Prospective MA Students
Why Loyola?
The Department of English at Loyola University Chicago offers MA and PhD programs in literature and culture across three broad historical areas, Medieval and Renaissance Literature, Nineteenth Century Studies, and Modern Literature and Culture, with a special emphasis in Textual Studies.
Loyola’s MA program in English provides many advantages:
I. A faculty of scholar-teachers. At many universities, a large and overcommitted faculty has little time or incentive to concentrate on teaching and mentoring its students. Smaller departments where teaching is emphasized, on the other hand, may lack the research-active faculty found at the more prestigious institutions. At Loyola, you will find the best of both worlds in a faculty of nationally respected, active scholars who also take pride in their teaching, and who give graduate education and graduate students the care and attention they deserve.
II. Our students achieve success following a range of career goals. While some of our MA graduates have gone on to earn a PhD at Loyola or elsewhere, others have pursued careers in the non-profit sector, publishing, marketing, professional writing, and education (often teaching at the secondary level).
III. A balanced education in literature, theory, and textual studies. With distribution requirements spread over four areas—Medieval and Renaissance Literature, Nineteenth Century Studies, Modern Literature and Culture, and Textual Studies and Digital Humanities—our program offers up-to-date training in the discipline's major areas of expertise. Program requirements are supported by a wide range of courses in the various historical periods of English and American literature, literary and critical theory, post-colonial and global literatures, cultural studies, textual scholarship, digital humanities, and the teaching of writing.
IV. Manageable degree requirements. Ten courses (30 credit-hours) are required for the master's degree and the program is designed so that full-time students can complete all the requirements in a year and a half. Interested in doing the MA on a part-time basis while working at a full-time job? We make it possible by offering the majority of our graduate seminars in the evenings and late afternoons.
V. Training in teaching skills. Though we are unable to offer assistantships to MA students, interested students can opt to follow a teaching track with two courses in pedagogy (“Teaching College Composition” and “Pedagogy: Theory and Practice”) and a semester internship with a Loyola faculty member or at an area 2- or 4-year institution.
VI. The Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities. Loyola's Department of English is a close partner with the university’s Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities. This department’s collaboration with the Center provides students with opportunities to participate in conferences and symposia with Loyola faculty and prominent visiting lecturers, to work with faculty on research projects, and to take new courses and pursue research of their own in this exciting interdisciplinary area. Students may take courses both in the department and in the interdisciplinary MA program in digital humanities.
VII. A vibrant community. Students have long praised our program for its strong community. Our students work closely with faculty members and with one another. MA and PhD students take the same courses and share in the department’s rich array of social and professional opportunities. Social outings; “salons” where advanced students present their work; writing workshops for students presenting at conferences or publishing essays; workshops on teaching, the job search, and writing seminar papers; guest speakers and graduate student conferences—these are just some of the activities sponsored by our English Graduate Student Association (EGSA) and the department to enhance our students’ professional training.
VIII. Chicago is a wonderful place to pursue a graduate degree. A thriving, culturally vibrant, yet very "livable" city, Chicago has something for every graduate student, including educational and programs and events hosted by the city’s many universities, the Newberry Library, Chicago Institute of the Arts, museums and theaters. The Loyola campus, located on the shores of Lake Michigan, provides an attractive refuge while also giving easy access to the resources of the city around it. See the English Graduate Student Resources pages for more information on what resources are available in the area for personal and professional growth.
IX. Positive outcomes. All students who enroll in our program will:
- Learn the significance and the history of British and American literature (broadly defined)
- Gain an appreciation and understanding of diverse voices in literary history
- Learn how to think both critically and creatively
- Learn how to write effectively and persuasively
- Contribute to existing scholarly discourses in the field as a literary critic
- Establish an appreciation of the diversity of texts by authors writing in English
In addition, students in the MA program gain valuable knowledge about how to become active members of the profession by:
- Learning how to present at academic conferences
- Submitting new research to scholarly journals
- Organizing symposia
- Preparing for the academic job market and related fields
