Graduate

In addition to our Ph.D. in English Literature, USC English is one of a very small group of institutions in America to offer a combined Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature. Students admitted to this track take a series of writing workshops taught by our internationally renowned creative writing faculty and graduate literature seminars with their cohorts in the literature track. Working together as scholars, students in both tracks find the collaboration a remarkably fruitful, mutually inspiring, and indeed unique aspect of our program.

Unlike traditional departments that organize themselves according to historical periods, USC English finds its intellectual coherence in a variety of interests that tend to overlap periods and fields. Literary history is vital to our endeavors but is filtered through a series of shared rubrics and strengths which include, but are not limited to:

Early Modern / Nineteenth-Century literature: With over ten faculty members who work between British and American literatures in this historical time period, USC’s English department represents one of the highest concentrations in these fields. Prospective study in these areas is augmented by nearby, world-class institutions such as the Huntington Library and the Clark, and USC’s own Institute for Early Modern Studies.

Poetry and Poetics: Recent years have seen a renaissance of cutting-edge work in the genre of poetry, especially in modernism but reaching out to earlier periods and encompassing the critical work of our poets.

Gender and Sexuality: Historically strong in feminist criticism, the department now boasts unparalleled depth in queer theory and studies in sexuality.

Media, film, and popular culture: The study of popular culture in the department reaches across all literary periods, from twentieth-century film to performance studies and studies in material culture.

Studies in race and minority literatures: Many of our Americanists specialize in minority and ethnic studies; associated concerns such as global, transnational, and postcolonial theory; or regional literatures of California and the West.

Narrative studies: One of the department’s strongest clusters involves the study of narrative, including the history and theory of the novel, film narrative, and non-fictional narrative.

To a degree unprecedented in other programs, USC English’s curriculum incorporates a series of “professionalization” courses designed to introduce Ph.D. students in both tracks to current issues and debates in the profession, thereby preparing them to enter academia equipped with the best tools possible. These courses mark pivotal stages in the students’ progress from arrival to placement. See “Career Training and Placement” for more details.