| Location | Email Address | Program Website |
|---|---|---|
| 538 Atkinson College | gradengl@yorku.ca | yorku.ca/gradstudies/english/ |
The Graduate Program in English at York University offers courses in the traditional periods and areas in English language and literature. Fields within the program are Medieval, Renaissance, Restoration and Eighteenth Century, Romantic, Victorian, Modern, Contemporary, Canadian, American, Post-Colonial, Critical Theory, Women and Literature, and World Literature.
Most courses offer interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to the study of literature, and so broaden and deepen students’ overall knowledge. Candidates undertaking a thesis/dissertation are advised to then specialize in an area of concentration or research. The subject need not, however, be related to the courses which the candidate is taking. Generally, the aim of the program is to combine training in scholarly and critical skills with a broadly humanistic appreciation of the role of literature in society.
Admission Requirements
Master of Arts Program
Graduates with an honours degree in English, or its equivalent, with a clear B+ average and at least a B+ in English and Humanities courses in the last two years of study may be admitted as candidates for the MA degree. Preference is given to graduates with A+ and A averages, superior letters of recommendation, and compelling statements of interest and writing samples.
Doctor of Philosophy Program
The normal qualification for admission to the PhD program is the York MA degree in English or its equivalent with at least a B+ average and undergraduate provisions as required for the master’s degree. Candidates will be expected to enter with a reasonable knowledge of the full range of studies in English literature and language.
Graduate Diploma in World Literature
Please see the World Literature graduate diploma section in this Calendar.
Degree Requirements
MA
Candidates for the MA degree by thesis must fulfil the following requirements:
Courses
12 credits or equivalent, chosen from offerings at the 6000-level by the Graduate Program in English. With permission, up to 6 credits may be taken at the 6000-level in courses offered by another graduate program.
Thesis and Oral Examination
Candidates must submit a thesis based on original research organized in appropriate thesis form. It should demonstrate the candidate’s independence, originality, and understanding of the area of investigation. Candidates should consult the MA Handbook on the Graduate Program in English’s website for further details. After the formal submission of the thesis, an oral examination conducted by an internal and external examiner and centred on the thesis and matters related to it, is held.
Candidates for the MA degree by master’s research paper must fulfil the following requirements:
Courses
18 credits or equivalent, chosen from offerings at the 6000-level by the Graduate Program in English. With permission, up to 6 credits may be taken at the 6000-level in courses offered by another graduate program.
Research Paper
Candidates must undertake research under the direction of an English graduate program faculty member on an approved topic and write an extensive research paper of about 60 pages, incorporating this research. The paper will be graded by the faculty member directing the research and by a second reader.
Candidates for the MA degree by coursework must fulfil the following requirements:
Courses
24 credits or equivalent, chosen from offerings at the 6000-level by the Graduate Program in English. With permission, up to 6 credits may be taken at the 6000-level in courses offered by another graduate program.
All candidates must give evidence of facility in literary and research methods. To meet this requirement, candidates must attend the Literary and Research Methods Seminar which is graded pass/fail and is not for credit, or must submit proof of having completed a similar requirement elsewhere. The seminar consists of facility in literary research methods suited to digital archives and databases as well as practice using appropriate writing software for preparing large documents. Students must attend the Literary Research Methods seminar which consists of fifteen seminar hours of instruction in relevant research and software skills, and two assignments geared to the student’s level of study (MA or PhD) and research interests. Assignments are evaluated by the course director.
The MA program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.
The expected degree completion time for full-time master’s students is 3 terms. For those students who complete degree requirements earlier than 3 terms, they must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 3 terms of full-time study. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.
PhD
Candidates for the doctoral degree must fulfil the following requirements:
Successful completion of 18 credits. Coursework is normally completed over years 1 and II. With permission, up to 6 credits may be taken at the 6000-level in courses offered by another graduate program within or outside York University.
All PhD candidates are required to demonstrate some acquaintance with pre-1798 writing. This may be done either:
a) by presenting evidence of successful completion of a full course, or equivalent, based on pre-1798 writings at the MA level, or,
b) by successful completion of at least 3 credits based on pre-1798 writings during the PhD I or PhD II years, or,
c) successful completion of two transhistorical courses, both with approximately half the readings pre-1798, and papers for both courses focused on pre-1798 material.
Before embarking upon the writing of a dissertation, candidates must pass a major field examination and a dissertation sub-fields examination. Examination regulations are outlined in the program handbook available on the Graduate Program in English website. The examinations are given in May, September, and December each year.
Candidates take the first of these examinations before the end of term five, in the second year, and the second examination normally follows by the end of term seven, in the third year. Candidates are required to pass written and oral examinations in the major field examination and an oral examination only in the dissertation sub-field. The examinations are assessed by specialists in the field. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate a sophisticated familiarity with the corpus of texts comprising the field, together with its history and salient critical issues (or, when appropriate, to display a sophisticated mastery of methodological practice). The examiners’ assessment, including any conditions that they impose, are conveyed by the chief examiner to the candidate. Conditions may involve retaking part of the examination, or taking additional courses in the PhD III year, or both. Students may try the comprehensive examinations two times only; two failures requires withdrawal from the program.
The material objective of this mandatory, pass/fail workshop is the production by each student of a dissertation proposal. While format may vary, students’ proposal drafts are the focal texts each week for critical discussion. The workshop does not seek to circumvent or override committee supervision and requires supervisory committees to work with students as they draft their proposals in the seminar. The educational objective of the seminar is the development of a thought/writing process specific to proposing critical ideas in an academic format. Students are encouraged to write a clear and sufficiently detailed proposal outlining the topic, the context(s) in which it arises, the theory and methodology sustaining its research and elaboration, and its contribution to the field. The workshop also aims to have students internalise a form and logic of proposing intellectual ideas, their development and appropriate research methods, and the implications of those ideas for other purposes, such as grant applications, postdoctoral fellowships, and book prospectuses.
After their examinations and the dissertation proposal workshop, candidates must conduct a research study and report the results in appropriate dissertation form. Candidates should consult the PhD Handbook available on the Graduate Program in English website for further details. After the formal submission of the dissertation, approved by the supervisory committee, an oral examination centred on the dissertation and matters related to it, is held. The examination is conducted by an external and an internal examiner, a representative of the Dean of Graduate Studies, and the supervisory committee.
Participation in the series of professional workshops is mandatory for all doctoral students. At strategic points in their doctoral studies, candidates will attend workshops focusing on topics of import to their intellectual and professional development. Students must complete all seven different workshops, held in two series. The first is a set of annual workshops which students must complete in the first two years of the PhD:
i. Applying for funding
ii. Teaching Strategies: TA workshop
iii. Preparing for the Comps
The second series involves professionalizing workshops of interest to more advanced doctoral candidates, but open to all. These workshops are offered either every year or every other year. All four must be taken before graduating.
iv. Professionalization Workshop I: Academic Conferences and Publications
v. Professionalization Workshop II: Alt-Academic Careers
vi. Professionalization Workshop III: the Academic Job Market
vii. Professionalization Workshop IV: Writing across Genres (topics vary depending on the instructor)
Any student of English Literature beyond the MA level must have some working competence (reading comprehension/translation) in one language other than English. By the end of their ninth term, all PhD students are required to demonstrate a reading knowledge of French (or of a language other than English demonstrably relevant to their approved course of study) by passing the program’s French translation exam, or a suitable equivalent prepared and assessed by a teacher of the student’s preferred language.
The PhD program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.
Normal degree completion time for full-time doctoral students is 18 terms (6 years). Doctor of Philosophy students must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of six terms of full-time registration. All requirements for a doctoral degree must be fulfilled within 18 terms (6 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time doctoral student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.