Graduate Studies: General Information

The Department of English offers the Ph.D. in English with concentrations in Creative Writing, Literary Studies, and Rhetoric and Theory, and the M.A. in English with a concentration in Literary Studies.  Our major areas for dissertation research include: Creative Writing, Modern Literatures, and Rhetoric.

We also offer course work in traditional literary fields, cultural studies, ethnic literatures, and gender studies. Because of our relatively small faculty, the department has the flexibility to allow students to tailor their degrees to their specific talents and interests. We do so with a distinctive curriculum that offers not only typical graduate seminars but also writing workshops, individually designed tutorials, and colloquia devoted to teaching and professional development. Such a curriculum encourages students to cross genre boundaries in their writing, to relate theory to practice, and to work creatively with scholarly projects.

The graduate program is a lively and professional community. Graduate students teach a variety of courses in literature and writing, serve on committees, participate in departmental searches, organize their own reading series, attend professional conferences, and publish their work. The University of Denver’s English Department is home of The Denver Quarterly, Restoration and Eighteenth Century Theatre Research, and the undergraduate creative writing journal Foothills. We co-sponsor, with the Language and Literature Department, an annual conference, and have an active reading and speakers’ program.

General Requirements for Admission to the Ph.D. Program

• Application deadline is February 1. 
• A Masters degree (M.A. or M.F.A. ), certified by transcripts and showing satisfactory preparation, grades, and potential for advanced study is required for the Ph.D. 
• The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) in both the Verbal Aptitude and the Advanced Literature subject tests. 
• An academic writing sample for all applicants.
• A creative writing sample for creative writing applicants.   
• Three letters of reference from graduate school instructors. 
• International applicants must submit TOEFL scores in addition to GRE scores.

General Requirements for Admission to the M.A. Program

• Application deadline is February 1. 
• A Bachelor of Arts degree, certified by transcripts and showing satisfactory preparation, grades, and potential for advanced study is required for the M.A. 
• The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) in both the Verbal Aptitude and the Advanced Literature subject tests.
• An academic writing sample for all applicants.   
• Two letters of reference attesting to academic potential. 
• International applicants must submit TOEFL scores in addition to GRE scores.

FAQ about Admissions

Ph.D. Awards and Financial Aid

The English Department grants two kinds of awards to Ph.D. candidates. 

• Teaching fellowships are three-year awards to entering doctoral students. These fellowships include a stipend and full tuition waiver.  See below for further description of Teaching Assistantship Options. 

• Other awards include the Doctoral Fellowships, grants to exceptional Ph.D. candidate; the Colorado Grants, for Ph.D. candidates who are residents of the state of Colorado; and The Evan Frankel Dissertation Fellowship, a stipend for one fourth-year doctoral student to work full-time on completion of the dissertation.

• Note:  All students receiving financial aid or awards of any sort must file a FAFSA with the Office of Financial Aid before the award can be made.  All teaching assistantships and fellowships require full-time attendance; the Doctoral Fellowship requires a minimum registration of 9 hours per quarter.  Also, all assistantships and fellowships require that students remain in good standing and meet all major requirements on schedule.

M.A. Awards and Financial Aid

The Colorado Grants for M.A. candidates who are residents of the state of Colorado.  Up to 12 Dean's Scholarship hours per year for full-time M.A. candidates (full-time students take 24 hours per year).  All students receiving financial aid or awards of any sort must file a FAFSA with the Office of Financial Aid before the award can be made.   Also, all M.A. fellowships require that students remain in good standing and meet all major requirements on schedule.

Graduate Course Information

• Ph.D. students take mainly 4000 level courses.  3000 level courses are open to M.A. students as well as to advanced undergraduate English majors and Honors students.  These courses include a range of literatures in English or English translation, History/Structure of the Language, Cultural Studies, and Bibliography and Research Methods.

• Creative Writing workshops include poetry, fiction, travel writing, cross-genre, translation, book review, and non-fiction.  Typically, at least four workshops are offered each year. 

• Graduate tutorials are special courses open to second- and third-year Ph.D. students.  They involve one or more students working with one faculty member, with meeting times and outcomes to be arranged between faculty and students. A list of tutorials is available at the start of each year. Tutorials cannot satisfy 60-hour course requirements. 

• No tutorials are allowed during the first year of Ph.D. study.  Four hours are allowed during the second year and 10 hours during the third year.

• Second-year Ph.D. students are required to take the Graduate Colloquium (2 hours credit/quarter) during Winter quarter.  Various faculty present topics of scholarly, creative, and professional interest to graduate students: writing and research topics, preparation for job searches, themes in the profession, etc. 

• A year-long Professional Development Seminar is required for all first-year Ph.D. students, in pedagogical and theoretical issues involved in the teaching of literature and writing.

• No one course taken in the department can satisfy two requirements. 

• All course work must be passed with at least a grade of B, and at least half of the courses must be with an “A” grade. A grade of “C” in any course may be the cause for dismissal from the program.

Teaching Assistantship Options

As students progress through DU’s English graduate program, their opportunities for professional development will increase with their developing expertise. Following is a general outline of the TA options available to them each year in the program. (For the teaching options, a quarterly appointment is equivalent to one course—or 20 hours per week. For administrative options, the appointment may stretch over the entire year.)

Year in Program	Teaching Options	Administrative Options
First Year	Writing Center Tutoring
Second Year	TA—Foundations Course TA—CORE Course Writing Center Tutoring Undergraduate Tutorial	Denver Quarterly London Program Asst. Graduate Dir. Asst. Undergrad Dir. Asst. Writing Dir. Asst. Writing Ctr. Dir. Asst. Creative Wr. Dir. Asst. RECTR Asst.
Third Year	CREX Course   Intro. to Creative Writing Intro. to Genre Writing Center Tutoring Undergraduate Tutorial	(Same as Second Year.)
Fourth & Fifth Year	3 courses—W/SP only: Marsico Writing Program	Adjunct Courses as Needed

Teaching Assistantships in English

The Teaching Assistantship in English at DU is essentially an apprenticeship in teaching. During the course of their graduate education, TAs will move from teaching assignments assisting and closely supervised by professors to one-on-one tutorials with undergraduate students and, ultimately, to designing and teaching their own courses. The purpose of a TA appointment is to develop the graduate student both intellectually and professionally.

The professor and student will determine the specifics of the teaching assistantship together, with the understanding that the TA position should not require more than 20 hours per week.

What TAs generally do: 

Attend all classes and read all class texts.

Hold Office Hours.

Meet with the professor at least once a week to discuss the progress of the students in the course.

Work one-on-one with students on their writing.

Help generate questions for class discussion and topics for papers.

Help evaluate and grade student work.

Lead small discussion groups within the class.

Teach several classes over the course of the quarter.

What TAs generally should NOT do:

Non-intellectual clerical duties, such as photocopying materials and retrieving books from the library.

Become substitute teachers to relieve professors from instructional duties.

Be responsible for more than 30% of the grading for the course.

Assign final grades.

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English Department, 2000 E. Asbury, Denver, CO 80208
Telephone: 303.871.2266, FAX: 303.871.2853
E-mail:  vpedley@du.edu