The Masters Program in English

About the Program

Welcome to the MA Program in the Department of English at Wake Forest University! Current and prospective students will find information here on applying to the program, degree requirements, financial assistance, the graduate faculty, and the intellectual life of the University and beyond.

Wake Forest is widely recognized as belonging among the finest universities in the United States. The English Department has contributed to this success by consistently being one of the most active research departments on campus.

View Admission Requirements

Faculty and Courses

Our faculty consists of over thirty-five members who are actively publishing within and beyond their specialties. The department offers a broad selection of courses in English and American literature, including:

  • Early Medieval Culture
  • Literary Theory
  • International Approaches to Romanticism
  • Science and Literature
  • Film and Literature
  • Feminism and Queer Studies
  • Marxist Studies
  • African-American, Ethnic American, and Postcolonial Literatures

Additionally, we offer courses in:

  • Composition-Rhetoric
  • Writing Studies
  • Language Theory and Analysis
  • Creative Writing

With small class sizes and an informal professional relationship between students and faculty, we foster many opportunities for intellectual exchange. The department also hosts a robust series of lectures by distinguished scholars and readings by nationally and internationally recognized novelists and poets, sponsored by the department and the Wake Forest University Press, the major publisher of contemporary Irish poetry in the United States.

Dr. Bowie's class on the steps outside of ZSR

Program Links

Student Support and Financial Assistance

We support our students in tailoring their graduate education to their professional goals and interests. Generous financial aid packages make a graduate degree in English at Wake Forest more affordable than at most public universities. Our program includes a range of graduate seminars and regular colloquia on:

  • Applying to graduate school
  • Teaching and pedagogy
  • Attending conferences
  • Thesis writing
  • Navigating the transition from graduation to professional life, with support from the Graduate School’s Professional Development Office

Career Paths and Community

Our graduates have pursued diverse professional paths, including doctoral study at prestigious institutions such as Cornell, Duke, Princeton, Purdue, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Virginia. Many have secured teaching positions at community colleges and advanced secondary levels, including winning Fulbright Teaching Fellowships. Others have embarked on careers in the publishing industry, academic administration, nonprofit and public service, National Public Radio, and foundations like the Carnegie Foundation.

The culture among our graduate students is warm and congenial, fostering a true sense of community. Students are genuinely supportive of one another, both in the classroom and through university events, dinners, and social gatherings. Above all, we hope your time in the graduate program enables you to develop advanced writing and thinking skills, fostering your intellectual and interpersonal growth in a rapidly changing world.