M.A./Ph.D. Degrees

Our practices define our course of study

Rather than define our graduate curriculum in terms of content and coverage, we organize it around practices.

While the teaching of literary history remains a central component of what we do, our curriculum also inflects each level of coursework according to the wide range of practices we currently perform as academics.

This means that the set of courses offered at the 500-level are characterized by their hands-on focus on various practical and technical skills needed for a successful professional career. Our 600-level offerings are focused on various practices of reading in various fields (literary-historical period, theoretical approach, form and genre). Our 700-level seminars are focused on the practice of advanced research in the discipline.

Learn more about our curricular practices

Doctoral degrees provide deep + extensive training

Our Ph.D. is designed as preparation for the teaching, publishing, and administrative work that a career in academia -- both a more traditional faculty position, and other so-called “Alt-Academic” career possibilities -- demands. Indiana University English Ph.D. alumni can be found working as faculty and administrators in the Ivy League, flagship public universities, smaller regional universities and colleges, and liberal arts colleges throughout the United States and beyond.

Indiana University offers superb libraries, archives, and research centers; a range of top scholarly journals; a wealth of both faculty- and student-organized colloquia, conferences, reading groups, and lectures by renowned visiting scholars; and, through the Ph.D. minor especially, ample opportunity for interdepartmental and interdisciplinary study.

Our Ph.D. students graduate with a deep and rigorous training in their chosen area of study, and with extensive training as teachers and pedagogues. Students choose a concentration in either Literature and Language or Rhetoric and design their own program of study with the assistance of faculty advisors.