East Tennessee State University   Graduate Studies in English

     Thank you for your interest in ETSU's Graduate English Program. I invite you to visit ETSU's web page. Click on Colleges and Schools, follow the links to the School of Graduate Studies, and you will find information about graduate study at ETSU, including information about financial aid and application forms that can be filled out and sent in electronically.
     The English Department web pages can provide you with further information.
     Our Master of Arts degree program offers students a broad literature preparation, as well as courses in linguistics, English as a Second Language, and creative writing. Under the thesis plan now in place, a student completes twenty-seven hours of coursework and earns three hours of thesis credit--ENGL5960--by writing a Master's thesis under the direction of a graduate faculty committee. Until the program changed in the Fall of 2004, students finished this process with a thesis defense and oral examination which covered material from a student's coursework (program changes entail dropping the latter). Under the new non-thesis plan, a student may complete thirty-three hours of coursework in lieu of the program with comprehensive final written and oral examinations under the direction of an examination committee (or the thesis committee) of graduate faculty. The examinations will be based on a master reading list provided to all students when they enter the program. Under both plans, students will be required to take ENGL5950, Methods of Research. All students who will teach as graduate assistants will be required to take ENGL5057, Writing: Theory and Teaching, as preparation for their teaching service.
     Applicants to our program need to present undergraduate transcripts with a Bachelor's Degree in English, three letters of recommendation, and GRE scores (general exam only). Applicants for graduate assistantships must also submit a five to ten page writing sample. The Graduate School web pages provide forms that can be downloaded or filled out and submitted electronically.
     Graduate faculty pursue a variety of academic interests, including creative writing, mythology, women's literature, Appalachian literature, regional dialectology, folklore, and American travel writing. In addition to surveys and seminars, they offer special topics courses that reflect their research interests. One such course recently examined how writers from different places and periods have responded to Shakespeare. Students entering our program can look forward to a broad preparation, in dept work in seminars, and the pursuit of special interests that reflect the culture of our region.
     Enquiries about our program should be sent to:

Dr. Robert Sawyer
Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies
Department of English
Campus Box 70683
East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN 37614
sawyerr@etsu.edu