For teaching college English...

which degree would be better: an MFA in Creative Writing; a Master of Liberal Studies with a concentration in English/literature; an MA in Humanities with an English/literature concentration; or an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies with an English/literature/writing concentration?

 

I suppose it depends upon your place of employment. IOW is it a university or community college, etc.

Generally speaking, I would think the MFA would be a superior choice since it is a terminal degree.

clint

 

Basically, it depends on what you want to teach. If you want to teach people how to be writers, go for the creative writing degree. If you want to teach about great literature that's already been written, go for the literature degree. If you go for the Humanities, Interdisciplinary Studies, or Liberal Studies degree with concentration in Literature, make sure that your master's degree includes 18 hours in literature.

 

For teaching in an American college, would you choose a foreign degree with a cost of $2,000.00, or an American degree with a cost of $12,000.00?

 

American universities are perfectly willing to honor foreign degrees.

 

Ted,

I know, but if it came down to cost versus utility, which would you opt for -- the much less expensive foreign degree, or the more costly American degree of which there would be no questions?

 

Utility wins out for me.

 

I'd look to combine both like getting your $2000 foreign degree from a well-known school like University of South Africa www.unisa.ac.za if they've got the piece of paper that says what you want. But Jack Tracey is the expert on $2000 South African doctorates, so maybe you could ask him which ones are both good schools and easily recognizable stateside.

 

National University has a general M.A. in English, completely online, which is probably the best DL route to teaching college English.

 

Ted,

I can only do one degree, so I need to choose carefully and wisely.

My main interest is creative writing, but I want to choose the area that will give me the greatest chance of getting a job in a college English department.

I like the National Univ. degree in creative writing because it's an MFA and thus a terminal degree. But there are several SA schools where I could get an English degree very inexpensively, compared to U.S., U.K., and even Australian degrees.

 

Michael,

My undergrad is in English and I have looked for various options to combine a technical aspect with a continued interest in the field of literature, etc...

I like the following:

http://techcomm.usu.edu/grad/

followed by:

http://www.english.ttu.edu/tc/OnlinePhD/

Most English departments have the option to take technical communication as either a major or a degree. The technical communication field has broader utility (personal opinion) than an MFA or Masters in English. I say this because the Tech Comm degree has both academic and commercial utility. An MFA would narrow your options, but is still a great degree.

No one had mentioned this area so I thought I might add to the thread.

Good luck on your search,

Kevin