Master of Arts [M.A] [English] From Loyola University

The field of English studies has grown rapidly over the course of the last half century. Today, English scholars read and discuss works written in the English language from across the globe—novels, plays and poems written by women as well as by men and by members of many widely varying cultures. We explore the social contexts in which each work was written and the impact it had in (and on) its time. We have widened our horizon to include the study of film as well as of written texts, and we have come to recognize the overall importance of minor literary figures as well as the traditionally acclaimed giants.

In its teaching, the Department of English seeks to provide students with an education of the highest quality in the English language, in literature written in English and in critical and creative writing, judiciously combining breadth with depth, tradition with contemporaneity. It seeks to attract the best possible students from diverse geographical, professional, racial and ethnic backgrounds; it encourages minority and foreign applicants and those returning to school after an interruption of their academic lives. It encourages students throughout their programs so as to enable them to progress expeditiously to their degrees and to gain the maximum benefit from their experience.

Through the work of its faculty, the Department of English also strives to participate in and contribute to the wider community of scholarship, research and pedagogical theory and practice in the disciplines of literary and critical studies; in creative and critical writing; in comparative literature; in gender, ethnic and cultural studies; in teacher training; and in linguistics.

The Department of English also seeks to serve the larger university and greater Chicago community through public event programming, collaborative projects with secondary schools and other colleges and universities, and general assistance