Master of Arts in English- Modernist Studies

Penn State's English department has played a major role in fostering exciting new directions in modernist studies. The Modernist Studies Association was founded here in 1998 by Penn State faculty Sanford Schwartz and Mark Morrisson, and faculty from other institutions. The first MSA conference, The New Modernisms, was held at Penn State in October 1999, and was featured in the cover story of the Chronicle of Higher Education, New Life for Modernism. The English department continues to play a part in the MSA, and Morrisson was recently elected 2nd Vice President (rising to the presidency in 2011). The department is committed to sustaining, developing, and enhancing the international field of Modernist Studies scholarship. We are made up of a vibrant group of scholars whose research interests reflect the interdisciplinary and international emphases of the new modernisms. Our scholarship intersects with numerous fields of critical inquiryBritish and American literatures, Hemispheric Studies, Comparative Literatures, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Print Culture, Film Studies, Visual Culture Studies, Post-Colonial Studies, Sex/Gender Studies, Critical Race Studies, and Disability Studies, among others. Our projectsboth collective and individualexamine a wide range of literary and cultural phenomena that constitute this rich and lively field including salon cultures, slumming, nature and modernist literatures, surrealism and crime, the role of the Caribbean in U.S. empire building, little magazines, manifestoes, and the culture of modern science. Further, we are committed to the production of scholarly editions of some of Modernism's most vaulted authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Marianne Moore, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The GRE is not a requirement for admission to our graduate program.

Both MA and PhD applicants should submit the following items with their online application:

Statement of purpose for graduate study (1-3 pages double-spaced).
The English Graduate Program welcomes a statement of purpose that discusses your intellectual development and the goals you might wish to pursue in graduate school. What kinds of questions do you hope to explore during your graduate studies? How have your previous studies, or your personal background, or your work experience prepared you for graduate school?
Current Curriculum Vitae.
Article-length (15-20 pages double-spaced) critical writing sample.
An unofficial transcript, which you should request from each institution attended and upload to the admission form. If you are admitted to the program, the Graduate School will then request an official transcript directly from your institution(s). Submit 3 Letters of Reference
All international applicants must take and submit scores for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), with the exceptions noted below. The minimum acceptable score for the TOEFL is 550 for the paper-based test, 213 for the computer-based test, or a total score of 80 with a 19 on the speaking section for the Internet-based test (iBT). Applicants with iBT speaking scores between 15 and 18 may be considered for provisional admission, with Graduate School approval, which requires an institutional test of English proficiency upon the first semester of enrollment and, if necessary, remedial course work. The minimum composite score for the IELTS is 6.5.