Admission Process :

The application process begins online at the Graduate School's web site. See also the general web site of the graduate school. Application forms, transcripts, and Graduate Record Exam scores are sent directly to the Graduate School. Three letters of recommendation from professors and a sample of academic writing are sent to the English Graduate Advisor, Box 19035, UTA, Arlington TX 76019. The dea

dline for Fall admission is mid-June, for Spring mid-October, and for Summer mid-March. Applicants for the doctoral program may not enroll for courses before admission, nor may they transfer credit hours from other institutions for doctoral credit.

Program Overview:

Ph.D. study in English at UTA is both broad and intense in focus. Students have the opportunity to read primary literary and rhetorical texts in a variety of historical, cultural, and critical settings, and to study various critical strategies. To this end, courses are divided according to periods, genres, special topics, and critical perspectives. Advanced introductions to periods, such as British Romantic Literature, American Literature since 1910, and European modernism are complemented by more specific topics such as primitivism, canon formation, utopian literature, and courses which emphasize critical approaches, such as feminist fiction/feminist theory, or psychoanalysis. Courses in criticism focus either on a critical stance or school, such as critical theory or textual theories of culture, or on significant individual figures such as Freud, Lacan, Derrida, or Foucault. However, most courses include a substantial component of critical readings, so that students are well prepared to enter current critical debates. Since previously UTA offered a Ph.D. in the Humanities, the interdisciplinary approaches to literature and rhetoric that program fostered, such as the study of literature and rhetoric with the study of philosophy, history, anthropology, and the visual arts, remains a component of the Doctoral program. A course in modernist literature, for example, includes consideration of contemporaneous painting. All PhD students may take 9 hours of graduate courses in other departments; those courses must complement the student's specific program of work.

Students have freedom to develop individualized courses of study, according to their literary, rhetorical, and critical interests. The department's particular strengths are in the areas of rhetoric and composition, medieval studies, 19th century British literature, 19th century American literature, 20th century American and comparative literature, critical theory, gender criticism, Multi-ethnic literatures, and cultural studies.

Past students in the English M.A. and Humanities Ph. D. programs have been successful contributors to scholarly and educational communities. They have placed papers and articles at national and regional conferences and in respected journals. The national conferences include the Modern Language Association, the National Women's Studies Association, and the National Association of African American Studies; the journals include Language and Style, Western Historical Quarterly, Studies In American Indian Literatures, and The Journal of Utopian Studies. The Rhetoric program has had success at placing graduate students at top universities. Currently graduates occupy tenure-track positions at Syracuse, Purdue, UT Austin, James Madison, and North Carolina State. Other graduates obtained tenure track positions and went on to achieve promotion and tenure at local universities (UT Dallas and Texas Wesleyan, for example), regional colleges (Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, for instance), or as far away as Brazil (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarine). One graduate is currently the President of Sweet Briar College. Others have become permanent or adjunct faculty members at community colleges as close as Fort Worth and as far away as Daytona Beach Community College in Florida. A substantial number of the literature graduate students have established careers in public or private high schools, in publishing and media companies, and in government offices. Recently our M.A. graduates have been accepted into respected Ph.D. programs (for example, Penn State, Maryland, and Columbia); several have received generous scholarships.

Advising Schedule:

Dr. Kevin Gustafson - Associate Chair for Graduate Studies

Phone: 817.272.2739
Fax: 817.272.2718
Email: gustafson@uta.edu

Advising Hours Fall 07:
   Monday: 1:00 - 3:00 PM
   Wednesday: 3:00 - 5:00 PM
   and by appointment.  

Degree Requirements:

30 hours of coursework precede Comprehensive Examinations, which are followed by 9 hours of dissertation study. All English PhD students must take 5300: Theory and Practice in English Studies and either 5311: Foundations of Rhetoric and Composition or 5359: Argumentation Theory as early in their coursework as possible. The choice of a supervisory committee and selection of a Tentative Program of coursework must be completed within the first 12 hours of study. The PhD requires translation proficiency in one foreign language, though some committees may require an additional language, depending on the student's area of specialization.


Graduate Teaching Assistantships:

GTAs teach two courses per semester and take at least two graduate courses each semester. Benefits include medical and life insurance. To be awarded an assistantship, a student must have been admitted unconditionally to the Graduate School and continue to make satisfactory progress toward the degree. We begin consideration of applications on 1 February for the following academic year, and continue review of applications until all places are filled. Appointment to an assistantship is contingent upon prior acceptance by the Graduate School. For more information, click here.

For information on assistantships, please contact Margaret Lowry, Director of First-Year English, at 817.272.2488 (mlowry@uta.edu).

For further information, read the Graduate Handbook, visit the remainder of the Graduate Program Website, see the English Catalog Online, or visit the Graduate Advising page.