Opportunities

Assistantships

Most of our Ph.D. and second-year M.A. students are funded through assistantships, teaching sections of English 1101 (introduction to academic discourse) and 1102 (introduction to writing about literature), the two first-year courses in the department. Listed as Instructor of Record for these courses, graduate students enjoy creating their own syllabi and assignments, while still following a few departmental requirements. Thanks to the required training offered by the First-year Composition (FYC) Program, our TAs enter the classroom well prepared and supported by a network of teaching mentors.

A few TAs serve on the FYC Committee each year and a small group of senior TAs are given the opportunity to teach sophomore-level literature or creative writing courses each semester.  Students on teaching assistantships also have the opportunity to work as consultants in the Writing Center or as developers in the FYC Digital Learning Labs, according to their interests and abilities.

A handful of Ph.D. students hold research assistantships, which allow them to work closely with English Department faculty on scholarly projects, gaining first-hand experience in various aspect of academic work.

UGA’s literary journal, The Georgia Review, also offers a one-year internship for which our graduate students compete annually.

Oxford Study Abroad Program 

An advantage of graduate literary studies at UGA, as compared with other institutions in the southeast, is the UGA-at-Oxford Program, founded in 1989 by a medievalist, Dr. Judy Shaw. The Program is an academically rigorous undergraduate study-abroad opportunity, which employs graduate students as resident administrators throughout the year. Now in the care of Dr. James McClung, who teaches in Postcolonial, British, and American literature (20th-C.) in the English Department, the Program offers Ph.D. students the opportunity to compete for a small number of assistantships in Oxford. Graduate students who are chosen to accompany the program during the summer earn three hours of credit working with an Oxford faculty member in their area of special interest and in pursuit of research at the Bodleian Library, British Library, and in special collections throughout the United Kingdom. Upon completion of a summer assistantship, graduate students become eligible for semester-long stints in Oxford, during which time they have further opportunity to work with Oxford University faculty. (Recent recipients of the UGA-at-Oxford Assistantship have also had Oxford tutors serve on their dissertation committees.) For further information, contact the program director, Dr. James McClung, jmcclung@uga.edu or 706-583-0455.

Student Organizations 

All English graduate students are automatically members of the English Graduate Organization. EGO exists to host academic and social events that foster collegial relationships among and between graduate students and faculty. Students have the opportunity to nominate and elect EGO officers annually.

Each spring, he English Department also asks graduate students to nominate and elect one M.A. and one Ph.D. student to serve as representatives to UGA’s departmental Graduate Committee.

All graduate students are encouraged to become active participants in UGA’s Graduate-Professional Student Association.

Professionalization and Job Placement Support 

Each spring, the English Department offers Practicum in Professionalization (ENGL 6999), a one-hour-credit course designed to help students make the most of the resources available to them during their time at UGA. Topics covered range from participating in conferences to preparing for the job market.

ENGL 6999 is taught by the Job Placement Officer, a member of the English graduate faculty who supports students on the market in various ways, including reviewing application materials and conducting mock interviews.