Appendix E Revision of Current Graduate Program
1. Name of Program: Master of Arts in English HEGIS 1502.00 Code12406 2. Description of Proposed Change Four changes are proposed: a) allowing a Thesis and non-Thesis option for degree; b) revising admission requirements; c) revising degree requirements; and d) eliminating the foreign language requirement. a. Rationale for allowing a Thesis and non-Thesis option for completion of degree. The current M.A. English program at SUNY College at Oneonta offers a
thesis-optional track. The revision retains this thesis option, but would offer an alternative non-thesis option of a graduate portfolio as a capstone experience. The graduate portfolio would consist of three seminar papers that have been revised and
expanded under the supervision of a graduate advisor. Students would declare the option they intend to pursue at matriculation, but would be able to switch options by approval of their advisor. Students who intend to apply for a doctoral program following completion of the M.A. would be strongly advised to declare the thesis option.
b. Rationale for revising admission requirements. When the English Department of SUNY College at Oneonta examined the master’s programs at comparable colleges, it was evident that the majority of programs no longer require the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) subject exam in English. While some colleges within the SUNY system recommend that applicants take the GRE (New Paltz and Oswego), most SUNY University Colleges do not require the GRE. The proposed degree revision drops the application requirement for the GRE English subject exam. The proposed revision no longer requires but strongly recommends that students take the GRE General exam.
In lieu of the GRE English subject test, the proposed revision to the admission requirements increases the required amount of coursework in English or a related field from 21 semester hours to 36 semester hours. This revision will put the English M.A. program more in line with the admission requirements at other SUNY University Colleges. Increasing the required number of English credits will ensure that incoming students will have a suitable familiarity with and understanding of the methods of literary study. Because the English M.A. program has a
concentration in Literature and the Environment, we will accept a certain amount of course credit from fields related to Environmental Studies, including the
Environmental Sciences, Geography, Philosophy, Art History, History, and Public Policy, to name a few. Applicants who have a strong background in related fields but who have a deficiency in basic knowledge of literary studies will be required to take additional coursework in literature and literary analysis.
c. Rationale for revising degree requirements. The proposed revision would reduce the required minimum number of credits for completion of the M.A. in English
degree from 33 semester hours to 30 semester hours. This revision will put the SUNY College at Oneonta program in line with the degree requirements of other SUNY University Colleges that offer the M.A. in English. In addition, this revision will change the course work requirements for degree completion, eliminating the major author requirements and the pre-nineteenth century requirements. In its place, the English M.A. will require a course in research methods and a course in literary criticism, and up to twenty-four semester hours in literary studies. Up to six semester hours of coursework in related fields will be accepted, upon the graduate director’s approval. These revisions reflect the strengths and areas of expertise of the current teaching faculty and the framework of the new concentration in
Literature and Environment. Given the number of faculty, the English Department cannot offer full historical and regional coverage of English language literature. The proposed concentration in Literature and the Environment will allow the English Department to offer students a coherent critical framework and methodology that can be applied to all periods of literature through their own independent and post-graduate study. Core courses that will be offered will introduce students to the methods of environmentally focused and eco-critical analysis of texts. The concentration in Literature and the Environment will also give the English
Department an identifiable niche program that will distinguish the SUNY College at Oneonta M.A. program in English from other programs within the SUNY system. The proposed revision will eliminate the comprehensive exam requirement for the completion of the M.A. degree. A survey of SUNY University Colleges that offer M.A. in English programs shows that half of the colleges do not require a comprehensive exam. Because the revised M.A. Program will be based on training in critical
methods rather than mastery of an historical literary canon, the comprehensive exam is not deemed to be an appropriately effective measurement of student achievement. In the revised proposal, student mastery of the Department’s curriculum will be measured through their achievements in coursework and through the successful completion of a graduate thesis or graduate portfolio. d. Rationale for eliminating the foreign language requirement. The proposed revision will eliminate the foreign language requirement for the completion of the degree. Of the six SUNY University Colleges that offer the M.A. degree in English, three (Buffalo State, Cortland, New Paltz) require foreign language competency; three (Brockport, Oswego, Potsdam) do not. Foreign language competency is defined as one year of college-level study, ranging between six and nine semester hours of course work. While the goal of requiring foreign language competency is laudable, the work required to meet these goals is wholly inadequate to achieve a practical and useful competency (to effectively read and converse) in a foreign language. Unless the standards of competency are high enough to make the foreign language useful, meeting a pro forma foreign language requirement will only
hamper students’ ability to complete the requirements of the M.A. program on a timely basis.
3. Curriculum outline of current and proposed revised curriculum. Proposed changes are in Boldface.
Current Proposed (Fall 2013)
Title of Award Master of Arts Master of Arts
Admission Requirements Official Scores GRE + GRE English Subject Test GRE (optional)
GPA of 3.0 GPA of 3.0
Two letters of recommendation Two letters of recommendation
Statement Statement of Purpose
Degree Requirements
Thesis option Non-Thesis option Total Hours At least 33 s.h. of approved
courses a. 21 s.h. of 500-level courses, with Introduction to Literary Research in first 12 s.h. of graduate study. b. Two pre-19th-century
courses
c. Two major authors d. One linguistics course e. One criticism 30 s.h. of approved courses: a. Two required courses: Methods in Literary Research, and Literary Criticism b. Up to 21 s.h. in elective literature courses c. up to 6 s.h. of course work in a related field 30 s.h. of approved courses: a. Two required courses: Methods in Literary Research, and Literary Criticism b. Up to 24 s.h. in elective literature courses c. up to 6 s.h. of course work in a related field
Thesis Optional (3-6 s.h.) 3 s.h. thesis credits
Foreign Language
Competency Required Not Required Not Required
Exit
Requirements Comprehensive Exam (if thesis option is not taken) Research Thesis Graduate Portfolio
5. Faculty Requirements Current faculty are committed to teach the revised English M.A. program. As new faculty join the department, they will be encouraged to develop graduate electives related to their specialty.
6. Additional Costs Stipend ($4,000) and tuition waver for two T.A.s. 7. Effective Date of change in program: Fall 2013.
New Graduate Course Proposal: ALIT 575 Burroughs and Nature Writing Course Description and Justification:
John Burroughs (1837-1921) was the most popular nature writer of the nineteenth century and had a significant influence on American nature writing and literature. Burroughs was a close friend of Walt Whitman and John Muir (founder of the Sierra Club), as well as public figures like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Teddy
Roosevelt. Burroughs is best known for his essays on natural history; however, he was also one of the earliest writers to recognize the genius of Whitman’s work, writing two biographies and numerous essays about the poet.
This course will be offered in conjunction with the “Sharp Eyes” Conference on John Burroughs and Nature Writing held at SUNY College at Oneonta every other summer. Graduate students enrolled in the course will attend all presentations and field trips, as well as seminar meetings for students enrolled in the class. Students will have their choice of two assignments to fulfill the graduate level requirements for the class: they can either present a paper related to that year’s theme at the conference, or write a 20 page research paper on some aspect of the conference theme, to be approved in advance by the instructor.
Prerequisites:
Graduate standing or permission of the department chair. Grade Mode:
A-E only. Justification:
This course will provide academic research, conference, and presentation experience for students enrolled in the English Department’s Master’s degree program.
Course Objectives:
Position the works of John Burroughs within the literary context of American nature writing and link his work and his contemporaries to modern
developments in environmental literature and critical literary (ecocriticism); Provide the students with an opportunity to write an advanced seminar paper or
present a conference paper on the work of John Burroughs or a particular conference theme related to environmental literature and ecocriticism. Sharpen research, writing, and oral presentation skills.
Course Breakdown by Topic and Time Allocation:
Overview of Burroughs’s work and his place environmental history (three hours).
Close reading of his essays and related criticism (five hours). Work on projects or presentations prior to conference (20+ hours)
The majority of course work will be linked to the specific topics and sessions presented during the Burroughs seminar (20+ hours).
Field trips to sites such as Burroughs’ “Woodchuck Lodge” in Roxbury, New York, and his writing cabin “Slabsides” in West Park, New York (eight hours). Similarity to Other Course Offerings:
The undergraduate class on John Burroughs and Nature Writing (ALIT 375) is also offered in conjunction with the biannual “Sharp Eyes” Conference on John Burroughs and Nature Writing, but this graduate level course will require significantly more research and writing.
Adjustments to Other Course Offerings: None.
Suggested Required Texts:
The collected works of John Burroughs consists of 23 volumes; the best anthology currently available is Charlotte Zoë Walker’s The Art of Seeing Things:
Essays by John Burroughs (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2001).
Garrard, Greg, Ecocriticism. (Routledge, 2004).
Fromm & Glotfelty, The Ecocriticism Reader (University of Georgia Press, 1996). Renehan, Ed, John Burroughs: An American Naturalist (Chelsea, VT: Stephen
Greene press, 1990).
Additional Suggested Library Holdings:
None anticipated, particularly as the college already has a very strong collection in Burroughs.
Additional Computer Use or Special Equipment: None.
List of Potential Instructors:
Professor Daniel G. Payne, director of the John Burroughs Writing Conference and Seminar, author of Voices in the Wilderness: American Nature Writing and Environmental Politics and lead editor of The Palgrave Environmental Reader.
NEW COURSE PROPOSAL WLIT 510 SAMPLE COURSE Department: English
Course # and Title: WLIT 510: Nature in Asian Literature Course Description:
An intensive multi-genre study of East Asian, Central Asian, and South Asian
literatures from the ancient to the modern period. Emphasis will be on the role that nature plays in defining cultural attitudes toward the environment, the development of indigenous religious and philosophical traditions, depictions of landscape and nature writing, and in evaluating the effects of modern economic development on traditional Asian communities.
Effective Term: Fall 2013 Pre-Requisites: Gr.S Grading Mode: A-E option Schedule Type: seminar
Frequency of offering: every second year Course Justification:
This course will provide an opportunity for literary studies in a non-western historical and social context, and it will be part of the English department’s redesigned MA program. It will also augment current department offerings by supporting the new world literature component of the English graduate curriculum. Course Objectives:
*Students will learn about the specific development of Asian literature and current trends in nature studies.
*Students will gain an understanding of the breadth and depth of multicultural and formal genres of Asian literature.
List of Topics, Time Allotted, and Suggested Required Texts:
Week 1- 7: East Asian Literatures
Wing-Tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy
Confucius, The Analects
Chuang Tzu, Zhuangzi
Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching,
Week 8- Week 12: Central Asian Literatures
Babur, The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor\
Nora K. Chadwick, Oral Epics of Central Asia
Alisher Nava'i, The Language of the Birds
The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi Week13-16: South Asian Literatures
Mahabharata
David Smyth. The Canon in Southeast Asian Literature: Literatures of Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Phillippines, Thailand and Vietnam (Curzon Soas Books
Yasmin Hameed, So That You Can Know Me: An Anthology of Pakistani Women Writers
Friedrich Von Adelung, An Historical Sketch Of Sanskrit Literature
Similarity to Other Course Offerings: None Adjustments to Other Course Offerings: None Additional Suggested Library Holdings: None
Additional Computer Use or Special Equipment: None List of Potential Instructors:
Mark Ferrara, Ph.D., University of Denver (Fulbright Scholar, Turkey 2001-2002)