Ph.D. in English

Our nationally-ranked PhD program offers opportunities for advanced study in a variety of literary and language fields, including literary and cultural history; aesthetic, critical and cultural theory;digital and media studies; humanistic engagement with the sciences; and language, rhetoric, and composition. While students pursue individualized programs of study within the parameters of our degree requirements, they share the qualities of excellent critical thinking and writing, and above all, of intellectual curiosity. Admission to the PhD program is highly competitive, but once a part of the student body, our students are collectively mutually supportive and develop networks of collegial friends often maintained well beyond their time at UMD.

Our students gain extensive teaching experience as part of their training at UMD, and our placement record is among the best in the nation. (Please see Graduate Placement Resources and http://english.umd.edu/academics/graduate/achievements/placements for more information.)