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The Seminar-Based Master’s is a 12-month program.

This program pattern is the recommended standard for an MA in English and is welcomed by doctoral programs in Canada and abroad for the breadth of study it encourages. It offers two routes: the standard seminar route, and the Individual Research Project route (ENGL 894), described below. 

Students enrolled in the Seminar-Based MA take the following graduate courses:

• ENGL 800/900 Introduction to Professional and Pedagogical Skills in the fall term
• ENGL 803 Research Forum in the fall and winter term
• 2 seminar courses in the fall term
• 3 seminar courses in the winter term
• 1 seminar course in the spring term

MA students must take a course from at least two of the three periods:

• Course Group 1: Medieval to 1660
• Course Group 2: 1600 – 1900
• Course Group 3: 1900 to present

Students may choose to replace a seminar course in any of the following ways, subject to meeting the historical distribution required and the approval of the Graduate Chair where required.

• One of the courses may be taken in a Â鶹¹ÙÍø's graduate program other than English, such as Philosophy, Art History, History, Global Development Studies, Environmental Studies, Cultural Studies, and Gender Studies.
• One of the courses may also be an individual Directed Reading arranged with the approval of the Graduate Coordinator and a supervisor, rather than a seminar. 
• One of the courses may be replaced with a Literary Internship (see below) 
• Two of the courses may be replaced with an Individual Research Project, ENGL 894 (see below)

The Thesis-Based Master’s is a 12-month program.

This program pattern is recommended for students who wish to pursue a research-essay or research-creation thesis project alongside seminars, completing and defending it before a committee. Admission to this pathway is subject to the following conditions: 

• Applicants must have achieved an A to A+ average in the past two years of undergraduate coursework in English
• Places are limited and highly selective 
• Applicants propose a significant and viable project and secure the agreement of a potential supervisor before or during the application process.

Students enrolled in the Thesis-Based Master's take the following graduate courses:

• ENGL 800 Introduction to Professional and Pedagogical Skills in the fall term
• ENGL 803 Research Forum in the fall and winter term
• 2 seminar courses in the fall term
• 1 seminar course in the winter term

MA students must take a course from at least two of the three periods:

• Course Group 1: Medieval to 1660
• Course Group 2: 1600 – 1900
• Course Group 3: 1900 to present

One of the courses may also be taken in another Â鶹¹ÙÍø's graduate program than English, for example in Philosophy, Art, or History.

Enrolment into the Thesis-based Master’s is limited and requires a writing sample, agreement of a faculty supervisor, and approval of the Graduate Chair. Students are encouraged to identify a potential supervisor and research area before or during the application process.

MA Thesis

MA theses are planned in the Fall Term, written in Winter and Spring terms, and completed and defended before a committee within the year.

• A research-essay thesis is about 15,000 words in length.
• A research-creation thesis combines a creative project informed by research with a critical paper whose length depends on the nature of the project.

 Individual Research Project 

Students in the Seminar-Based MA may opt to replace two seminar courses (one winter seminar course and one spring-summer seminar course) with ENGL 894 Individual Research Project. This route is well suited to students who wish to develop a sustained piece of individual research alongside their seminar study—particularly those planning to continue to doctoral work, for whom a graded, article-length research project strengthens their academic profile as a writing sample and a foundation for future publication.

Students taking ENGL 894 take the following courses instead of the standard seminar route:

• ENGL 800/900 Introduction to Professional and Pedagogical Skills in the fall term
• ENGL 803 Research Forum in the fall and winter terms
• ENGL 894 Individual Research Project in the winter and spring-summer terms
• 2 seminar courses in the fall term
• 2 seminar courses in the winter term

The MA program’s historical distribution requirement applies: courses must cover at least two of the three course groups listed above.

Enrolment in ENGL 894 is limited and requires a writing sample, agreement of a faculty supervisor, and approval of the Graduate Chair. Students are encouraged to identify a potential supervisor and research area before or during the application process. Students taking ENGL 894 remain eligible for the Literary Internship but should not opt to take a Directed Reading course.

Literary Internship 

The literary internship provides students with work experience that is directly related to literary studies. MA students have the opportunity of applying for one of our literary internships with such organizations as Kingston WritersFest, the Strathy Language Unit, or McGill-Â鶹¹ÙÍø Press. Students apply directly to the Graduate Chair upon admission to the graduate program.