English
Craft your degree around your interests by selecting from a wide variety of courses in literature and writing across genres, across cultures, and across the centuries.
As an M.A. student in the Department of English, you will be immersed in American & British literature, modernism, gender studies and so much more. We provide ample opportunities for research, professionalization and conference participation, and our mentorship program helps to set you up for success after graduation. Whether you are on our traditional English track or our Literature & Writing track, you will benefit from our small classes, individual attention from dedicated professors, an energetic and welcoming graduate community and our location in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh. You will also benefit from our emphasis on career readiness, which will help you build a bridge from your program to your future career!
Recent graduates from each track have gone on to careers in business, education nonprofits and journalism. Students also continue their education in top ranked law programs and doctoral programs in literature and composition and rhetoric.
Full-time students receive a 25% discount percent on their tuition. Additional funding is available through departmental and university assistantships and teaching fellowships.
A small number teaching fellowships with full tuition remission and assistantships are available for eligible students who apply by the January 15 deadline. For more information, contact Dr.%20Sarah%20Wright.
What you'll learn with an M.A. in English
With an M.A. in English, you will have the skills needed to achieve your bigger goals, regardless of industry or area of expertise within the English realm and will be able to:
- Understand English literature across centuries and cultures, including American, British and world literature, modernism and gender studies.
- Apply diverse critical perspectives to analyze literatures in English, with attention to historically, socially and culturally diverse voices.
- Conduct scholarly research by locating, assessing and synthesizing sources.
- Write lucid, persuasive prose in a variety of modes and communicate research results to scholarly and non-scholarly audiences.
- Complete a capstone project, such as an M.A. thesis, an expanded seminar paper, an internship or a writing portfolio.
Program Information
Our MA in English offers two tracks: traditional English and Literature/Writing. Dive into American & British Literature, Modernism, gender studies, and much more! Expand your literary horizons.
Degree
Master's
Academic Department
English
Duration
4-year
Modality
In-Person
How a Master’s in English Fuels Professional Creativity
Micah White, GA’26, a graduate of our Master’s in English program, completed his degree with concentrations in literature and writing. His studies helped prepare him for a career focused on teaching, creativity, and community.
“I aspire to be a college professor at a small liberal arts school where I can be very involved and help students inside and outside the classroom,” he said. “I want to be very involved in whatever community I’m in.”
Micah has already gained teaching experience through internships with summer programs in New Jersey and Minnesota, where he taught middle and high school students African American literature.
“Writing and literature are both involved in helping people tell their own stories, and literature and literacy in general are liberation from whatever situation you're in, whether it’s economic or helping you interpret what’s going on in the world.”
Micah hopes his love of reading and writing—and his willingness to share knowledge—will inspire his students to showcase their individuality and articulate their stories.
“Not only will these skills help me in a professional world, but they also help me understand people,” he said. “Everyone's story is different.”
Discover a Horizon-Expanding Education
See how Micah diversified his thinking to reimagine our world
Your Ph.D. can start before your M.A. Ends
Exceptional first-year English M.A. students can apply for early admission to Duquesne's Ph.D. program. You'll learn in your third semester if you're in, and you'll start the Ph.D. the fall after you finish your M.A., with no second-year scramble to apply elsewhere.
Program Requirements If you are interested in pursuing Ph.D. study, in getting further credentials for
a teaching career or simply love literature, the English track of the M.A. provides
grounding in the methods and theories of literary study and opportunities to read
and write across multiple centuries and cultures. Requirements (Note that literature courses must cover at least two different cultures—e.g., American,
British, world lit.) Program Requirements Our Literature & Writing track combines a traditional education in English literature
with practical and creative writing skills across different media and disciplines.
Learn how your critical thinking and writing abilities can translate to a variety
of contexts, from magazine writing to digital media, grant writing and beyond. With
our flexible, interdisciplinary program, you can develop your writing skills in directions
that interest and fulfill you! Requirements: (Note that literature courses must cover at least two different cultures—e.g., American,
British, world lit.) Requirement may be met by one of the following: M.A. in English
M.A. in Literature & Writing
Learning Outcomes
Application Requirements
Students must submit a completed online application, including an updated resume.
Official transcript(s) recording all baccalaureate work, along with degree, from an accredited undergraduate college or university. If you are currently taking classes, please submit your transcript once grades have been posted.
Letters of recommendation from three persons familiar with the applicant's academic studies or, in some cases, work experience. (Note: The department does not contact recommenders. Letters should be submitted through the University's online system.)
A brief (1-2 page) statement of the applicant's purpose in seeking the Master of Arts degree.
A sample of the applicant's academic writing (normally a critical paper written for an English course, 10-20 pages).
An official score report indicating satisfactory performance on TOEFL examination (applicable to international students only).
English Graduate Organization
The English Graduate Organization (EGO) is a professional, social, and organizing body in the English department facilitated by and for graduate students. The organization works to keep English graduate students informed about matters related to graduate life and coordinates a number of activities to foster a collaborative, collegial, and intellectually engaging atmosphere within the department.
Conferences
English graduate students are active at regional, national, and international conferences. In addition to helping graduate students find, apply to, and gain funding for conferences, EGO members also organize their own biennial conference and volunteer at international conferences hosted in Pittsburgh.
Past EGO graduate conferences and symposia include "Access: (Re)defining Mobility and Disability" (Spring 2015), "(anti)Foundations: An Interdisciplinary Conference" (Spring 2013), "Echoes: Across Disciplines, Texts, and Times" (Spring 2011), "[un]disciplined: Examining Contemporary Models for Interdisciplinary Studies," and "Other Voices, Other's Words: The Indeterminacy of Allusion." Planning for our 2017 conference is underway.
Members of EGO also helped to organize "Lifting Belly High: A Conference on Women's Poetry Since 1900," hosted by the English Department in Fall 2008. EGO members volunteered at the 2014 Modernist Studies Association Annual Conference in downtown Pittsburgh and look forward to the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies and Novel Studies conferences in Spring 2016.
Colloquia
EGO coordinates the department's Colloquia Series, a monthly event which provides an opportunity for graduate students and faculty to present their work to the English Department and gain feedback, often before presenting at a conference or while revising for publication. For information about our recent and upcoming Colloquia, please see the department's News and Events page.
Workshops, Mentorship & Social Activities
EGO sponsors events throughout the semester to help students through the challenges of graduate school, the academic and non/alt-ac job markets, and beyond. Events change every semester based on the needs of the current graduate student body and often feature advice from graduate peers, faculty, and alumni. Recent events include a workshop on academic networking and a Saturday writing retreat. EGO meetings also feature speakers from outside of our department to foster well-being in our graduate student population.
To help new students transition into life at Duquesne and/or in Pittsburgh, EGO pairs interested incoming students with graduate student mentors. These mentors are all current students in the department, and they have volunteered to act as go-tos who can field any questions and concerns. Mentors and mentees typically meet a few times over the course of the semester.
EGO also makes arrangements for department social events throughout the semester that are attended by full-time faculty, adjunct instructors, graduate students, and their friends and families.