Our MA Program - Master of Arts in English

The Seminar-Based Master’s is a 12-month program.

This program pattern is the recommended standard for an MA in English and is welcomed by doctoral programs in Canada and abroad for the breadth of study it encourages.

Students enrolled in the Seminar-Based MA take the following graduate courses:

• ENGL 800/900 Introduction to Professional and Pedagogical Skills in the fall term
• ENGL 803 Research Forum in the fall and winter term
• 2 seminar courses in the fall term
• 3 seminar courses in the winter term
• 1 seminar course in the spring term

MA students must take a course from at least two of the three periods:

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

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, History, Global Development Studies, Environmental Studies, Cultural Studies, and Gender Studies.

Learn more about our graduate courses

The Thesis-Based Master’s is a 12-month program.

This program pattern is recommended for students who wish to pursue their own research-essay or research-creation thesis project in addition to a small number of seminars. In order to be guaranteed this option, applicants to the MA program propose a significant and viable project and secure the participation of a potential supervisor before or during the application process.

Students enrolled in the Thesis-Based Master's take the following graduate courses:

• ENGL 800 Introduction to Professional and Pedagogical Skills in the fall term
• ENGL 803 Research Forum in the fall and winter term
• 2 seminar courses in the fall term
• 1 seminar course in the winter term

MA students must take a course from at least two of the three periods:

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

One of the courses may also be taken in another Queen's graduate program than English, for example in Philosophy, Art, or History.

MA Thesis

MA theses are planned in the Fall Term, written in Winter and Spring terms, and completed and defended before a committee within the year.

• A research-essay thesis is about 15 000 words in length.
• A research-creation thesis combines a creative project informed by research with a critical paper whose length depends on the nature of the project.

Learn more about our graduate courses

The literary internship provides students with work experience that is directly related to literary studies. MA students have the opportunity of applying for one of our literary internships with such organizations as Kingston WritersFest, the Strathy Language Unit, or McGill-Queen’s University Press. Students apply directly to the Graduate Chair upon admission to the graduate program.

Elizabeth Heinricks, MA

Literary Internship with McGill-Queen’s University Press

“I found the entire internship experience to be extremely rewarding. I was happy to be conducting research, and grateful to have been assigned a subject I had a real interest in. The environment of my internship was always happy and encouraging… Seeing how the work I did is actually serving McGill-Queen’s University Press in the next stage of developing one of its series is perhaps the most rewarding part of an all-around wonderful experience. I would definitely recommend continuing this program and am very glad to have been a participant!”

Tara Hilman, MA

Literary Internship with Kingston Literacy and Skills

“The internship was a really amazing experience . It gave me the opportunity to support literacy skills as well as to adapt literature in a new and creative way. I am passionate about creative interaction with literary works and about increasing accessibility to classic texts, so I could not have come up with a placement that would better suit my interests. It served as a good reminder that I want to be doing similar work in the future, and it was encouraging to see that there are markets for my passions.”