Degrees & Majors
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The information shared here is intended to provide an overview of Georgia State's offerings. For details on admissions requirements, tuition, courses and more please refer to the university catalogs.
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English majors study language and literature alongside the craft of writing, developing skills considered integral to education in the humanities and prized by employers around the world. We examine language, literature and culture in ways that help communities connect with broader audiences, expand access to knowledge and address pressing social issues.
Undergraduate coursework in English guides students in thinking critically, reading widely and writing imaginatively. Many classes also explore practices that are not, strictly speaking, “writing” at all, such as oral compositions, hypertexts, podcasts and folk art.
At Georgia State, English majors can select from several areas of concentration:
- Literature,
- Rhetoric and Composition,
- Creative Writing,
- Pre-education and
- British-American Joint Studies (partnership with Northumbria University)
Majors in each concentration complete their course of study with a focused Senior Seminar that invites students to demonstrate their abilities as writers and thinkers working in a specific discipline.
English, B.A., English Education, M.A.T.
English, B.A., English Education, M.A.T.
Georgia State University's Dual Degree (or 4+1) program allows students to earn a B.A. in English and an M.A.T. in English Education in as little as five years, saving time and tuition dollars.
The English education master's program is designed for students who seek an initial teaching certification in secondary English (grades 6-12). This program leads to a master of arts in teaching (M.A.T.) and a clear and renewable (T5) induction certificate in the state of Georgia.
English educators are responsible for constructing learning environments that support students’ development in reading literature, writing for multiple audiences, expressing ideas and opinions in speech and interpersonal communication and exploring the potential of the arts in language arts.
This program will allow you to build a foundation to transform your passion into a professional career, providing an initial certification for teaching English language arts for 6th-12th grades, and recognition of master’s level proficiency in the subject area, putting you into a higher pay grade in Georgia school systems.
At the undergraduate level, the accelerated program is designed for English majors concentrating in Pre-Education.
English, B.A./M.A.
English, B.A./M.A.
Students interested in earning a bachelor's and master's in English at Georgia State University can save time and tuition dollars through the dual-degree program. Qualified, full-time students can complete both programs in just five years. The accelerated path to a graduate degree affords graduates an advantage in competitive career fields and a richer grasp of their chosen specialty. The dual-degree program also offers students interested in earning a Ph.D. intensive preparation for doctoral study.
The department offers two dual-degree programs:
— Dual B.A./M.A. in Literary Studies
— Dual B.A./M.A. in Rhetoric and Composition
Both programs allow English majors to enroll in graduate courses late in their undergraduate program and apply the coursework toward both the bachelor’s and master’s programs.
English, M.A., Literary Studies
The M.A. program in Literary Studies fosters an environment of critical engagement with the most pressing questions in contemporary literary and cultural studies. Students work with some of the profession’s most talented and productive teachers, scholars and theorists in the fields of American, British and world literatures, cultural studies and folklore.
Students in the M.A. program:
- Undertake coursework that exposes them to the breadth of literature in English from the Middle Ages to the present and to the methods and theories that have shaped literary criticism and scholarship
- Regularly deliver papers at international, national and regional conferences
- Gain valuable professional and organizational experience through participation in the South Atlantic Modern Language Association, an organization of teachers and scholars in modern languages and literatures that is headquartered in the department
- Work as editorial and research assistants with the department’s academic journals, Studies in the Literary Imagination and Eudora Welty Review
- Gain pedagogical and leadership experience through tutoring positions in the department's Writing Studio
- Pursue interesting internship opportunities with local businesses and nonprofit organizations
- Receive preparation for further graduate study in prestigious national and international doctoral programs
English, M.A., Rhetoric and Composition
We offer the largest Rhetoric & Composition program in the Southeast, with eight specialized faculty members in rhetoric, composition, digital media and communication, writing center theories and pedagogies, and language studies.
Within our distinctive curriculum, students can combine areas of interest across historical periods, current composition studies, rhetorical theory, visual and digital rhetoric, new and emerging media, advanced academic writing, language studies, writing center studies, writing program administration, and professional writing. No other university in Georgia offers these comprehensive graduate academic programs in rhetoric and composition. We provide internship opportunities for graduate students with our department publications, nonprofits, and other Atlanta-based organizations, and we offer mentoring and training in the teaching of writing and writing program leadership.
The Writing Studio is an on-campus tutoring and teaching site serving Georgia State students from all majors and providing our graduate students with an active academic research site where they can pursue theses in writing center strategies and pedagogy. Graduate student staff members have presented conference papers, published articles, book chapters and book reviews, and have received International Writing Center Association Research Grants.
Writing Across the Curriculum is a faculty development program geared toward helping faculty use learner-centered, active pedagogical strategies for developing all students’ writing and communication abilities across the undergraduate curriculum. Its faculty participants have made significant contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning.
English, Ph.D., Creative Writing Concentration
The Ph.D. program in English, Concentration in Creative Writing, is one of the top 15 in the U.S., as ranked by Poets & Writers. The program offers graduate students the opportunity to work closely with our award-winning faculty while living and writing in Atlanta, an international city with a vibrant literary culture.
Our students publish—recently with Random House, Algonquin Books, St Martin’s, Alice James Books, Bloomsbury, Anhinga Press and Louisiana State University Press—and win important prizes and fellowships, including the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, the Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from The Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Georgia Author of the Year Award.
Our faculty include Danielle Cadena Deulen, Beth Gylys, John Holman, Sheri Joseph and Josh Russell. Visiting writers & editors enrich the program by giving readings and leading workshops and Q&As.
Students may qualify for teaching assistantships, editorial assistantships and fellowships.
English, Ph.D., Literary Studies
The Ph.D. program in Literary Studies fosters an environment of critical engagement with the most pressing questions in contemporary literary and cultural studies. Students work with some of the profession’s most talented and productive teachers, scholars and theorists in American, British and world literatures, cultural studies and folklore.
Students in the doctoral program:
- Undertake coursework that exposes them to the breadth of literature in English from the Middle Ages to the present and to the methods and theories that have shaped literary criticism and scholarship
- Become specialists in an area of literary studies, cultural studies or folklore and learn to develop a research agenda in their area of specialization
- Regularly deliver papers at international, national and regional conferences and publish essays in reviews in a variety of prestigious academic journals
- Gain valuable professional and organizational experience through participation in the South Atlantic Modern Language Association, an organization of teachers and scholars in modern languages and literatures that is headquartered in the department
- Work as editorial assistants with the department’s academic journals, Studies in the Literary Imagination and Eudora Welty Review
- Receive pedagogical, leadership and mentoring experience while serving as instructors of record in the Lower Division Studies program
English, Ph.D., Rhetoric and Composition
We offer the largest Rhetoric & Composition program in the Southeast, with eight specialized faculty members in rhetoric, composition, digital media and communication, writing center theories and pedagogies and language studies.
Within our distinctive curriculum, students can combine areas of interest across historical periods, current composition studies, rhetorical theory, visual and digital rhetoric, new and emerging media, advanced academic writing, language studies, writing center studies, writing program administration and professional writing. No other university in Georgia offers these comprehensive graduate academic programs in rhetoric and composition. We provide internship opportunities for graduate students with our department publications, nonprofits and other Atlanta-based organizations, and we offer mentoring and training in the teaching of writing and writing program leadership.
Lower Division Studies, unique to Georgia State University, offers training and mentoring opportunities for graduate students who teach many of the First-Year Composition and Sophomore Literature Survey courses as instructors of record.
Writing Across the Curriculum is a faculty development program geared toward helping faculty use learner-centered, active pedagogical strategies for developing all students' writing and communication abilities across the undergraduate curriculum. Its faculty participants have made significant contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Environmental Science, B.I.S.
The B.I.S. in Environmental Science program provides a foundation in the physical and life sciences, policy, and global and urban sustainability issues. This concentration emphasizes a broad-based course of study, exposing students to the complex social and scientific processes involved in understanding and addressing environmental issues. Students are encouraged to develop specific areas of focus depending on their future goals (e.g., graduate school, government agencies, and environmental consulting firms).
Foreign Language Ability, Undergraduate Certificate
The Department of World Languages & Cultures offers an Undergraduate Certificate of Language Ability as a credential for students that provides tangible proof of their world language abilities in oral and written communication. The certificate serves as an ideal complement to a major in other areas of study including business, international relations, public healthy, criminal justice and hospitality.
The certificate program is open to any student at Georgia State pursuing an undergraduate degree, including heritage speakers.
Students can earn the certificate in: