Department of English and Creative Writing

Matthew McBroom, interim chair
Elizabeth Tasker Davis, coordinator of English graduate studies
Dugas Liberal Arts North, Room 260
Phone: (936) 468-2487
Fax: (936) 468-2614
sfasu.edu/english

Objectives of the Department

The SFA graduate program in English seeks to furnish its M.A. students with a body of learning in British, American and world literature and to foster critical thinking and its clear and creative expression. Through close engagement with texts, professors and fellow students, graduate students in English develop an understanding of the contexts, methods and theories that inform literary study and production. The program prepares students for further study in literature or creative writing, as well as careers in teaching, writing and other fields demanding textual expertise.

Graduate Faculty

Professors

• Christine Butterworth-McDermott, Ph.D., Purdue University, TransAtlantic Literature, Creative Writing
• Marc S. Guidry, Ph.D., Louisiana State University, Medieval British Literature, Arthurian Romance
• Steven Marsden, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, Colonial and 19th-Century American Literature
• Michael Martin, Ph.D., Illinois State University, Contemporary American Literature
• John McDermott, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Creative Writing
• Mark Sanders, Ph.D., University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Modern Poetry, Creative Writing, 20th-Century American and British Literature; Ph.D., University of Idaho, Higher Education
• Kenneth L. Untiedt, Ph.D., Texas Tech University, Literature of the American West, 20th-Century American Literature
• Kevin West, Ph.D., Indiana University, World Literature (European), Literature and Religion

Associate Professors

• Andrew Brininstool, M.F.A., University of Houston
• Michael Given, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University, Modernism, 20th-Century British Literature, Modern Irish Literature
• Ericka Hoagland, Ph.D., Purdue University, World Literature (non-Western)
• Christopher Sams, Ph.D., University of Buffalo, Linguistics
• Jessica Sams, Ph.D., University of Colorado - Boulder, Linguistics
• Elizabeth Tasker Davis, Ph.D., Georgia State University, Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature, Rhetoric

Graduate Assistantships

A limited number of graduate assistantships are awarded each year. Interested applicants should contact the coordinator of English graduate studies for additional information. Preferential consideration for assistantships will be given to applications received by March 31 of the prior academic year; however, applications are accepted through May 31. During their first year in the program, graduate assistants are assigned to work on departmental materials, publications and events; aid English faculty with their research and teaching; and sometimes work as tutors or administrative support staff for other SFA departments. In their second year, after completing eighteen hours of graduate coursework, including ENG 580 - Teaching First-Year Composition  and receiving professional development training, graduate assistants teach multiple sections of freshman composition.

Background Requirements

For clear admission to the graduate program a student must have a GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale during the last 60 credit hours of undergraduate work in advanced-level undergraduate English courses. For further information on provisional status, see the Graduate Admission  section of the Graduate Bulletin. Although students may be granted probationary admission with a GPA below 3.0, no students may be granted probationary admission with a GPA below 2.7.

Ordinarily, an English major with an undergraduate degree from an accredited college may pursue graduate study in English; however, any student with fewer than 24 semester hours of undergraduate credit in English may be asked to complete additional work to establish a background for graduate study. Students may be admitted to a graduate minor in English or to complete an elective concentration in English after evaluation of the student’s academic background by the coordinator of graduate studies.

Programs

• English, M.A.

• English Minor