Graduate
MA in Literature
Be Passionate
The MA in Literature at Colorado State University offers students an opportunity to study a wide range of subjects, methods and historical periods. Graduate courses allow students to follow their own interests in fields such as contemporary cultural studies, ecocriticism, critical theory, gender studies, and postcolonial theory. It is designed to facilitate the intellectual growth of future teachers, scholars, and engaged public citizens. Graduates have gone on to highly-ranked PhD programs, publishing houses, and careers in the non-profit sector; whatever your aspirations, the training you receive at CSU will prepare you for a more vibrant future.
Faculty in the Literature Program approach texts from a broad range of methodological approaches. We have a particular strength in early British and American literatures, ecocriticism and literary theory. Our faculty is committed to maintaining a low ratio of graduate students to professors to ensure that teachers and advisors can devote significant time and attention to each student’s work: we cultivate an intimate environment and challenge every student to reach his or her potential.
Program Requirements
Our requirements are modest and focused, and the courses we offer change regularly. We encourage students to use the flexibility of our program to develop an individualized program of study that may be focused on a topic, author, genre, historical period, or an interdisciplinary subject. Students interested in interdisciplinary topics may take courses in other departments and in other programs in the English Department, including courses on topics such as literacy theory, computers and writing, teaching English as a foreign language, creative writing, and English education.
To find out more about the specifics of this program, take a look at these resources:
What Are Students Saying?
“I highly recommend CSU’s literature program to anyone seeking the versatility to pave their own career path. As a program graduate, I have been able to pursue career opportunities outside of those traditionally reserved for English degree holders, most recently with the National Park Service Climate Change Response Program and currently with the Smithsonian Institution. My English degree proved invaluable in both positions as they required advanced writing skills, ability to perform and analyze in-depth research, and a high level of critical thinking. These skills are highly sought by employers in every career field.”
~Kimberly Townsend, MA English: Literature
“As a graduate student of Literature at CSU, I was extremely impressed with the wide range of seminars from which to choose. From a feminist course grounded in Dickinson and Stein to an Early Modern Women Writers’ course to a course devoted entirely to Ezra Pound, I was able to create my own pathway to success. My cohort became my family; we studied together and have remained close all these years. We have all chosen different career paths. I chose teaching at the secondary level. Although my students will never be exposed to Foucault or Said or Butler, their ideas permeate my teaching. I have discussions with my students to view everything around them – billboards, movies, their very words – as ‘text.’ My experience in the M.A. program is the single-most important factor in my success as a teacher, a leader, and a coach.”
~Steven Parker, MA English: Literature
Faculty
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Lynn Badia
- Associate Professor
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Aparna Gollapudi
- Professor
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Zach Hutchins
- Professor
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Barbara Sebek
- Professor
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Lynn Shutters
- Associate Professor
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Leif Sorensen
- Professor