Methods of Graduate Study

3 hours; 3 credits. This course gives students the foundation they need to succeed in the MA in English. Students will pursue a semester-long research project that will give them practical experience in developing a thesis-based, research-driven essay that engages with theory and criticism in the field. Students will learn how to analyze and understand scholarly arguments, evaluate scholarly sources, recognize different types of sources (i.e., primary, secondary, tertiary, contextual), and conduct archival research. Students will complement their research projects with an in-depth exploration of the history of English studies, to include the development of the literary canon and the field of Rhetoric and Composition. This work will dovetail with an ongoing conversation throughout the semester about the increasing importance of the Humanities in our technologically-based world during what is now being called the Anthropocene. Prerequisite: This course must be taken in the first two semesters of graduate study. It will be scheduled every fall semester.

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