M.A. in English & Writing Studies
The new M.A. in English & Writing Studies will continue to offer a strong foundation in English studies with our concentrations in Applied Linguistics/TESL, Composition & Rhetoric, and Literature. We also have two exciting new interdisciplinary concentrations in Pedagogy and Public & Professional Writing. Students are also able to choose a dual concentration.
We take a holistic approach to our admissions process for the M.A. in English & Writing Studies. Your undergraduate GPA or standardized test scores do not define you and will not exclude you from consideration for our program. In fact, we do not use GRE scores in our admissions process. Instead, we consider a broad range of candidate qualities, including your personal attributes, past experiences, and future goals, and how those fit with our program and its values and objectives.
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Attending College is a wonderful, exhilarating, and sometimes intimidating step in preparing for you career goal. At Cal State University, San Bernardino, you will have the support of a small community to assist you in transforming your life.
Program Concentrations
Applied Linguistics & TESL
In this concentration, students explore various areas of language use, including grammar, sociolinguistics, discourse and cognition, and cross-cultural communication; as well as speech and language disorders; theories of first and second language acquisition; and approaches to English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) instruction. The concentration courses give students experience with using multiple analytic lenses from linguistics that can be applied in practical contexts, including advertising/marketing, technical writing, health communication, law, speech-language pathology, bilingual/multilingual studies, and classroom pedagogy—essentially any field in which expertise in language is required.
Composition & Rhetoric
This concentration focuses on writing--how written texts work rhetorically and stylistically; how historical and social conditions affect what we write; how we construct meaning as we read; and how to teach people to write effectively.
Literature
This concentration combines the study of writing with advanced study in literature. Courses introduce students to a variety of contemporary critical approaches to literature (e.g., ecocriticism, critical race studies, disability studies, and postcolonial theory) that students can use to craft research projects in the periods and genres that interest them.
Pedagogy
This new concentration is for students interested in pursuing scholarship on teaching and learning from an interdisciplinary perspective, allowing them to consider policy and pedagogical issues within the professional arenas in which they already work or would like to enter.
Public & Professional Writing
This new concentration is for students interested in developing portfolios and careers in writing for the public sphere and other civic and professional contexts such as grant writing, technical writing, and editing work.
Contact
For more information, contact one of the following graduate coordinators:
Dr. Jessica Luck: jluck@csusb.edu
Literature Coordinator
Dr. Sunny Hyon: shyon@csusb.edu
Applied Linguistics/TESL, Pedagogy, and Public & Professional Writing Coordinator
Dr. Karen Rowan: krowan@csusb.edu
Composition & Rhetoric Coordinator