English McGill University

Overview

Graduate English students from McGill University, key participants in all areas of Department life, have the opportunity to explore aspects of Literature, Cultural Studies, Performance, and Theatre History in their seminar work and research. The Department is home to—or is a principal participant in—a number of major collaborative research projects, including the Burney Centre, the McGill Medievalists, the Bibliographic Society of Canada, and research teams on Shakespeare and Performance, Early Modern Conversions, Interacting with Print, Eating in Canada, and Novelists on the Novel. These research groups and projects are the most visible signs of cross-fertilization among the three areas of the Department's work, and of the Department's prominence in the development of interdisciplinary research and teaching at McGill and in the academy in general.

The English Department offers both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. On average, there are 80 graduate students enrolled in the M.A. and Ph.D. programs each year.

Key facts

The M.A. program admits 25 students each year from around the world. Unlike many other master's programs in English, the McGill M.A. culminates in a major piece of independent research, either a thesis or research paper, which is carried out under the supervision of a faculty member. Approximately half of McGill M.A. graduates go on to Ph.D. programs either at McGill or elsewhere. Other graduates have found employment with foundations, university development offices, publishing houses, consulting firms, and CEGEPs.

The Ph.D. program admits approximately five students each year from around the world. Doctoral students specialize in a broad range of fields within English studies.

All students who apply are considered for financial support, normally in the form of a scholarship that can be supplemented by Teaching or Research Assistantships.

The Department offers two options toward the M.A. degree; one thesis, and the other non-thesis. Both options consist of 48 credits and are designed to be completed in four terms (of 12 credits each). It is rare for any student pursuing the thesis option to complete the degree in less than two years, although some students do complete the research paper option in one year (Fall, Winter, and Summer terms) or in 16 months (Fall, Winter, Summer, and Fall terms).