be submitted. These forms should be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School within 10 working days of completion of the preliminary examination.

The Report of the Preliminary Examination form must be submitted with original signatures of the approved examination committee members. If an approved examination committee member substitution (one only) has been made, that signature must also be included, in place of the committee member, on the form submitted to the Graduate and Professional School. The original signature of the department head is also required on the form.

After passing the required preliminary oral and written examinations for a doctoral degree, the student must complete the final examination within four years of the semester in which the preliminary exam is taken. Exams taken in between terms will expire at the end of the term that ended prior to the exam. For example, a preliminary exam taken and passed during the fall 2019 semester will expire at the end of the fall 2023 semester. A preliminary exam taken in the time between the summer and fall 2019 semesters will expire at the end of the summer 2023 semester.

First Failure

Upon approval of a student’s examination committee (with no more than one member dissenting), and approval of the Department and Graduate and Professional School, a student who has failed a preliminary examination may be given one re-examination. In accordance with Student Rule 12.5, the student’s department head or designee, intercollegiate faculty, or graduate advisory committee should make a recommendation to the student regarding their scholastic deficiency.

Second Failure

Upon failing the preliminary exam twice in a doctoral program, a student is no longer eligible to continue to pursue the PhD in that program/major. In accordance with Student Rule 12.5.3 and/or 12.5.4, the student will be notified of the action being taken by the department as a result of the second failure of the preliminary examination.

Adequate time must be given to permit a student to address inadequacies emerging from the first preliminary examination. The examination committee must agree upon and communicate to the student, in writing, an adequate time-frame from the first examination (normally six months) to retest, as well as a detailed explanation of the inadequacies emerging from the examination. The student and committee should jointly negotiate a mutually acceptable date for this retest.  When providing feedback on inadequacies, the committee should clearly document expected improvements that the student must be able to exhibit in order to retake the exam.  The examination committee will document and communicate the time-frame and feedback within 10 working days of the exam that was not passed.

Final Examination for Doctoral Students

The candidate for the doctoral degree must pass a final examination by deadline dates announced in the “Graduate and Professional School Calendar” each semester. The doctoral student is allowed only one opportunity to take the final examination.

No unabsolved grades of D, F, or U for any course can be listed on the degree plan. The student must be registered for any remaining hours of 681, 684, 690, 691, 692, 791 or other graduate courses specifically designated as S/U in the course catalog during the semester of the final exam. No student may be given a final examination until they have been admitted to candidacy and their current official cumulative and degree plan GPAs are 3.00 or better.

To be admitted to candidacy for a doctoral degree, a student must have:

1.       completed all formal coursework on the degree plan with the exception of any remaining 681, 684, 690 and 691, 692 (Professional Study), or 791 hours,

2.       a 3.0 Graduate GPA and a Degree Plan GPA of at least 3.0 with no grade lower than C in any course on the degree plan,

3.       passed the preliminary examination,

4.       submitted an approved dissertation proposal,

5.       met the residence requirements.

The request to hold and announce the final examination must be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School a minimum of 10 working days in advance of the scheduled date. Any changes to the degree plan must be approved by the Graduate and Professional School prior to the submission of the request for final examination.

 The student’s advisory committee will conduct this examination. The final examination is not to be administered until the dissertation or record of study is available in substantially final form to the student’s advisory committee, and all concerned have had adequate time to review the document.  Whereas the final examination may cover the broad field of the candidate’s training, it is presumed that the major portion of the time will be devoted to the dissertation and closely allied topics. Persons other than members of the graduate faculty may, with mutual consent of the candidate and the chair of the advisory committee, be invited to attend a final examination for an advanced degree. A positive vote by all members of the graduate committee with at most one dissension is required to pass a student on his or her exam. A department can have a stricter requirement provided there is consistency within all degree programs within a department. Upon completion of the questioning of the candidate, all visitors must excuse themselves from the proceedings.

The student’s department will promptly report the results of the Final Examination to the Graduate and Professional School via the Report of Doctoral Final Examination form. These forms should be submitted to the Graduate and Professional School within 10 working days of completion of the final examination. The Graduate and Professional School must be notified in writing of any cancellations.

A positive evaluation of the final exam by all members of a student’s advisory committee with at most one dissension is required to pass a student on his or her final exam. The Report of the Final Examination Form must be submitted with original signatures of only the committee members approved by the Graduate and Professional School. If necessary, multiple copies of the form may be submitted with different committee member original signatures. If an approved committee member substitution (1 only) has been made, his/her signature must be included on the form submitted to the Graduate and Professional School.

The ability to perform independent research must be demonstrated by the dissertation,  which must be the original work of the candidate . Whereas acceptance of the dissertation is based primarily on its scholarly merit, it must also exhibit creditable literary workmanship. The format of the dissertation must be acceptable to the Graduate and Professional School. Guidelines for the preparation of the dissertation are available in the  Thesis Manual , which is available online at  https://grad.tamu.edu .

After successful defense and approval by the student’s advisory committee and the head of the student’s major department (or chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if applicable), a student must submit his/her dissertation in electronic format as a single PDF file. The PDF file must be uploaded to the website,  https://grad.tamu.edu . Additionally, a signed paper approval form with original signatures must be received by the Graduate and Professional School. Both the PDF file and the signed approval form are required by the deadline.

Deadline dates for submitting are announced each semester or summer term in the Graduate and Professional School Calendar (see Time Limit statement). These dates also can be accessed via the website  https://grad.tamu.edu .

Each student who submits a document for review is assessed a one-time thesis/dissertation processing fee through Student Business Services. This processing fee is for the thesis/dissertation services provided. After commencement, dissertations are digitally stored and made available through the Texas A&M Libraries.

A dissertation that is deemed unacceptable by the Graduate and Professional School because of excessive corrections will be returned to the student’s department head or chair of the intercollegiate faculty . The manuscript must be resubmitted as a new document, and the entire review process must begin anew. All original submittal deadlines must be met during the resubmittal process in order to graduate.

Additional Requirements

Continuous registration, admission to candidacy.

• 99-Hour Cap on Doctoral Degree

Application for Degree

A student who enters the doctoral degree program with a baccalaureate degree must spend one academic year plus one semester in resident study at Texas A&M University. A student who holds master’s degree when he/she enters doctoral degree program must spend one academic year in resident study. One academic year may include two adjacent regular semesters or one regular semester and one adjacent 10-week summer semester. The third semester is not required to be adjacent to the one year. Enrollment for each semester must be a minimum of 9 credit hours each to satisfy the residence requirement. A minimum of 1 credit hour must be in a non-distance education delivery mode. Semesters in which the student is enrolled in all distance education coursework will not count toward fulfillment of the residence requirement.

To satisfy the residence requirement, the student must complete a minimum of 9 credit hours per semester or 10-week summer semester in resident study at Texas A&M University for the required period. A student who enters a doctoral degree program with a baccalaureate degree may fulfill residence requirements in excess of one academic year (18 credit hours) by registration during summer sessions or by completion of a less-than-full course load (in this context a full course load is considered 9 credit hours per semester).

Students who are employed full-time while completing their degree may fulfill total residence requirements by completion of less-than-full time course loads each semester. In order to be considered for this, the student is required to submit a Petition for Waivers and Exceptions along with verification of his/her employment to the Graduate and Professional School. An employee should submit verification of his/her employment at the time he/she submits the degree plan. See  Registration.

See  Residence Requirements .

All requirements for doctoral degrees must be completed within a period of ten consecutive calendar years for the degree to be granted. A course will be considered valid until 10 years after the end of the semester in which it is taken. Graduate credit for coursework more than ten calendar years old at the time of the final oral examination may not be used to satisfy degree requirements.

A final corrected version of the dissertation or record of study in electronic format as a single PDF file must be cleared by the Graduate and Professional School within one year of the semester in which the final exam is taken. Exams taken in between terms will expire at the end of the term that ended prior to the exam. For example, a final exam taken and passed during the fall 2022 semester will expire at the end of the fall 2023 semester. A final exam taken in the time between the summer and fall 2022 semesters will expire at the end of the summer 2023 semester. Failure to do so will result in the degree not being awarded.

A student in a program leading to a Doctor of Philosophy who has completed all coursework on his/her degree plan other than 691 (research) are required to be in continuous registration until all requirements for the degree have been completed. See  Continuous Registration Requirements .

• completed all formal coursework on the degree plan with the exception of any remaining 681, 684, 690 and 691, or 791.
• a 3.0 Graduate GPA and a Degree Plan GPA of at least 3.0 with no grade lower than C in any course on the degree plan,
• passed the preliminary examination (written and oral portions),
• submitted an approved dissertation proposal,
• met the residence requirements. The final examination will not be authorized for any doctoral student who has not been admitted to candidacy.

PhD students must demonstrate competency in a minimum of one language.   They can do so by

• completing the Old English/Beowulf sequence in  ENGL 610/LING 610 ;
• passing a translation examination; 
• earning an A in a graduate reading course; or
• earning a B or better in 12 hours of undergraduate language coursework completed no more than four years prior to entering the program.

99-Hour Cap on Doctoral Degrees

In Texas, public colleges and universities are funded by the state according to the number of students enrolled. In accordance with legislation passed by the Texas Legislature, the number of hours for which state universities may receive subvention funding at the doctoral rate for any individual is limited to 99 hours. Texas A&M and other universities will not receive subvention for hours in excess of the limit.

Institutions of higher education are allowed to charge the equivalent of non-resident tuition to a resident doctoral student who has enrolled in 100 or more semester credit hours of doctoral coursework.

Doctoral students at Texas A&M have seven years to complete their degree before being charged out-of-state tuition. A doctoral student who, after seven years of study, has accumulated 100 or more doctoral hours will be charged tuition at a rate equivalent to out-of-state tuition. Please note that the tuition increases will apply to Texas residents as well as students from other states and countries who are currently charged tuition at the resident rate. This includes those doctoral students who hold GAT, GANT, and GAR appointments or recipients of competitive fellowships who receive more than $1,000 per semester. Doctoral students who have not accumulated 100 hours after seven years of study are eligible to pay in-state tuition if otherwise eligible.

Doctoral students who exceed the credit limit will receive notification from the Graduate and Professional School during the semester in which they are enrolled and exceeding the limit in their current degree program. The notification will explain that the State of Texas does not provide funding for any additional hours in which a student is enrolled in excess of 99 hours. Texas A&M University will recover the lost funds by requiring students in excess of 99 hours to pay tuition at the non-funded, non-resident rate. This non-funded, non-resident tuition rate status will be updated for the following semester and in all subsequent semesters until receipt of a doctoral degree. Please see the  Tuition Calculator  at the non-resident rate for an example of potential charges.

The following majors are exempt from the 99-Hour Cap on Doctoral Degrees and have a limit of 130 doctoral hours:

• Biochemistry
• Biomedical Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Counseling Psychology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Health Services Research
• Medical Sciences
• Microbiology
• Neurosciences (School of Medicine)
• Oral and Craniofacial Biomedical Sciences
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Public Health Sciences
• School Psychology

For information on applying for your degree, please visit the  Graduation  section.

University Catalog

English - graduate programs.

The Department of English offers a wide variety of graduate courses to meet the needs of students with a diversity of interests and academic backgrounds who wish to enhance their awareness of their literary and cultural environment by additional formal instruction or to increase their professional competence.

The MA in English is designed to enable students to learn about, critique, and work in teaching, scholarship, writing, or other fields which value a strong background in language, rhetoric, and the study of culture through texts.

Early in the program, each student takes one core course that serves as an introduction to theory as it is currently used in English scholarship. Each student plans an individual program of coursework with the help of the Graduate Advisor ( [email protected] ). This program draws on the Department’s varied courses, which offer students ways to study literature, rhetoric, and criticism, as well as methods of studying culture through texts and traditions of discourse.

The MA in English provides a strong grounding in scholarly methods and in theory, making it an ideal preparation for doctoral study in disciplinary or interdisciplinary programs. MA graduates in English pursue careers in journalism, educational administration and services, publishing, and many business fields that demand writing and communication skills. The MA in English is also useful for prospective or experienced teachers who want both to sharpen their ability to teach literature and writing and to advance professionally.

The PhD in English prepares students at the most advanced stage in the interpretation and composition of texts. The program emphasizes rigorous critical study in the fields of rhetoric, composition, critical theory, cultural studies, pedagogy, and literary studies. Rather than offering separate tracks, the program allows students, in consultation with the Graduate Advisor and the dissertation committee, to design a program of work that best suits their particular scholarly interests and career goals. The combination of a diversity of course offerings, required and elected courses, and the requirement that each student define a focus that reflects his or her intellectual and career interests provides students with the flexibility to adapt to changes in English studies. Specifically, the PhD in English prepares students for careers in writing, including electronic and technical writing, as well as in teaching at community colleges, small colleges, or research universities. The Department trains students for college-level teaching in several ways, including graduate courses in the teaching of literature and of composition. Doctoral students in English present papers at scholarly conferences, publish essays in scholarly journals, and participate in other professional activities.

• Graduate Teaching Assistantships

Please consult the Director of First Year Writing, Dr. Justin Lerberg ( [email protected] ), for more information on Graduate Teaching Assistantships.

• Admissions Requirements

Admission Procedures

In addition to the basic graduate admission requirements of UT Arlington described in this Catalog in the Admission section under University Policies & Requirements, the Department of English requires all international students to have speaking, reading, and writing competence in English. For both the MA and the PhD, we consider four different admission criteria:

• Writing sample
• Letters of recommendation

Prospective students must submit all the required materials and scores—i.e., official transcripts, GRE scores, a writing sample, and recommendation letters—in order for their application to be processed. All criteria are considered together, in a holistic way, and no single factor will eliminate a prospective student from consideration. For unconditional admission, candidates must meet the following standards for at least three of the four criteria.

Criteria for Admission: MA Program

• A minimum GPA of 3.0 in undergraduate work, with a minimum of 3.4 in the English major or upper-level English courses. Applicants who did not major in English should have at least 12 hours of upper-level undergraduate coursework in English. Non-majors who do not meet the upper-level English coursework requirement may still apply, but will likely need to take leveling courses (see below).
• GRE scores: a minimum of 153 on the verbal scale and 4.5 on analytic writing. We will not consider the math scores. We do not require the English subject test.
• A writing sample of 10 to 15 pages that demonstrates a sophisticated prose style and the ability to construct complex arguments.
• Three letters of recommendation that attest to the prospective student’s intellectual and scholarly potential. At least two of these should be from former professors.

UT Arlington undergraduates whose GPA equals or exceeds the minimum described above and who have graduated in the last three years with a major in English (or closely related program) qualify for a waiver of the GRE admissions requirement.

Deferred Decision

A deferred decision may be granted when a file is incomplete or when a denial is not appropriate.

Provisional Admission

An applicant who is unable to supply all required documentation prior to the admission deadline but who otherwise appears to meet admission requirements may be granted provisional admission.

Probationary Admission

For both the MA and PhD programs, students may be admitted on probation under one of two scenarios:

• The prospective student’s application materials do not meet two of the four standards, but are outstanding in the remaining two categories; or
• The prospective student’s materials come extremely close to meeting the standards in at least three of the four areas.

Students on academic probation must make no grade lower than a B in the first 12 hours of their graduate work in order to remain in the program.

Admission will be denied if the application materials:

• Do not meet the standards in three of the four categories; or
• Do not meet the standards in two of the categories, and in the remaining two categories meet the standards but in an unexceptional manner.

Leveling Courses

Students who wish to pursue the MA but who do not have an undergraduate major in English may be required to take between 3 and 12 hours in specified advanced undergraduate courses and make no grade lower than a B. These courses will not be counted for graduate credit, but instead will provide the necessary background for pursuit of the advanced degree.

• Degree Requirements

Master of Arts

• ENGL 5300 THE PROFESSION OF ENGLISH STUDIES is required. It must be taken within a student’s first 12 hours of study.
• ENGL 5310 INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THEORY is required. It must be taken within a student's first 12 hours of study.
• The program has thesis and non-thesis options.
• The thesis option is a 30 credit-hour program and requires 24 hours of coursework (a three credit-hour core course and 21 hours of electives) and at least six hours of thesis. The degree culminates with defense of the thesis.
• Students who would like to pursue the thesis option must apply for it no sooner than their 18th hour and no later than their 24th hour of coursework. A student who elects to write a thesis must select a topic in consultation with his/her thesis director. Before the student registers for thesis hours, a Thesis Committee (a director and two readers) must be established.
• The non-thesis option requires a 36 credit-hour program of coursework (a three credit-hour core course and 33 hours of electives). The final requirement for a non-thesis MA is submission of a portfolio. This will consist of a variety of writing assignments designed to prepare the student to enter the professional and/or academic workplace.
• Students are allowed to take up to 9 hours of graduate coursework in other departments in the College of Liberal Arts. In some circumstances, courses outside the College of Liberal Arts may be approved.
• Admission Requirements

In addition to the basic graduate admission requirements of UT Arlington described in this Catalog in the Admission section under University Policies & Requirements, the Department of English requires all international students to have speaking, reading, and writing competence in English. For both the MA and the PhD, we consider four different admission criteria: (1) GPA; (2) GRE; (3) writing sample; and (4) letters of recommendation. Prospective students should submit all the required materials and scores—i.e. official transcripts, GRE scores, a writing sample, and recommendation letters—in order for their application to be processed. All criteria are considered together, in a holistic way. No single factor will eliminate a prospective student from consideration. For unconditional admission, candidates must meet the following standards for at least three of the four criteria.

Criteria for Admission: PhD Program

• A minimum GPA of 3.5 in the student’s MA in English or a very closely related field. (If the MA is not in English, we will consider the undergraduate GPA as well as that of the MA. Moreover, if the MA is not in a very closely related field, the prospective student will be admitted to the MA program in English, not the PhD.)
• GRE scores: a minimum of 156 on the verbal scale and 4.5 on analytic writing. We will not consider the math scores. We do not require the English subject test.
• A writing sample of 15 to 20 pages that demonstrates a sophisticated prose style, the ability to engage in intellectually rigorous modes of analysis, and a strong knowledge of rhetoric, composition studies, literary studies, cultural studies, or interdisciplinary critical theory.
• Three letters of recommendation that attest to the student’s intellectual and scholarly potential. At least two of these must be from former professors; at least one must be a professor from the student’s MA program.

A deferred decision may be granted when a file is incomplete or when a denied decision is not appropriate.

An applicant unable to supply all required documentation prior to the admission deadline but who otherwise appears to meet admission requirements may be granted provisional admission.

For both MA and PhD, students may be admitted on probation under one of two scenarios: (1) if the prospective student’s application materials do not meet two of the four standards, but are outstanding in the remaining two categories; or (2) if the prospective student’s materials come extremely close to meeting the standards in at least three of the four areas. Students on academic probation must make no grade lower than a B in the first 12 hours of their graduate work in order to remain in the program.

Admission will be denied if the application materials (1) do not meet the standards in three of the four categories; or (2) if the materials do not meet the standards in two of the categories, and in the remaining two categories meet the standards but in an unexceptional manner.

Doctor of Philosophy

• The PhD requires thirty semester hours of coursework beyond the MA, followed by a minimum of 9 hours of dissertation work.
• ENGL 5300 THE PROFESSION OF ENGLISH STUDIES is required. It must be taken within a student’s first 12 hours of study unless they have already taken ENGL 5300 while in the MA program.
• ENGL 5310 INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THEORY is required. It must be taken within a student's first 12 hours of study unless they have already taken ENGL 5310 while in the MA program.
• All students are also required to take ENGL 5311 FOUNDATIONS OF RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION or  ENGL 5359 ARGUMENTATION THEORY as early in their programs as possible.
• The PhD requires basic proficiency in translation in one natural language other than English.

Students are strongly encouraged to consult with the Graduate Advisor or Graduate Coordinator in planning their coursework, in order to develop a coherent focus and to ensure that they take all required courses. Near the end of coursework, students must establish a dissertation committee and identify the chair, who will become their primary advisor. The committee will help students develop three subject area reading lists for their written comprehensive examination, which will be taken after they complete their coursework and satisfy the foreign language requirement. While studying for the comprehensive exam, students may enroll in ENGL 6391 GRADUATE READINGS , supervised reading for the PhD exam, graded R. By the end of the first semester after successfully completing the comprehensive examination, the student must submit a dissertation prospectus to their committee. The dissertation must be an original, substantial and significant contribution to a scholarly field. Students should work closely with the chair of their committee while researching and writing their dissertation. While researching and writing their dissertation, students must enroll in dissertation hours ( ENGL 6399 DISSERTATION , ENGL 6699 DISSERTATION or ENGL 6999 DISSERTATION ). In the final semester of dissertation work, students may enroll in ENGL 7399 DOCTORAL DEGREE COMPLETION . Once the student, the chair of the committee, and the primary readers agree that the dissertation is sufficiently completed, the student may schedule the defense. The student must furnish each committee member with a copy of the dissertation, including notes and bibliography, at least three weeks prior to the defense date. The defense of the dissertation is oral. The defense is open to all members of the faculty, graduate students and invited guests of the university community. Questioning of the candidate will be directed by the student’s dissertation supervising committee, but any person attending the defense may participate. Committee members may request that the dissertation be further revised and may withhold final approval of the dissertation until the revisions have been made. For more specific information regarding degree requirements, please consult the Graduate Handbook of the Department of English.

Contact Information

Web: http://www.uta.edu/english/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 817-272-0466

Fax: 817-272-2718

Address: 411 Carlisle Hall

Print Options

Send Page to Printer

Print this page.

Download PDF of Entire 2023-2024 Catalog

All pages in Academic Catalog.

Download Page (PDF)

The PDF will include all information unique to this page.

Doctor of Philosophy

All PhD students are supported by assistantships and tuition waivers. We also offer research assistantships, dissertation fellowships, and funding for travel and research. For important information on PhD policies and procedures, please consult the English Graduate Student Handbook

Program Requirements

The PhD in English requires 96 credit hours, which includes 36 hours (or four full semesters) of coursework. This total can be achieved through full-time registration for five academic years (fall and spring) plus two six-week summer terms at some point(s) during those years.

Once students are done with their coursework, they register for research hours (ENGL 691) as they work toward preliminary examinations and work on the dissertation.  Graduate assistants must remain registered full time (9 hours).

By the end of the second year, PhD students should have their committee established and have filed a degree plan with the GPS Degree Plan System .  The degree plan must be approved before the student can advance to preliminary exams.  GPS requires that the degree plan be approved 90 days before the preliminary exam.  Students must also get their preliminary exam lists approved by all committee members and by the Director of Graduate Studies at least 30 days before the exam.

To fulfill degree requirements, Ph.D. coursework must include  ENGL 602: First-Year Semina r and  ENGL 603: Bibliography and Research Methods  (if the student has taken no comparable course at the M.A. level). Students must also fulfill 12 hours of distribution requirements. Distribution requirements are as follows:

• One course in any literature, pre-1800
• One course in any literature, 1800-the present
• One course in theory (of any kind, including linguistics and rhetoric)
• One course organized around concepts, issues, or themes (as opposed to courses organized primarily according to chronological period)

Courses in each distribution area are offered every semester. A single course is often eligible to satisfy more than one of the distribution requirements, in which case a student has the choice of which one it will fulfill for him or her. Ph.D. students entering with an M.A. will normally have already met some of these requirements during their M.A. work; this is certified case-by-case at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies. All distribution requirements must be fulfilled prior to or concurrently with the student’s First-Year Review process, which occurs in the third semester.

PhD students must demonstrate competency in a minimum of one foreign language or pursue an alternative competency. Find out more about the Language Requirement.

All Ph.D. students should take  ENGL 695: Publication and Professionalization   (3 credit hours) in the spring of the third year. All those who intend to pursue an academic career should take the  ENGL 681:Placement Seminar  (1 credit hour) in the spring prior to their entry into the job market; on the 5-year schedule to degree, this means the spring of the fourth year.  ENGL 697: Pedagogy  is offered each fall. This course is not a degree requirement  but must be taken in order to hold a teaching assistantship if the student has not already had a comparable course at the M.A. level . It is taken prior to or concurrently with the first semester of teaching.

Neither 681 nor 695 can count toward the the 36 hours of coursework; they can, however, be put on the degree plan in lieu of the same number of 691 hours (1 for 681 and 3 for 695).

No more than 6 coursework credit hours in other departments, and ordinarily no more than 6 hours  of ENGL 685: Directed Studies , can be counted toward the total coursework hours. Exceptions to the Directed Studies limitation may be made and certified by the Director of Graduate Studies.

PhD students cannot take undergraduate courses without permission from the Graduate Director, the Undergraduate Director, and the Instructor.  Only 400-level courses are eligible, and those will only be approved if the student can establish that no graduate courses in a similar area are ever offered.  In general, PhD students are discouraged from taking undergraduate courses.

Graduate Certificates : Ph.D. students can opt to earn Graduate Certificates in Women's and Gender Studies , Film Studies , Africana Studies , and Digital Humanities . Interested students should consult their advisor and the director of the relevant program.

• The preliminary exam should be taken in the fall of the third year.
• The prospectus should be filed by the spring of the third year.
• Students should take the Publication course (695) in the third or fourth year. 695 should only be taken after students have completed their 36 hours of coursework.
• Students should take Placement (681) in spring of the fourth year, in preparation for going on the market the following fall.
• PhD funding expires in the fifth year, so the student should defend the dissertation no later than summer of the fifth year.

Preliminary Examination

The preliminary exam is taken in the fall of the third year. Students will prepare reading lists, in consultation with an advisory committee, toward the end of the second year, in order to start reading and studying in the summer.

The prelim has two parts:  2-hour oral field exam; a 72-hour take-home exam on the student’s area of focus. The two parts of the exam should be scheduled for the same semester (the fall of the third year).

Together the readings lists should include 70-90 texts; a minimum of 45 texts need to be on the field list. No text should be included on both lists. The field list should be constructed with an eye to the type of job the student plans to seek; the focus list should be constructed with an eye to the dissertation project.  The focus list should not be a second field list; it needs to be tailored to the dissertation project. The lists must be headed by a 1000-word rationale for the student’s choices of texts.

• The field list. This list should contain major works in the student’s primary research and teaching area—for example, the history and theory of rhetoric; early modern literature; 20th century transnational literature, etc. This list should not have a topic, and  should include all the works that the student and committee agree are important for anyone specializing in this field. In addition to primary texts, the field list should also include at least five secondary works that reflect the current state of the field and/or major works in the history of that field.
• The focus list. This list should contain works in what the student considers his or her special area—for example, representations of violence in modernist literature; gender and embodiment in medieval literature; race and ethnicity in contemporary American fiction; digital rhetorics and contemporary media theory. The list can be divided into sub-areas if the student and the committee deem this useful. This list must include the primary texts the student thinks she might discuss in her dissertation.
• This exam is about coverage of the student’s major teaching field, and the expectation is that the student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of all of the works on this list.
• Because there is no written component of the exam, evaluation will be based on student performance during the oral exam. The expectation is that the student can adequately answer all questions posed, can clearly articulate an account of the field, and can talk about all of the works on the list.
• A passing performance on the field exam means that the student is fully enough grounded in the field to move on to the focus exam.
• Students will answer two questions over a 72 hour period. The expectation is that students will spend some time refining, as well as drafting, the answers.
• Careful editing and proofreading are expected.
• Answers should reflect an intellectual engagement in the issues at the heart of the questions, and should not simply report on what the texts on the list have to say about those issues. In other words, answers should present an argument.
• Students should provide full citations for all texts referenced, in MLA style.
• While the field and focus lists are separate, students can draw on texts from the field list in answering questions on the focus exam.
• Students who fail to send the completed exam to the Graduate Office by the end of the 72 hours will fail the exam unless the student can present the Graduate Studies Committee with a compelling reason for the extra time taken.

After both parts of the exam are complete and committee members have sent comments on the focus exam to the chair of the committee, the results of the exam will be reported to the Graduate School. If more than one person on the committee feels that the written portion of the exam does not warrant a pass, the committee will need to convene to discuss whether the exam, overall, qualifies as a pass.

Prospectus and Dissertation

The prospectus should be 6-8 pages, plus a full bibliography. The prospectus should lay out the rationale for the dissertation project, clearly identify the research questions the dissertation will pursue, and indicate how the dissertation will contribute to a field or fields. It should also include brief descriptions of individual chapters, and identify the main texts to be considered in each. A full bibliography will substitute for a review of the literature.

The prospectus must be approved by the student’s committee in a 90-minute prospectus defense, which must be scheduled in the spring of the third year. Once the committee has signed off on the prospectus, the student will file it with GPS and, thus, advance to candidacy.

When a student is ready to schedule the prospectus defense, he or she meets with the graduate office to fill out the requisite paperwork and to get instructions on which documents must be downloaded from GPS, filled out, and brought to the defense.

Within one calendar year of the approval of the dissertation prospectus, (that is, no later than spring of the fourth year), the student will give a ten-minute presentation on the dissertation project to an audience of faculty and graduate students. The graduate office will organize one symposium for all 4th year students to present at one time.

The dissertation is a substantial work of original scholarship written under the close supervision of the Advisory Committee, particularly the chair. Dissertations must follow the guidelines in the Thesis Manual . Address questions to the  Thesis Office .

Students can write a traditional dissertation, composed of individual chapters, and introduction, and conclusion. But students can also propose and carry out alternative forms for the dissertation (with the approval of the committee). Two models for these alternatives include a written dissertation supplemented by a digital project of some kind; and a suite of articles prefaced by an introduction.

We are at present not offering the option to write a Creative Dissertation to incoming students, as the Creative Writing track in the department is being redesigned.

Excellence in Research & Teaching

There is no better choice for graduate education than The University of Texas at Austin.

Review the key dates for graduate students, including registration, payment deadlines and more.

Navigating Your Degree

The Graduate School is here to help you attain your educational and career goals.

Live the Longhorn Life

Life as a graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin means receiving a world class education in top-ranked programs, having access to premium health and wellness resources, the opportunity to join 1,300+ student organizations and more - all while living in Austin, Texas.

Programs in the Nation's Top 10

U.S. News & World Report

Master's Students

Total Enrollment

Doctoral Students

U.S. University with NSF Research

National Science Foundation (NSF)

For Scientific Research

Nature Index

Most Innovative School in the U.S.

Graduate School News

Announcing Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week | April 1-5, 2024

New Semiconductor Master’s Program Will Offer Hands-on Experience in Rapidly Growing Industry

New Ph.D. led research: Why the Powerhouses of Cells Evolve Differently in Plants

'Dreams come true': How a UT team created guidance for first US moon landing in 50 years

Little Groundwater Recharge in Ancient Mars Aquifer, Graduate Student Discovery

Jackson School Grad Students Win Outstanding TA Awards

Announcing New Postdoctoral Affairs Office in the Graduate School

Introduction & Resources for Graduate Students

UT Postdoctoral Researcher Spreads Consumer Awareness on Chemicals Harmful to Hormones

Events for graduate students.

Master’s Degree Candidate Workshop

Empower Your Pitch Competition - Round 1

Making Time for Wellness during Graduate School

2024 Women’s History Month Celebration

Building Your LinkedIn Profile for Graduate Students & Postdocs

Follow us on instagram @utaustingradschool.

On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the incredible women across UT that inspire, lead and contribute to changing the world 🤘

UT graduate students: Join us on Tuesday, March 5 from 10 - 11:30 a.m. in the Graduate School office at Main 101 for breakfast treats during our Open House!

Inspired by his work at a forensic finance consulting firm before grad school, Prateek Mahajan now studies finance as a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the McCombs School of Business.

What’s grad life like in Austin, Texas? This is what a Monday afternoon in February looks like. ☀️ That’s it. That’s the post.

Using a sociological lens, Faith Deckard’s work focuses on better understanding how people and their families navigate the criminal legal system and its aftermath. A sixth-year Ph.D.

Combining his interests in education and the psychology of learning, Ph.D. student Ryan A. Mata focuses on how facets of identity and culture play a role in educational trajectories and outcomes for adolescents and undergraduates. Ryan is a 2nd year Ph.D.

Nirmalay Barua, today's #UTGradStudentProfile, is a 3rd year Ph.D. student from Bangladesh studying gas sensing devices in the Materials Science and Engineering program at the Cockrell School of Engineering.

Today's #UTGradStudentProfile, Greg Holste, has always been drawn to data analysis. Now a third-year Ph.D. student in the Cockrell School’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, he is leveraging that skill to advance his research on medical artificial intelligence (AI).

Izzi Clark has always been fascinated by animal behavior and ecology. After studying wild lemurs in Madagascar as an undergrad, she became incredibly drawn to primates by their rich social lives and evolutionary proximity to humans.

Ph.D. in English

Get a ph.d. in english.

The Ph.D. in English at the University of Houston engages international dialogues on poetics, narrative, history, and culture. Our innovative doctoral program centers transnational and multilingual approaches to study, and our award-winning research faculty foster dynamic intersections among multiple disciplines and media. The Ph.D. student experience at the University of Houston is enlivened by the English Department’s connections to the intellectual and cultural life of Houston, a global city with thriving literary and arts communities.

UH English Ph.D. students receive dedicated advising and mentorship from department faculty and professional development support at all stages of the degree. We can typically provide five years of funding, including tuition remission and a stipend. (See our Financial Aid page for more information.)

All first-year Ph.D. students receive preparation for expert teaching in the university classroom. Second- through fifth-year students have the opportunity to teach a range of courses, with continued pedagogical training and working groups. Students in their fourth and fifth years are eligible for department- and college-level awards to support dissertation research. 

Overview of Admissions Requirements

Minimum requirements for admission.

• M.A. in English or a related field
• 3.5 GPA in graduate studies

Application Deadline

The application deadline for our Ph.D. in English is February 1.

For more admissions information, visit the How to Apply web page for our Ph.D. in English.

Graduate Curricular Specializations

Program Breakdown & Degree Requirements

Financial Aid

How to Apply

• Departments & Programs
• Office of the Dean
• Welcome from the Dean
• By the Numbers
• State of the College 2023
• Information For Faculty & Staff
• Undergraduate Programs
• Undergraduate Certificate Programs
• Dean's List
• Graduate Programs
• Graduate Certificate Programs
• Advising and Support
• Find a Program
• Undergraduate Admissions
• Graduate Admissions
• Financial Aid
• Future Students
• Current Students
• Student Success
• Study Abroad
• Academic Advisors
• Academic Resources
• Career Ready
• Undergraduate Research
• Graduate Research
• Faculty Research
• Research Development
• Centers & Institutes
• Development Office
• Giving Priorities
• Ways to Give

• College of Arts & Sciences News
• Media Relations
• Women in Science
• Teachers & Educators
• K-12 Students

Ph.D. in English

The doctorate in English program prepares students to become leading scholars, excellent teachers and active members of the academic community. You will receive sustained pedagogical training, preparing you to teach courses on writing, rhetoric and literature.

This program fosters critical engagement with the discipline of English studies and its interdisciplinary practices. Through this program, you will learn to:

• Articulate a research plan and carry it out
• Develop original arguments that contribute to ongoing debates within the field
• Master research techniques and the ability to evaluate resources, including digital resources
• Communicate your ideas to varied audiences, both orally and in writing

We will support you in your efforts to gain professional experience while you work on your doctoral degree. We encourage you to actively enter the profession by:

• Presenting your work at conferences
• Publishing your work in scholarly venues
• Participating in the governance of the English department
• Teaching courses on writing, rhetoric and literature
• Teaching courses in your area of expertise

Ph.D. in English Program Requirements

Doctoral graduates are qualified for teaching positions at the college and university level. This program also aids students who plan to pursue careers outside of academia, where they can put the research, writing and teaching skills they have developed to good use.

Earning Your Doctoral Degree

You will develop a knowledge base in a range of literatures and theories in your coursework. Later, you will specialize by taking an oral field examination and a written take-home examination that will prepare you to write a dissertation.

Steps to Fulfill a Doctoral Program

• Request Info
• English PhD Program
• Home  /  English  /  English PhD Program

The Doctor of Philosophy degree in English offers students full-time and part-time opportunities for advanced study and research in cross-cultural, transnational approaches to English language and literary studies, with coursework required in U.S. Latina/o literature and rhetoric and composition. The Ph.D. in English is awarded to candidates who complete all required coursework; demonstrate in-depth cross-cultural knowledge of literature, language, and/or rhetoric and composition; and produce an original dissertation that contributes to their fields of specialization.

Our graduate faculty are recruited from leading universities, engage in innovative research in diverse fields, publish regularly with leading presses and journals, and assume leadership in an array of prestigious national and international organizations. Faculty have been honored with Fulbright Fellowships, NEH Fellowships, Mellon Foundation Grants, Rockefeller Foundation grants, and many other awards, including the Chancellor’s Council Teaching Award.

Our PhD graduate students have gone on to become scholars, teachers, and administrators at diverse higher education institutions including: The University of British Colombia, DePaul University, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Colorado State University, University of New Mexico, UT Health, Texas Tech, St. Mary’s University, OLLU, and many more.  

Please see the profiles of our graduate faculty and current PhD fellows below and feel free to reach out to any of us with questions. Questions about the PhD program can be directed to the PhD Graduate Advisor of Record, Dr. Kenneth Walker.

English Graduate Catalog

Apply for the English PhD Program

English PhD Handbook: Policies and Procedures

PhD Milestones Agreement Form

PhD Program of Study Form

UTSA Schedule of Classes

Funding Opportunities

The English PhD program offers nationally competitive graduate fellowships (usually lasting 5 years) to our most competitive applicants. Fellowships include a monthly stipend, full tuition/fees, full UTSA health care, and a variety of research and teaching opportunities. Financial aid is also offered to eligible students in the form of scholarships. Students have received University Teaching and Dissertation Fellowships and external fellowships, such as the Ford Dissertation and Smithsonian Graduate Fellowships. For more information about graduate funding, click below.

Course Offerings and Schedule

Graduate classes are generally offered in the evening and may also be offered in the afternoon or morning. A full listing of current classes may be accessed through ASAP (Course Schedules) and syllabi may be accessed through Bluebook.

  Recent Graduate Course Titles

Borderlands Rhetorical Ecologies (Walker),  Literature of Immigration (Kellman), African American Literature (Moody),  Latina/o/x Digital Archives (Fernandez), Language in Contact (Drinka),  Theory & Practice of Teaching Composition (Hum),  Graduate Fiction Workshop (Garza), Graduate Poetry Workshop (Vance), Major Authors: Chaucer (Study Abroad in Urbino, Italy w/ Fonzo),  Major Authors: Influence of Dante (Study Abroad in Urbino, Italy w/ Fonzo),  Renaissance Literature (Bayer), Community-Based Methods in Environmental Justice (Walker and Team), Latina Literatures: Mexican Women Writers (Raymond), Major Authors: Shakespeare (Bayer)

• Department of English
• Faculty English Faculty
• Creative Writing Program
• Friends of Shakespeare Friends of Shakespeare Join Friends of Shakespeare
• Students Student Resources Degree Plans Honors in English Internships Spring Research Conference Scholarships
• Request Info Visit Apply

English Graduate Faculty

Mark Bayer, Ph.D. *

Department Chair

[email protected]

210-458-4374

Bridget Drinka, Ph.D.*

[email protected]

Kimberly Fonzo, Ph.D.*

Associate Professor

[email protected]

Kimberly Garza, Ph.D.*

Assistant Professor

[email protected]

Sue Hum, Ph.D.*

[email protected]

Steven Kellman, Ph.D.*

[email protected]

Joycelyn Moody, Ph.D.*

Sue E. Denman Distinguished Chair in American Literature

Director, African American Literatures and Cultures Institute

[email protected]

(210) 458-4374

Annette Portillo, Ph.D.*

[email protected]

Sylvia Fernández Quintanilla*

[email protected]

MH Building, 4th floor, #4.02.12

David Vance, Ph.D.*

Director of Creative Writing

[email protected]

Kenneth Walker, Ph.D.*

[email protected]

PhD Fellows

Devon Bradley

[email protected]

Niloufar Esmaeili

[email protected]

Victoria Ramirez Gentry

[email protected]

Juan-Danniel Hernandez

[email protected]

Carolina Hinojosa

[email protected]

[email protected]

Abby Leigh Mangel

[email protected]

Victorria Simpson

[email protected]

• One UTSA Circle
• San Antonio, TX 78249
• (210) 458-4350
• [email protected]

Stay Connected to the College of Liberal and Fine Arts

UTSA's College of Liberal and Fine Arts will become an internationally recognized college providing the core intellectual experience that prepares students for their role as responsible citizens in a free society.

The College of Liberal and Fine Arts will meet the needs of the diverse population of Texas through quality research and creative work, exemplary teaching, and professional contributions to the community.

• Current Students
• Faculty + Staff
• Alumni + Friends
• Parents + Family
• Community + Visitors
• Bachelor's Degrees
• Master's Degrees
• Doctorate Degrees
• Certificates
• Arts & Design
• Business & Industry
• Communications & Media
• Data Analytics & Information
• Health & Wellness
• Humanities & Social Sciences
• Music & Performing Arts
• Public Service
• Multidisciplinary
• Still Exploring & Undetermined
• International
• Bienvenidos
• Featured Videos
• College Tour
• Tuition & Aid
• Student Life
• Search Type Search Search
• Quicklinks:
• STUDENT EMAIL
• UNT DIRECTORY
• INFO FOR CURRENT STUDENTS
• INFO FOR FACULTY + STAFF
• INFO FOR ALUMNI + FRIENDS
• INFO FOR PARENTS + FAMILY
• INFO FOR COMMUNITY + VISITORS
• UNT LIBRARIES
• UNT CALENDAR
• JOBS AT UNT

English Ph.D.

Want more info.

We're so glad you're interested in UNT! Let us know if you'd like more information and we'll get you everything you need.

Why Earn an English Ph.D.?

The Ph.D. program is designed to give you a broad, solid foundation in the academic profession, while at the same time preparing you to conduct original, in-depth research or to compose original works of literature. You'll benefit from the guidance of a nationally recognized faculty with a strong record of publication in prestigious journals like PMLA, Philological Quarterly, The Paris Review and Granta.

We make every effort to foster our graduate students' success and help them attain their educational and career goals.

While at UNT, our students have published their work in nationally and internationally recognized journals and magazines, including The New Yorker , Shakespeare and SEL: Studies in English Literature . They have placed books with presses like Button Poetry, the University of Georgia Press and the University of Wisconsin Press. And they have won prestigious awards and fellowships, including grants from the Newberry Library and from the National Endowment for the Arts.

• Reason rigorously, subtly and independently
• Analyze minutely sources and narratives
• Identify and address interpretative complexity
• Develop and contribute new knowledge
• Convey knowledge in self-designed courses

English Ph.D. Highlights

What can you do with an english ph.d..

Many recent Ph.D. graduates have gone on to tenure-track positions at other institutions all over the country, including Texas Women's University (Texas), Radford University (Virginia), St. Catherine University (Minnesota), Valparaiso University (Indiana), SUNY-Potsdam (New York) and Brigham Young University (Utah).

English Ph.D. Courses You Could Take

Learn More About UNT

Explore more options.

English Master's

English Creative Writing Ph.D.

It’s easy to apply online. Join us and discover why we’re the choice of nearly 47,000 students.

Department of English

Graduate course offerings, summer 2024.

If you have any questions about the Literature, Creative Writing, or Linguistics courses, please contact the graduate advisor . For all Technical Communication courses, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies .

The English/Philosophy building can be found on the Campus Map .

We also have a listing of past graduate course offerings .

Click an Option to Show Courses by Focus

Engl 5067 methods of teaching college composition (ma & phd).

This course is designed as a practicum for GPTI teaching first-year writing at Texas Tech University. This course will introduce teachers to methods and practices of teaching writing and provide scaffolding for their first three semesters teaching first-year writing. We will use class time to discuss teaching activities, to introduce you to theories of learning, writing, and rhetoric, to solve problems related to teaching and learning, and to help you build your teaching philosophy.

ENGL 5000, Portfolio

ENGL 5000 is an MATC portfolio seminar that fulfills MATC student's capstone requirement. MATC students pursuing the Portfolio option for their degree will develop their portfolio in this course under the direction of TTU TCR faculty. MATC students should take this course in the semester before the semester they graduate. (e.g., if you are graduating in the spring, take it in the fall).

IMPORTANT: This is a “variable credit” course and will require you to assign the number of credit hours you need when you register. This course should count for 3cr. hours. Instructions for changing variable credit hours: Changing Variable Credit Course Hours .

Note: Your portfolio will be reviewed a second time by TTU TCR faculty in your final semester before graduation. While there is no examination, your portfolio fulfills the "comprehensive exam" requirement.

ENGL 5067, Methods of Teaching College Composition

5067 sections are required for onsite GPTIs . Enroll in the section based on your program/year.

Note: Online students/non-GPTIs are not permitted to enroll in these courses. These sections are integrally linked to the work GPTIs do in our First-Year Writing

IMPORTANT: This is a “variable credit” course and will require you to assign the number of credit hours you need when you register. This course should count for 1 credit hour each.

ENGL 5067 (MA & PhD 2nd Year)

This course is designed as a practicum for GPTI teaching first-year writing at Texas Tech University. This section will be specifically focused on preparing you to teach writing in asynchronous online classes. This section will introduce teachers to methods and practices of teaching writing online and provide scaffolding for your first time teaching asynchronously in our program. We will use digital spaces through Blackboard to discuss teaching activities, to introduce you to theories of online learning, writing, and rhetoric, to solve problems related to teaching and learning, and to help you build your online teaching philosophy.

ENGL 5309, Studies in Nineteenth-Century British Literature: Recentering the Influences of The Arabian Nights

This course will explore the influence of The Arabian Nights on Victorian Literature. Using Hussain Haddawy's Norton Critical Edition of The Arabian Nights , we will read the frame story of female storyteller Shahrazad and despotic ruler Sultan Shahrayar, in addition to a selection of intertwined tales like “The Story of the Merchant and the Demon,” “The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon,” and “The Story of the Three Apples.” After identifying key elements in this collection of stories, we will then examine their impact on British canonical nineteenth-century novels such as Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847) and Edith Nesbit's The Story of the Amulet (1906). When analyzing these texts, we will pay close attention to the intersections of race, class, gender, and national identity in the larger context of the British Empire. We will also engage with theoretical materials to gain a deeper understanding of the assigned texts, bringing to the forefront “othered” characters and voices that have been overlooked or ignored. Assignments include a conference-length paper, discussion leading, an oral presentation, and an annotated bibliography.

Requirement Fulfilled: British Literature; Later Period; Genre (Fiction)

ENGL 5324, Studies in Twentieth-Century American Literature: Literatures of the American Southwest

This course introduces students to a variety of twentieth and twenty-first century texts from the region currently referred to as the American Southwest. We will explore the Southwest through award-winning westerns by Cormac McCarthy and Percival Everett, a 1903 collection of non-fiction essays from Mary Hunter Austin, foundational Native American texts by Leslie Marmon Silko and Tommy Orange, a canonical Mexican American coming-of-age novel, and the 2016 film Hell or High Water (screenplay by Taylor Sheridan), among other texts. We'll also read multiple scholarly essays about the region and its history. Some questions we will consider as we read include: What common themes run through these works? How do different cultures describe the landscape of the Southwest? The relationship they feel exists between themselves and this region's history? Between themselves and the other cultures of this region? We will attempt to answer these questions through lectures, class discussions, a series of short Summary & Synthesis assignments which put our scholarship in conversation with the texts, and a seminar paper.

Requirement Fulfilled: American Literature; Later Period; Genre (Fiction); Literature, Social Justice and Environmental Studies (LSJE)

ENGL 5327, Studies in Multicultural American Literature: The Borderlands of Visionary Fiction

Recent years have seen an impressive outpouring of speculative fiction by women and people of color that falls under the neologism, “visionary fiction.” In this course, we will study genres that often overlap—science fiction, apocalyptic/post-apoc, and utopian/dystopian forms—from a Borderlands perspective. To conceive a Borderlands position broadly means that we approach spaces, places, and even bodies in terms of peripheries and edges rather than centers. Visionary fiction is radical, highly imaginative, and often calls for a paradigm shift in consciousness; its aims are egalitarian and aimed at social and environmental justice. Some questions that will focus our discussion include: how and why have speculative forms so radically transformed in recent decades? How do people of color engage speculative forms to re-imagine genocidal campaigns and modern, colonialist enterprises? How do the articulations of feminist theory, third space theory, and environmental philosophy bring into conversation the territorial, ideological, and metaphorical intersections between the U.S. and other countries with the goal of illuminating how individual subjectivities negotiate local, national, and global borders (transfronteras) of experience? Some of the authors we'll read include Gloria Anzaldúa, Octavia E. Butler, Ursula K. LeGuin, Daniel Quinn, and Nnedi Okorafor.

ENGL 5340, Research Methods

This seminar introduces students either beginning or near the start of their graduate work to a range of research methods and methodologies utilized in humanities-based studies, including the vast array of digital, material, and archival resources available to researchers. The course focuses on the process of research to better prepare students for the kind of work expected at the graduate level. Students will develop a significant research project in their selected area of specialization that will include a book review, annotated bibliography, conference-length presentation, and research paper. This section is reserved primarily for new distance/online MA students in English, but is open (based on enrollment availability) to graduate students across the humanities.

Requirements Fulfilled: Foundation Course (English MA)

ENGL 5355, Studies in Comparative Literature: Global Vietnam War Literature and Culture

This course investigates the representation of the American War in Vietnam through diverse theoretical, cultural, and historical perspectives. We begin by scrutinizing Graham Green's The Quiet American and screening the French film Indochine with special attention to the differences between the traditional European colonial powers and the US-centered global order, which Donald Pease theorizes as the “global state of exception.” We then examine Joan Didion's Democracy and Norman Mailer's Armies of the Night in relation to the impact of the military-industrial complex and in light of the blurry boundary between history and fiction. We then direct our critical interest to Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War , Tim O'Brien's Going after Cacciato , and Lynda De Devanter's Home before Morning , which would invoke senses of “being there,” of “a hyperreality,” as well as of “the return of the repressed.” Meanwhile, we also try to get a glimpse of the war from both the North and South Vietnamese perspectives and explore Bao Nin's Sorrow of War in terms of what Shu-Mei Shih dubs “the exceptional particular.” We conclude by reading Le Ly Hayslip's When Heaven and Earth Changed Places , Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer , and Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir , and by rethinking the ecological consequences of the war upon the land and the people.

Requirement Fulfilled: Comparative Literature; Genre (fiction)

ENGL 5365, Writing Studies & Well-Being

In this class, we will explore questions and problems related to rhetoric and writing about wellbeing, wellness, and similar concepts through questions such as the following: What, exactly, does it take to find a sense of wellness today and what role might writing and rhetorical practice, research, and theory play? How, for whom, and under what conditions might people experience writing for wellness—and how might we leverage such insight for the public good more broadly? What are the relationships among discourses and practices of wellbeing, wellness, gratitude, healing, contemplation, and democracy? To explore these questions, we will read work from writing and rhetoric studies, education, psychology, disability studies, and other areas. Assignments will include autoethnographic or other forms of selfstudy research, a book review, discussion questions, and in-class writing.

Readings will include articles as well as all or parts of the following books: Rhetorical Healing: The Reeducation of Contemporary Black Womanhood by Tamika L. Carey; The Art of Gratitude by Jeremy David Engels; Unwell Writing Centers: Searching for Wellness in Neoliberal Educational Institutions and Beyond by Genie Nicole Giaimo; Composition Studies special issue on Writing and Well-being edited by Susan Miller-Cochran and Stacey Cochran; Yoga Minds, Writing Bodies: Contemplative Writing Pedagogy by Christy I. Wenger; and Writing as a Way of Healing by Louise DeSalvo. Carey, Engels, and Giaimo are available as e-books through the TTU library; Miller-Cochran and Cochran and Wenger are open access.

ENGL 5377, Rhetoric of Entrepreneurialism and Innovation

This course explores the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation, and the writing and communication practices that constitute these areas of activity. First, this class will delve into theories of management, entrepreneurship, and critical entrepreneurship studies to provide necessary background information. We will explore such questions as what is entrepreneurship? Who counts as an entrepreneur? and Why is entrepreneurship a central societal innovation? Next, we will systematically engage with the types of writing and communication most important to these professionals. We will cover such popular topics as the business pitch, business plan, and business model canvas, but we will also explore the use of entrepreneurial storytelling, the formation of entrepreneurial ecosystems, and other important topics. The content of this class will be useful to any aspiring innovator or business owner but will mainly give students a foundation that they could use to begin publishing in the small cross-disciplinary field sometimes called entrepreneurship communication.

ENGL 5377, Risk Communication

The field of risk communication examines the relationship between information sharing and people's assessment and responses to possible harms. This course surveys research in risk communication that helps us understand how individuals and communities perceive and manage risks to their health, safety, and environment, as well as best practices for communicating risk information to community audiences. Throughout the semester students will read and discuss theoretical and applied literature on risk communication and apply best practices to design risk communication plans and messages that effectively address targeted audiences.

ENGL 5385, Ethics in TCR

This class offers an introductory overview of major Western and non-Western ethical frameworks that past and present technical communication and rhetoric scholarship has drawn on. Major western frameworks include virtue ethics, consequentialism (utilitarianism), and deontology. We will also cover introductory concepts such as metaethics to ask: What are values? How do ethical frameworks produce different values? Which ethical frameworks should I use in some situations but not others? Students will read work by some of the major ethical philosophers who contributed to these movements, such as Immanuel Kant, Alasdair Mcintrye, and Aristotle, but they will also learn how to apply ancient frameworks to contemporary causes such as the resurgent interest in “effective altruism” (a modified form of utilitarianism) in Open AI discourses. Students will also study the ways in which 20th century scholars have critiqued and extended these positions to include frameworks on indigenous virtue ethics, feminist ethics of care, black feminist ethics of care, and non-western virtue ethics (Confucianism; Ubuntu). We'll read about Lisa Tessman's efforts to update virtue ethics through diversity and social justice alongside Martha Nussbaum's ideas on feminist generosity and Margaret McLaren's work on feminist virtues such as feistiness and playfulness.

In this class, we will not only read about ethics, but we will discuss how to think about applying past and present Western and non-Western frameworks ethically through our unique positionalities. Students will be encouraged to apply an ethical framework of their choice to a wide range of academic, industry or pedagogical ends for a final project.

• Like Department of English on Facebook Like Department of English on Facebook
• Follow Department of English on X (twitter) Follow Department of English on X (twitter)
• Subscribe to Department of English on YouTube Subscribe to Department of English on YouTube
• Follow Department of English on Instagram Follow Department of English on Instagram

Texas A&M Veterinarians Diagnose Rare Autoimmune Disease, Put Dog On Road To Recovery

Having two autoimmune diseases is unusual for a dog, but having three is exceptionally rare.

When Lanie, an English silver Labrador retriever, began showing signs of another illness less than a year after the diagnosis of her first two autoimmune diseases, her owners acted quickly, taking her to their local, trusted emergency veterinary clinic.

The clinic used every tool at its disposal to help Lanie but ultimately determined that she needed more advanced diagnostic equipment than it could provide. The clinic recommended her owners, Anthony and Clara M. Simpson, take her to the  Small Animal Teaching Hospital  (SATH) at Texas A&M University.

While Lanie is now back to good health, thanks to the Internal Medicine and Soft Tissue Surgery teams at Texas A&M, the journey to diagnosing her mystery ailment took a few unexpected turns along the way.

A Double Diagnosis

The Simpsons’ desire to bring a puppy into their family was sparked after work travel became more frequent for Anthony in 2022. After bringing Lanie home from her birthplace in Ardmore, Oklahoma, they bonded quickly with their silver pup and became a family of three.

“We can’t imagine our lives without her now,” Clara said. “There is nothing better than coming home to Lanie, who is always happy to see us and makes us smile, regardless of the kind of day we have had.”

A month after bringing Lanie home, the couple noticed something was not quite right. Lanie was almost 3 months old, which meant she should have been an energetic puppy; instead, she was lethargic and uninterested in just about everything.

The Simpsons’ pursuit of care for Lanie led them to Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists (GCVS), a large emergency clinic in Houston. There, Lanie was diagnosed with Juvenile Cellulitis (puppy strangles) — a rare autoimmune disease that typically affects puppies up to 6 months of age — as well as Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy (HOD) — an auto-inflammatory disease of the bones.

“Dr. Rhonda Dixon, the doctor who treated Lanie at GCVS, is a Texas A&M alumna,” Clara said. “She was incredible and diagnosed Lanie after just one day and said that having puppy strangles and HOD at the same time was a very rare thing. Even so, she reassured us that both issues were treatable, and we were able to bring Lanie home soon after.”

Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Fire

With Lanie back in good health, the family of three settled back into their daily routines. For Lanie, this included gathering the neighbors’ weekly newspapers on her daily walks, letting Clara dress her in new bandanas, playing fetch and Frisbee as much as possible, taking an occasional weekend road trip, and documenting her life on  her Instagram  account.

“Then Sept. 9, 2023, rolled around,” Anthony said. “It was a Saturday afternoon, and Lanie would barely open her mouth. She always wants to eat, so we knew something was going on.”

A trip to the local emergency clinic determined Lanie hadn’t eaten something she shouldn’t have, but that visit ultimately left the family with more questions than answers.

“That’s when the emergency veterinarian said, ‘Have you thought about Texas A&M?’” Clara recalled. “She let us know that Texas A&M has veterinarians who specialize in all the different parts and pieces of veterinary medicine. And she mentioned that no matter what they find, the vets at Texas A&M can direct her to the right people within the same facility.”

The following morning, the Simpsons drove from their home in Houston to College Station.

“We walked in, and it wasn’t scary or chaotic; it was actually pleasantly calm,” Clara said. “We were greeted with a smile, and everyone we met with that afternoon was very kind and patient. As much as it pained us to leave her, there was no doubt we were leaving her in the best hands.”

Solving A Mystery

Lanie was initially seen by the SATH’s Emergency & Critical Care Service before being referred to Dr. Jessica Herman, a resident on the Small Animal Internal Medicine service. Sunday evening, her neck and face began swelling and continued to do so throughout the week, which meant she needed a diagnosis and treatment plan sooner rather than later.

“It was up to us to try and establish the underlying cause of the swelling and fever she was experiencing,” Herman said. “The difficulty in this diagnosis lies in the location of her swelling, which was under the chin, where we have salivary glands, nerves, blood vessels, muscles, lymph nodes and more; it is a very busy area that participates in supporting and moving the head, chewing, swallowing, breathing and talking — or, in Lanie’s case, barking. We had to figure out if her swelling was a tumor, an abscess, or a foreign body like a sock.”

Herman’s first move was to order a computerized tomography (CT) scan, which allowed her team to get an inside look at Lanie’s neck and head in three dimensions. The CT helped identify where Lanie’s swelling was located internally, and the team enlisted Small Animal Radiology’s help to collect samples from the swollen tissues that were continuing to get bigger using an ultrasound-guided technique.

“While the microscopic evaluation of these samples showed inflammation, we could not tell if the inflammation was due to a bacterial infection,” Herman said. “For that, we had to loop in our awesome Soft Tissue Surgery team.”

From there, surgery resident Dr. Chanel Berns performed a surgical biopsy in the pursuit of answers to Lanie’s mystery illness and rapid, severe swelling.

“When I performed the surgery, it was clear that her lymph nodes were the problem,” Berns said. “They were swollen to about 7 centimeters, whereas, typically, lymph nodes are less than a few centimeters.”

From the biopsy, Lanie’s Internal Medicine team was able to diagnose and confirm her condition with senior clinician  Dr. Genna Atiee  as canine sterile steroid-responsive lymphadenitis.

“When we break down the words in her diagnosis, it’s easier to understand how her experience with puppy strangles led to her third autoimmune disease,” Berns said. “Sterile means there’s no underlying infectious disease, so no bacteria or fungus. Steroid-responsive means that all the swelling she had would clear up with proper steroid treatment. And lymphadenitis just means swelling of the lymph nodes.

“So, in short, she had swelling that wasn’t being caused by an ongoing infection but, rather, likely resulted from her experience with puppy strangles,” Berns said. “Her body was trying to fix a problem that didn’t exist and triggered a new autoimmune response.”

Herman explained that sterile steroid-responsive lymphadenitis is similar, and may be related, to puppy strangles and that the two diseases often come together.

“Given her history of autoimmune diseases, it is safe to say that her immune system is not entirely normal,” she said.

Lanie’s veterinarians determined the best steroid treatment for her condition and began seeing a rapid reduction in her swelling after application.

“All three of the diseases Lanie has had in her lifetime are rare, but the sterile steroid-responsive lymphadenitis is very uncommon,” Berns said. “Lanie’s case was so dramatic because you could see from one day to the next how quickly she was either getting worse or better with her swelling.

“Thankfully, once we knew what we were treating, she had a very quick response to the treatment,” she said. “We started to see results in reducing her swelling within days, and if you see her now, you’d never know she experienced an autoimmune disease, much less three.”

Reuniting The Family

After a week at the SATH, Lanie was able to return home, where she’s finishing up her treatment and enjoying the life of a happy, healthy pup again.

“Thankfully, Lanie responded beautifully to the steroids we started and is living as a happy pup,” Herman said. “However, some dogs will require multiple immunosuppressants to keep their disease in check. As we taper Lanie off her steroids, we hope to see her lymph nodes remain normal, but we are taking it very slow just in case.”

In the meantime, Lanie is back to enjoying her evening walks to the neighborhood park, eating all of her favorite foods — especially fresh fruit — and sharing her journey with the world.

“I don’t think that there will ever be enough words to tell her Texas A&M veterinary team how grateful we are,” Clara said. “I’ve always heard that you should take your pets to Texas A&M and to make sure that your vet is an Aggie veterinarian. And now that we’ve experienced their level of care and compassion, we get it — 100%. We have seen firsthand how they treat the families and the animals under their care — they understand that they’re more than pets; they’re family.”

Media contact: Jennifer Gauntt, [email protected],   979-862-4216

Related Stories

A Closer Look Into Cryptococcal Fungal Infections

Both cats and dogs can develop serious, even life-threatening, infections when they inhale the spores of this fungi.

Aggie Serves As Houston Livestock Show And Rodeo Veterinarian For 21st Year

Professor at Texas A&M's Large Animal Teaching Hospital leads a team of volunteers in caring for the 18,000 livestock animals at the annual show.

Veterinary Emergency Team Provides Assistance Amid Texas Wildfires

The team's recent deployment to the largest wildfire in Texas history provided essential assistance to animals and communities in need while serving as a learning opportunity for students.

Recent Stories

Texas A&M, The Association Of Former Students Announce 2024 Distinguished Achievement Honorees

This award honors outstanding faculty and staff whose colleagues hold them in high regard for exhibiting excellence at Texas A&M University.

Texas A&M Invites Everyone To ‘Take Back The Night’ April 3

Come to Aggie Park to help send the message that sexual violence is unacceptable and Aggies support safe communities.

Aggie Oceanographer And Geographer Named 2024 US Science Envoy

Dawn Wright, who earned her master’s in oceanography from Texas A&M, is one of four scientists in the program's first all-female cohort.

Subscribe to the Texas A&M Today newsletter for the latest news and stories every week.

The Core is an opportunity to inquire into the fundamental aspects of being and our relationship with God, nature and our fellow human beings.

Popular Searches

• Undergraduate Programs
• Graduate Programs
• Core Curriculum
• Financial Aid
• Request Info

Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Graduate education for a renewed generation of scholars..

The Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts is committed to the recovery and renewal of the Western heritage of liberal arts and the Christian intellectual tradition. Each area of study is informed by a unique sense of paiedeia, the education of the soul, which attends to the person as a whole.

The Braniff Graduate School confers doctorates, master’s degrees and certificates in academic, artistic and professional disciplines.

Along with programs in the traditional humanities, the University of Dallas offers master’s degrees in psychology, education and ministry.

The University of Dallas offers several 18-credit hour certificate programs in ministry and education. Though certificate programs are designed to accommodate working professionals seeking to improve as ministers or teachers, students may also work toward most certificates full time.

Doctoral Program

The University of Dallas grants all PhDs through the Institute of Philosophic Studies. The IPS awards one PhD with three possible concentrations: literature, philosophy and politics. In addition to their concentration coursework, all PhD students complete a common core curriculum, an interdisciplinary selection of great books chosen for their power to explore the human soul on its deepest moral plane. No other university offers an interdisciplinary PhD in which students from the different fields of the humanities learn as a community.

The graduate programs in studio art seek to provide the self-motivated student with the tools needed to meet the demands required of the professional working artist. UD’s curriculum pairs the study of visual art with disciplined studio practice to define a clear understanding of the work and its evolution. Students may specialize in ceramics, painting, printmaking or sculpture.

Master’s Programs

 From clinics to classrooms, the liberal foundation of the Braniff Graduate School prepares master’s students for meaningful work in a breadth of fields.

Graduate Certificates

The University of Dallas offers short certificate programs for working professionals seeking to improve as ministers or educators.

Alumni Success

“Philosophy is absolutely essential to the practice of medicine. I don't know how those without a background in philosophy do it.”

“The faculty at UD are deeply passionate about their work and the work their students are doing.”

“UD changed the way I thought about my faith, about the Mass; it changed the way I thought about my diaconal ministry; it really laid a very strong foundation in my life for everything that I’m doing today.”

“I wouldn’t have been as effective in this work had I not gone to UD. It was at UD where I learned how to dialogue with people who have different thoughts and beliefs.”

“The program strengthened my faith as well as my love for learning. … What UD offers is truly exceptional.”

“The University of Dallas is the finest continuation of the Catholic tradition of university education in the West.”

Keep Exploring

• Medals & Lectureships
• Faculty & Staff Awards
• Organizations
• Faculty Openings
• Graduate Studies
• Undergraduate Studies
• Honors Program in Chemistry
• ChARGE Graduate School Preview
• REU Program
• First Year Chemistry
• Research Active Faculty
• Instructional Faculty
• Emeritus Faculty
• Facilities & Centers
• Directory Search
• Graduate Students
• Postdoctoral Researchers
• Support Staff
• Visiting Scholars
• Building Map
• Chemistry Librarian
• Alumni & Giving

Eligibility

• How To Apply

Available Projects

Other activities, reu program summer research.

The Chemistry Department's REU summer research program focuses on broad and interdisciplinary projects related to the topic of Reimagining the Chemical Heartland: Chemistry for a Changing Gulf Coast. In our program, students become full members of a research group, carrying out fundamental and applied research on topics that span the chemical sciences related to the theme. Students will also participate in various chemistry workshops and professional development sessions.

Application Window: Jan 2, 2024 - February 29, 2024

Program Dates: May 28 - August 2, 2024 (pending funding approval)

Students interested in nuclear chemistry might be better suited to the Cyclotron Institute REU Program .

Most students find the REU summer research program to be a useful way to explore the graduate school experience at a top Chemistry program. Our faculty have an outstanding record of providing students rewarding summer research experiences, usually resulting in co-authorship on publications and/or presentations. Extensive research experience will be complemented with weekly professional development and technical workshops and seminars that aim to build students' communication skills across different formats, expose them to relevant topics such as team science and ethics, provide exposure to career choices, and help students prepare for and succeed in graduate studies in STEM fields. Various social activities will provide interaction with their peers across undergraduate research programs on campus and mentors within the university and the greater scientific and industrial community in the area.

Students receive (pending support approval):

• a stipend of $6000
• free housing
• travel allowance
• $650 debit card to be used toward meals

This is a competitive program open to undergraduates majoring in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Materials Science and related fields who have completed at least one year of college, including at least 2 semesters of college chemistry with laboratories. We welcome students from 4-year universities (other than Texas A&M) and community colleges; and encourage applications from members of traditionally underrepresented groups, including minorities, women, and veterans..

How to Apply

Required for your application to be reviewed:

• Completed online application including statement of purpose and unofficial transcript with Fall grades
• 2 letters of recommendation on letterhead to be sent directly to [email protected]

See Personal Statement Pointers (page 10) for tips about what to include in your personal statement.

Apply online at Texas A&M 2024 REU Application . Application Window: Jan 2, 2024 - February 29, 2024 Questions may be directed to Miranda Easley at [email protected] or 979-845-0520.

Click on the faculty member’s name to view their webpage to learn more about their research interests.

Table 1: Available Faculty Mentors and Sample Research Projects (pending)

Weekly Seminars

Every week, the REU cohort will meet in an informal setting taking part in seminars led by department faculty members, alumni, and industrial experts. The centrality of chemistry in solving the most pressing issues affecting the "chemical heartland" – the large area of the Gulf Coast across TX and LA that houses much of the US chemical industry will be presented. Such topics can be on impacts of climate change, plastics industry and expenditure of water and energy resources. Faculty will present fundamental principles using examples from ongoing research efforts in the department and in industrial practice. Leading industry researchers (e.g. Dow, BASF, Exxon) will present Chemistry as a vibrant and interdisciplinary science that is also at the heart of modern industries, as well as their professional journey into their particular expertise. The seminars are meant to be active learning workshops incorporating hands-on activities.

Professional Development Series

Additional seminars offered every other week will focus on scientific writing, ethics, publication, and communication. Science writing is an important skill that is sometimes overlooked in undergraduate curriculum, but is very useful beyond undergraduate studies. As part of this series, students will learn how to write an abstract and written reports of their research work, which will serve as a foundation for peer-reviewed publications. Other important and valuable sessions in this series will include discussions in Ethics in Research and a fun and interactive session on Chemical Demonstrations.

Department Research Symposium

At the end of the REU program, the Chemistry REU students will have the opportunity to present their summer results to the whole department via a 15-minute oral presentation. REU students will work very closely with their graduate student mentor, faculty mentor and research group to prepare for this activity

Research Facility Tours

Tours are offered for many different research facilities across campus. In the past tours have been offered of:

• Immersive Visualization Center
• Cyclotron Institute
• Nuclear Science Center
• Observatory
• Wind Tunnel
• Microscopy & Imaging Center
• Materials Characterization Facility
• Offshore Technology Research Center

Launch Organized Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Session

The TAMU LAUNCH office organizes a university-wide poster session to showcase the summer research, scholarly and creative activities done by undergraduate students from institutions worldwide, which is open to the public. This gives each student the opportunity to present the results of their REU project to the broader campus community. The posters are brought back by students to their home institutions for display.

Technical Workshops

The Chemistry department will offer one-day short courses on:

• Crystallography Workshop : We will offer a short course on X-ray crystallography, in partnership with the X-ray Diffraction Laboratory in the Department of Chemistry. This technique is a powerful tool in structure-based understanding of different kinds of molecules but is usually not a component of undergraduate lab curriculum.
• Computational Toolset : Computational modeling has become a critical element of chemical research, but computational chemistry literacy is not prevalent in undergraduate curriculum. A workshop will be organized that teaches the essential ideas in setting up molecular models and performing quantum chemistry calculations of common molecular and material systems and the use of high-performance research computing resources.

Social Activities

Throughout the 10-week REU program, the REU participants are exposed to social activities fostering student-faculty interactions and student-student communication and camaraderie, within the department and throughout the greater TAMU community. Some of these activities include welcome orientations and a departmental ice cream social, chemical safety trainings from graduate students and faculty mentors, several industrial lab tours within the local area, department social activities like Trivia night, First Friday in Bryan, bowling and specific research group outdoor activities like hiking and lake day.

Department of Chemistry Texas A&M University PO Box 30012 College Station, TX 77842-3012

Shipping Address

Department of Chemistry Texas A&M University 580 Ross Street, Room 014 College Station, TX 77843-3255

Campus Mail

Department of Chemistry TAMU 3255 College Station, TX 77843-3255

© 2024 All Rights Reserved. Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University

• Business Operations
• Academic Operations
• IT Accessibility
• Site Policies
• TELL SOMEBODY

Texas A&M University

• Admitted Students

Application Fee & Fee Waivers

Pay application fee.

If you did not submit your application fee at the time of submitting your admissions application, you can pay it online.

Qualifying & Requesting

Qualifying for a fee waiver, first-year students.

To qualify for a first-year fee waiver, an applicant must be one of the following: A United States Citizen, Permanent Resident, or a student identified as a Texas Resident under Senate Bill 1528 (79th Legislature, 2005) AND meet one of the 3 options below to demonstrate financial need.

Option 1: Submit an SAT, ACT, or NACAC application fee waiver. Talk with your guidance counselor to obtain an application fee waiver form.

Option 2: Submit a copy of page one of the most recent year's income tax form (Form 1040). This form must reflect your total family income at or below the free/reduced lunch eligibility requirements.

Option 3: If you/your guardian are unable to submit page one of the income tax form, you may submit documentation showing the following:

• I live in subsidized public housing or I am homeless.
• My family receives public assistance
• As provided by the Texas Education Code Sec. 54.366 and Section 54.367, I have a waiver through Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Official documentation must be provided to support the request. Requests submitted without proper documentation will not be considered.

International first-year students must email [email protected] for fee waiver inquiries.

Transfer Students

Transfer students are only eligible for fee waivers provided for events.

Graduate Students

Graduate applicants interested in obtaining an application fee waiver should reach out to their department prior to submitting their application for a fee waiver code.

Students attending a UTA Fee Waiver Event will be qualified to use an application fee waiver as long as they submit their application at the event.

Please note that Accelerated Online, Coordinated Admissions Program, transient students, and students pursuing a second baccalaureate are not eligible for fee waivers.

Requesting A Fee Waiver

To request a fee waiver, first-year should first select "Request fee waiver" on their Apply Texas application, and then demonstrate financial hardship by ONE of the following options using the Application Fee Waiver Request Form

Office of Admissions

Connect with admissions, find your admissions counselor, discover the maverick factor.

If you are interested in applying to UTA or have questions about admissions requirements, please contact your admissions counselor for your region.