MA in English

MA in English Program Overview

This Is the Way You Want to Earn a Graduate Degree

What comes to mind when you think of pursuing a master’s degree? Cost? Time commitment? No matter your answer, we want you to know that UT Permian Basin’s online Master of Arts in English program is unlike other graduate English programs you may have seen. As a student, you’ll quickly discover our MA in English program is:

 

  • Affordable
    Save with our widely acknowledged low tuition rates.
  • Personalized
    Small class sizes allow for one-on-one attention from our renowned faculty.
  • Convenient
    Our online program format enables you to complete coursework 24/7 from almost anywhere in the world.
  • Accelerated
    Finish your degree in as little as a year and a half.
  • Flexible
    Build your curriculum to match your interests and choose from four different capstone course types.

An In-Depth Online Exploration of English Language and Culture

Our program provides an advanced, in-depth examination of British and American literature by canonical and non-canonical writers of poetry, fiction, and drama, often with an emphasis on the interdisciplinary study of literature and on the structure and complexity of the English language. Through an exploration of past and present literary works, our program provides you with opportunities to relate cultural, historical, aesthetic, social, and psychological issues of literary works to your own psychological, sociopolitical, and cultural conditions today. In the process, you’ll also learn the importance of respecting other people’s perspectives to achieve social and global harmony.

Program Rankings

  • #3 for Best Online Colleges in Texas by OnlineU
  • #2 for Best Value Master's Degree Colleges for English Language & Literature in the Southwest Region by College Factual
  • #5 for GradSource Top Online Schools: Master's in English
  • #7 for Most Affordable Online Master's Degrees 2024 by EdSmart
  • #21 for 50 best Online English Master's Programs by Master's Programs Guide

Alumni Pathways 

As a graduate of our online MA in English program, you’ll possess an in-depth understanding of the English language and culture as well as all the skills needed to leverage this knowledge into a rewarding career. Your mastery of writing, rhetoric, and expression will make you highly sought after in a variety of industries. An MA in English could unlock unlimited career options.  

Graduates of our MA in English thrive at colleges, universities, and other educational institutions, but their skill set is in high demand at a diverse array of organizations, including: 

  • U.S. Congress
  • Dell
  • Capital One
  • National Academy of Education
  • Nippon Express
  • Bolloré Logistics
  • NewPoint Real Estate Capital
  • EWF International

Transform Your Passion Into Professional Opportunities

Many students use our English master’s degree as a stepping-stone to doctoral studies, teaching positions at the high school, community college, or even university level, or careers in communication, advertising, or civil service. There are many paths you can follow, depending on your area of interest. What’s more, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that master’s degree holders earn nearly 20% more than those with a bachelor’s degree alone. Those with higher levels of education also typically enjoy higher rates of employment, according to the BLS, which means our online MA in English can elevate your passion into real professional benefits. Some of the roles you may qualify for with this degree include:

American Literature Core

15-18 credits

Courses
Duration
Credits
ENGL 6377 - History of Poetics
8 weeks
3
This course examines the history of poetics and poetry from form to figuration. We explore the interaction between specific forms and content and how one informs the other. With an eye to the physical nature of poetry, we also study prosody, examining the close proximity to poetry’s origins to dance and music, etc.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
ENGL 6360 - Topics in Film and Media: Spielberg Films
16 weeks
3
Studies in film and electronic media like television in relevant historical and critical contexts, including theories of interpretation. Topics could include Film and Theories of Post Humanity; Film, Television and Trauma Theory; Feminist Approaches to Film and Media; Film and Pedagogy, to name a few.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
ENGL 6332 - Literature and the Visual Arts
8 weeks
3
This course explores the nonverbal dimensions of literature, in particular its evocations of art and music, that extend verbal discourse and simultaneously articulate what the verbal discourse conceals and silences. NOTE: ENGL 6332 (Literature and the Visual Arts) can be either British or American depending on whether the final paper of the course is on American or a British writer.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
British Literature Core

9-12 credits

Courses
Duration
Credits
ENGL 6324 - British Literature 1900-Present
8 weeks
3
Emphasis on fiction, drama, or poetry; major figures include Conrad, Woolf, Joyce, Shaw, Synge, Lawrence, Yeats, O’Casey, Auden. Nonfiction may also be included.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
ENGL 6323 - Sensation Fiction
8 weeks
3
This course focuses on sensation novels. Sensation novels, often associated with intense emotions, experienced by characters and readers alike, were not only exceedingly popular but also generated highly negative reviews. More than one hundred years later, these novels continue to intrigue postmodern critics who attempt to understand the implications of these novels in terms of the social constraints these novels fought and the gender, class, legal and moral boundaries they attempted to transgress.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
ENGL 6360 - Topics in Film and Media: Hitchcock Films
16 weeks
3
Studies in film and electronic media like television in relevant historical and critical contexts, including theories of interpretation. Topics could include Film and Theories of Post Humanity; Film, Television and Trauma Theory; Feminist Approaches to Film and Media; Film and Pedagogy, to name a few.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
ENGL 6332 - Literature and the Visual Arts
8 weeks
3
This course explores the nonverbal dimensions of literature, in particular its evocations of art and music, that extend verbal discourse and simultaneously articulate what the verbal discourse conceals and silences. NOTE: ENGL 6332 (Literature and the Visual Arts) can be either British or American depending on whether the final paper of the course is on American or a British writer.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
MA in English Electives

6-18 credits: option 1 or 2 choose 2, option 3 choose 3, option 4 choose 4.

Courses
Duration
Credits
ENGL 6372 - Rhetoric and Composition
16 weeks
3
This course will cover current theory and practice in the teaching of writing. Focus will be twofold: to study the history of contemporary composition and rhetorical theory in order to consider how competing and complementary methodologies have influenced the evolution of pedagogy in the writing classroom and to discuss the practical application of theory for improving as teachers and writers. Emphasis will be given to preparing reflective teachers of composition. This course is required for all students serving as Graduate Teaching Assistants in English.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
ENGL 6389 - History of Children’s Literature
8 weeks
3
The intent of this course is to survey the works of major importance in the history of children’s literature in England and in North America from 1740s to present. We will analyze these works mainly from a historical perspective.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
ENGL 6330 - Literature and Mythology
8 weeks
3
This course explores the power of myths in shaping the human psyche and in developing cultural and sociopolitical perspectives. Simultaneously it emphasizes the importance of mythology to the understanding of literature, art, and music.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered:
ENGL 6357 - Writing Centers
16 weeks
3
A study of the history, theory, and practice of writing center tutoring and administration.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: N/A
ENGL 6353 - Topics in Poetry: Creative Writing
8 weeks
3
Comparative studies in epic or lyric poetry.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: Spring B 2024
ENGL 6389 - Literary Fairy Tales
8 weeks
3
The intent of this course is to engage in critical studies of the fairy tale genre by reading and analyzing the most famous tales archetypes of Perrault, the brothers Grimm, Andersen, and some 19th and 20th century British and American tales while introducing multicultural correlating versions. The class will analyze these tales from sociological, psychological, and literary points of view.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered: Summer A 2024
MA in English Capstone

1-6 hours. Choose one.

Courses
Duration
Credits
ENGL 6399 - Thesis (6 hours)
N/A
6
Students electing the thesis or scholarly article option will work under the supervision of a major advisor. A maximum of six credits of ENGL 6399 may be counted toward the MA.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered:
ENGL 6399 - Article (6 hours)
N/A
6
Students electing the thesis or scholarly article option will work under the supervision of a major advisor. A maximum of six credits of ENGL 6399 may be counted toward the MA.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered:
ENGL 6390 - Project (3 hours)
N/A
3
A required reading list and faculty guidance are provided for students electing the project rather than the thesis.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered:
ENGL 6195 - Portfolio (1 hour)
N/A
1
One of four degree capstone options. Students present to their committee and defend three of their graduate papers.
Prerequisites: N/A
Semesters Offered:

Admission Requirements

Regular Admission Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in English or 24 hours of undergraduate English classes at the sophomore level or above from an accredited college or university
  • GPA of 3.0 or better in the last 60 credit hours of coursework leading to the baccalaureate degree
  • Two letters of recommendation
  • Statement of Intent: a one-page statement of purpose explaining your qualifications and desire for an MA in English at The University of Texas Permian Basin
  • Writing sample
    • Include a 10-20 page sample of your writing, preferably a research paper in the discipline of English
  • Optional: GRE scores at average percentile or better

 

Conditional Requirements

If the graduate faculty find a deficiency, such as a GPA below 3.0 but not lower than 2.5 in the last 60 credit hours of coursework leading to the baccalaureate degree, conditional acceptance may be granted, provided that the faculty still believe the applicant is prepared for graduate level work.

Other evidence may include:

  • Minimum GRE score in English is in the 50% percentile or higher.
  • The candidate had strong work experience related to the field of English.
  • Evidence of success in career field (e.g., teaching or service awards) and/or candidate’s diverse experiences and perspectives.

NOTE: We look for acceptable GPA, letters, GRE, and writing sample. Each individual member of the English graduate faculty votes on whether or not the applicant should be admitted.

 

Official Transcripts


Official copies of transcripts must come directly from the school in a sealed envelope and can be mailed to:

UT Permian Basin
Graduate Studies Office
4901 E. University Blvd.
Odessa, TX 79762

Official transcripts in electronic format can be sent to gradstudies@utpb.edu

 

Supporting Documents


All supporting documents related the graduate program should be sent to the Graduate Studies Office:

 

UT Permian Basin
Graduate Studies
4901 E. University Blvd.
Odessa, TX 79762-0001

 

Electronic versions of supporting documents may be emailed to gradstudies@utpb.edu

 

Application Fee

 

The application fee is $40.
Veterans and Active Duty Military: Your application fee is waived for this program. Get details now.

 

If you have any questions regarding the admission requirements, please email gradstudies@utpb.edu.

 

Professor
Department of Literature and Language
andres_s@utpb.edu

Sophia Andres is professor of English, Kathlyn Cosper Dunagan Professor in the Humanities, and English MA program head in the Department of Literature and Languages, where she teaches Romantic literature, Victorian literature and art, literature and mythology, as well as modern and postmodern British fiction. She is the recipient of several teaching and research awards and is currently a member of the UT System Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Her work has been published in several journals and book chapters. Her most recent book, Poetry in Pre-Raphaelite Paintings (2018), was preceded by The Pre-Raphaelite Art of the Victorian Novel (2005).

Click here to read more about Dr. Andres and her experience with UT Permian Basin's English programs.

William and Ordelle Watts Professor
English Program
babcock_r@utpb.edu

Rebecca Day Babcock is the William and Ordelle Watts Professor at UT Permian Basin, where she teaches courses in writing and linguistics. She also serves as the freshman English coordinator and the director of undergraduate research. She has authored, co-authored, or edited several books on tutoring, writing centers, disability, and meta-research. Her latest book, the first not about tutoring, is Boom or Bust: Narrative, Life, and Culture from the West Texas Oil Patch, edited with former UT Permian Basin students Sheena Stief and Kristen Figgins and based on an NEH grant, the first ever to be awarded to UT Permian Basin. Boom or Bust also features narratives by current and former UT Permian Basin graduate students and faculty.

In addition to her many books, Babcock has also published research articles in Writing Lab Newsletter, Linguistics and Education, Composition Forum, Praxis, The Peer Review, and others. She won the IWCA Outstanding Article Award in 2011 for her article on interpreted writing tutorials with deaf writers and the CWPA Outstanding Scholarship Award in 2019 for Writing Center Directors and Diversity written with Karen Keaton Jackson and former graduate student Sarah Banschbach Valles. Most recently, she won the Best Edited Collection Award for Theories and Methods of Writing Center Studies from the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum.

Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Literature and Language
English Program
fick_m@utpb.edu

Dr. Marlon Fick is an associate professor of English and chair of the Department of Literature and Languages. He holds a BA from the University of Kansas (philosophy), an MA from New York University (poetics/English), and a PhD from the University of Kansas (English). He is the author of three poetry collections, a book of short stories, and the novel The Nowhere Man (Jaded Ibis, 2015) and is editor/translator of The River Is Wide/El río es ancho: Twenty Mexican Poets (New Mexico, 2005), as well as XEIXA: Fourteen Catalan Poets (Tupelo, 2018). Awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, ConaCulta in Mexico, and Institut Ramon Llull in Catalonia, Dr. Fick specializes in teaching comparative poetics at UT Permian Basin.

Professor of English
Department of Literature and Language
richardson_t@utpb.edu

Todd H. Richardson is a professor of English specializing in American Romanticism, transcendentalism, American women writers, nature writing, and multicultural fiction. His work has appeared in American Literary Scholarship (Duke UP), Approaches to Teaching the Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (MLA), Emerson in Context (Cambridge UP), Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism (Oxford UP), Walt Whitman Quarterly, and New England Quarterly. He is past president of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Society.

Dunagan Professor of English
Department of Literature and Language
wildermuth_m@utpb.edu

Mark Wildermuth has served at UT Permian Basin since 1992. He has published articles in Philosophy and Rhetoric, the Journal of Popular Film and Television, and the Journal of Popular Culture. He has published the following books: Blood in the Moonlight: Michael Mann and Information Age Cinema; Print, Chaos and Complexity: Samuel Johnson and Eighteenth-Century Media Culture; Gender, Science Fiction Television and the American Security State, 1958-Present; and Feminism and the Western.

We’re pleased to offer program admission on a rolling basis.

Rolling admission refers to our process of accepting and evaluating applications as we receive them and moving any applications that miss the deadline to the next semester. However, if you want to enroll in courses for a specific semester, you will need to make note of the application deadlines found below. If you don’t complete your application and submit the required materials by the deadline, your application will be rolled over to the next semester. 

LengthApplication DeadlineDocument DeadlinePayment DeadlineCourses BeginCourses End
Whole Spring1/2/241/8/241/12/241/16/245/2/24
Spring A1/2/241/8/241/12/241/16/243/8/24
Spring B3/4/243/11/243/15/243/18/245/10/24
SemesterApplication DeadlineDocument DeadlinePayment DeadlineCourses BeginCourses End
Summer A4/29/245/6/245/10/245/13/246/28/24
Summer B6/17/246/24/246/28/247/1/248/15/24
LengthApplication DeadlineDocument DeadlinePayment DeadlineCourses BeginCourses End
Fall A8/12/248/19/248/23/248/26/2410/18/24
Fall B10/7/2410/14/2410/18/2410/21/2412/13/24
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