The Master’s and Doctoral programs in English at Queen’s are among the oldest and most prestigious in the country. We offer a one-year MA degree with two stream options (course work and thesis), a two-year MPhil degree with the option of guaranteed entry into our PhD program, and a PhD degree that balances professionalization with individual research and unique teaching opportunities.
Our graduate students are integral to the vibrancy of our intellectual community and consistently demonstrate superb success rates in national scholarship competitions, in academic publishing, and in securing academic employment.
Our faculty are distinguished by both research and teaching excellence in a broad array of literary and cultural fields.
All of our students are financially supported by guaranteed award funding and teaching employment opportunities.
Learn more about What Makes Queen’s Distinctive.
If you have any questions about the English program, please email the Graduate Chair at gradengl@queensu.ca or call 613-533-6000 ext. 74421. You can also reach out to the Graduate Program Assistant at englishdept@queensu.ca or call 613-533-6000 ext. 74447.
Featured Alumni
Andrew McKendry
Class of
2013
PhD
Class of
2008
MA
Associate Professor, Nord University
“I completed both my M.A. & Ph.D. degrees with the English Department at Queen’s University, and I can say—having now worked at institutions around the world throughout the past decade—that it’s an outstanding program. There is a great sense of community among the graduate students, and the size of the program is ideal; it’s large enough to allow for courses on a wide range of subjects, but small enough to maintain an intimate seminar atmosphere. And, probably most importantly, the faculty are accomplished and approachable at the same time.”
Recent Publication: Disavowing Disability: Richard Baxter and the Conditions of Salvation (Cambridge University Press, 2021).
Nevena Martinović
Class of
2020
PhD
Education Coordinator, Ontario Peer Development Initiative
“I was fortunate to work with an amazing supervisor, Dr Leslie Ritchie, who supported me throughout my doctoral degree and connected me to a lot of great opportunities.”
Upcoming Career Transition: As of September, Nevena Martinović will be the Education Manager at the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada, as well as a part-time Professor of English at Cambrian College.
Upcoming and Recent Thesis Defences
Kelly McDevitt, PhD
Defended: April 24th, 2023
Dissertation Topic:
My dissertation analyzes the intersections of gender and technology in early twentieth-century science fiction, focusing on robot stories of the interwar period. Canonical robot texts like Karel Čapek’s R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots and Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou’s Metropolis explore how automated industrialization and techno-scientific innovation produced anxieties about the relationship between masculinity and labour. In robot stories from the American pulps, robots express anxieties about shifting gender roles within the home and a renewed investment in muscular masculinity. My project ends by tracing how these gendered concerns and anxieties from the interwar years persist in robot fiction throughout the twentieth century.
What has your experience been as a graduate student with the Department of English at Queens?
My experience with the Department of English at Queen’s has been a challenging and enriching time of personal and scholarly growth. My time here has provided me with clarity of purpose, professional ambition, excitement for research, and opportunities for collaboration that I could not have envisioned when I first arrived. The publishing practicum, in particular, offered such a wonderful opportunity for professional development and community building with my cohort. Most importantly, I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive supervisor than Dr. Glenn Willmott; the gift of his mentorship has been worth all of the challenges I faced along the way.
Learn more about the various research interests of our graduate students.
Annual A.C. Hamilton Award Winner
The A.C Hamilton Award was established by the department of English to honour A.C “Bert” Hamilton (pictured left) for his dedication, mentorship and intellect as a professor in the department.
In honour of A.C Hamilton, one of the Department’s most distinguished scholars, his name was given to the annual prize for the Department’s best doctoral dissertation.
Visit the Awards and Giving page to learn more about our Graduate Awards.
2021 Winner: Lindsay Young, PhD
Dissertation Topic:
“My dissertation concerns biological materiality and object fluidity in the ghost story. It examines how the spectral material of ghostly bodies dissolves boundaries between seemingly coherent categories of object, soul, and body.”
What has your experience been as a graduate student with the Department of English at Queens?
“My time at Queen’s was one of the most challenging and rewarding of my life. The grad department is full of people who are passionate about their research, but also engaged with the diverse work of their peers.”
Why Choose Queen's?
The English graduate program at Queen’s is well-recognized on an international platform with renown professors for supervisors, opportunities for professionalization, publishing, teaching, and an intimate yet diverse academic community.
Meet some of our Alumni as they share their experiences from the program.
Student Life
Our English graduate students have many opportunities to get involved, stay connected and build a community here at Queen’s and in Kingston.
