LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

2024-2025 CATALOG

The Academic Catalog is the official listing of courses, programs of study, academic policies and degree requirements for Loyola University Chicago. It is published every year in advance of the next academic year.

English (BA/MA)

The English Department offers a five-year combined BA/MA degree. Graduates of this program will be well prepared to pursue a PhD in English, to apply to a professional school, or to seek a teaching position at the post-secondary level. The combined degree will allow promising and talented undergraduates to move quickly through the MA degree.

The program offers our best undergraduates access to the considerable strengths of our strong and highly-regarded graduate programs. It will give these English majors a significant opportunity to test their skills and develop professional insights, leading to stronger applications when it is time for them to be considered by PhD programs elsewhere or for post-secondary teaching positions, as well as in industries where an advanced degree in English is sought (marketing, communications, editing, and professional writing for example). While completing the equivalent of the requirements for the BA in English, students in the five- year program will receive significantly more training in research skills and methods than their counterparts who complete only the BA. They may also fulfill the requirement for the undergraduate capstone course (ENGL 390 Advanced Seminar) with a graduate seminar.

Students in the BA/MA program have two electives at the graduate level, which may be used to take courses in another department or an interdisciplinary program that offers a graduate degree, such as History, Philosophy, or Women’s Studies and Gender Studies. The new MA in Digital Humanities also provides opportunities for students in the BA/MA program to take courses in textual scholarship.