Carnegie Mellon University

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Careers and Placement for Literary & Cultural Studies Masters Graduates

Graduates pursue a range of academic and professional careers after earning the M.A. degree in Literary & Cultural Studies.


Examples of recent placement for CMU English M.A. students in Literary & Cultural Studies include:

  • Pursuing PhD programs at a variety of prestigious universities.
  • Professional careers in nonprofits, publishing, marketing, business.
  • Teaching in secondary institutions and community colleges.

Alumni Spotlight: Cate Heiner

Class of 2018, Ph.D. Student in Theatre History and Theory, University of Washington

"I frequently return to resources used in classes in my work. I'm a dramaturg by trade, so this year I've used many of the literary and theoretical approaches covered in coursework during rehearsal processes. I have also had the chance to develop a research paper from a CMU class into a published article, and I'm currently revising another submission based on a paper I gave at a conference. It's also been great to have a social network developed through CMU--I've stayed in touch with a number of others in my cohort, as well as students in the PhD program. I feel that being part of the CMU community has opened doors for me that I didn't know existed, and now I get to take advantage of those opportunities."

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Graduate School Destinations (2013-2023)

Ph.D. Programs
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Duquesne University
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • University of Michigan
  • University of Washington
  • University of Maryland, College Park
  • University of California at Irvine

  • University of Texas at Austin
  • Northwestern University
  • Texas A&M University
  • Brown University
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • University of South Carolina
  • Lehigh University
Law School
  • Illinois Institute of Technology
  • University of Virginia
  • West Virginia University
  • University of California, San Francisco

Recent Jobs (2013-2023)

  • Duquesne University, Admissions Recruitment Coordinator
  • Colibri Group, Copy Editor
  • Genetics Society of America, Communications Specialist 
  • Project Manager, Bringing Health Home (Housing Authority of the City of Austin)
  • Abernathy MacGregor, Associate
  • The Pennsylvania State University - Fayette Campus, Adjunct Professor of English
  • Developer, JSTOR Labs
  • Assistant Director of Admissions (Marketing & Communications), Carnegie Mellon University
  • Academic Advisor, Winchester Thurston
  • Substitute Teacher and Paraprofessional, La Cañada Unified School District
  • EF Education First, ESL Teacher 
  • Editorial Assistant, Langtons International Agency
  • Editor, WebstaurantStore.com
  • Writer, PGH in the Round 
  • Copywriter, Symbiosis Educational Consultants
  • Claims Analyst, Paragon ARS, Inc. 
  • Instructional Designer, SocialCode
  • Associate Professor of English, Los Angeles Community College District
  • Managing Editor, Hermes Press
  • Coordinator of Public Programs, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
  • Development Assistant, Arena Stage
  • Marketing Associate, Schantz Galleries 
  • Operations Assistant, PeerJ
  • Human Resources Manager, U.S. Army Reserves
  • Senior Solutions Architect, Amazon
  • Teacher, Huntington Learning Center 
  • Teacher, Julius West Middle School
  • Communications Manager, MIA+BSI: The Natural Stone Institute
  • Sr. Software Engineer, Duquesne Fund Services LLC 
  • Director of Communications & Community, Character.org
  • Project Manager, Quest Mindshare
  • English Teacher, The Ethel Walker School
  • Teacher, Allendale Elementary School 
  • Digital Scholarship Librarian, University of Pittsburgh 
  • Sci/Tech Editor, Salon.com
  • Email and Content Program Manager, Gartner 
  • Technical Writer, CGH Technologies, Inc.
  • Dreams of Hope, Academic + Community Educator
  • Program Administrator for the Child Welfare Education and Research Programs, University of Pittsburgh
  • Pricing Analyst, Thermo Fisher Scientific
  • Sr. Publicist, Macmilliam / Picador 
  • Proposal Writer, PwC
  • Legal Assistant, DeForest Koscelnik Yokitis & Beradinelli
  • Conflicts/New Business Analyst, Sidley Austin LLP
  • Inbound Student Advisor, Institute of International Education
  • Content Writer, VLN Partners