Ph.D. in English
The doctoral program in English develops fluency in the critical discourses of the profession and prepares graduates to teach English professionally on the post-secondary level, or to enter any number of alternative careers.Every student admitted to the Ph.D. program receives funding for
up to seven academic years as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (G.T.A.).
This position includes an annual salary of up to $18,500, a tuition waiver, and
student health insurance. Please see Admission page for details. Students may also seek research
assistantships with the journal Victorian Poetry,
the Eberly Writing
Studio, the Appalachian Prison Book
Project, and the Eberly
and Jackson
Professors. These may carry course
reassignments, additional stipends, or both.
Summer teaching is available but not required. Dissertation fellowships are also awarded on a
competitive basis.
The teaching portfolios our G.T.A.s assemble are exceptionally diverse. In addition to Composition, Ph.D. students are regularly assigned to undergraduate courses including American Literature 1 & 2, British Literature 1 & 2, Shakespeare, Poetry & Drama, Short Story & Novel, Literature of Love & Sex, Literature of Science & Nature, Literature of Minds & Selves, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Introduction to Popular Culture, Business & Professional Writing, and Technical Writing. All instructors, regardless of rank, are entrusted with the design and administration of their own courses.
Particular areas of faculty strength include:
Students may also specialize in a wide range of literatures and cultures, including but not limited to:
| Medieval | Early American |
| Renaissance & Early Modern | 19th Century American |
| 17th Century | 20th Century American |
| Restoration and 18th Century | Contemporary American |
| Romantic | Literary Theory |
| Victorian | Cultural Studies |
| Modern British | Digital Humanities |
| Contemporary British | Poetry |
| Postcolonial | Drama |
| Global Anglophone | The Novel |
| Transatlantic | Nonfiction |
| Native American | Rhetoric |
| African-American |
For more information on degree requirements, please take a look at the Graduate Student Handbook for English (click on button below). You can also download a sampling of our current graduate course descriptions, which are updated prior to registration each semester.