UNH Graduate School

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Application Deadlines

Fall*:
January 15th for financial assistance and for MFA and PhD.

July 1st for MA, and MST without financial assistance (April 1st recommended)

Spring*:
October 15th for financial assistance.

MA and MST only: December 1st

Summer:
MST Only: April 1st

MFA and PhD are fall only admissions, MST is any semester, and MA English programs are fall and spring only.

Application Requirements

Test Scores: GRE required for all programs except MST and MFA. PhD in Literature also requires GRE Subject exam.

Special Instructions:
Applicants must contact the program concerning additional application requirements (writing sample or personal statement). Applicants to the MFA in Writing must indicate which genre (Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction) at the time of application.

Applicants must request teaching assistantship applications directly from the department. Financial aid applications are due October 15 for spring aid and January 15 for fall aid.

New England Regional:
PHD:
Maine,Vermont

MA:Lang/Ling:
Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont

MA:Writing:
Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont

English

Hamilton-Smith Hall
Durham, NH 03824
(603) 862 - 3963
Email:
Web Address: http://www.unh.edu/english
MST English: Current Brochure

Degree Offered (MST, MA, MFA, PHD):

The Department of English offers four advanced degrees: master of arts with options in literature or English language and linguistics; master of science for teachers; master of fine arts in writing; and doctor of philosophy.

Admission Requirements

All applicants must submit writing samples in accordance with guidelines available from the English department graduate office. All applicants (except those for the MFA and MST) must submit current scores (within five years) from the general test of the GRE. Applicants for the doctor of philosophy degree program in literature must also submit scores for the subject test of literature in English. A student admitted to the Ph.D. program must hold an M.A. degree or be in the final stage of completing requirements for the degree.

Applicants for the degree of master of science for teachers should consult the general regulations of the Graduate School for special admission requirements.

All applicants who wish to be considered for teaching assistantships or tuition scholarships must complete an application form, available from the English department graduate office or from their Web site listed above.

Degree Requirements

M.A. Degree Requirements

Literature Option
An M.A. candidate must complete 36 credit hours at the 800 or 900 level, including three seminar courses and a fourth seminar in literature or ENGL 998, Master’s Paper. At least six courses must be literature courses offered by the English department (as distinct from courses in critical theory, linguistics, writing, or teaching methods); there are additional distribution requirements. If a student chooses the Master’s Paper option, the six-course requirement is reduced to five literature courses. Each M.A. candidate must also pass ENGL 925, The Graduate Study of Literature, and one course in literary theory. The literary theory requirement would normally be met by successful completion of ENGL 813, 814, or 926. As a general rule, all courses counting toward the M.A. degree should be taken in the English Department, but two courses may be taken in other departments with approval. No more than two literature courses should be taken in a combined 700/800 (split) level course.

M.A. candidates must pass a reading examination in a foreign language or demonstrate that they have passed a fourth-semester college-level language course with a grade of B or better. Students whose native language is not English may be exempt from this requirement.

English Language and Linguistics Option
Students who wish to specialize in any of the various areas of English language and linguistics may design an M.A. program to meet their interests. Specialties include applied linguistics and the teaching of English as a second language as well as the traditional subfields of linguistics. Psycholinguistics courses are offered through the psychology department.

To earn the M.A. degree, students must complete at least 32 credit hours at the 800 or 900 levels, including one seminar course, and 4 credits of ENGL 998, in which they are to produce a substantial scholarly paper. Unless the student already has a strong background in linguistic theory, the program of study must include one course in phonetics and phonology (ENGL 893) and one in syntax and semantics (ENGL 894). Reading knowledge of one foreign language is required. This may be demonstrated by passing a departmental examination or by receiving a grade of B or better in a fourth-semester college-level language course. Students whose native language is not English may be exempt from this requirement. The student’s course of study must be approved by the program adviser.

M.S.T. Degree Requirements
The master of science for teachers is designed for high school teachers. No foreign language is required. Students must take the Writing Institute (part of the Literacy Institutes sponsored by the University of New Hampshire) or an equivalent course in the teaching of writing such as English 810 (4 cr. version). The student must complete 32 credit hours at the 800 or 900 levels. At least 24 of these credits must be in the Department of English. Courses taken outside the department must be approved by the student’s adviser.

The department offers special summer programs which can be taken to fulfill some or all of the course requirements for the M.S.T. degree. The New Hampshire Literacy Institutes are summer institutes that focus on the teaching of writing and reading in grades K–12. Summer institutes emphasize writing workshops in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry and may include courses in literature and composition theory and research.

Master of Fine Arts in Writing
In the fall of 2007, UNH launched a master of fine arts in writing, creating a 3-year, 48-credit program that aims to provide students with the intensive training in their craft that they’ll need to start their lives as professional writers. Students concentrate in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry and are taught by a faculty of nine working writers, each of whom specializes in one of these fields. Students learn in small workshops and in individual conferences with their teachers. Conference teaching is a cornerstone of the UNH graduate writing program.

Students are required to take five workshops in their major genre. In addition, students take one form and theory course in their major genre, four elective courses that may include additional writing courses or courses from the English department’s offerings in other fields (such as literature, linguistics, or composition studies), and 8 credit hours of the M.F.A. thesis. Teaching assistants are required to take English 910, Practicum in Teaching College Composition, as one of their electives. There is no foreign language requirement.

The M.F.A. thesis is a book-length, publishable manuscript. For fiction writers, the thesis could be a collection of short stories, a story cycle (linked stories), or a novel. For nonfiction writers, the thesis could be a collection of themed essays and/or magazine articles or a book of creative nonfiction. For poets, the thesis would be a book-length collection of poems. The minimum length of the thesis is 150 pages for fiction and nonfiction writers and 45 pages for poets. Students will work closely with a thesis adviser as they write and pass an oral defense of the thesis, a defense conducted by a three-member thesis committee of writing faculty. Students will also conduct a public reading of their thesis in an event organized by the writing faculty.

In addition, the M.F.A. program offers students opportunities to publish an online journal called Barnstorm, as well as intern at publishing houses and magazines and teach in the community at prisons, senior centers, and schools. A select number of students are chosen to teach UNH undergraduate writing courses and to work in the University’s Writing Center.

The program admits an average of 15 new students a year, which creates a writing community of 45 student writers.

Ph.D. Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. program combines the essential guidance and discipline of coursework with the equally essential freedom of independent study and research. To be admitted to the doctoral program, a student must hold an M.A. degree. Students choose between two areas: literature and composition studies. Students choosing either area or program must demonstrate basic proficiency in two languages or advanced proficiency in one. Basic proficiency may be demonstrated by passing a departmental examination or by receiving a grade of B or better in a fourth-semester college-level language course. Advanced proficiency is demonstrated by passing a rigorous departmental examination.

The doctoral program in literature is designed to train students to be teachers and scholars in the fields of literature and language. Students in this program will complete nine graduate courses of which four must be seminars. The other courses must be at the 800 or 900 levels and must include the Practicum in Teaching College Composition (ENGL 910), the Seminar in Literary Theory (ENGL 926), and the ungraded 2-credit course in Bibliography and Professional Practices (ENGL 924). In addition, students must pass a general examination in English and American literature, a more specialized qualifying examination, and the final oral defense of their dissertation. The program in composition studies is designed to train experts in the teaching of composition who are also qualified to teach general courses in literature or linguistics. Students in composition studies will complete 10 graduate-level courses of which four must be seminars. The other courses must be at the 800 or 900 levels and include a Practicum in Teaching College Composition (ENGL 910) and Research Methods in Composition (ENGL 918). Students will take a combined general and qualifying examination that focuses both on the theory of composition and rhetoric, and on a secondary area of specialization. Their dissertation work will be on a topic in composition.

Ph.D. students normally hold assistantships and teach under supervision; such teaching is considered a vital part of the student’s professional training.