Mar 29, 2024  
Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog 2018-2019 
    
Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog 2018-2019 [ARCHIVED CATALOG] See drop-down menu above to access other catalogs.

English, MAT


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Department: English

The Master of Arts in Teaching degree in English (MAT) is designed for high school and middle school English teachers seeking a master’s degree for professional licensure in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Applicants to the MAT program must already have initial licensure to teach in the state. With course work in the Departments of Education and English, the MAT in English degree provides a balanced emphasis on teaching skills and deeper content knowledge within the discipline of English studies. Graduate faculty in English offer seminars in canonical and emerging British, American and world literatures; composition and rhetoric; linguistics and TESOL; creative writing; and film studies. Education course work focuses on topics such as instruction and assessment techniques for diverse learners, standards-based curriculum, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and the teacher as advocate and leader.

Standard Admission Requirements


  • A minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.75 based upon four years of course work or a 3.0 undergraduate GPA based upon work completed during the junior and senior years
  • An initial teaching license
  • Three letters of recommendation. At least two recommenders should be professors; another could be a school administrator or supervisor. 
  • Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate course work
  • Resumé
  • A 450-500 word statement of purpose, including reasons for undertaking the degree, relevant experience and aptitude, and academic topics of interest in the field

Expedited Admission Requirements


For students who graduated from Bridgewater State University with a BA in English (within the past 5 years) and a minimum GPA of 3.5 in English major course work:

  • An initial teaching license
  • One letter of recommendation from a member of the graduate faculty in English at BSU 
  • Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate course work
  • A 450-500 word statement of purpose, including reasons for undertaking the degree, relevant experience and aptitude, and academic topics of interest in the field

Program of Study


Electives in literary studies (6 credits)


Complete two courses, selected from the following:

Elective in ethnic or culturally diverse literature or writing (3 credits)


Complete one course, selected in consultation with the Graduate Program Coordinator.

Elective in English education (3 credits)


Complete one course, selected from the following:

Total minimum credits: 33*


*For students who completed a graduate English course for undergraduate credit (with a minimum grade of “B”) at Bridgewater State, one course may be waived with approval of the DGCE Chair (Graduate Coordinator) to reduce the minimum number of credits to 30.

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