Graduate Programs
Graduate Areas of Study
Old and Middle English
Renaissance and Early Modern
Eighteenth-Century Studies
Nineteenth-Century British Studies
American Area
Twentieth-Century British and Irish Studies
Creative Writing Program
Overview
The Graduate Program in English is a small, selective program which combines grounding in literary history with studies in hermeneutics, feminism, cultural and political analysis, film studies, postcolonial, and comparative studies, as well as interdisciplinary approaches that cross disciplinary boundaries.
A nearly 1:1 faculty to graduate student ratio ensures that students receive considerable individual attention as they progress in their course of studies. Students are fully funded for five years, including summer funding in year three, and many students also receive funding in year six. Students have the opportunity to teach both writing and literature courses. The Department offers competitive dissertation year fellowships and summer funding. Students also have the opportunity to serve as managing editors of Early American Literature, Nineteenth Century Contexts, Religion and Literature, and Shakespeare Survey.
Students specialize in historical areas of study, and are also encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary perspectives. The English Department has close ties with Notre Dame’s renowned Medieval Institute, which draws on a distinguished faculty of medievalists in philosophy, theology, music, art, history, and government as well as English and continental literature. The Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies offers students the opportunity to join one of the leading international centers of Irish studies while working both at Notre Dame and in Ireland. The Department offers excellent resources for the study of critical theory, literature and science, literature and politics, postcolonial and ethnic cultures, and gender studies. Other concentrations include a Program in Religion and Literature. The M.A. program also offers a degree in Literature and Law. Students are also encouraged to participate in seminars, workshops and courses at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, the Newberry Library in Chicago, and the Cornell School of Criticism and Theory.
The M.F.A. Graduate Creative Writing Program is a two-year literary immersion. Students attend workshops with nationally acclaimed writers and literature classes with the Department’s distinguished faculty. There are opportunities for additional financial aid, including teaching and administrative assistantships and the Nicholas Sparks Fellowships, as well as summer internships in the New York publishing world. Graduates are eligible for the Sparks prize -- a post MFA year of financial support. Students may also work as editorial assistants on our national literary magazine, The Notre Dame Review.
Related Programs and Institutes
- Gender Studies
- Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies
- Institute for the Study of Religion and Culture in Africa and the African Diaspora
- Latino Studies
- Medieval Institute
- Ph.D. in Literature Program
Learn More >
Graduate Studies Handbook (under construction)