English Ph.D.

Program type:

Major

Format:

On Campus

Est. time to complete:

3-4 years

Credit Hours:

54 (with master's) or 72 (with bachelor's)

It's time to start the next chapter of your academic career.

The UNT English graduate program is designed for students who wish to build a professional career as creative writers, educators or academics. With distinguished scholars in every major period of American and British literature and nationally renowned writers in every genre, the English Department supports a broad range of graduate research and creative work.

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Why Earn an English Ph.D.?

The Ph.D. program is designed to give you a broad, solid foundation in the academic profession, while at the same time preparing you to conduct original, in-depth research or to compose original works of literature. You'll benefit from the guidance of a nationally recognized faculty with a strong record of publication in prestigious journals like PMLA, Philological Quarterly, The Paris Review and Granta.

We make every effort to foster our graduate students' success and help them attain their educational and career goals.

While at UNT, our students have published their work in nationally and internationally recognized journals and magazines, including The New Yorker, Shakespeare and SEL: Studies in English Literature. They have placed books with presses like Button Poetry, the University of Georgia Press and the University of Wisconsin Press. And they have won prestigious awards and fellowships, including grants from the Newberry Library and from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Marketable Skills

Reason rigorously, subtly and independently
Analyze minutely sources and narratives
Identify and address interpretative complexity
Develop and contribute new knowledge
Convey knowledge in self-designed courses

English Ph.D. Highlights

Students have opportunities to pursue editorial positions with the department's national literary journal, American Literary Review, and with the local student-run journal, North Texas Review.

You'll work closely with award-winning faculty members who have diverse backgrounds and interests and whose works have been published in the flagship journals in their fields and subfields (PMLA, College English and Speculum), as well as leading literary journals, including The Paris Review, Best American Poetry and Best American Spiritual Writing.

You'll have opportunities to attend and participate in a variety of speakers' series such as the American Studies Colloquium, the Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Studies Group, the Medieval and Renaissance Colloquium and the Visiting Writers Series.

The Graduate Students in English Association organizes an annual conference that attracts presenters from around the country.

Each year the department sponsors a Visiting Writer Series that brings distinguished writers to campus to give readings and meet with students in Q&A sessions.

What Can You Do With an English Ph.D.?

Many recent Ph.D. graduates have gone on to tenure-track positions at other institutions all over the country, including Texas Women's University (Texas), Radford University (Virginia), St. Catherine University (Minnesota), Valparaiso University (Indiana), SUNY-Potsdam (New York) and Brigham Young University (Utah).

English Ph.D. Courses You Could Take

Survey of major theoretical schools with special attention to those influential in the 20th and 21st centuries.

In-depth study of a single writer, a group of writers, a literary genre or a literary fashion of the period, and a general consideration of the social, intellectual and cultural contexts of the literary work.

In-depth study of a single writer, a group of writers, a literary genre or a literary fashion of the period, and general consideration of the associated social, cultural, literary and intellectual history.

In-depth study of a single novelist, a group of novelists, a literary genre or literary fashion of the period; consideration of the cultural context of the literary work.

Cultural studies approaches to literature, including visual culture, film, history, philosophy, politics, gender and sexuality.

Examination of the writing strategies entailed in preparing successful seminar papers, conference presentations and scholarly articles.