Our MPhil Program — Master of Philosophy in English | Department of English, Queen's University

The Master of Philosophy Degree in English Language and Literature is a two-year program—unique among Canadian universities—featuring intensive field-specific study, broad coursework, a Publishing Practicum and guaranteed entry into the Queen’s English Doctoral Program once the degree is completed. The MPhil in English will be of particular interest to those undergraduate students who are already contemplating doctoral research.

All of our students are supported with a combination of grants and teaching assistantships, for more information about funding please visit our funding and awards page.

Key Advantages After Completion of Degree

MPhil students choosing to move directly into the workforce upon graduation will have attained field-specific expertise, advanced professionalization, and evidence of research and writing skills through the Publishing Practicum.

MPhil students choosing to move on into doctoral studies will accelerate their dissertation work by three full terms.

Highlights of the MPhil Program:

Small Seminars — diverse graduate-level coursework
Field Examinations —excellent training for further graduate work and teaching
Publishing Practicum — producing scholarship ready for submission
Guaranteed Entry, with advanced status, into the PhD program at Queen’s following completion of the MPhil

What Can I Do With It?

Teaching — the MPhil guarantees field-specific expertise
Publishing or Writing — the MPhil offers concrete experience and mentorship, including the Publishing Practicum
Queen’s English PhD — the MPhil track accelerates passage through the program, providing more years of funded time to work on the dissertation

Featured Alumni

Jessica Caravaggio

MPhil

PhD Candidate, Queen’s English

“My experience as an MPhil student at Queen’s has made my transition into the PhD program seamless. I enjoyed and appreciated the opportunities the MPhil program offered me, including the opportunity to take more seminar classes, to explore more areas of interest, and to gain more experience as a TA compared to other Master’s students.”

MPhil at a Glance

The Master's of Philosophy mainly comprises elective seminars, professional and career development courses, and exams in a recognized field of study chosen by the student.

Year 1

ENGL 800/900 Professional and Pedagogical Skills in fall term
ENGL 803 Research Forum in fall and winter terms
2 elective seminars in fall term
3 elective seminars in winter term
Declaration of Year 2 special field at end of winter term
Study for field exam in summer term

Year 2

Study for and writing of field exam in fall term
1 elective seminar in fall term
Publishing Practicum in winter term
2 elective seminars in winter terms

MPhil students must take courses from all three periods over the two years of their program:

Course Group 1: Medieval to 1660
Course Group 2: 1600 – 1900
Course Group 3: 1900 to present

Each year, one of the courses may be an individual Directed Reading arranged with a supervisor, rather than a seminar.

One of the courses may also be taken in a Queen's graduate program other than English, such as Philosophy, Art, History Global Development studies, Cultural Studies or Gender Studies.

Learn more about our graduate course

Language Requirement

All candidates must demonstrate reading knowledge of one language other than English at a basic level, either by passing a departmental examination or by successfully completing an approved university-level, full-year language course or equivalent.

Publishing Practicum

The Publishing Practicum is an initiative of the English Department designed to foster the early professionalization of our MPhil and PhD students and to provide a competitive advantage in the academic job market and national scholarship competitions.

This seminar takes students through the revision and submission stages of scholarly publishing from draft essay to academic article with the goal of achieving a publishable piece by the end of the student’s first year of doctoral study.

Natasha Lomonossoff, PhD Candidate

Completed MPhil at Queen’s University
PhD Candidate, Queen’s English

“The Publishing Practicum course was an immensely fruitful experience that helped me to learn how to provide effective feedback of others’ work, in addition to taking into consideration advice on my own paper. The class encourages collaboration and mutual improvement, which I believe are important values in grad school.”

Robyn Carruthers, PhD Student

“Queen’s Publishing Practicum served as a key learning experience in my ongoing professional transition from graduate student to scholar and researcher. The course’s combination of theoretical and practical components effectively allowed me to familiarize myself with the academic publishing landscape in a fashion tailored to my own research interests… Participating in the practicum demystified the academic publishing process for me and concluded with concrete output that sets me up well for pursuing publication of academic articles going forward.”

More testimonials for the Publishing Practicum can be found on the PhD Page.

Our MPhil Program — Master of Philosophy in English