Mar 28, 2024  
Ohio University Graduate Catalog 2017-19 
    
Ohio University Graduate Catalog 2017-19 [Archived Catalog]

English - MA (Online)


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Degree Title: Master of Arts

Program Name and Number: English - MA5237

Department/Unit: Department of English

Delivery Mode: Online

Terms of Entry: Summer 1

Program Mission: This online M.A. in English program is designed for secondary (grades 9-12) English teachers, especially those who want to teach college-level courses via the state of Ohio’s College Credit Plus/dual enrollment initiative. Teachers from out-of-state also may apply. The program is focused on specific content aimed to increase high school teachers’ depth of understanding of English studies and thus equip them to have the knowledge and skill base needed to teach entry-level college English courses.

Program Learning Objectives:

  • Introduce students to the professional conversation in English studies in various fields and to texts from diverse eras and cultures, with the intention of provoking and supporting their intellectual curiosity.
  • Offer students instruction and practice in reading texts critically through multiple theoretical perspectives and in various historical, social, and aesthetic contexts.
  • Provide students opportunity for frequent and extensive writing, culminating in longer pieces (Master’s Essay), and guidance in fashioning this writing to participate in shared public conversation (publication, conference presentation, reviews, etc.).
  • Offer students instruction and practice in developing course materials appropriate for high school students, including those in dual enrollment courses focused on knowledge of language and/or literature and skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing.

Program Overview: The Department of English offers an online M.A. in English for secondary (grades 9-12) English teachers, especially those who want to teach college-level courses via the state of Ohio’s College Credit Plus/dual enrollment initiative. Teachers from out-of-state also may apply. The program is focused on specific content aimed to deepen high school teachers’ depth of understanding of English studies, literature and writing, and thus equip them to have the knowledge and skill base needed to teach entry-level college English courses.

A primary aim of this program is for students to have a thorough grounding in the basic elements of literary study; therefore all students must satisfy a common set of core requirements. To provide students with additional exposure to graduate level English studies, students will also take at least one non-literature course in the program (e.g., creative writing, composition and rhetoric, advanced pedagogy). The main concentration of the program is Literary History, and this concentration meets the same requirements as the on-ground M.A. program offered in the English Department at Ohio University. Completion of the online program requires eight courses with Introduction to English Studies (ENG 5950) as the required first course and the Master’s Essay (ENG 6930) as the last course. The program can be completed in four consecutive semesters, starting at the beginning of one summer and finishing at the end of the next summer.

Concentration:

  • Literary History: The main concentration of the online program is Literary History, and this concentration meets the same requirements as the on-ground M.A. program offered in the English Department at Ohio University. The concentration in literary history covers a diverse array of literary periods, national literatures, and genres. All coursework is completed online in an environment that involves regular interaction between graduate students and faculty. While literary history is the main focus of the online program, students will have the opportunity to take at least one non-literature course (e.g., creative writing, composition and rhetoric, advanced pedagogy), and all courses involve students in writing and research.

Opportunities for Graduates: Students in the online M.A. program in English improve their content and skill mastery in ways that will make them stronger high school English teachers well suited for teaching college preparatory, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate English classes. They also prepare themselves to teach entry-level college English courses through dual-enrollment programs such as Ohio’s College Credit Plus initiative.

Link to Program: https://www.ohio.edu/cas/english/grad/ma-online/index.cfm

Graduation Requirements: 

Master of Arts in English Online for High School Teachers (Note: The program concentration is Literary History and meets the same core requirements as the on-ground program.)

1. ENG 5950: Introduction to English Studies

2-4. Courses in three of the following four areas:

Literature before 1640

British or American Literature 1640-1830

British or American Literature 1830-present

Multi-ethnic / Cross Cultural Literature

5-7. Three additional courses from areas previously mentioned in 2-5 or in areas of Creative Writing, Composition and Rhetoric, and/or Advanced Pedagogy.

8. ENG 6930: Master’s Essay

Minimum semester hours required: There are no teaching assistantships in the online program. Students can complete the program in 32 semester hours.

Thesis requirement: No

Qualifying exam: No

Comprehensive exam: No

Foreign Language Requirement: No

Expected time to degree if studying fulltime: In the online M.A. program for high school English teachers, each course is seven weeks long; students can take two courses per semester by taking one course during weeks 1-7 and a second course during weeks 8-14. Students take one course at a time in order to focus in-depth on a particular area. A full-time student can complete the entire program in four semesters (18 months), starting at the beginning of one summer and finishing at the end of the following summer. Or if a student’s personal schedule dictates, he or she may choose to take only one course each semester, finishing the program in three years.

Culminating Experience: Students are required to take ENG 6930: Master’s Essay as the culminating experience in the M.A. online program for high school teachers. Students are to complete all of the other program requirements (seven courses) before being eligible for the Master’s Essay course. The Master’s Essay is a work of publishable quality and length, written as an extension of work done across the coursework, but researched and reshaped to meet professional standards of scholarly publication. Students are encouraged to link their research with classroom applications in grades 9-12 teaching.

Admission Requirements:  Applications for the online M.A. program for high school teachers must be submitted electronically to the Graduate College, along with a PDF copy of the actual licensure to teach grades 9-12 English, two letters of recommendation from professional colleagues or former professors, a writing sample (4-12 pages that reflects the applicant’s best academic or scholarly work), a resume detailing the applicant’s professional experience, and a one-page statement of purpose, outlining the applicant’s educational background, interests, and goals and the ways Ohio University’s program will help the applicant foster and implement the plan. The application should also include undergraduate and, if applicable, graduate transcripts, showing a record of substantial coursework in English language and literature as well as courses resulting in licensure to teach secondary English.

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