Welcome to Graduate Programs in English!

At Texas A&M, we offer two graduate degrees: a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy. We admit students only in the fall semester; applications are due December 15, 2023. All PhD students in English are supported by assistantships. We also have very generous funding for conference presentations, research travel, and participation in workshops and seminars. Direct admission for the Ph.D. program with an MA is possible for exceptional candidates.

Graduate students in English benefit from an innovative curriculum, excellent scholarly and pedagogical training, and a vibrant intellectual community. We have an internationally prominent faculty and a diverse and professionally active student body. Check out news about our students on the Graduate Research page.

Research Areas & Specialties

Our department has a unique mix of faculty and support for projects that work across boundaries. We typically offer eleven or twelve courses each semester, and all courses are capped at 12 students, with the majority smaller than that. Graduate students can also earn certificates in Women's and Gender Studies, Film Studies, Africana Studies, Latino and Mexican American Studies, and Digital Humanities.

Incoming students do not need to select an advisor but should have a general area of study, which they describe in their application letters. We have a wide range of specialties. Although we are open to students working in many different focuses, we are particularly interested in recruiting students working in the following areas:"

Transnational Literature and Culture

Are you interested in how literature and culture moves across cultural and national boundaries? Much of our recent faculty research, courses, and student work examine literature and culture as it crosses boundaries, manifests in new locations, is taken up by diasporic contexts, or emerges in the intersections. Come work with us on:

• Hemispheric and transnational literatures
• Diasporic literatures and cultures
• Multi-ethnic literature (Afro-LatinX; Afro-Asian)
• Cross-cultural adaptation (e.g. African American adaptations of Shakespeare)

As a student, you can: pursue graduate certificates in Latino/a and Mexican American Studies (LMAS) and Africana Studies; earn funding support from the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute (RESI); engage with faculty and graduate students through the Glasscock Center and RESI Working Groups, such as the Latinx Studies or Asian American Diaspora Studies Working Groups.

Science, Technology, and Culture

As a world-class science and engineering school, Texas A&M offers a unique environment to study the rhetorical and cultural manifestations of science and technology. Our faculty and students in the English department work in interdisciplinary initiatives across the university to examine pressing issues in:

• Digital humanities
• Rhetoric or literature of science
• Medicine and health humanities
• Environmental humanities
• Digital rhetoric and AI
• Technical writing
• Science fiction
• Game studies

As a student you can: work with CoDHR (the Center for Digital Humanities Research) and complete a DH Certificate; join the initiative on the Humanities and the Anthropocene or participate in the new Sustainability Studies initiatives; get involved in the Health Humanities program or new initiatives to study the repercussions of Gen-AI; research in our world-class Science Fiction archive or engage with faculty in emerging conversations in game studies.

Professionalization and Teacher Training

The Department of English has a strong record of supporting and mentoring graduate students. Our students have the opportunity to teach a range of undergraduate courses, both face to face, and online. We have an excellent training program for graduate student teachers, including a workshop in August before classes begin, a formal pedagogy course, and a mentoring system for graduate student teachers.

We take seriously the professional development of our students; each semester, we organize panel discussions and workshops of topics ranging from writing abstracts, preparing for prelims, choosing journals for the submission of articles, compiling a teaching portfolio, and narrowing down a dissertation topic.

Our graduate students compete very successfully for research funding and awards through the Glasscock Center for Humanities Research on campus and within the College of Liberal Arts. Our students receive national recognition for their work through, among others, acceptance into seminars at the Folger Institute, the English Institute, the School for Criticism and Theory, Rare Book School, and Digital Humanities Summer Institute.  Students who gain admission to these seminars and workshops receive generous funding from the Department.