English Literature Combined Pathway (B.A. and M.A.)
Admission Requirements
Admission into the combined pathway is highly selective. Applicants must have completed 24 credit hours in English, at least 18 of which must be in literature courses, with an overall GPA of 2.75 and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all English classes. Matriculated undergraduate students may apply to the BA/MA pathway immediately before or in their third year (junior year) or as rising seniors. Students transferring to Buffalo State may apply to the program in their junior year. In order to remain in the program, students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher in all their English courses.
B.A. English
Program Requirements
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Education Requirements | ||
| 33 credit hours | 33 | |
| Required Courses (18 credit hours) | ||
| ENG 190 | INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE | 3 |
| ENG 250 | LITERARY MOVEMENTS | 3 |
| ENG 390 | LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY | 3 |
| ENG 391 | JUNIOR SEMINAR | 3 |
| ENG 490 | SENIOR SEMINAR | 3 |
| Select one of the following Major Figure courses (3 credit hours) | 3 | |
| MILTON | ||
| CHAUCER | ||
| SHAKESPEARE I | ||
| SHAKESPEARE II | ||
| REPRESENTATIVE WRITERS | ||
| Undergraduate electives (12 credit hours) | 12 | |
| Select four undergraduate ENG literature courses by advisement. Courses that were not used to satisfy one of the above requirements can be used as an elective. | ||
| ENG courses on film, writing, and education cannot be used to fulfill the English B.A. elective requirement. | ||
| Required Graduate Courses (12 credit hours) | ||
| ENG 601 | RESEARCH IN LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE * | 3 |
| Choose any 3 graduate elective courses (9 credit hours) | 9 | |
| Selected by advisement. ENG 612, ENG 621, and ENG 623 may be taken up to three times with different topics each time. | ||
| SELECTED TOPICS IN BRITISH LITERATURE ** | ||
| AMERICAN LITERATURE ** | ||
| LITERATURE OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE ** | ||
| STUDIES IN INDIVIDUAL WRITERS ** | ||
| STUDIES IN LITERARY GENRES ** | ||
| IDEOLOGY AND LITERATURE ** | ||
| LITERATURE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ** | ||
| ADVANCED LINGUISTICS ** | ||
| At least three courses (9 credit hours) from among the undergraduate and graduate elective courses must be pre-1900 literature courses. | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 75 | |
- *
Required M.A. course that will be used in B.A. and M.A. simultaneously (3 credit hours).
- **
Elective courses in the M.A. that will be used in B.A. and M.A. simultaneously (9 credit hours).
Upon completion of the B.A. and M.A. degrees in English, students will:
- Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the periods, genres, and major writers of British and American literature, and an awareness of the various critiques and revisions of this literature’s canon.
- Demonstrate familiarity with major movements or writers of literatures in English outside British and American literature, and be able to place that literature within worldwide cultural and literary trends.
- Describe and explain how the literature is affected by cultural and historical forces.
- Analyze how ideas and attitudes about race, class, gender, nationhood, age, religion, and sexuality evolved through various periods of literary study.
- Produce quality written work reflecting the conventions of the field, including current MLA format, marked by high standards of clarity, coherence, organization, and substantiation, and of various types including literary analysis/criticism, professional writing, research/scholarly writing, and informal/reflective writing.
- Conduct both library and online research, by identifying and differentiating among various research methodologies.
- Evaluate critical scholarship about literature, and integrate criticism into written and oral discussions of texts under study.
- Write research papers that contribute new perspectives on current scholarly and methodological debates.