Undergraduate Study
Bachelor's Degree
The Department of English offers the BA degree with informal emphases in American, British, and Pacific literatures; composition and rhetoric; creative writing; and critical theory.
Requirements
Students must complete 33 credit hours of upper-division courses, including:
Level Requirements
A. ENG 320, Introduction to English Studies; 3 credits
B. 5 courses in addition to ENG 320; 15 credits. Several of these courses should be in
areas prerequisite to/preparatory for specific courses at the 400 level.
- at the 400 level (ENG 320 and two 300-level courses are prerequisite to "Studies" courses):
C. Single Author (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, or approved alpha author); 3 credits.
D. 2 additional elective courses; 6 credits.
E. 2 courses; 6 credits
Total: 33 credits
Breadth Requirements
Breadth of Field: the five 300-level courses in addition to Introduction to English
Studies must come from at least three different categories:
- Composition/Language/Rhetoric (300-309)
- Creative Writing (310-319)
- Literary History (321-59)
- Genre (360-69)
- Literature & Culture (370-89)
Historical Breadth: of the ten courses in addition to Introduction to English Studies, one must be pre-1700, one 1700-1900, and one after 1900.
Non-English Department Course
With the consent of the student's adviser or the Director of Undergraduate Studies, one appropriate three-credit upper-division course from outside English may be counted as a major elective.
Advising is required; course substitutions may be made with consent of the adviser.
Graduate Study
The Department offers the MA in English with four concentrations: literary studies in English, composition and rhetoric, creative writing, and cultural studies in Asia/Pacific. It offers the PhD in these and other areas, for the doctoral program is sufficiently flexible to allow students to develop individualized courses of study. Students applying for the MA are expected to have acquired between 24 and 30 upper division undergraduate credit hours in English or closely related subjects. PhD applicants normally will have completed the MA in English, although exceptionally well-qualified students may petition to transfer into the PhD program after completing 18 credit hours in the MA program in English. In addition to the application and transcripts required by the Graduate Division, all applicants must submit directly to the department three letters of recommendation and the GRE General Test scores. The advanced literature section of the GRE is required of PhD applicants. PhD applicants must also submit a comprehensive statement of professional goals and objectives and a representative sample of their writing (scholarly paper or MA thesis); those interested in a dissertation with a creative emphasis must also submit examples of their creative work. Residents of O'ahu applying to the PhD program may arrange for an interview with the graduate chair. The completed application should be sent to the Graduate Division by February 1 for the PhD program and March 1 for the MA program. No applications are accepted for spring admission in either program. Complete information on the graduate program is provided in a graduate student manual, available on request from the department.
Courses for the MA and PhD are to be selected from the list of English (ENG) courses, although advanced courses in other disciplines may be substituted with the prior approval of the graduate chair. The consent of the instructor is required for ENG 691, 699, 700, and 800; the consent of the graduate chair is required for all graduate courses. The following courses may be repeated for credit, since content differs from semester to semester: ENG 611, 633, 660, 675, 691, 699, 735, 737, 740, 745, 760, 775, 780, and 785.
Master's Degree
Graduates of the MA program in English have taught in secondary schools, junior and community colleges, four-year colleges, and universities. Some have pursued doctoral work; others have combined their work in English with another professional field (e.g., business, law, library studies). Still others have found employment in writing, editing, or research-related fields.
MA candidates are required to select a concentration by the end of their first semester in the program. Plan A (thesis) applies only to those admitted into the concentration in creative writing. Plan B (non-thesis) applies to those who have selected the concentrations in literary studies in English, composition and rhetoric, or cultural studies in Asia/Pacific.
Plan A (Thesis) Requirements
- Is applicable only to those students admitted to the concentration in creative writing. Students should apply to the chair of creative writing for admission to the concentration during their first semester in the program
- 27 credit hours of course work, including 21 credit hours of courses numbered 600 and above
- 6 additional credit hours of work on the MA thesis
- ENG 620-taken during the first semester if possible
- ENG 633D-taken during the second semester if possible
- Final oral examination on the thesis
- A minimum of 12 credit hours of course work in creative writing and 12 credit hours of course work outside of that concentration. Courses listed in different concentrations may be applied to either area.
- One graduate course in a subject area before 1900. In exceptional cases, the graduate chair may approve the use of a 400-level course to meet this requirement.
- One course in the English language (ENG 401, 402, 403, 640, or equivalent)-taken prior to entering the program. Students may meet this requirement within the program by taking an undergraduate course in the English language in addition to the total of 33 credit hours required for the MA degree or by taking an appropriate graduate course, such as 640, which will count towards the MA degree but may not also be used to fulfill the pre-1900 course requirement.
- Reading knowledge of one foreign language
Plan B (Non-thesis) Requirements
- 33 credit hours of course work, including 27
credit hours in courses numbered 600 and above. Applies to all students except those in creative writing
- ENG 620-taken during the first semester if possible
- ENG 633B, C or E-a course in theories and methods associated with the concentration selected by the student, taken during the second semester if possible
- ENG 691-a minimum of 3 credit hours and a maximum of 6 credit hours required for work on the MA final project
- Final oral examination on the MA project
- One course in the English language (ENG 401, 402, 403, 640, or equivalent)-taken prior to entering the program. Students may meet this requirement within the program by taking an undergraduate course in the English language in addition to the total of 33 credit hours required for the MA degree or by taking an appropriate graduate course, such as 640, which will count towards the MA degree but may not also be used to fulfill the pre-1700 or pre-1900 course requirement.
- Reading knowledge of one foreign language
- Requirements for those in literary studies: between 12 and 24 credit hours of course work in the student's concentration, including ENG 633B; one graduate course in a subject area before 1700
- Requirements for those in composition and rhetoric: ENG 633C, 680, 740 and 760; a minimum of 12 credit hours of course work outside the concentration; one graduate course in a subject area before 1900. Courses listed in different concentrations may be applied to either area.
- Requirements for those in cultural studies in Asia/Pacific: a minimum of 12 credit hours of course work in the concentration, including ENG 633E and 3 credit hours in Hawai'i's local literature, Asian American literature, or Pacific literature; a minimum of 12 credit hours of course work outside the concentration; one graduate course in a subject area before 1900. Courses listed in different concentrations may be applied to either area. Students in cultural studies will be allowed to meet 3 credit hours of work in their concentration with a course outside of the English department with permission of their concentration adviser.
Doctoral Degree
Since the PhD program offers diverse courses and the opportunity to specialize in a range of different areas, graduates may pursue careers from among several professions, including teaching, research, and writing.
Requirements
PhD candidates must fulfill the residency requirement and are required to take six graduate-level courses in the Department of English; two courses, normally at the 400 level or above, in a field outside of English but related to the student's research interests; and ENG 730 (taken after passing the area examination). They must pass three area examinations and a comprehensive examination and demonstrate competence in two languages other than English (one of which, if appropriate to the candidate's research, may be a computer language). Candidates will be required to complete an original scholarly or creative dissertation representing a substantial contribution to the discipline of English, suitable for publication, and a final oral examination on the dissertation. |