The Joint Program in English and Education (JPEE) Graduate Program at the University of Michigan School of Education

This is a Rackham Graduate School joint program, which means that students take courses and draw upon resources in both the Department of English Language and Literature and the School of Education. If you have prior teaching experience and aspire to be a professor of English or a professor of education specializing in English education, rhetoric and composition or literacy, you may wish to consider the Joint Ph.D. Program in English and Education (JPEE).

The Joint Ph.D. Program in English and Education prepares students with prior teaching experience to assume positions as professors of English and/or professors of Education.  The Program emphasizes research traditions and methods appropriate to study in the discipline of English as well as those customarily followed in the study of educational issues; because of this, the Program is interdisciplinary in character, and students have the opportunity to take a broad range of courses in English and education, and others outside those fields.

What is the Program really like?

One of the Program's chief strengths is the consistent and supportive colleagueship that has developed among students and faculty. The Program has helped its many highly qualified students achieve a satisfying, rich doctoral experience; in large part because it offers mature graduate students the flexibility they need to achieve their own aims in a demanding intellectual environment. Current students will gladly explain their experience. A recent issue of the Program newsletter, Dimensions and Directions, is available upon request.

See what our graduates are doing.

Traditionally, graduates of the Program have obtained jobs in:  (a) university English departments focusing on rhetoric and composition or on English education (b) university departments of education, teaching methods courses, adolescent literature, or literacy courses.  Some graduates have found joint appointments in English departments and Schools of Education.  Others have assumed supervisory roles in state departments of education, in intermediate school districts, and in independent schools. The Program’s placement rate is excellent; please take a moment to view a list of our alumni and their current positions.

Joint Program in English and Education

"One of the things that makes our program particularly unique is that it brings together a discipline in the humanities and a discipline in the social sciences," says Professor Anne Gere. "What you get as a result of that particular combination is an unusually rich mixture, both conceptually and methodologically."

"It’s designed for people who are ready to make a career change," adds Gere. "They go from being a high school English teacher, say, to becoming a university professor of English or education. Or they go from someone who has been teaching writing, often as a lecturer or adjunct, to being someone who is a tenure-track professor. The preparation that students get here combines the humanistic tradition of rhetoric with the educational tradition of literacy studies, so these people are unusually well prepared."

Professor Lesley Rex cites a recently completed dissertation by Victoria Haviland, now a research associate, as an example of how the program’s students put that preparation at society’s service.

"She was interested in studying why it was so difficult for white female teachers, especially those beginning their professional lives, to talk with their students about issues of race and multiculturalism," Rex says. "Coming from her own experience as a white female teacher who had had that kind of difficulty, she discovered there wasn’t anything in the literature that would be helpful for beginning teachers. She set up her own study and found there were ways in which these teachers were talking to students that undermined having in-depth and relevant and potentially transforming discussions about race and multiculturalism. It contributes significantly to understanding why we’re having such a difficult time improving the study of multicultural issues in the classroom in this country."

"The joint program really allowed me to follow my own path in terms of designing a program that worked for me," says Haviland. "I was able to make choices much more freely among a range of courses within English and Education, and the humanities focus that I got through the English part led me to take anthropology classes and other kinds of research classes that are the exact same things that I ended up using in my dissertation."

How many courses are required to complete the program?

Four to six courses in English and an equal number in education are
required beyond the Master's degree.

Which courses are required?

Students design their own program of study, electing courses and designing exam reading lists in their areas of interest.  Students consult regularly about their program of study with the Program Co-Chairs.  A "specialization" should be considered early in the student's program of work.  It has proved useful to students to reach general ideas about specialization before the end of the first year of study.  Such general notions, however tentative, are useful in planning course selections and in laying the groundwork for the dissertation.

What are typical areas of specialization?

Students focus on a variety of areas ranging from topics in rhetoric and composition to theories and pedagogies of literacy to professional concerns.  Students usually specialize in the area in which they write their dissertations.

Examples of specific topics include:

• an examination of composition instruction at several historically black colleges
• a study of the way readers compose literacy practices in order to place themselves in a social world
• an investigation of the ways that white teachers, students, teacher educators, and researchers approach multicultural issues in white-dominated educational settings

The three examinations (see below) usually include the area of specialization but will also move beyond it.

How does a student satisfy the foreign language requirement?

Students are encouraged to fulfill the language requirement as early as possible after enrollment.  The requirement is typically fulfilled in one of two ways:  (a) by taking course work in the language at an advanced level (b) by taking and passing a departmental examination (one advanced exam or two basic exams).  In addition, students may petition the Program Committee to fulfill the requirement in another way that will better fit their individual backgrounds and/or academic plans.

Can you describe the qualifying Examinations in this program?

Students take three major qualifying examinations:

• Special Topic exam, which focuses on an area of interest for the student
• Theorization of Learning exam, which requires reflection on graduate school learning
• Prospectus for the dissertation constitutes the third examination 

To make timely progress toward the degree, students should complete all examinations and meet the foreign language requirement by the beginning of Winter Term of the third year.  Students who do not adhere to this schedule are not eligible for some fellowships.

Joint Program in English and Education (JPEE): Admissions FAQ

What degrees are required to apply?

• A Bachelor’s degree demonstrating broad preparation in English or in areas appropriate to the degree program.

AND

• A Master of Arts degree in English or education.

Is there a minimum grade point average needed to qualify for admission?

A grade point average indicating the abilities and habits necessary to achieve a strong record of graduate study at the University of Michigan is necessary.

How many new students are admitted each year?

4-6 students are admitted each fall. Competition for admission into this program is keen because the Program is small and highly selective. 

What kind of financial support is available?

All students accepted into the Program will be guaranteed five years of support.  This may come in the form of a fellowship or a teaching assistantship, but in either case it will be accompanied by full tuition remission and the option of health benefits.  The 2008-2009 stipend for Graduate Student Instructors teaching two terms is currently $16,134. Some students are supported by fellowships.

Is knowledge of a foreign language necessary to be considered for admission?

A background in one or more foreign languages is recommended as students in the Program must demonstrate either advanced competence in one foreign language, or basic competence in two foreign languages, in order to complete the Program.

Is teaching experience required?

It is necessary to have teaching and/or informal experiences, in or out of school settings in order to be considered for the Program.

How many letters of recommendation are needed to apply?

At least three letters of recommendation are required, two of which are from persons in a position to predict the applicant's success. Such persons might be professors associated with the student's study, administrators from an institution where the applicant has taught, or other persons familiar with graduate standards.

What tests are required?

The general GRE is required. Scores should be submitted to the English and Education Program using 1839 as the institution number, and 3900 as the program code.

• The GRE test date must be within five years of the application deadline (January 15) in order to be considered for admission.

Joint Program in English and Education: Admissions Information

Are you interested in applying to our program? If so, you've come to the right place. Just follow the steps below. Links will open up in a new window, close the window to return to this page.

1. Do you have any questions you would like answered before you apply? If so, contact the program . If not, continue on to item 2.

2.   If you would like to apply, please submit the following:

• A completed application sent to the program and a completed application and fee to the Horace H. Rackham Graduate School, which is the overall administrative unit for graduate programs. If the application is submitted online, both the program and the Graduate School will automatically receive a copy of the application. Fee waivers are available through the Rackham Graduate School for prospective students who qualify for Specialized Fee Waiver Groups. Please check Rackham's fee waiver Web page to see if you are eligible for one of these groups.
• Please send two official copies of transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate school attended to the program (Joint Program in English and Education) at 610 E. University, Room 2022, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259.
• References- at least three letters of recommendation.
• A clear and carefully considered statement of the applicant's academic and career interests (specifying reasons for wanting to enter this particular program), usually 1-3 pages in length.
• A 10-page sample of the applicant's academic writing.
• A carefully written personal statement of how your background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational or other opportunities or challenges, motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan?
• Curriculum Vitae/Resume
• Scores from the Graduate Record Examination, General Exam only. (The exam must have been taken within five years of the application deadline.)

3. Application Deadline: All materials must be received in our office by January 15 and applicants will be informed of decisions by mid-March.

Meanwhile, if you have questions about the Program, visit the Rackham Graduate School Web site or send an email message to the Coordinator of the Program, Jeanie Mahoney Laubenthal.

Note: We match documents to an application using the name appearing on the Rackham application. If the name on your documents, i.e., transcript, letter of recommendation, portfolio, etc., is different from the name appearing on your application, please be sure to indicate all former last names or other first names on question 3 of the Rackham application. Contact us if you have information about your name that you did not include on the Rackham application.

Beginning Fall 2006, the University of Michigan will require certain entering international students to be screened for tuberculosis (TB). This new requirement is in response to recommendations from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Michigan Advisory Committee for Elimination of Tuberculosis to screen individuals from countries where TB is common. Screening will be offered free on campus and a TB infection would not jeopardize a student's visa status. Health care is completely confidential. For further information, see http://www.uhs.umich.edu/tbscreen.

Joint Program in English and Education (JPEE): People

To assist those interested in the various concentrations, here are the names of faculty members, student ambassadors, and recent graduates involved with the JPEE specialization. If you have a general question about the program please visit the JPEE Contacts page. You can learn more about the faculty, students, and alumni here.

Faculty: To view a faculty member's research interests, click on their name (links open up a new window).

Anne Curzan

Anne Ruggles Gere Co-Chair

Elizabeth Moje

Alisse Portnoy

Lesley Rex Co-Chair

Mary J. Schleppegrell

Students

(If you wish to add an URL to your Web site, or wish to not be listed, please contact us by clicking here.)

Shelly Alilunas

Laura Aull

Heather Thomson Bunn

Michael Bunn

Amy Carpenter

Robert Cosgrove

Bethany Davila

Hannah Dickinson

Steven Engel

Moises Perales Escudero

Christopher Gerben

Denise Gray

Timothy Green

Brett Griffiths

Ben Gunsberg

Carlton "Zak" Lancaster

Danielle Lillge

Melinda McBee Orzulak

Stephanie Moody

Randy Pinder

Anne Porter

Melody Pugh

Christina Toth

Donna Scheidt

Staci Shultz

Ebony Thomas

Crystal Vankooten

Joanna Want

Alumni

Joint Program in English and Education (JPEE): Research

Here is a list of some of the projects that JPEE faculty and students are working on now, or have been involved with in the past.

Teachers for Tomorrow, funded by a Teacher Quality Grant- Joint Program in English and Education faculty are working with teachers from Willow Run Public Schools, UM graduate & undergrad students, trying to improve their quality of teaching and recruiting undergraduates to teach in urban/high need areas.

Making American Literatures Workshop - This summer workshop is a gathering of secondary ed English teachers learning to improve their teaching of literature.