Graduate Programs

Class Preparation

Master of Arts Degree in English: English Studies for Teachers
The M.A. program in English with an Emphasis in English Studies for Teachers is designed primarily as a professional development tool for licensed, practicing teachers in the public schools. This program provides teachers with the opportunity to enhance content area expertise in English studies and/or obtain a basis for an additional teaching endorsement. Students take courses across a wide range of topics within English Studies including composition, rhetoric, and professional communication; creative writing; film; and literary study. Students select one of these four as an area of specialization. Students may also supplement these areas with related coursework in Communication Studies, Education, Journalism, Speech, and Theatre.

The faculty in the Department of English approach research, teaching, and other professional practices from multiple perspectives. We value collaboration and synthesis. We encourage critical engagements that challenge the borders traditionally drawn between theory and practice, production and reception, and creativity and critique. We promote situated inquiry that encourages teachers to develop a broad view of English Studies and relates that understanding to teaching in the discipline.

Degree Requirements | Portfolio & Exams | Application

Faculty
Faculty are drawn from the entire Department of English.

Degree Requirements
In addition to meeting the requirements of the Graduate School, students electing this emphasis must fulfill the following requirements.

Course Work (36 Semester Credit Hours)
Students in the program will develop individualized plans of study in consultation with an advisor. Students will complete at least 36 hours of graduate course work including:

12 credit hours in core courses
18 - 21 credit hours in courses in an area of specialization
3 - 6 credit hours meeting of a capstone requirement

Core Curriculum (12 credit hours).
Students take one core course in each of the following areas:

Composition, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication
Creative Writing
Film
Literature

Each of these courses will feature a prominent research component that will provide the student with the skills necessary to extend the knowledge and competencies developed in the core courses. The products of core course research will constitute one component of the student's Masters Portfolio.

Specialized Courses (18 - 21 credit hours).
Students take six to seven additional courses in their area of specialization determined in consultation with an advisor. Up to two appropriate courses (six credit hours) might also be taken in other departments. Students might consider coursework in related departments such as Communication Studies, Education, Journalism, and Theatre.

Master's Capstone Requirement (3 credit hours).
Students fulfill the capstone requirement through one of the options below:

3 credit hours of English 577: Workshop: Advanced Technical and Professional Writing;
3 – 6 credit hours of English 585: Preparing a Professional Portfolio;
With advisor approval, students may develop an alternative capstone experience and enroll for appropriate credits (such as independent study).

Any variation from these requirements must be approved by the Department Head. Requests should be submitted in writing to the Graduate Studies Committee through the advisor.

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Master's Portfolio and the Oral Examination
As part of their degree program, students develop a portfolio and defend that portfolio in an oral exam. This portfolio may provide material for public schools' Professional Development Dossier.

Master's Portfolio
Students complete a master's portfolio, which should include representative documents to illustrate research in the four areas of the core coursework; teaching expertise; and an introductory essay. Guidelines for the portfolio are available on the NMSU English Department website or from advisers. Students who develop a portfolio take an oral exam after obtaining approval on the portfolio. The oral examination covers course work as well as the portfolio.

Oral Examination Committee
The oral examination committee should be formed by students in the semester before graduation and consists of two members of the English graduate faculty and one member of the graduate faculty outside the department. The committee administers and evaluates the oral examination.

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Application Procedures
Admission to the M.A. program in English Studies for Teachers will be determined by the English Department's Graduate Studies Committee. The Committee will consider any material that an applicant presents, but a listing of required submission materials can be found on our apply page.