Learning Outcomes

By the successful completion of a semester of First-Year Writing, students will be able to demonstrate:

By the successful completion of their Literature Core course, students will be able to demonstrate:

  • an ability to close-read, interpret, and analyze texts;
  • an ability to write clear, coherent, organized, grammatically correct and stylistically competent prose;
  • an awareness of literary genres and terminology;
  • a recognition of the historical and cultural specificity of literary texts; and
  • an appreciation of the human imagination.

By the successful completion of the English major at BC, students will be able to demonstrate:

  • an ability to write clear, coherent, organized, and stylistically correct papers;
  • an ability to close-read, interpret, and analyze texts (including poetic texts);
  • a knowledge of literary genres and appropriate use of critical terminology;
  • a recognition of the historical specificity of literary works and/or other cultural products;
  • an awareness that there are a variety of critical approaches to literary and cultural texts.

The English MA program at Boston College provides students a challenging intellectual experience that maintains a core focus on exploring the richness of literary study. It also offers plentiful opportunities to acquire skills applicable to a wide range of academic and professional settings. Through their course of study, candidates should be able to:

  • read texts closely;
  • write more capably;
  • demonstrate familiarity with varied and current theoretical approaches;
  • gain more knowledge about advanced research practices;
  • attain a thorough understanding of historical periodization.


The English MA program is explicitly designed to be a two-year standalone degree program. In the second year, selected applicants have the opportunity to design and teach their own college writing course both semesters, for which they receive training, faculty mentoring, and ongoing support and instruction. Students also have the opportunity to work with accomplished faculty in literature courses, gaining hands-on experience teaching literature, administering complex assignments, and designing specific lessons.

Upon completion of the Ph.D., graduates will be able to:

  • Write academic articles and reviews at the scholarly level in informed, intelligible prose.
  • Research, design and be examined on two long reading lists in major and minor fields of literary study of their construction and choice.
  • Demonstrate mastery of an individual chronological or national literary field of their choice.
  • Choose or define a question in their chosen field of literary study, and write an effective dissertation on it.
  • Teach effectively courses in English, both at the introductory and advanced level, in the community college, four-year college, or university setting.
  • Publish their research in peer-reviewed journals and present papers at conferences.
  • Secure an academic or teaching position.