The MA and PhD in English degree (Literature Program) advances a curriculum that develops the analytical tools, diverse perspectives, and historical depth necessary for understanding the present. We explore the reciprocal relations between the marginal and the dominant, the past and the present, and the literary and non-literary. We marshal the most exciting, consequential, and diverse ideas that address the urgent challenges our students will engage.The MA in English is designed to provide a broadly inclusive course of advanced study in English and American literature together with preparatory training and scholarly background for the PhD. Candidates for the MA must take a total of 30 units of graduate coursework (of which 24, or 8 classes, must be in regularly scheduled literature courses unless otherwise approved by the Program Director), demonstrate reading knowledge of a foreign language, and pass a final examination based on reading lists approved by the faculty.Our Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy programs in English will prepare you for teaching and conducting scholarly research at the university, college, and community college levels. The M.A. is designed both as a basis for the Ph.D. and as a program for students who for personal or professional reasons wish to pursue advanced literary studies. The Ph.D. provides professional training for academic appointments at colleges and universities; we also offer preparation and guidance for those who plan to enter non-academic professions.Our program is staffed by a strong faculty doing innovative research engaging a full range of current critical methodologies and questions, across nearly all the traditional fields of literature. Additionally, each semester, graduate seminars typically explore cutting-edge issues that intersect both faculty's current research and emerging critical trends.