Our Programs

We offer graduate degrees in a wide variety of English studies on both the M.A. and the Ph.D. levels. As you can see by the listing below, while our M.A. programs sometimes focus in on one particular area (e.g. M.A. in Linguistics), our doctoral degrees all interconnect the various areas within the department -- Composition, Linguistics, and Literature. For example, a student pursuing doctoral study in Composition and Rhetoric actually works toward a Ph.D. degree in English with a concentration in Composition; the student also takes coursework in Linguistics and Literature in order to ensure a better understanding of how all areas of our field build upon one another. The result of this broader degree isn't just a graduate with a wider body of marketable knowledge and skills, but it is also a scholar who can integrate neighboring disciplines into her area of expertise. See our graduate courses, as well as application information and other details about the M.A. Program and the Ph.D program.

Our Faculty

Our graduate faculty reflect the goal of our program to produce outstanding professionals who excel in both teaching and scholarship. These teacher/scholars not only remain active in their respective disciplines through publications, conference presentations, and other scholarly projects, but they also remain dedicated to their teaching on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. In fact, a handful of our graduate faculty have received University-wide teaching awards for their work with undergraduates. In addition, several of our faculty are quite active in administration, currently including the positions of Department Chair (Kecia McBride), Assistant Chair (Patrick Collier), Graduate Director (Deborah Mix), Director of the Intensive English Institute (Mary Theresa Seig), and University Senate member (Bruce Hozeski), and others have held these and other important positions in the recent past. So that is our graduate faculty: accomplished scholars, dedicated teachers, and successful administrators -- just the kind of professionals we strive to produce in our graduate program.

Our Students

The students within this program frequently prove themselves to be competent scholars long before they earn their degree. Within this past year alone, our graduate students have made dozens of conference presentations, published numerous articles, chapters, reviews, or pieces of creative writing, and have been active in several professional organizations and projects. In addition, a handful of students each year organize and host an in-house conference called Practical Criticism Midwest.

Our graduate students are not just all work, though; we also understand the importance of social interaction and camaraderie. Throughout the year, our Graduate Student Advisory Board sponsors potluck dinners as a way of bringing students from all our areas of study together for some relaxation and support. In addition, many of our graduate students are always ready to work off some school-related stress through sports: Over the past few years, the Ezra Pounders have carried our department's banner in the intramural soccer league, Sunday morning football games are a regular occurrence in the fall and winter, and roller hockey games heat up spring, summer, and fall afternoons. Graduate school fills much of our lives right now, but we find ways to make those lives extend beyond the library and classroom.

Graduate Student Advisory Board

GSAB is a committee of graduate students who act as liaisons between their constituents, the Graduate Director, and the graduate faculty. Whether students have a complaint about a particular course or policy, or whether they have an idea on how to improve our lives as graduate students, we all can go to GSAB to voice our opinions. In addition to this role as the students' representatives, GSAB also plans social events for current students and looks for ways to welcome new students into our community, such as the marathon reading.

For More Information

Dr. Deborah Mix
Director of Graduate Programs
Department of English
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47306-0460
(765) 285-8415
Fax: (765) 285-3765
dmmix@bsu.edu