205
Graduate Programs
205.28
English and Film Studies
205.28 English and Film Studies
Department of English and Film Studies
3-5 Humanities Centre
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E5
E-mail: EnglGrad@mail.arts.ualberta.ca
205.28.1 General Information
The Department of English and Film Studies offers graduate work leading to the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in English language, literature and culture.
The Department is large and various, and offers courses in all areas of the literature and culture of the English-speaking world, from Old English to contemporary writing. It is particularly strong in the areas of Renaissance, nineteenth-century, Canadian, and postcolonial literature, in cultural studies and queer studies, in women's writing, and in creative writing.
The University's libraries contain a 6,000,000 volume equivalent, with holdings in English, Canadian, American, and postcolonial literature totalling more than 200,000 volumes. Special collections in English literature include early editions of Bunyan and Milton; facsimiles of the Dove Cottage Wordsworth papers; first and rare editions of Austen, Scott, Thackeray, Dickens (including serial parts); Emily Dickinson manuscript facsimiles; exceptionally large holdings in Lawrence, Yeats, and Joyce; and manuscripts and archives in the literature of Canada, including the manuscripts of the poetry of Dorothy Livesay from 1919-1974. Microfilm holdings include a rare complete run of both Early English Books series, and an important collection of over 28,000 nineteenth-century British and American playscripts.
Entrance Requirements
The normal requirements for admission to the MA program include an Honors degree in English or its equivalent in number of courses ( 
60), coverage (at least 3 in each of the major historical periods [Old and Middle English, Early Modern, Restoration and Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century, and Twentieth Century literature and culture] and in Canadian, American, Aboriginal, and postcolonial literature and culture, as well as some grounding in literary and cultural theory), high academic standing (a minimum 3.3 GPA in courses in English), and proof of English language proficiency, where applicable (see §203.2.4). Applications, complete with supporting documentation, must be submitted to the English and Film Studies Department by January 7.
Financial Assistance
The Department has regular provision for graduate assistantships. (Part-time MA students are ineligible for Department financial support.) Application should be made by January 7. Because of a generous bequest from a former student, the Department is able to offer travel bursaries to allow attendance at conferences or study in out-of-town libraries and archives (usually up to $1000 each) PhD and MA students are urged to apply, in the University's General Scholarship competition, for awards such as Province of Alberta scholarships as well as for external funding such as from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The departmental deadline for General Awards is also the deadline to apply internally for a QEII Master’s or Doctoral award.
205.28.2 The Degree of MA
Program Requirements
For a student with an Honors BA in English (or its equivalent) the MA program will consist of one of two options: 18 in graduate courses in the Department, completion of Proseminar A, a thesis equivalent to 6, and an oral defence of the thesis; or 21 in graduate courses in the Department, completion of Proseminar A, and a portfolio equivalent to 3. The course-based option may be pursued on a part-time basis. The MA program of a student without an Honors BA in English may require more courses, depending upon the number of English courses that have been taken as an undergraduate.
Demonstrated proficiency in a language other than English will be required of all students. Students should consult the Department website for further information.
For full-time MA students the minimum period of residence is two four-month terms of full-time attendance at the University of Alberta for candidates with an Honors degree in English (or its equivalent); for candidates without an Honors BA in English the residence requirement may be somewhat longer.
Length of Program
The time required to complete the MA will vary according to the previous training of the applicant and the nature of the research undertaken; however, a minimum of 12 months is normally required. Thesis-based MA degrees typically take longer than 12 months.
205.28.3 The Degree of PhD
Program Requirements
A student with an MA in English (or its equivalent) may be admitted as a candidate for the PhD degree. The program will normally include 15 in graduate courses (up to two of which may be taken outside the Department of English and Film Studies), completion of Proseminar A and Proseminar B, the PhD Colloquium, a Statement of Research Plan, the Long Thesis Proposal, and an oral candidacy examination.
Before the candidacy examination, PhD students must demonstrate basic proficiency in two languages other than English or advanced knowledge of one. Students should consult the English and Film Studies Department's website for further information. After a student has had the Long Thesis Proposal approved and passed the candidacy examination, the student will then submit a thesis and make an oral defence of the thesis.
The minimum period of residence is two academic years of full-time attendance at the University of Alberta.
Length of Program
The time required to complete the PhD will vary with the individual candidate; however, a minimum of two years of study and research is normally required.
205.28.4 Graduate Courses
Graduate courses can be found in §231, Course Listings, under the subject heading English (ENGL).
