Literature and Culture Certificate

Department of English, College of Arts & Sciences

Vision Statement

The graduate certificate in literature and culture offers an education in the intersection between literature written in English—either originally or in translation—with human culture broadly considered. The certificate will give high school teachers the credential to teach preparatory coursework worthy of college credit at UNO and other universities. And it is also designed as a continuing education option for anyone wishing to study literature at a post-baccalaureate level for personal enrichment. The certificate can be earned as part of the larger MA in English at UNO, and it can also be applied toward completion of that larger program retroactively.

The certificate will teach:

  • literature of every period, from ancient to modern, in a variety of thematic and historical contexts;
  • cultural encounters captured imaginatively on the pages of the literary text;
  • the relationship of a culture to the literature produced within it, both harmonious and discordant;
  • theories of literary effects on the course of human culture and history; and
  • literature as a celebrated artifact of human hope, critique, and beauty.

Although applicants need no formal training in literature to enroll, they should expect to be immersed in a professional discipline of literary study with a research component. One especially designated course required for the certificate will provide training for students in the methodology of literary research.

Program Contact Information

Robert Darcy, PhD, Director 
189J Arts & Science Hall (ASH) 
402.554.2638
rdarcy@unomaha.edu

Ramon Guerra, PhD, Graduate Program Chair (GPC) 
189E Arts & Science Hall (ASH) 
402.554.2096
rguerra@unomaha.edu

Program Website

Admissions

General Application Requirements and Admission Criteria

Program-Specific Requirements

Application Deadlines (Spring 2024, Summer 2024, and Fall 2024)

Applications for this program are accepted on a rolling basis. All materials must be submitted prior to the beginning of the semester in which the student has elected to begin coursework. 

Other Requirements

  • Applicants must have completed a baccalaureate degree  with at least a 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) GPA. Undergraduate study of literature is required. Students who do not bring 18 hours of undergraduate study in English, however, would be obligated to enroll in ENGL 8010 as their first course of study in the certificate.
  • English Language Proficiency: Applicants are required to have a command of oral and written English. Those who do not hold a baccalaureate or other advanced degree from the United States, OR a baccalaureate or other advanced degree from a predetermined country on the waiver list, must meet the minimum language proficiency score requirement in order to be considered for admission.

    • Internet-based TOEFL: 100, IELTS: 7.5, PTE: 68, Duolingo: 130 

Degree Requirements

Required Courses
ENGL 8010SEMINAR: TEXT-BASED RESEARCH METHODS FOR ENGLISH STUDIES3
Electives15
AMERICAN POETRY TO 1900
AMERICAN POETRY SINCE 1900
SEMINAR: WALT WHITMAN AND EMILY DICKINSON
BOOK-SMART: EDUCATION IN LITERATURES AND CULTURES
THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
QUEER AMERICAN WESTS
RENAISSANCE SATIRE
YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
BRINGING THE WAR HOME: DEPICTIONS OF WAR VETERANS IN LITERATURE AND FILM
MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
THE AMERICAN NOVEL
SEMINAR: TOPICS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE
AMERICAN LITERARY REALISM AND NATURALISM
SEMINAR: POSTMODERN FICTION OF THE UNITED STATES
TOPICS IN AMERICAN REGIONALISM
LATINO LITERATURE
TEACHING LATINO LITERATURE
WOMEN'S STUDIES IN LITERATURE
GLOBAL WOMEN WRITERS
WOMEN WRITERS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WEST
SEMINAR: SHAKESPEARE
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE
CHAUCER
SHAKESPEARE
RESTORATION AND EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE
MEDIEVAL CELTIC LITERATURE
IMMIGRATION, MIGRATION, AND DIASPORA: CRITICAL APPROACHES AND THEORIES OF MOVEMENT IN LITERATURE
LITERATURE OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD
NINETEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH AND ANGLOPHONE LITERATURES
THE BRITISH AND ANGLOPHONE NOVEL (19TH AND 20TH CENTURY)
Total Credits18