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Literature Graduate Programs

The BA-MA, MA, and PhD degree programs in English and American Literature enable students to deepen their knowledge of literature and culture through graduate work in different historical periods and genres; to devise theoretical and historical frameworks that enhance their comprehension of literary and cultural materials; and to complete individualized projects that best represent the particular strands within literary studies of most interest to them. Small seminars with outstanding teacher-scholars in all the major areas of literary study provide an excellent grounding in the contemporary practices of literary criticism, theoretical work, and historical scholarship.

Combined BA + MA

Miami offers undergraduate students in Literature the unique opportunity to earn both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in four to five years.

Students accepted to the English B.A./M.A. program take graduate courses while completing their undergraduate degree. A maximum of nine hours can be double-counted for the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, but the full number of hours required for the Master’s degree must be taken.

Masters’ students prepare works related to their own areas of interest with a faculty of active researchers. Seminars offered by the graduate faculty embody a variety of perspectives and research and writing interests. M.A. courses provide excellent preparation for M.F.A. or Ph.D. degree programs.

 

MA Requirements

The Master of Arts (MA) in English and American Literature enables students to deepen their knowledge of literature through graduate work in different historical periods and genres; to devise theoretical and historical frameworks that enhance their comprehension of literary and cultural materials; and to complete individualized projects that best represent the particular strands within literary studies of most interest to them. Small seminars with outstanding teacher-scholars in all the major areas of literary study provide an excellent grounding in the contemporary practices of literary criticism, theoretical work, and historical scholarship.

Degree Requirements

To earn the degree, students complete at least 20 hours of coursework in Literature. An introductory course in literary and cultural theory is also required. Students may choose either to write a thesis or to take a written examination to cap the degree. Both options include a final oral defense.

Funding Opportunities

Almost all students admitted to the MA program in English and American Literature hold Graduate Assistantships, teaching two sections of first-year composition in the College Composition program during their first year in the program, and three during the second. During their first year, students also enroll in a full-year workshop that supports their classroom teaching experience and a two-credit introduction to issues of the profession required of new MA and PhD students in all degree programs.

For those applicants who do not wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship, other assistantships are available: please contact the graduate program director.

Learning Outcomes for our M.A.

  1. Demonstrate expert knowledge about the texts, genres, theoretical concerns, and historical and cultural contexts of their chosen field of study;
  2. Demonstrate their ability to compose original scholarly research that contributes to their chosen field of study;
  3. Develop professional experience necessary to participate in the community of scholars, teachers, and other professionals associated with the fields of literature, cultural studies, writing, and rhetoric

Literature PhD

For PhD students in literature, the coursework comprised in a Course of Study might observe period distinctions or, where appropriate, cut across those in order to achieve historical range. It might emphasize study of a single genre or aim to achieve a representative balance of genres in focusing on a particular movement at a particular time. It might focus entirely on a single national, ethnic, or cultural tradition or traverse such boundaries. The Course of Study must take into account the historical distribution requirement and other course requirements, and it may include more than one composition and rhetoric course.

Learning Outcomes for Our Ph.D.

  1. Demonstrate expert knowledge about the texts, genres, theoretical concerns, and historical and cultural contexts of their chosen field of study;
  2. Demonstrate their ability to compose original scholarly research that contributes to their chosen field of study;
  3. Develop professional experience necessary to participate in the community of scholars, teachers, and other professionals associated with the fields of literature, cultural studies, writing, and rhetoric

Teaching Opportunities

In addition to first-year composition, graduate students have opportunities to teach in the Professional Writing major, the Rhetoric and Writing minor, the College Composition program and in other programs, such as Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Interactive Media Studies.

Teaching in the Literature Major

Doctoral students who complete a required apprenticeship with one of the Literature Program Directors have opportunities to teach a literature survey course. The apprenticeship may be completed any time before the apprentice first teaches their own section of the course. Apprenticeships are designed to assure the quality of instruction in Miami Plan literature survey courses, to give graduate students practical training in the teaching of literature surveys, and to provide graduate students with a faculty contact who can write a detailed letter in support of their teaching.

Teaching Apprenticeships in Literature

Doctoral students who complete a required apprenticeship with a tenure-line professor have opportunities to teach a literature survey course. The apprenticeship may be completed any time before the apprentice first teaches his or her own section of the course. Apprenticeships are designed to assure the quality of instruction in Miami Plan literature survey courses, to give graduate students practical training in the teaching of literature surveys, and to provide graduate students with a faculty contact who can write a detailed letter in support of their teaching. Potential apprentices are strongly encouraged to apply to teach in the area of their scholarly expertise. The department expects doctoral candidates to apprentice in the actual course they will teach, except in the case of unusual staffing conflicts. Thus, potential apprentices are encouraged to apply, well in advance of their initial teaching semester, for an apprenticeship with an appropriate member of the graduate faculty.

Humanities Center Altman Graduate Fellowships

Each year, the Miami University Humanities Center appoints one or two Altman Graduate Fellows for its annual Altman Program in the Humanities. Fellows join an advanced interdisciplinary research community in which approximately 20 faculty members and students study an issue of consequence. The program includes a biweekly faculty seminar, a series of ten public lectures by distinguished visitors, a special advanced undergraduate course, and opportunities for research collaboration. Graduate fellows play a key role mentoring undergraduate fellows on both independent research and collaborative public humanities projects.

Administrative Opportunities

A considerable strength of our program is that we offer extensive and diverse administrative opportunities for graduate students to gain professional, administrative experience while contributing in positive ways to the university community. For doctoral students especially, this level and scope of administrative experience provides a strong professional credential for university writing program administration.

Humanities Center Communication Associates

The Miami University Humanities Center is a campus-wide hub for cross-disciplinary inquiry. In addition to offering graduate fellowships and support for interdisciplinary research groups, the center employs one or two communication associates. In these paid positions, graduate students work a modest number of hours per week on public relations, event promotion, social media management, and the production of promotional materials. 

Assistant Directors of Composition

Each year two doctoral students are awarded positions as Assistant Directors of Composition. In this capacity, they serve as co-administrators with the Director of Composition, helping with administration, curriculum development, and teacher preparation in the first-year composition program. Their primary responsibilities are:

  • to co-teach with the Director the graduate seminars and practica on the teaching of writing (ENG 731 and ENG 606);
  • to advise and work with the new TAs who are teaching first-year composition (ENG 111) and advanced composition (ENG 225).

Assistant Directors and Consultants, Howe Center for Writing Excellence

The Howe Center for Writing Excellence is a university-wide center that involves both a writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) program and the Howe Writing Center (a student writing center where undergraduate and graduate consultants work with student writers). A variety of assistantships and paid hourly opportunities exist for MA and PhD students to work as Writing Center consultants and as assistants on various WAC projects and other initiatives, providing graduate students with excellent opportunities for gaining experience in these important areas of writing studies.

The Ohio Writing Project & Department of English Master of Arts in Teaching

One of the first sites of the prestigious National Writing Project, the OWP is an active professional development program offering workshops and seminars for K-16 teachers. The OWP offers an annual youth writing camp, a large fall teacher conference, and administers Miami’s Master of Arts in Teaching English (MAT). The OWP welcomes students who are interested in writing program administration, middle/high school writing center development, and K-12 literacy projects.

Literature Graduate Faculty

Professors

Helane Adams Androne

Ph.D., University of Washington, 2002
Professor of English (Middletown and Oxford Campuses),
Chair, Interdisciplinary and Communication Studies
Affiliate for Black World Studies and Latin American Studies

Areas: Ritual PedagogyAfrican American and Chicana Fiction


 

 

 

 

 

James Bromley

Ph.D., Loyola University Chicago, 2007
Associate Professor and Associate Director, Literary London Program

Areas: Shakespeare, Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Drama, Poetry, and Prose, History of Sexuality and Queer Theory


 

 

 

 

 

 

Moira Casey

Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 2003
Professor of English and Regional Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (Middletown Campus)

Areas: Contemporary Irish Fiction, Irish Transnational Literature, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning


 

 

 

 

  

 

Mary Jean Corbett

Ph.D., Stanford University, 1989
Department Chair; University Distinguished Professor of English, Affiliate of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Global and Intercultural Studies

Areas: Nineteenth-Century English and Irish Writing, Feminist and Postcolonial Theory, Women’s Writing


 

 

 

 

 

Marianne Cotugno

Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 2002
Professor and Faculty Director (Middletown Campus)

Areas: Twentieth-Century American Literature (Conrad Richter, Vladimir Nabokov), Technical Communication


 

 

 

 

 

 

Madelyn Detloff

Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1997
Professor of English and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Director of Graduate Program

Areas: Queer, feminist, and gender studies. Modernism, Trauma, Virginia Woolf, H.D., Gertrude Stein


 

 

 

 

 

 

Stefanie Dunning

Ph.D., University of California, Riverside, 2001
Professor, Affiliate in Black World Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Areas: African American Literature, Film and Visual Culture, Gay and Lesbian Studies/Queer Theory, Postcolonial Literature and Theory


 

 

 

 

 

Erin Edwards

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2009
Associate Professor of English

Areas: Twentieth-Century American Literature, Modernism, Posthumanism, Theories of the Body, Film Studies


 

 

 

 

 

 

Carolyn Haynes

Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 1993
Professor of English, Interim Associate Provost of Undergraduate Education, and Affiliate of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies

Areas: Interdisciplinary Teaching, Learning and Writing; Student Development and Assessment


 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Hebard

Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2003
Associate Chair for Administration and Curriculum;
Associate Professor

Areas: Late 19th and early 20th Century Literature, Law and Literature, Sovereignty, Genre, Literature and the Environment


 

 

 

 

 

 

Nalin Jayasena

Ph.D., University of California at Riverside, 2003
Associate Professor of English

Areas: British Literature, South Asian Literature and its Diaspora


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheryl Johnson

Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1988
Associate Professor Literature and Affiliate in Black World Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Areas: African American Literature, Theory, and Criticism with Emphasis on Black Women Writers and Criticism; Black Feminist Theory; South African Women Writers and Literature; 20th century American Literature and Criticism; Sociolinguistics


 

 

 

 

 

Katie Johnson

Ph.D., University of Washington 1996
Professor of English

Areas: American Drama and Culture, Film and Visual Culture, Feminist Film Theory, Gender Studies, Eugene O’Neill, Performance Theory and Performance Studies


 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelli Lyon Johnson

Ph.D., Northern Illinois University, 2003
Associate Professor English (Hamilton Campus)

Areas: Contemporary Slave Narratives, Human Rights Novels and Narratives, Testimony, Women's Literature


 

 

 

 

 

 

Katherine Kickel

Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, 2004
Associate Professor English (Hamilton Campus)

Areas: Eighteenth-Century English Fiction and Culture, History of the Novel, History of Science and Medicine, Early Modern and Romantic Women Writers, Shakespeare


 

 

 

 

 

 

Cynthia Klestinec

Ph.D., Comparative Literature, University of Chicago, 2001
Professor of English

Areas: Renaissance Literature, Scientific Revolution, Anatomical Culture, Science and Literature, Representations of Health


 

 

 

 

 

 

Theresa Kulbaga

Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2006
Professor of English and Affiliate in American Studies & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (Hamilton Campus)

Areas: Autobiography and Life Writing, Multi-Ethnic American Literatures and Cultures, Transnational Feminist Theory, Human Rights Representations, and Documentary Film


 

 

 

 

 

Anita Mannur

Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2002
Professor of English and Asian/Asian American Studies and Director, Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Areas: Asian American Literature and Culture, South Asian Diasporic Literature and Culture, Transnational and Diaspora Studies, Postcolonial Literature and Theory, Comparative Ethnic Studies, Food Studies, Visual and Cultural Studies


 

 

 

 

 

Tim Melley

Ph.D., Cornell, 1995
Professor of English, Affiliate of American Studies and Director of The Miami University Humanities Center

Areas: U.S. Literary and Cultural History Since 1950, Cold War Studies, Postmodernism, Fiction Writing


 

 

 

 

 

 

Patrick Murphy

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 2007
Professor of English, Co-Director of Literature Program

Areas: Old and Middle English literature, Medievalism, History of the English Language, Comics and Graphic Novels


 

 

 

 

 

 

Michele Navakas

Ph.D., University of California-Irvine, 2009
Professor of English, Co-Director of Literature Program

Areas: American Literature and Culture to 1900, American Intellectual History, Circum-Caribbean and Colonial Narratives, Discourses of Geography, Geology, Property Law, and Agriculture


 

 

 

 

 

 

Tory Vandevetter Pearman

Ph.D., Loyola University, 2009
Associate Professor of English (Hamilton Campus)

Areas: Medieval Literature and Culture, Disability Studies, Feminist Theory


 

 

 

 

 

 

Kaara Peterson

Ph.D., Boston University, 2001
Associate Professor of English and Director, Literary London Program

Areas: Early Modern English Literature and Culture, especially Shakespeare and Drama; Renaissance Medical History, particularly women’s; History of Art; Editorial Practices


 

 

 

 

 

Diana Royer

Ph.D., Temple University, 1989
Professor and Coordinator of English (Hamilton Campus)

Areas: Virginia Woolf, Global Feminism, Thanatology, Film Noir


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith Tuma

Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1987
Professor of English; Miami University Press Editor; Director of Low Residency MFA Program

Areas: Modern and Contemporary British, Irish, American, and Anglophone Literature, Creative and Performance Writing, Poetry and Poetics, Anecdotes and Ephemera, Travel Writing


 

 

 

 

 

Whitney Womack Smith

Ph.D., Purdue University, 1999
Professor of English and Faculty Director (Hamilton Campus)
Affiliate in Women’s Studies and Black World Studies

Areas: 19th-Century Women’s Writing, Anti-Slavery Literature, Transatlanticism, Feminist Theory

Current Literature Grad Students

MA Students

Camellia Azzi

BA, Ohio University

Research interests: 20th & 21st Century World Literatures; postcolonial literature and theory; gender studies; comparative literature


 

Diyasha Chowdhury

BA, English Literature, University of Delhi

Creative Interests: Trauma Theory, Motherhood, Parenting, Postcolonial Literature, Children’s Literature, Holocaust Literature, Women’s Literature, Gender and Sexuality Studies.


 

Callie Martindale

BA, Ohio University

Research interests: twentieth-century British literature, modernism, disability studies; nineteenth-century British literature


 

 

 

 

Marisa Watson

BA, West Virginia University

Research interests: 19th- and 20th-century literature, feminist theory, digital humanities, and medical humanities


PhD Students

Parisa Adlifar

MA, University of Cincinnati
BA+MA, Kharazmi University of Tehran

Research Interests: postcolonial literature and theory, transnational and diaspora studies, trauma studies.


 

 

 

 

 

Emily Alexander

BA, Davis & Elkins College

Research Interests: medicine and literature, disability studies, postcolonialism, the intersection between illness, identity, and culture 


 

Jaewon Back

MA, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies/ BA, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

Creative Interests: Contemporary anglophone literature, postcolonialism, ecocriticism, new materialism, trauma studies, mobility theory, global modernism


 

Jeff Carr

MA, Western Kentucky University

Research Interests: 19th and 20th Century American literature, Modernism, working class literature and rhetoric, war literature and rhetoric, and Hemingway.


 

 

 

 

 

Dasol Choi

MA, Ewha Womans University
BA, Ewha Womans University

Research Interests: 20th and 21st century ethnic literature; postcolonial literature and theory; transnational and diaspora studies; space


 

 

 

 

 

Javiera Green

MA, Bradley University
BA, Eastern Illinois University

Research Interests: trauma studies, psychoanalysis, 20th century African American novels


 

Srishti Jha

BA, MA, Jadavpur University

Research interests: 20th-/21st-century American and transnational literatures; women, gender, and sexuality studies, queer theory, South-Asian literature, Indian writing in English, food studies, bildungsroman studies


 

 

 

 

 

Minki Kim

MA, Georgia State University
BA, Korea University

Research Interests: Nineteenth-Century British lit, Feminist and Postcolonial Theory, and slave narratives


 

 

 

 

 

Chris Lovgreen 

BA, Western Washington University 
MA, Western Washington University

Creative Interests: Nineteenth-century US literature, women writers, English education, composition 


 

Conner Moore

MA, Miami University
BA, The Ohio State University

Research Interests: Decadent Movement in 19th and 20th century literature, gender and sexuality studies, disability studies, Romanticism, and Marxism.


 

 

 

 

 

Cody Norris

BA, MA, Coastal Carolina University

Research interests: early modern drama, queer theory, cultural studies


 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandamini Ranwalage

MA, Miami University
BA, University of Peradeniya

Research Interests: South Asian Literature, South Asian diaspora, Post colonialism, Postcolonial theatre, South-Asian theatre, Performance Studies


 

 

 

 

 

Rachel Schaefer

MA, Miami University 
BS, John Brown University 

Research Interests: 20th-21st Century American and Transnational Literatures; Arab American Literature; Chick Lit; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies


 

 

 

 

 

Lauren Van Atta

BA, University of Dayton
MA, Lehigh University

Research Interests: early modern drama, queer theory, embodied practices


 

 

 

 

 

Sheikh Zobaer

BA, English, North South University
MA, English, University of Surrey

Research interests: feminism, postcolonialism, and African-American literature

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