Literature and Cultural Theory (Plan A) in the Department of English at UWM offers a flexible program that allows students to develop and follow their interests in a recognized field of literary study (see our major fields below), while also providing rigorous training in established and cutting-edge cultural and literary theory. We offer both an MA and a PhD. We enroll and welcome a range of students, including current K-12 teachers seeking to enrich their expertise, advanced students already holding the MA, and recent BA graduates looking to begin their professional studies. The title of our program emphasizes our faculty’s equal commitment to the study of literary genres, periods, and areas, as well as our dedication to interdisciplinary approaches to culture and theory.
As the conjunction in Literature and Cultural Theory suggests, students may focus their coursework on established literary fields, or they may choose to take a majority of seminars in cultural theory. Our faculty members are keenly aware of the need for professionalization in the discipline and have dedicated a course to the practicalities of negotiating graduate school. Topics in this one-credit course include, for example, an introduction to the scholarly expertise of our faculty, a guide to best practices for presenting at conferences and submitting articles, and a review of methods and practices of literary pedagogy.
In short, Plan A offers students an exciting program in literature and cultural theory, one that is theoretically sophisticated, broadly internationalist, comparative and committed to the professional development of our students.
Please visit our Fall 2020 Literature and Cultural Theory Courses page for more information.
The major fields of Literature and Culture in which students can specialize are:
- Indigenous Literary Studies
- Irish Studies
- Postcolonial Literature
- U.S. Ethnic and Multicultural Studies
- Writing by Women
- Transnational Literature
- British and Irish Literature and Culture (see subdivisions in Preliminary Exams)
- American Literature and Culture (see subdivisions in Preliminary Exams)
Please Apply!
Contact Person
Associate Professor Barrett Kalter
bkalter@uwm.edu
Curtin Hall 595
Literature and Cultural Theory Faculty
