MA Programs
+English MA
Applications for the English MA program are reviewed on a rolling basis for start in either the Fall or Spring semesters. The English MA can be completed on a part-time basis.
Our English MA program differs from many of its peer-programs by virtue of its concentrated timeline. The program can be completed in as little as a single academic year (11-months), or the timeline can be tailored to part-time studies.
The MA program offers an immersive course of study, allowing students to choose from three areas of focus:
- Literature
- Film and Media Studies
- Creative Writing
Our program prepares students to launch confidently and efficiently into the next stage of their careers—whether in teaching, writing, editing, university administration, arts management, public relations, marketing, the non-profit world, or further academic pursuits. See our typical schedule page for a detailed outline of the program.
During their time at the University, MA students benefit from many of the same resources and opportunities as the department’s first-year PhD students, enrolling in the same courses, working with the same faculty, and participating in the same events.
Like the PhD program, the MA program offers students a highly individualized experience. At the end of the program, MA candidates complete a capstone project of their own design and choosing. Our alumni have found these projects to be effective springboards for professional paths of all kinds. To see what our MA alumni are doing, visit our placement page.
+Selznick Film Preservation: MA in English Program
Applications for the Selznick MA Program are reviewed at the start of each spring semester with offers of admission for the following fall semester. The Selznick program is 2-years in duration and cannot be completed on a part-time basis.
The first museum-based university collaboration of its kind, the program joins humanistic study with hands-on training in curatorial and conservation work. In collaboration with the George Eastman Museum’s L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation this program combines coursework in film and media studies with practical training in motion picture preservation, restoration, and archive management.
Students receive a Masters degree in English with a Certificate of Advanced Achievement in Film Studies and Preservation. See our typical schedule page for a detailed outline of the program.
+Certificate of Advanced Achievement in Digital Studies: Literature, Media, and Culture
The Certificate of Advanced Achievement in Digital Studies is only available to graduate students matriculated into a UR graduate program.
The Graduate Certificate in Digital Studies in Literature, Media, and Culture offers MA and PhD students in the humanities the opportunity to gain expertise in how to employ digital tools, computational methods, and humanistic analysis in interdisciplinary ways to study a range of phenomena. The Certificate draws from, and builds upon, the University of Rochester’s robust tradition in this domain (e.g., the Middle English Texts Series, the William Blake Archive, Mediate: A Digital Annotation Tool, the Lazarus Project, and others).
Students graduating with a DSLMC certificate are poised to enter academic and non-academic career paths in universities, libraries and archives, government, museums, publishing, and corporations.
Consisting of four courses—of which students must take three to earn certification--the curriculum gives students not only hands-on experience in using digital tools and working on UR projects but also an intellectual framework in digital history and theory, media studies, archival science, bibliography, textual technologies, artificial intelligence, and scholarly research as creative practice.
Professional Development
Each year the graduate program sponsors a number of workshops designed to further the academic and professional goals of our MA students. These include sessions on:
- Applying to PhD programs (writing an effective statement of purpose)
- Planning the capstone MA essay (choosing a topic, finding an advisor, plus researching/writing strategies)
- Applying to and attending conferences (writing successful paper-proposals; how a conference paper differs from a seminar paper)
- Adjunction and other opportunities for those students looking to fill the months between the completion of their MA program and entrance into a PhD program or other full-time occupation
- Non-academic tracks suitable for English MAs (publishing, editorial work, etc.)
For more professional development resources, see the graduate professional development page.