MA_committees

Taking M.A. Thesis Credits (English 500) with Dr. Elias

How I understand your project:

If I am to be your M.A. Thesis Director, I will treat the M.A. thesis as a course (you are getting course credit for it, after all). What follows is my “course syllabus”–i.e., a general outline of what I will require of you if I direct your M.A. thesis. First, it is crucial for you to understand the difference between the papers you have written in the past and the thesis that you will write to obtain your M.A. degree:

Undergraduate papers, and sometimes term papers written for graduate courses, are meant to help students learn how to write critical prose with a clear argument and proof; to initiate them into the discourse of literary criticism; to begin to learn what “research” is when doing literary criticism; and to familiarize them with some of the major research databases in literary studies. The goal of the undergraduate paper is for the student to learn rhetorical and compositional skills: the goal is for students to produce an informed, lucid, grammatically clean, well organized, and well argued discussion about a literary topic. We assume that you have mastered this knowledge when you enter our M.A. program.

The M.A. thesis, in contrast, is the finished work of a scholar. The M.A. thesis should teach graduate students how to identify and explore complex topics in literary criticism and textual studies; to write not just grammatical and clear, but also elegant and effective, prose; to construct strong arguments using evidence and proof that would be convincing to other scholars in the subject area; and to completely and thoroughly research that topic in every database available (that is, you should be an accomplished researcher when you receive your diploma). The M.A. thesis might not be groundbreaking research in its topic area, and will probably not be the length of a monograph (book). But it should be original, thoroughly researched, competent research that might be of interest to other professionals in the topic area. The very best M.A. theses can be published, perhaps after revision, as articles and conference papers.

The Ph.D. thesis is different from the M.A. thesis in that it is essentially a draft of a monograph in length and in subject. The Ph.D. thesis should not only be competently and thoroughly researched, incorporating all of the skills and knowledge of a researcher at the M.A. level; it should also be original, groundbreaking work in the topic area that fully engages with the field discussion and with central, established ideas in that field. The Ph.D. thesis should give evidence of exhaustive research on its topic, but it also should present a new and important angle of vision on that topic, or introduce a new and important idea into literary criticism itself. The Ph.D. thesis is the highest level of accomplishment for a scholar in literary studies, and it should essentially be a draft of a future, publishable book on its topic.

Deadlines:

If I am to direct your M.A. thesis, I ask that you pay attention to some general deadline guides. If you follow these, you are more likely to graduate within two years. If you miss deadlines, I cannot help you graduate within the two-year funded period for the M.A. degree.

These are the key pieces of information always to keep in the foreground if you want to graduate on time. First, there is the English Department’s general schedule for completing your M.A. degree in two years. Second, there are the UT Graduate School requirements for completion of your thesis and degree. Finally, there are my deadlines as teacher of this "course." As the director of M.A. theses, I try to dovetail all three to get you graduated in a timely fashion.

This is the Year 2 schedule I will ask you to follow if I direct your M.A. thesis.

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Taking M.A. Thesis Credits (English 500) with Dr. Elias
How I understand your project: If I am to be your M.A. Thesis Director, I will treat the M.A. thesis as a course (you are getting course credit for it, after all). What follows is my “course syllabus”–i.e., a general outline of what I will require of you if I direct your M.A. thesis. First, it is crucial for you to understand the difference between the papers you have written in the past and the thesis that you will write to obtain your M.A. degree: Undergraduate papers, and sometimes term papers written for graduate courses, are meant to help students learn how to write critical prose with a clear argument and proof; to initiate them into the discourse of literary criticism; to begin to learn what “research” is when doing literary criticism; and to familiarize them with some of the major research databases in literary studies. The goal of the undergraduate paper is for the student to learn rhetorical and compositional skills: the goal is for students to produce an informed, lucid, grammatically clean, well organized, and well argued discussion about a literary topic. We assume that you have mastered this knowledge when you enter our M.A. program. The M.A. thesis, in contrast, is the finished work of a scholar. The M.A. thesis should teach graduate students how to identify and explore complex topics in literary criticism and textual studies; to write not just grammatical and clear, but also elegant and effective, prose; to construct strong arguments using evidence and proof that would be convincing to other scholars in the subject area; and to completely and thoroughly research that topic in every database available (that is, you should be an accomplished researcher when you receive your diploma). The M.A. thesis might not be groundbreaking research in its topic area, and will probably not be the length of a monograph (book). But it should be original, thoroughly researched, competent research that might be of interest to other professionals in the topic area. The very best M.A. theses can be published, perhaps after revision, as articles and conference papers. The Ph.D. thesis is different from the M.A. thesis in that it is essentially a draft of a monograph in length and in subject. The Ph.D. thesis should not only be competently and thoroughly researched, incorporating all of the skills and knowledge of a researcher at the M.A. level; it should also be original, groundbreaking work in the topic area that fully engages with the field discussion and with central, established ideas in that field. The Ph.D. thesis should give evidence of exhaustive research on its topic, but it also should present a new and important angle of vision on that topic, or introduce a new and important idea into literary criticism itself. The Ph.D. thesis is the highest level of accomplishment for a scholar in literary studies, and it should essentially be a draft of a future, publishable book on its topic.
Deadlines: If I am to direct your M.A. thesis, I ask that you pay attention to some general deadline guides. If you follow these, you are more likely to graduate within two years. If you miss deadlines, I cannot help you graduate within the two-year funded period for the M.A. degree. These are the key pieces of information always to keep in the foreground if you want to graduate on time. First, there is the English Department’s general schedule for completing your M.A. degree in two years. Second, there are the UT Graduate School requirements for completion of your thesis and degree. Finally, there are my deadlines as teacher of this "course." As the director of M.A. theses, I try to dovetail all three to get you graduated in a timely fashion.
This is the Year 2 schedule I will ask you to follow if I direct your M.A. thesis.
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