Master of Arts in English

Literary representations both reflect and help to create our views of the world, including our social theories and practices, thus, the study of literature can provide students with insights concerning past and present concepts of personal and social identity, cultural traditions and beliefs, and interpersonal and cross-cultural relationships. Since the time of Aristotle, moreover, literary commentators have analyzed 'setting as an important formal aspect of literary writing, literary study can therefore help us to investigate, and perhaps to reconsider, our relationships to both our human and non-human environments. In today's world, where efforts to resolve intercultural conflicts and environmental problems have taken on a profound sense of urgency, literary study provides a crucial forum for intellectual and ethical debate leading to the revision of cultural practice.

The study of English literature provides students with critical skills of analysis and synthesis, helping them to identify and understand complex problems, and encouraging them to conceptualize viable resolutions and alternative understandings. Perhaps more than any other academic discipline, English literature also emphasizes the importance of literacy, including the development of effective writing and oral presentation skills, thereby providing students with the communications skills so highly valued in the professional world.

The Master of Arts degree in English is available on a full-time or part-time basis. Students may choose a course-based MA option (plus ENGL 770-12) or the coursework and graduate thesis option. Upon admission into the English MA program, each student is assigned a supervisor, who works closely with the student to monitor their program of study and progress. In consultation with supervisors and supervisory committee members, each student chooses courses designed to complement and inform the proposed research area, completing most of the coursework during the first year of the program. The second year is devoted primarily to the production of the thesis or, in the case of the course-based MA, to the completion of coursework and the major research paper.

In general applicants to a Masters degree program must hold a fouryear Baccalaureate degree or equivalent from a recognized institution with a Cumulative GPA equivalent to at least 3.00 B at UNBC.
Applicants to the UNBC English MA program must follow the admission requirements outlined in General Admission of the Graduate Academic Calendar Entrance to the MA is competitive only applicants with a record of excellence are admitted Therefore applicants must provide the following information with their applications

a senior-level undergraduate research paper as a writing sample
undergraduate transcripts
strong letters of academic recommendations
strong letter of intent
evidence of interest in the MAs areas of research specialization Literature Culture Place
the name of the faculty member who is willing to supervise their thesis work or major research paper if possible

TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language score of 90 or higher in the internet-based test with not less than 20 in any of the reading listening writing or speaking components or equivalent other TOEFL score UNBCs institutional TOEFL code is 0320.
IELTS International English Language Testing System academic score of at least 6.5 overall with not less than 6.0 in any of the four modules.
CAEL Canadian Academic English Language Assessment or the CAEL CE overall 70 with no subtest below 60.
MELAB Michigan English Language Assessment Battery 85 final score with 3 in the speaking test.
Domestic applicants are normally required to have a minimum overall average of 3.00 B for third and fourth-year courses.
A final grade of 3.00 B or better in both the UNBC English Language Studies 50 and English Language Studies 170 obtained concurrently and prior to application for graduate admission.
A final grade of 3.00 B or better in an articulated BCCAT EAP 4 program prior to application for graduate admission.