Academic Programs - Graduate

English

You’ve finished your BA and want to continue to feed your passion for literature, creative communication, and critical thought. Graduate studies in English is the next level, a continuation of academic exploration that will satisfy your desire to move beyond survey-level exposure and a basic acquisition of critical methods towards a growing expertise in the field of literary studies.

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A master’s degree in English will allow you to achieve a more sophisticated understanding of the power, place, and purpose of literary expression throughout cultural history. It is an essential next step towards doctoral work and a potential academic career, but stands on its own as an achievement that signifies your mastery of a particular field of literary studies while also extending your professional skills and enabling additional career opportunities outside of academia.

Be Inspired

The small scale of Acadia’s campus means that you’re never just a student number or a face in the crowd. As a master's level English student, you’re apt to feel more like a colleague. Our small graduate program means that you will receive unmatched levels of engagement, mentorship and support from professors and other students during your 12-month master’s-level experience. Our professors are active researchers and writers in a broad range of fields and will work to ensure that your thesis (on a topic of your own choosing) and coursework contribute to your growth as a scholar, researcher and critical thinker. Some of the past graduates of our MA program have gone on to pursue doctoral studies in Canada and internationally, while others have begun careers in such fields as teaching, journalism, publishing, and public relations.

Research Interests

  • American literature
  • Arthurian literature
  • Atlantic-Canadian literature
  • Canadian children's literature
  • Canadian literature
  • Children's literature
  • Contemporary British fiction and poetry
  • Digital humanities
  • Fairy tales
  • Fantasy
  • Gender, sexuality and queer studies
  • Historical fiction
  • Medieval studies
  • Modern poetry
  • New media studies
  • Picture books
  • Post-colonial literature
  • Renaissance studies
  • Shakespeare studies
  • The early novel
  • The eighteenth century
  • The Gothic
  • The Romantics
  • Victorian and nineteenth century
  • Young adult literature

Program at a Glance

Courses take place in-person at Acadia University.

Year One -
First Term

  • ENGL 5960
    Thesis
  • ENGL 5060
    Scholarly methods
  • ENGL 5xx3
    Elective
  • ENGL 5xx3
    Elective

Year One -
Second Term

  • ENGL 5960
    Thesis
  • ENGL 5543
    Scholarly methods
  • ENGL 5xx3
    Elective
  • ENGL 5xx3
    Elective

Year One -
Third Term

  • ENGL 5960
    Thesis Completion
 
 

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