Loyola University Chicago- English

English

Application Deadlines
Application Requirements
Contact Information
Curriculum
Degree Programs (Ph.D., M.A.)
Faculty
Overview

Overview

The graduate programs in English offers advanced study in literature and culture over a number of historical periods and training in critical theory as well as in careful textual analysis. At Loyola, students benefit from:

A faculty of scholar-teachers: Students study with nationally respected, publishing scholars who are passionate about their teaching and who value their mentoring relationships with graduate students
Success in the job market: The English Department at Loyola has a fine, long-standing record of success in placing our students in jobs — particularly at liberal arts colleges, where teaching is valued, but also at research universities
An advantageous graduate assistantship program: Our graduate assistantships are designed to advance your progress through the Ph.D. degree program. Assistants are instructed in the art of teaching through mentoring and hands-on tutoring experiences; they are well-prepared when they teach their own courses. Ongoing instruction in pedagogy, composition theory and rhetoric, as well as ample opportunities to teach both writing and literature, provide graduates with a strong skill set that is attractive to prospective employers

Degree Programs

The Department of English offers both Ph.D. and M.A. degree programs.

Ph.D. Degree Program

The Ph.D. degree in English is offered in three specialized fields. Students who have completed the M.A. degree choose one of the following fields and complete the appropriate requirements. Students may change their field at any time.

Medieval and Renaissance Literature: In addition to Introduction to Graduate Study, this program requires five courses in the area of specialization, three courses in critical theory, two in composition/rhetoric and one in literature after 1800. Students must also complete a special Independent Study course and seven elective courses.

Nineteenth-Century Studies: This program requires Introduction to Graduate Study, five courses in the area of specialization, three courses in critical theory, two in composition/rhetoric and two in Medieval/Renaissance literature. Students must also complete a special Independent Study course and six elective courses.

Modern Literature and Culture: Requirements include Introduction to Graduate Study, five courses in the area of specialization, three courses in critical theory, two in composition/rhetoric and one in each of the Medieval/Renaissance and nineteenth-century periods. Students must also complete a special Independent Study course and six elective courses.

M.A. Degree Program

The Department of English offers a broad M.A. degree program in literature, critical theory and composition/rhetoric. The program has manageable degree requirements — 21 semester hours of coursework and a written examination.

If taken full-time, the degree can be completed within one calendar year of study. For part-time students, the degree is usually completed within four years. Course requirements include:

Introduction to Graduate Study course
Three courses in literature in English (at least one course must be in literature before 1800 and at least one in literature after 1800)
One course in critical theory
One course in linguistics, rhetoric or composition
One elective course

Curriculum

Students in the Department of English at Loyola University Chicago do not have to choose between studying "literature" and studying "theory." We offer a balanced selection of classes in a number of areas, including composition and rhetoric; critical theory; Medieval and Renaissance literature; eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature; and modern and postmodern literature. Program requirements can be met by a wide range of courses within various historical periods, critical theory, post-colonial literatures, composition and rhetorical theory and cultural studies. The Department of English is constantly revising its course list and developing new courses to meet the needs of today’s students.

To see a catalog listing of courses, visit www.luc.edu/depts/english

Faculty

Faculty in the Department of English are dedicated to teaching and mentoring students as well as to furthering their own research interests. Indeed, we see our teaching and research missions as inseparable.

Badia Sahar Ahad, Ph.D. (University of Notre Dame), Assistant Professor
Areas of interest: African-American literature, African literature, postcolonial and psychoanalytic theory, Diaspora studies

James Biester, Ph.D. (Columbia University), Associate Professor
Areas of interest: early modern literature and culture, the history of literary theory, the history of rhetoric, modern poetry

Mark Bosco, Ph.D. (Graduate Theological Union), S.J. Assistant Professor
Areas of interest: Twentieth-century American and British literature; the Catholic literary tradition; aesthetics, art and the religious imagination

J. Brooks Bouson, Ph.D. (Loyola University Chicago), Professor
Areas of interest: Modern British literature, psychoanalysis and literature, emotions and literature, trauma and narrative, women’s literature, history of feminist criticism

Christopher Castiglia, Ph.D. (Columbia University), Professor
Areas of interest: Antebellum American literature and culture, cultural studies, queer theory and culture

Pamela L. Caughie, Ph.D. (University of Virginia), Professor
Areas of interest: Modern British and American literature, African-American literature and theory, postmodernism, feminist theory, women’s studies, pedagogy

David Chinitz, Ph.D. (Columbia University), Associate Professor
Areas of interest: poetry, modernism, T. S. Eliot, the Harlem Renaissance, popular culture

Micael Clarke, Ph.D. (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Associate Professor
Areas of interest: Theory of the novel, the Victorian novel, William Thackeray, Emily Brontë, spirituality, women’s studies, higher education

Francis Fennell, Ph.D. (Northwestern University), Professor
Areas of interest: Victorian literature, Irish literature, rhetoric and composition, pedagogy

Elizabeth (Liz) Fenton, Ph.D. (Rice University), Assistant Professor
Areas of interest: 19th-century American literature, transnational American studies, U.S. religious history, church and state relations, theories of nation and citizenship

Verna A. Foster, Ph.D. (University of London), Associate Professor
Areas of interest: Modern drama, contemporary women dramatists, Shakespeare, Renaissance drama, comparative drama, dramatic theory

Allen J. Frantzen, Ph.D. (University of Virginia), Professor and Loyola Faculty Scholar
Areas of interest: Old and Middle English literature, literary history, World War I, history of sexuality, literary theory and criticism

Suzanne Gossett, Ph.D. (Princeton University), Professor and Loyola Faculty Scholar
Areas of interest: Renaissance drama, Shakespeare, feminist and gender studies, textual studies and editorial theory

Joseph Janangelo, Ph.D. (New York University), Associate Professor
Areas of interest: Pedagogy, technology, film, writing program administration, autobiography

Paul Jay, Ph.D. (University of California, Santa Cruz), Professor
Areas of interest: Literary criticism and theory, comparative literature of the Americas, border studies, globalization, visual culture studies

Steven Jones, Ph.D. (Columbia University), Professor
Areas of interest: Romantic-period literature and culture, textual studies including digital textuality

Thomas Kaminski, Ph.D. (Harvard University), Associate Professor
Areas of interest: Classical influences on English poetry, Restoration and 18th-century English literature, Samuel Johnson

Christopher Kendrick, Ph.D. (Yale University), Professor
Areas of interest: Milton, 16th- and 17th-century British literature, Marxism and theory

John (Jack) Kerkering, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University), Assistant Professor
Areas of interest: 19th- and early 20th-century American literature and culture, poetry and poetics, national and racial identity.

Harveen Sachdeva Mann, Ph.D. (Purdue University), Associate Professor
Areas of interest: Post-colonial studies, South Asian studies, Third World feminism

Joyce Wexler, Ph.D. (Northwestern University), Professor
Areas of interest: Modernism, publishing history, feminist and psychoanalytic theory, cultural studies, magic realism

Thomas Edward Wheatley, Ph.D. (University of Virginia), Edward Surtz S.J. Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature
Areas of interest: Middle English literature, Chaucer, disability studies, textual criticism

Application Requirements

Applicants to the M.A. degree program generally have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0; applicants to the Ph.D. degree program generally have a GPA of at least 3.3. Substantial preparation in English is required, whether through an undergraduate major or by other means.

A $50 application fee
A completed application form. To apply, go to www.luc.edu/gpem
Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work
Scores for the GRE (general and English subject examination)
Three letters of recommendation (usually from referees familiar with the applicant's academic work)
A statement of purpose describing academic and research interests, as well as professional goals
A writing sample. Applicants must supply an essay that demonstrates their ability in the practice of literary criticism. If a substantial (15-page) essay is not available, applicants may submit two shorter papers.
Either a TOEFL or IELTS score report is required for international applicants whose native language is not English. For the TOEFL, a score of at least 250 on the computer-based test or 600 on the written test is required. The minimum score for the new TOEFL iBT (Internet-based test) is 100. For the IELTS, a minimum score of seven is required.
International applicants, or U.S. applicants who completed school abroad, are required to submit non-U.S. transcripts to Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE). For more information, contact ECE at 414-289-3400 or visit www.ece.org.

Please request a general evaluation report and have the official report sent to Loyola University Chicago, Graduate Enrollment Management, 820 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611.

Application Deadlines

Fall admission: January 15 (for assistantship applicants) or June 1

Deadlines and application requirements are subject to change. Visit www.luc.edu/depts/english for the most up-to-date information.

Contact Information

The application and all supporting documents must be sent to Graduate Enrollment Management at the following address:

Graduate Enrollment Management
Loyola University Chicago
820 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Phone: 312.915.8950
E-mail: GradApp@luc.edu

For more information about the academic program, or to arrange a visit, contact:

Department of English
Loyola University Chicago
6525 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, Illinois 60626
Phone: 773.508.2241
www.luc.edu/depts/english

Loyola University Chicago