University of Connecticut |
Letter to Prospective Students2008/09 Academic Year Dear Prospective Graduate Student: Welcome to the website for UConn's Graduate Program in English. I appreciate your interest and hope that you will use our site to learn more about the opportunities and resources that are making UConn such an ideal place for M.A. and Ph.D. study in English language and literature. Our department features a graduate faculty of more than 50 distinguished full-time members, whose books , articles, and reputations make UConn one of the premier research institutions in the country. The department boasts of considerable strengths in a variety of research areas -such as Early Modern British literature, Early and Later American literatures, Irish literature, Children's literature, and Ethnic literature-but also prides itself on its coverage of nearly all major areas of study, including World Literature, Theory, and Rhetoric and Composition. As diverse as these specializations are the research methodologies that faculty and graduate students employ-from archival and textual research, to political and gender theory, to historicism and cultural studies. All members of our research community benefit from our affiliations with programs such as Medieval Studies and American Studies . The Homer Babbidge Library -New England's #1 public research library-houses more than 2.5 million volumes, more than 45,000 periodicals, and offers researchers the most useful and cutting-edge electronic resources in the world. Admission into our program is highly competitive, but all students are fully funded TAs, who teach one section of Freshman English or literature each semester. With a complete tuition remission and excellent health benefits, our students earn one of the most attractive stipends in the country: entering M.A.'s earn $19,098.; Ph.D.'s start at $20,096. but can increase their salaries up to $22,342. All of our Ph.D. students are guaranteed at least 3 sections of literature or advanced composition teaching prior to graduation; over the past 5 years, students have taught such courses as World, British, and American Surveys, major author courses such as Chaucer and Shakespeare, and numerous other upper-level courses in their respective fields of specialization. Our program is unique in its attempt to address the professional demands on modern graduate students: all M.A. students enroll in 3 professionalism seminars: a 3-credit course on pedagogical theory; a 1-credit practicum on research methods in English; and a 2-credit practicum on professional development skills such as publishing and grant writing. Ph.D. students have opportunities to enroll in publication workshops and, because the academic job market is so competitive, we offer annual training on cover letter/CV writing, interviewing, and the politics and economics of being an assistant professor. We believe that this commitment to our students' professional development explains why we are able to place more than 90% of our Ph.D.s in tenure-track jobs, despite a national market in which only 1 in 3 candidates obtain such jobs. We are housed in the CLAS building on a beautiful campus in rural Storrs, Ct., in part of the state known as "The Quiet Corner." One of the attractive features of our location, though, is our proximity to a number of not-so-quiet places: we are about 1 hour from Boston, Northampton, and Providence, half an hour from Hartford, and about 2 hours from NYC. Members of our community benefit from the high quality of life that comes with living in a beautiful and affordable area located between several of America's greatest cities. Studying and teaching at the University of Connecticut is a deeply enriching experience, and we hope you will consider becoming a member of our scholarly community. To learn more about us, please explore the site, and feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss any aspect of our program. To submit an application, please click here . I wish you the best of luck in your studies. Sincerely, Gregory M. Colón Semenza |