English Literature B.A. and M.A.

Program type:

Major

Grad Track

Format:

On Campus

Est. time to complete:

5-6 years

Credit Hours:

150-156

Turn your love of literature into an elevated understanding and appreciation of the written word.

A Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a concentration in Literature prepares you for jobs that require strong writing, communication and analytical thinking skills. The UNT English graduate program is designed for students who wish to build a professional career as creative writers, educators or academics.

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Why Earn Combined English Literature Degrees?

The English major is one of the largest in UNT's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. It is widely recognized as a foundational liberal arts degree, preparing you not only for graduate study in literature or creative writing, but for a range of careers - including teaching, the law, publishing and business - in which the skills of analytical thinking and effective communication are at a premium.

The curriculum develops your writing, critical thinking and analytical skills while introducing you to American, British and world literatures, creative writing, literary theory, composition, language arts and rhetoric.

The M.A. program in English gives you the opportunity to undertake advanced study in the field of your choosing through either the writing of a thesis or the completion of 36 hours of coursework. The foundational courses for the M.A. degree overlap with those of the Ph.D., giving you the flexibility to move directly from the master's program to the doctoral program as your career plans develop.

Marketable Skills

Write clearly, concisely and compellingly
Communicate meaningfully to diverse audiences
Develop solutions to complex problems
Think critically, creatively and independently
Identify and evaluate credible sources
Construct persuasive, evidence-based arguments
Communicate findings clearly and concisely
Understand historical and cultural perspectives
Evaluate critically sources and narratives
Prepare oral and written presentations

Combined English Literature Degrees Highlights

Save time and money on your master's degree through this accelerated program designed for highly motivated English majors.

At all levels, our class sizes are restricted in order to provide opportunities for collaboration with other students and close interaction with professors.

Our faculty hail from the top graduate programs in the country, are active scholars and researchers, and are consistently recognized as some of the best teachers at UNT.

Each year the department sponsors a Visiting Writer Series that brings distinguished writers to campus to give readings and meet with students in Q&A sessions.

Students have opportunities to pursue editorial positions with the department's national literary journal, American Literary Review, and with the local student-run journal, North Texas Review.

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.

What Can You Do With Combined English Literature Degrees?

A degree in English prepares you for jobs that require strong writing, communication and analytical thinking skills. Our graduates choose careers in a variety of fields, including law, publishing, education, advertising, journalism or public relations.

Many alumni teach English composition, British or American literature, or English as a Second Language in public and private schools. Some pursue doctoral degrees in a variety of fields in competitive graduate programs nationwide.

Other alumni include:

An editor with Rolling Stone magazine
A curator in the Rare Book Division of the New York Public Library
A member of the public relations staff at PricewaterhouseCoopers accounting firm
Novelists Karleen Koen, David Lindsey and Larry McMurtry
Poets Chad Davidson and John Poch
Screenplay writer and director Ken Harrison
Various employees of government agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Government Printing Office

Combined English Literature Degrees Courses You Could Take

Principles based on representative readings from major critics; essays and class exercises in forming independent critical judgment.

The Canterbury Tales and other works as a picture of medieval life and illustration of various literary types; the language of Chaucer and its development into modern English.

Examination of the writing strategies entailed in preparing successful seminar papers, conference presentations and scholarly articles.

In-depth study of a single writer, a group of writers, a literary genre or a literary fashion of the period, and general consideration of the associated social, cultural, literary and intellectual history.

In-depth study of a single woman writer or group of women writers in any period and genre of American literature.

Representative comedies, histories and tragedies; survey of Shakespeare’s life; his relation to his predecessors and contemporaries.