MA in English Language & Literatures
Whether your passion is teaching, writing, research, or publishing, you’ll build a strong career foundation with the English Language and Literatures Program at Mills. Your studies will culminate with a scholarly thesis that showcases your original research.
About the Program
The master of arts (MA) in English language and literatures is designed to develop your critical writing and scholarly research skills essential to a variety of professional paths. Our alumnae go on to study in top-tier PhD programs, and many have found positions as full-time professors at both community colleges and four-year institutions. Others teach high school or have embarked on promising careers in critical and technical writing, publishing, editing, and content curation across various fields and platforms. Others put their skills to work in public policy, public relations, corporations, or community organizations.
While at Mills, you’ll have the opportunity to study with our faculty of renowned scholars and writers, and to explore both historical traditions and contemporary literatures within various theoretical frameworks in a wide range of classes. You’ll work closely and collaboratively with faculty to choose a course of study and develop a final thesis project that is a sustained piece of scholarly research. Our students regularly attend and present work at nationally recognized conferences, and alumnae publish articles and books based on the work they completed at Mills.
Mills also offers a wide range of teaching and professional development opportunities for graduate students. Our MA candidates are active teachers and tutors at Mills and in the greater San Francisco Bay Area community, assisting in undergraduate classrooms and working at local high schools and colleges.
You’ll have opportunities to engage with professors, students, and a vibrant literary community through numerous activities on and off campus. We encourage students to interact with the local literary network which encompasses UC Berkeley, Stanford, and San Francisco State for access to a wide range of lectures and research libraries. Cross-registration at UC Berkeley and other local institutions is available, as is access to courses across the Mills College curriculum.
Students who enroll full time can expect to complete the MA degree requirements in two years. Part-time study options are also possible, but may extend the total length of your program.
All graduate students in the English Literatures and Languages Program are encouraged to apply for part-time graduate assistantships. We also offer a small number of competitive full-tuition fellowships to applicants entering the MFA and MA programs. Learn more about our special funding opportunities for English Literatures and Languages graduate students.