Graduate Studies

We welcome prospective students and other interested parties to download our graduate program brochure.

Graduate studies in English at the University of South Florida include degree programs in Literature (PhD and MA), Rhetoric and Composition (PhD and MA) and Creative Writing (MFA). The department also administers graduate certificates in Teaching Composition, Comparative Literature, and Creative Writing. Additionally, graduate students in English can earn certificates in related fields such as Women’s Studies and area studies including Africana, Cuban, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, or Library Science.

We have approximately 140 students in our program who work closely with a dynamic and growing faculty of internationally recognized scholars and award-winning teachers. The program features small seminar-style graduate classes and offers many opportunities for directed research and professional development. The department is home to journals for undergraduate and graduate students as well as Saw Palm, a literary annual focused on Florida authors and themes produced by members of the Creative Writing program, and the Norman Mailer Review.

Because many of our graduates go on to tenure-track jobs at teaching institutions, we emphasize theories of pedagogy and training in instruction through practica in Composition, Literature and Professional and Technical Writing. Many of our students are offered teaching assistantships for First-year Writing courses, and there are opportunities for advanced graduate students to teach general education courses in literature and writing. Graduate student instructors build a supportive network through such activities as the monthly Teaching Literature Discussion Group.

The department benefits from the collegial interaction of our three tracks with colloquia and speaker series that bring them together. Our active English Graduate Student Association sponsors a monthly colloquium where students from Literature, Rhetoric and Composition and Creative Writing each read from their work. Faculty members share their work-in-progress in a monthly brown-bag lunch series.

With courses on professional topics such as Scholarly Writing for Publication and workshops on preparing for the job market by our placement committee, we are pleased to see our graduate students publishing in a variety of scholarly and literary venues; our creative writing students have won national awards including the O. Henry Prize for short fiction. The department provides some support for students to present their work at conferences, and additional funds are available from the Graduate and Professional Student Council. Our teaching assistants consistently garner the university’s highest distinction, the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Teaching, and the department annually honors our top students for their accomplishments in scholarship, writing and instruction with twelve or more named cash awards.

Additional information and resources for graduate students can be found on the following pages:

• Graduate Newsletter
• Handbooks for Current Graduate Students
• Graduate Courses
• Graduate Student Organizations
• Alumni Information
• USF Graduate School
• USF Graduate Catalog
• Commencement registration & information