Karin Beeler, Professor Emerita
Stan Beeler, Professor Emeritus
Dee Horne, Professor Emerita
Blanca Schorcht, Professor Emerita

Maryna Romanets, Professor and Acting Chair
Robert Budde, Professor
Lisa Dickson, Professor
Kristen Guest, Professor
Kevin Hutchings, Professor
Christine Campana, Assistant Professor
Monica Mattfeld, Assistant Professor
Taylor Morphett, Assistant Professor

Website: unbc.ca/english
Literary representations both reflect and help to create our views of the world, including our social theories and practices; thus, the study of literature can provide students with insights concerning past and present concepts of personal and social identity, cultural traditions and beliefs, and interpersonal and cross-cultural relationships. Since the time of Aristotle, moreover, literary commentators have analyzed “setting” as an important formal aspect of literary writing; literary study can therefore help us to investigate, and perhaps to reconsider, our relationships to both our human and non-human environments. In today’s world, where efforts to resolve intercultural conflicts and environmental problems have taken on a profound sense of urgency, literary study provides a crucial forum for intellectual and ethical debate leading to the revision of cultural practice.

The study of English literature provides students with critical skills of analysis and synthesis, helping them to identify and understand complex problems, and encouraging them to conceptualize viable resolutions and alternative understandings. Perhaps more than any other academic discipline, English literature also emphasizes the importance of literacy, including the development of effective writing and oral presentation skills, thereby providing students with the communications skills so highly valued in the professional world.

The Master of Arts degree in English is available on a full-time or part-time basis. Students may choose a course-based MA option (plus ENGL 770-12) or the coursework and graduate thesis option. Upon admission into the English MA program, each student is assigned a supervisor, who works closely with the student to monitor their program of study and progress. In consultation with supervisors and supervisory committee members, each student chooses courses designed to complement and inform the proposed research area, completing most of the coursework during the first year of the program. The second year is devoted primarily to the production of the thesis or, in the case of the course-based MA, to the completion of coursework and the major research paper.

Admission

Applicants to the UNBC English MA program must follow the admission requirements outlined in General Admission of the Graduate Academic Calendar. Entrance to the MA is competitive; only applicants with a record of excellence are admitted. Therefore, applicants must provide the following information with their applications:

• a senior-level undergraduate research paper as a writing sample;
• undergraduate transcripts;
• strong letters of academic recommendations;
• strong letter of intent;
• evidence of interest in the MA's areas of research specialization (Literature, Culture, Place);
• the name of the faculty member who is willing to supervise their thesis work or major research paper (if possible).

Application deadlines can be found online at www.unbc.ca/admissions/graduate. The English MA program accepts students for the September Semester.

For additional information about graduate admissions or to download application materials, go to the Office of Graduate Administration website at www.unbc.ca/graduate-administration.

Requirements

The course of study is composed of a minimum total of 30 credit hours. 

Thesis-Based MA

Students are required to complete five graduate courses (15 credit hours) plus ENGL 799-15: English MA Thesis. In the required courses, students have the opportunity to engage in close intellectual dialogue and debate with fellow graduate students and professors, thereby cultivating the productive collegial relationships crucial to a dynamic graduate student culture.  With the exception of ENGL 699-3 (Advanced Independent Study in Literature, Visual Media, or Creative Writing, which faculty members supervise on an individual basis), all courses are offered as seminar courses. Students are required to produce both a detailed thesis proposal and bibliography at the beginning of their second year of study, and to defend, in a formal oral examination, a 15 credit-hour thesis of approximately 100 pages in length.

Required Courses for MA with Thesis

ENGL 690-3	Research and Professionalization
ENGL 700-3	Studies in Literature, Culture, and Place
ENGL 799-15	English MA Thesis

Plus 9 credit hours of elective courses at the 600 level.

The supervisory committee ensures the appropriate selection of elective courses.  All English graduate courses approved by Senate should be considered as potential electives.

Creative Writing Thesis Option

The English Department offers a limited number of MA candidates the opportunity to complete a 15 credit-hour creative thesis in lieu of an academic thesis. Successful applicants who wish to pursue this option are admitted on the same basis and fulfill the same course and thesis requirements as other English Thesis-based MA candidates. Permission to undertake a creative thesis is at the discretion of the Department, and requires that students submit proposals along with a substantial portfolio of previous creative work (e.g., 8-10 pages of original poetry or 20-25 pages of prose such as a short story or novel excerpt, or a dramatic script or screenplay, or a combination of these genres). The proposal should outline the form, scope, and subject matter of the Creative Writing thesis. In addition, students must demonstrate some critical and theoretical awareness of the approach they plan to take for the creative thesis. The finished thesis includes an introduction of no fewer than 15 pages delineating this critical and theoretical awareness. Because of the high standards expected for the creative project and the Department’s limited faculty resources in the area of creative writing, a limited number of students are permitted to undertake this alternative. Students should therefore note that admission to the MA program in English does not guarantee permission to write a creative thesis.

Course-Based MA

Course-based MA students take six graduate courses (18 credit hours), plus ENGL 770-12: Major Research Paper/Creative Project (12 credit hours). In the required courses, students have the opportunity to engage in close intellectual dialogue and debate with fellow graduate students and professors, thereby cultivating the productive collegial relationships crucial to a dynamic graduate student culture. With the exception of ENGL 699-3 (Advanced Independent Study in Literature, Visual Media, or Creative Writing, which faculty members supervise on an individual basis), all courses are offered as seminar courses. The major paper or major creative project in ENGL 770-12 is graded by the student’s supervisor.

Required Courses for Course-Based MA

ENGL 690-3	Research and Professionalization
ENGL 700-3	Studies in Literature, Culture, and Place
ENGL 770-12	Major Research Paper/Creative Project

Plus 12 credit hours of elective courses at the 600 level.

The supervisory committee ensures the appropriate selection of elective courses. All English graduate courses approved by Senate should be considered as potential electives.

Updated: December 5, 2024