Kent State University
Department of English
Kent, Ohio 44242
Overview
Founded in 1910 and situated on a 2,466-acre campus, Kent State University enrolls some 4,445 graduate and 33,850 undergraduate students in a variety of programs top-ranked in Northeast Ohio and throughout the country. Designated one of the nation’s “extensive” doctoral and research universities by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Kent State University houses 21 doctoral programs and allows for 50 specializations within 39 masters degree programs. The University employs more than 840 full-time, tenure-track faculty, many of whom have earned national and international reputations teaching and conducting research in its graduate programs. Kent State University’s English Department offers the M.A. in English with emphases on Literature and Writing, Teaching English as a Second Language, Comparative Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition, an M.A. in English for Teachers, and Ph.D. degrees in Literature and in Rhetoric and Composition.
The Community
Situated on a beautiful campus, many of Kent State’s older traditional-style buildings are arranged on the rolling, tree-covered front campus while newer portions of the campus offer attractively landscaped gardens and “green spaces” to complement the more modern lines of newer facilities. Despite its size, the Kent Campus provides complete accessibility though its student-operated campus bus system, the largest in the nation. Students at Kent enjoy a friendly, safe, small-town setting with a local library, several clubs, and restaurants within walking or riding distance from the University. The city offers attractive housing and neighborhoods, an excellent school system, recreational opportunities and a local park system. KSU is within travel distance to nearby Akron, Canton, and Cleveland and a few hours from larger cities such as Columbus, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. Sports fans will want to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, take in a game or two at Jacobs Field, the Gund Arena, or the new Cleveland Browns Stadium, and cheer on the more than 18 varsity teams sponsored by the University. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland also makes for an enjoyable and engaging day trip. Vital organizations such as the Graduate Student Senate (GSS), the Association of Graduate English Students (AGES), the Black Graduate Students Association (BGSA), and international student organizations ardently represent the various and diverse graduate student populations at KSU.
Programs of study and degree requirements
The English Department offers the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy with concentrations in a variety of areas. At the master’s level the Department offers a choice of four concentrations (1) English Literature and Writing, for those who plan to proceed for a doctorate or to enter careers in writing, publishing, teaching high school or college, or business; (2) English for Teachers, for those who seek enrichment of their teaching careers through advanced study in literature and composition; (3) teaching English as a second language, for those who plan to instruct foreign students and work in international programs; and (4) comparative literature, for those interested in literary studies across languages and cultures. Students are required to complete 33-36 hours of coursework for the M.A. The doctoral program is designed primarily for those who wish to teach literature and composition at the college or university level, and permits students to focus on literary traditions, literary theory, or rhetoric and composition. The focus on literary traditions or literary theory emphasizes the intersections of literature, cultural theory and social practice. The doctoral concentration in rhetoric and composition is focused on the study of literacy, rhetoric and social practice. Students pursuing the doctorate with a concentration in literature are required to complete 27 hours of coursework beyond the Masters; students pursing the doctorate with a concentration in rhetoric and composition are required to complete 30 hours of coursework beyond the Masters. A full description of requirements is available on request and on the department Web site at: http://dept.kent.edu/english/programs.htm.
Facilities & Resources
Kent’s twelve-story university library houses more than two million volumes, and has an especially strong Special Collections and Archives division with strengths in 19th and 20th century American and British literature, theater, and film. The University Special Collections and Archives holds several manuscripts by Richard Wright and manuscripts by Gary Snyder and William Carlos Williams. The papers of Hart Crane, and the papers of Marsden Hartley, Louis Zukofsky, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Nelson Algren, to name a few, contribute to making Kent State’s Special Collections a repository for archival research on 20th century literature and culture. Most English graduate courses are taught in Satterfield Hall, a three-story building with some three dozen classrooms, a Technology & Writing Research Classroom, a Graduate Student lounge, a Wick Poetry Program lounge, and faculty and graduate student offices.
Expenses and Aid
All applicants for admission may compete for tuition scholarships available in the form of departmental Graduate Assistantships. Graduate Assistantships at the M.A. level come with full tuition scholarships, a waiver of all in- and out-of-state fees, partially sponsored University health insurance, and a stipend of $8,950. Normally, M.A. appointees intern with graduate faculty during their first semester of study and teach one section of first-year writing during their second semester and two sections per semester thereafter. Graduate Assistantships at the Ph.D. level come with full tuition scholarships, a waiver of all in- and out-of-state fees, partially sponsored University health insurance, and a stipend of $10,400. Students on doctoral appointments normally teach two sections of first-year writing per semester. Applicants hoping to compete for assistantships should return an Application for a Graduate Appointment form with their materials no later than February 1st.
Resident and non-resident students who are not on appointment pay from $364-$768 per credit hour when enrolled for 1-10 hours. Ohio resident students enrolled in 11-18 program hours pay $3,960 each semester. Installment payment plans are available.
How to Apply
In addition to general requirements for admission, applicants should have a 3.0 GPA
(A = 4.0) in at least 16 hours of undergraduate work in English or related subjects beyond the first-year level. Applicants are required to submit with their application for admission a set of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) test scores (general test only), three letters of recommendation, a writing sample, a one- to two-page statement of purpose, and copies of all undergraduate and graduate transcripts. Students entering our graduate programs generally score well on the Verbal portion of the GRE General Test (550-650) and come to Kent State with GPAs of 3.5 or better.
Who to contact
Graduate Studies Coordinator
Kent State University
P.O. Box 5190
Kent, Ohio 44242
330-672-1742
THE FACULTY AND THEIR RESEARCH
Graduate faculty in all programs are active scholars and writers with established reputations, and all are engaged teachers committed to classroom involvement and pedagogical responsibility. Graduate faculty teaching in Kent’s English programs publish books regularly on a variety of literary, cultural, or creative topics and see their scholarship and creative work disseminated in scholarly and creative journals across the world. They share their intellectual passion with students at the masters and doctoral level through workshops, graduate classes, seminars, and teaching circles; through their work directing or participating in programs, institutes, and centers such as the Wick Poetry Program, the Institute for Applied Linguistics, the ESL Center, the IBE (Institute for Bibliography and Editing), the Center for Literature and Psychoanalysis, the Newberry Library (Chicago IL), and the Harvard English Institute (Cambridge MA); and through their work in editing journals, critical edition series, and poetry book series. Six scholarly journals are edited by members of the graduate faculty: Extrapolation (a science-fiction journal), Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers, Prose Studies, Written Communication, Journal for Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society, and The Chaucer Review.
I. LITERATURE AND WRITING FACULTY
Anthony C. Alessandrini, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Literatures in English, Rutgers University
Postcolonial literatures, Literary theory, Cultural studies, Gender studies
Maggie Anderson, Professor
M.A. English (creative writing), MA, West Virginia University
Creative writing (poetry), Appalachian literature
Larry R. Andrews, Associate Professor and Honors College Dean
Ph.D. Comparative Literature, Rutgers University
19c Russian and comparative European literature, African American women’s fiction
Diedre Badejo, Professor and Chair, Pan-African Studies Department
Ph.D. Comparative Literature, University of California Los Angeles
African American and African literatures, Women’s Studies, African religion and mythology
Mark Bracher, Professor
Ph.D. English, Vanderbilt University
Psychoanalytic cultural criticism, Literary theory, Literature and ethics, Pedagogy
Vera J. Camden, Associate Professor
Ph.D. English, University of Virginia
17c and 18c Literature, Critical theory, Psychoanalysis
Gary Ciuba, Associate Professor
Ph.D. English, Fordham University
20c Literature of the U.S. South, Violence and literature, Religion and literature
Tammy Clewell, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. English, Florida State University
20c British literature, Modernism and postmodernism, Contemporary critical theory
Ronald J. Corthell, Professor
Ph.D. English, Cornell University
17c Literature, Critical theory
Raymond A. Craig, Associate Professor
Ph.D. English, University of California Davis
Early American literature, American poetry to 1900
Roger Craik, Associate Professor
Ph.D. English, University of Southampton (England)
16c-17c Literature
Claire A. Culleton, Professor
Ph.D. English, University of Miami
20c British and Irish literature, Modernism, Cultural studies
Martha J. Cutter, Associate Professor
Ph.D. English, Brown University
Multiethnic literature of the U.S., American women’s writing, African American literature
Kathe Davis, Associate Professor and Director of Women’s Studies
Ph.D. English, Brown University
20c American poetry, Women’s studies, Critical theory
Allan Dooley, Professor
Ph.D. English, Northwestern University
Victorian literature, Textual criticism, Scholarly editing, Shakespeare
Florence Dore, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. English, University of California Berkeley
Feminist theory, 20c American literature
Zelma Edgell , Associate Professor
B.A. equivalent Journalism, Central London Polytechnic
Creative writing (fiction) Literature of the Caribbean
Susanna Fein, Professor and Chair
PhD. English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University
Medieval literature, Chaucer, Middle English manuscripts and editing, Vernacular literacy
Kristen M. Figg, Professor
Ph.D. English, Kent State University
Medieval literature, Translation, Composition studies, Women’s literature
Kevin Floyd, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. English, University of Iowa
20c American literature and culture, Marxism, Gender studies, Queer studies
Lewis Fried, Professor
Ph.D. American Literature, University of Massachusetts
20c Literature of the U.S., American realism, American social novel, Jewish American fiction
Paul L. Gaston, Professor and Provost
Ph.D. English, University of Virginia
20c Fiction, Poetry (17c-modern), Higher education administration
Yoshinobu Hakutani, Professor
Ph.D. English, Pennsylvania State University
Modern American literature, African American literature, Cross-culturalism
Donald M. Hassler, Professor
Ph.D. English, Columbia University
18c British literature, British and American science fiction
Thomas J. Hines, Professor
Ph.D. Comparative Literature, University of Oregon
Comparative literature, Modern poetry, Literature and other forms (art, philosophy, film)
Brooke Horvath, Professor
Ph.D. English, Purdue University
Writing, 19c and 20c American literature, Postmodern fiction, Contemporary theory
Virginia Horvath, Professor
Ph.D. English, Kent State University
Children’s literature, Young adult literature, Women’s studies, Teaching/faculty development
Wayne E. Kvam, Professor
Ph.D. English, University of Wisconsin
20c American literature, Comparative literature, Translation
Michael F. Lynch, Associate Professor
Ph.D. English, Kent State University
African American literature, Comparative literature
Anthony L. Manna, Professor
Ph.D. English Education, University of Iowa
Critical theory applied to children’s and young adult literature, Drama in education, Intersection of literature and literacy development
Nancy McCracken, Professor
Ph.D. Curriculum and Composition, New York University
English education (secondary and middle school), Gender studies, Composition pedagogy
Craig F. Paulenich, Associate Professor
Ph.D. English, Bowling Green State University; M.F.A. Creative Writing, University of Pittsburgh
Creative writing (poetry), Buddhism and contemporary American poetry
Sidney W. Reid, Professor
Ph.D. English, University of Virginia
Renaissance literature, Shakespeare, Textual editing, Joseph Conrad
Fredric S. Schwarzbach, Professor
Ph.D. English, University of London
Victorian literature, Cultural studies
Margaret Shaw, Associate Professor and Writing Program Coordinator
Ph.D. Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Pittsburgh
Victorian literature, Rhetoric and composition
Lawrence J. Starzyk, Professor
Ph.D. English, University of Chicago
Victorian literature and aesthetics
Robert Trogdon, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. English, University of South Carolina
20c American literature, Textual editing and bibliography, History of the book and profession of authorship
Joseph Wagner, Associate Professor
Ph.D. English, Kent State University
Renaissance literature, Shakespeare
J. Christopher Warner, Associate Professor
Ph.D. English, University of Washington
Renaissance literature and culture, History of early printing
II. RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION FACULTY
John M. Ackerman, Associate Professor
Ph.D. Rhetoric and Composition, Carnegie Mellon University
Social theory, Disciplinarity, Educational reform
Marlia Banning, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Communication, University of Utah
Cultural theory, Critical literacy, Ethnography
Patricia Dunmire, Associate Professor
Ph.D. Rhetoric, Carnegie Mellon University
Rhetorical theory and criticism, Critical discourse analysis
Christina Haas, Associate Professor
Ph.D. Rhetoric, Carnegie Mellon University
Literacy, Technology studies, Process research, Writing theory
Sara Newman, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Rhetoric, University of Minnesota
Classical rhetorical theory, History of rhetoric, Style
Kristen Precht, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Applied Linguistics, Northern Arizona University
Corpus linguistics, Register studies, Sociolinguistics
Margaret Shaw, Associate Professor and Writing Program Coordinator
Ph.D. Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Pittsburgh
Victorian literature, Composition theory and pedagogy, Literacy studies
Stephen P. Witte, Knight Professor of Rhetoric and Composition
Ph.D. English, Oklahoma State University
Workplace literacy, Research methods, Semiotics, Writing Process
III. MA TESL (TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE) FACULTY
Klaus Gommlich, Associate Professor and Director, ESL Center
Ph.D. English Semantics, Ph.D. Translation Studies, Leipzig University (Germany)
Linguistics, Translation studies, Second language acquisition, ESL pedagogy
Kristen Precht, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Applied Linguistics, Northern Arizona University
Corpus Linguistics, Register studies, Sociolinguistics
Sarah Rilling, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Applied Linguistics, Northern Arizona University
English as a Second Language Pedagogy, Applied Linguistics
Gregory M. Shreve, Professor and Director, Institute for Applied Linguistics
Ph.D. Linguistics, The Ohio State University
Applied Linguistics, Translation
David R. York, Boyd Professor of Physiology; Ph.D., Southampton (England), 1969. Obesity, diabetes, and metabolism research.