Graduate degrees offered by the Department of English are designed to prepare students for careers as lifetime scholars and teachers. Housed in the College of Arts and Letters, our department offers both Master’s and Doctoral degrees with an emphasis in Literature or Creative Writing. The interaction in and out of the classroom between students of a variety of backgrounds and academic interests makes for a lively and dynamic in
In recent years, students have come to us from such schools as the University of Chicago, Vassar, the University of Toronto, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota. Our program recognizes the importance of contributing to a culture of scholarship and creative writing. As such, the majority of students have published academic essays, novels, short stories, and poems that grew directly from their coursework at The University of Southern Mississippi.
The English department and the English Graduate Organization provide, on a competitive basis, support for travel to conferences, and we offer a variety of support for our students’ professional and career development, from panels and seminars to a vigorous job placement program. Twice each month, the English Graduate Organization hosts lunchtime Faculty-Graduate Research Symposium, and Café Night provides Center for Writers students with the opportunity to read and share their work. The Mississippi Review, the Robert Frost Review, and Product are three journals housed in our department on which students have an opportunity to work. Southern Miss students also have the chance to make use of the internationally-known De Grummond Collection of Children’s Literature, and to take courses in allied areas such as History and Women’s Studies. Also, graduate courses are regularly offered abroad, enabling students to immerse themselves in radically different environments to complement their study.
Comprised of many prize-winning teachers, our diverse faculty prides itself on maintaining an active and impressive record of scholarly achievement--experience that they pass on to our students. Professors in our department hail from such places as Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, University of Texas at Austin, Columbia, and Rutgers, and all actively engage in scholarship through their continual publications and outreach.
Students have many choices when it comes to activities at Southern Miss. From student organizations, such as the local chapter of the English Graduate Organization, to opportunities to read student work at the Center for Writers reading series, Cafe Night, our students have many opportunities to stay engaged outside of the classroom.
