Master of Arts

MA students complete six three-credit hour (ENGL 5000 or higher) courses, most often taking three in the Fall Term and three in the Winter, and 

• With the prior approval of the Graduate Committee, and if the student’s planned area of research makes such a choice appropriate, one three-credit hour course may be taken in another Department.
  
  
• If there is no current offering in the student’s research area, and if a professor is willing and available to take on the extra teaching, one three-credit hour course may be taken as a Directed Reading. The student and professor must devise a syllabus that includes a schedule of the material to be covered and a detailed Method of Evaluation to be submitted for Graduate Committee approval (which may instead require the student to enroll in a related course already on offer)
  
  
• Before Fall Term courses begin, the Graduate Coordinator meets with incoming students to approve course selection, and may require coverage of any problematic gaps.

View current graduate courses

Course Assessment

Possible grades in the Faculty of Graduate Studies are A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, FM (marginal failure), F, INC (incomplete) and ILL, and a minimum of “B-” is required for credit in any graduate program. Dalhousie Faculty of Graduate Studies Scholarships are also contingent on good standing, which is normally interpreted as obtaining credit for all courses taken (i.e., “B-” or higher). At the beginning of each course, instructors are required to provide a clear Method of Evaluation.

Instructors may have policies regarding extensions and lateness. Issuing an INC grade is at the instructor’s discretion, though the Registrar automatically converts all to F at the end of the month subsequent to that in which the course ended. ILL grades are issued only if students provide adequate medical documentation. The IP (in progress) grade is assigned to the thesis until it is completed.

Graduate Essays

While overall grading strategies and models will vary from course to course, based on type and number of assignments, area, approach, methodology, and so on, the academic paper is a common assignment.  In general, graduate essays are expected to be well situated in terms of research on the topic(s) of the essay, are, of course, fully and properly documented according to an accepted bibliographic style (in most cases, MLA or Chicago citation styles are used), and will be free of typographic and writing errors.

Some general definitions of essay grades are offered below.  Of course, you should check with your specific instructors about their methods of grading and weighting in their courses.

A+            Papers that earn the highest grade are usually somewhat rare; they are original and innovative, and add to the scholarly discussion on the topic(s) at hand.  They also show considerable command of critical and other secondary material.  Depending on the type of assignment, these papers could, with no or minor revisions, be considered publishable in academic journals specific to the field.

A               These essays constitute excellent graduate work.  They are original and strongly written, and show considerable command of critical and other secondary material, but would need significant revision before being considered publishable.

A-             These essays are very good graduate level work, and are well written and researched, offering a good understanding of the primary material and the scholarly discussion thereof.

B+             Essays in the B+ range may be considered good graduate work, but show weaknesses in terms of research, argumentation or writing.

B               These essays are satisfactory graduate work, but with substantial flaws in one or more areas of research, argumentation or writing.  They may indicate difficulty in moving beyond undergraduate-level work.

B-              Essays in this range are minimally passable graduate work, showing considerable weaknesses or errors in research, argumentation, and writing.  These essays demonstrate difficulty in moving beyond undergraduate-level work.

ENGL 8000 Thesis Prospectus is mandatory for all MA students, and students must complete all of the following to pass this non-credit requirement: 

1) Attend the Thesis Prospectus Workshop offered in the Winter Term
2) Prepare and submit an approved Thesis Prospectus to the Graduate Committee by the March deadline
3) Present the prospectus at the MA Thesis Colloquium in May and
4) Submit the Thesis Progress Report by the June deadline.

The thesis is integral to Dalhousie’s English MA, and all MA students must complete one to graduate. Students should discuss thesis topics with potential supervisors by the beginning of January, and have an agreeable supervisor in place by the end of the month. Adjunct professors from other Departments and universities in the Halifax area may also be considered as co-supervisors. A 1000-word Thesis Prospectus outlining the project and including a brief review of current scholarship as well as a description of the approach must be approved by the supervisor and submitted for Graduate Committee approval by mid-February. All theses must demonstrate some mastery in academic writing and advanced research. Documentation must follow the latest edition of The MLA Handbook, and the thesis must conform to the most recent Faculty of Graduate Studies formatting requirements (log in to view this SharePoint page).

Research Thesis Option

This is the standard option for most students. The MA research thesis should be a focussed analysis of a particular topic chosen in consultation with a supervisor. It should be about 10,000 to 12,000 words in length. Examples of past theses are available in the Department, an recent theses are available through DalSpace.

Scholarly Edition - Thesis Option

This option allows students to create a scholarly edition of a primary text. Such a thesis would include the primary text, a scholarly, researched introduction, explanatory or contextual notes, and other apparatus. The overall length of all apparatuses combined should approach approximately 8000-10000 words, though this guideline may be applied in ways that take into account the textual editing required, the length of the work being edited, any required digital encoding, and other necessary editorial work, provided the supervisor and graduate committee agree.

Creative Writing - Thesis Option

This option allows students to engage in research-creational methodologies (methodologies that work through artistic expression, scholarly investigation, and experimentation). Students must have approval from a supervisory committee and the graduate committee before embarking on this thesis option. The thesis includes a creative text that is prefaced with a critical introduction of between 3000 and 5000 words. The creative text must follow one of these genre-specific guidelines (recognizing that research-creational work often pushes against genre definitions and that flexibility for hybrid forms is important):

• Poetry: Chapbook (plus critical introduction)
• Fiction: 2–3 Short Stories/2–3 Chapters of a Novel (plus critical introduction)
• Non-fiction: 2–3 Essays (plus critical introduction)
• Performance Text: One-act Play, performance art script, spoken word set, song sequence, etc. (plus critical introduction)

Thesis Evaluation

The MA Thesis is evaluated by an Examining Committee consisting of the Supervisor and Second Reader (both with some expertise in the area) and a non-specialist Examiner (or Third Reader). Before submission to the Examiner, thesis writers have the opportunity to address any concerns of the Supervisor and Second Reader. All members of an Examining Committee must approve for the Thesis to pass, and all are required to submit signed reports to the student’s departmental file. If the Examiner does not judge an MA Thesis passable, the Department Chair and the Graduate Coordinator review the Examining Committee’s written evaluations. The Chair may then appoint a new Examiner to evaluate the work in question: if both Examiners do not judge the Thesis passable, the student is disqualified from the program and the failure reported to the FGS Dean.

The Examining Committee evaluates the MA Thesis according to the following criteria:

Pass with Distinction: Theses that earn the highest grade are rare. They are original and innovative, and add to scholarly discussion of the topic. Such exceptional theses also show considerable command of critical and other secondary material. Students whose theses are awarded this highest of standings will have demonstrated, from prospectus to final draft, the ability to produce polished writing, coherent argumentation, and thorough research. Portions of the Thesis could, with minor revisions, be considered publishable in academic journals specific to the field. The Thesis submitted for formal evaluation should require no more than a few minor revisions, and must be recommended for Pass with Distinction by all members of the Examining Committee.

Pass: To earn a “Pass,” the thesis must be original and strongly written and demonstrate thorough command of critical and other secondary material, though it might need significant revision for publication.  The final version of the “Pass” Thesis may require some revision and minor corrections,  but must be recommended at that standing (or higher) by at least two members of the Examining Committee and receive no recommendation to fail.

Marginal Pass:  Theses that earn a Marginal Pass may demonstrate some graduate-level writing, research, and argumentation, but only minimally so or with substantially weak sections. This grade may also indicate that a student has regularly required significant guidance on writing, research, and/or argumentation from the prospectus and through the draft process. A Thesis awarded this standing must be recommended for Marginal Pass by at least two members of the Examining Committee and receive no recommendation to fail.

Fail:  To fail, much of the Thesis falls short of meeting the standard for graduate-level research, argumentation, and writing, or it does not meet basic requirements (length, documentation, etc.). Theses not judged passable by the Supervisor and Second Reader do not go forward to the Examiner. If an Examiner does not judge a Thesis passable, the Department Chair and the Graduate Coordinator review the Examining Committee’s written evaluations, and the Chair may accept the Examiner’s assessment or appoint an additional Examiner. If two Examiners do not judge the Thesis passable, the student is disqualified from the program and the final failure reported to the FGS Dean.

The schedule below takes the student through the program in one year. If MA students do not finish within a year, they will then pay continuing fees and are required to submit annual Progress Reports. Full-time students have four years, and part-time students five, to complete the MA; beyond that, extensions to a maximum of three more years may be granted by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Students should also consult the academic dates in the Graduate Calendar for the appropriate dates for submitting work to the Department and the FGS in time for Convocation.

MA graduates must have demonstrated proficiency in one language other than English. Students can fulfill the second language requirement in several ways. The most common is attaining a grade of C or better in a university-level course or courses approved by the Graduate Coordinator. Another is passing an approved language examination (such as the placement exam offered by Dalhousie’s French Department). Students who command strong proficiency in a second language may also appeal to the Graduate Committee for exemption from formal testing or course work.