Master of Arts in English

at Northeastern Illinois University USA

Major in Management: With a curriculum encompassing leadership and managerial skills, organization theories, international business, and strategic management, this major will equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully lead and manage people and organizations. The large set of permissible electives caters to student's own career interests to build strengths and allows for the development of a broad range of business competencies.

Major in Management with Human Resources concentration: Designed for students who aspire for knowledge of a broad range of human resources principles and practices, this major has a focused elective curriculum on knowledge and tools in human resource management aligned with the current needs of organizations. Upon the successful completion of the concentration, students will be better prepared for the role of HR generalist or specialist in a variety of organizations.

The Management major is designed for those who wish to learn how to plan and organize the collection of activities, organizational infrastructure, capital and human resources involved in business processes, as well as how to staff, lead and control these processes to achieve an organizational goal. Students can choose one of two concentrations:

• Management
• Human Resources

The College of Business and Management has a set of well-established Program Learning Goals and Learning Objectives across all programs that are assessed on a periodic basis. The College of Business and Management is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and is among the top five percent of the worldwide business schools offering degree programs. See the Dean’s Welcome for four compelling features to study in the College of Business and Management.

The Music Department at NEIU offers a Master of Arts in Music degree in Applied Pedagogy. Pedagogy is defined as the art of teaching. This degree prepares students who already have a Bachelor's degree in music for successful 1) college level teaching, 2) in-service elementary and secondary public or private school teaching, 3) or for continuing into doctoral degree work.

The Music Department at Northeastern offers a Master of Arts in Applied Music Pedagogy. Pedagogy is defined as the art of teaching. This degree prepares students who already have a bachelor's degree in music for successful:

• College-level teaching;
• In-service elementary and secondary public or private school teaching; or
• Continuation into doctoral degree work.

Northeastern is one of the only universities in the region to offer a degree in pedagogy.

The Middle Level Education program (MLED) will provide students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to be successful teachers in grades 5-8.  Candidates choose a minimum of one discipline to earn their endorsement from Social Studies, Math, Science, and/or Language Arts.  Subject area endorsements require 21 hours of approved content courses in the discipline.  MLED Candidates complete two clinical experiences in grades 5-8 classrooms totaling 200 hours and full-time student teaching in their endorsement area for 16 weeks.  Candidates who complete the MLED program qualify for the Illinois Middle Grade Professional Educator License to teach in their endorsement area(s). 

The Art Education program provides a foundation of studio art and art history for students pursuing a career in art education.
Completion of the Bachelor of Arts in Art Education will satisfy all standards for teacher licensure as required by the Illinois State Board of Education. Northeastern Illinois University has not made a determination as to whether this education degree program meets the educational requirements for licensure or certification in any of the other 54 U.S. states and jurisdictions. Specific requirements for licensure or certification in states other than Illinois vary from state-to-state. In some cases, you may need to take additional coursework or exams to meet individual state requirements and/or you may need to complete background checks.

Political Science is central to an understanding of all basic social issues; therefore, an understanding of political life is indispensable for any well-educated person. The department currently offers an undergraduate major, a minor in political science, a minor in public administration, and a graduate program leading to the master's degree.

Areas of political science in which courses are offered include:

• American Politics and Public Affairs
• International Relations and Comparative Politics
• Political Theory

Within each area, major themes are explored (e.g., public policy and administration, political values and change, elite-mass relationships, and political parties and groups).

The graduate program in English develops skills in critical thinking, writing, and research, encourages intellectual curiosity, and provides training for careers and professional advancement in related fields such as teaching, editorial work, journalism, publishing, writing, and research.

Students pursuing the MA in English choose between two degree concentrations, Literature or Composition. The two-track curriculum provides two separate fields of study within English, offering multiple career opportunities as well as preparing students for doctoral work.

The graduate program offers work leading to a Master of Arts degree in Linguistics. Our dynamic curriculum combines core studies in the structure of language [phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics] with current approaches in sociolinguistics, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, language contact and bilingualism, World Englishes, native and endangered languages, discourse analysis, and identity studies.

Our carefully designed curriculum provides students with a solid foundation in the study and understanding of human language as a convergence of genetic, psychological and social systems and networks. We train students to critically examine and analyze the world within and around them—skills that can be applied to teaching, curriculum development, corporate cultures, legal contexts, intercultural communication, forensics, artificial intelligence, publishing, counseling, speech pathology, and child development. Knowledge of how and why we use language brings us closer to understanding who we are and how we can affect our worlds.

The Economics major provides students with a rigorous applied and theoretical curriculum designed to prepare students for careers in quantitative and analytical positions in private, public and non-profit organizations. We provide a flexible program based on a common core of theory courses and an array of elective courses offered at a range of times designed to accommodate both daytime and evening students.

Our curriculum is designed around five concentration tracks based on faculty skills and popular career paths, but Economics majors have a great deal of freedom to choose elective courses that meet individual goals.

Economics, as a field in general and at Northeastern in particular, provides training in building strong economic fundamentals, and sharpens analytical and critical thinking skills. The program is rigorous, and yet accessible to a large population of students with diverse backgrounds. Some of the program benefits include:

• Build/enhance quantitative and written skills
• Sharpen critical and analytical thinking power
• Studying content with depth and substance
• Rigorous and yet accessible curriculum
• Focus on both theoretical and applied components
• Dynamic range of concentrations available
• Almost all courses taught by field experts
• Small class size
• Opportunities for research collaborations
• Prepare for graduate studies

The Elementary Education Program provides students with knowledge of philosophical and psychological elements of  teaching and learning, general and specific methods of instruction, and clinical intern experiences of at least 200 hours in local schools prior to the full-day student teaching experience.  Students who complete this program qualify for elementary education licensure. Upon licensure, they are eligible to teach elementary school (grades 1-6).
Program Outcomes:

Students completing the Elementary Education major will:

• Develop highly reflective, creative, and critical teaching skills and demonstrate the knowledge to connect theory to practice.
• Show evidence of a wide repertoire of teaching strategies across the curriculum, and an understanding of inquiry and project-based teaching.
• Demonstrate deep content knowledge across the curriculum.
• Demonstrate knowledge of skills and practices in literacy instruction for diverse learners across the curriculum.
• Develop the skills and habits of mind to critique knowledge, curriculum, and standards, and analyze the political and moral dimensions of schooling and teaching.
• Develop the skills and knowledge to implement culturally relevant pedagogy that considers all forms of diversity; and show evidence of the ability to integrate this content into their classroom curriculum.
• Demonstrate their ability to use and integrate technology and media in their teaching and across the curriculum.
• Demonstrate their ability to use a variety of assessment approaches for instructional decision-making.
• Have an understanding of educational research and demonstrate the skills to locate and critique scholarly and relevant studies.
• Demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrate the ability to create a classroom community that is safe, creative, caring, inclusive, and motivating for learning.
• Understand the principles of social justice, the role of schooling in a democracy, and the ability to teach for active citizenship and critical literacy.
• Demonstrate the ability to integrate critical thinking and problem solving in their teaching.
• Show evidence of professionalism, responsibility, integrity, and the ability to work collaboratively for the success of all students.
• Assume responsibility for their own on-going professional development, and understand the role of teachers as school and social change agents

The Master of Arts Program critically examines Latin American cultural forms of expression in their socio-historical contexts; develops skills to work with Latin American and US Latina/o populations in linguistically and culturally appropriate ways; and enhances career opportunities in education, government, international business, and the culture industries. Courses are regularly offered during the late afternoon and evening.