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Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies
20 Credits
As a student in the online Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies, you explore the core principles of writing and literature. You learn to teach students to craft sound arguments using close attention to logic, context, and audience. You also develop a fluency with the current debates, schools, and theories of writing instruction.
Areas of focus include:
- Contemporary theory on the pedagogy of composition and literature
- Linguistic structures and history of the English language
- Reading strategies and literary analysis, with attention to close reading, style, form, genre, and rhetorical practices
- Approaches to composition and writing instruction, including the identification and evaluation of sources, use of evidence, generation of ideas, and the development and organization of argument
- Developing archival research skills and facility with electronic resources
- Developments, trends, and frontiers in the digital humanities
Your Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies prepares you for such careers as:
- Composition dual-credit teacher (high school)
- Composition instructor (community college)
This program is part of the School of Humanities & Social Sciences.
The Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies is ideal for those who want to teach dual-credit courses and who need to meet Higher Learning Commission dual-credit qualification standards. These standards require teachers wanting to teach dual-credit courses to hold either a master's degree in their area of instruction or a master's degree in another discipline (such as education), plus at least 18 credit hours of discipline-specific graduate coursework.
- If you hold a master's degree in another discipline, you can meet HLC standards by completing the 20 credit hour Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies.
- If you plan to pursue the online MA in English, you may apply the 20 credit hours from the Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies toward the master's degree.
Program Requirements
To enroll in this program, you must possess either a BA in English (or related bachelor's degree in education with an English specialization, concentration, or outside area) or two years of secondary teaching experience in literature or composition classes. To earn the Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies, you must complete a total of 20 credit hours.
NOTE: If you choose to pursue the online MA in English, these certificate courses may apply to ("stack into") your degree requirements. Admission to the Certificate in Composition Studies does not constitute admission into any of the face-to-face graduate programs in English at the participating campuses.
Admissions
To be accepted to this program, you must have:
- A bachelor's degree: To enroll in this program, you must possess either a BA in English (or related bachelor's degree in education with an English specialization, concentration, or outside area) or two years of secondary teaching experience in literature or composition classes.
- 3.0 GPA or above on a 4.0 scale
NOTE: This program is authorized, exempt, or not subject to state regulatory compliance and may enroll students from all 50 states
To apply to this program:
Complete an online application that includes: - Transcripts
- 250-word personal statement explaining background and reasons for entering the program
- TOEFL scores (international students only)
Courses
Core courses:
- ENG-G 660 Stylistics -or- ENG-L 646 Readings in Media/Literature/Culture (4 Credits)
- ENG-W 500 Teaching Composition: Issues & Approaches -or- ENG-W 509 Writing and Literacy Studies (4 Credits)
- ENG-W 501 Teaching of Composition in College -or- ENG-W 600 Topics of Rhetoric and Composition (4 Credits)
- ENG-W 590 Teaching Writing: Theories and Application -or- ENG-W 620 Advanced Argumentative Writing (4 Credits)
- ENG-W 682 Sp. Topics: Rhetoric & Composition (4 Credits)