Trent University and the Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning are celebrating an exciting new collaboration that will provide students with an opportunity to graduate with both a master’s degree in English (Public Texts) and a post-graduate certificate in Creative Book Publishing.

“The main attraction of this new agreement is that it gives students the opportunity to combine an academic degree with really excellent training in the publishing industry,” said Dr. Zailig Pollock, director of the English Literature MA program in Public Texts at Trent.

For Professor Pollock and Professor Cynthia Good, director of the Creative Book Publishing certificate program at Humber, the partnership between the two programs is a natural fit, allowing students to benefit from the best of both academic worlds – combining academic study with hands-on instruction from the publishing industry.

“There is a real synergy in the two programs,” Ms. Good said. “We always have a number of students in our certificate program interested in going on to pursue graduate studies. This collaboration makes that transition a little easier.”

In addition to her role as director of the certificate program at Humber, Ms. Good is also one of Canada’s leading publishing authorities and the former president of Penguin Books. It was during her time as Trent’s 2007/08 Ashley Fellow that she and Prof. Pollock came up with the idea to combine the two programs.

Under the new collaboration, students will apply to both programs separately. Once accepted, they will spend two semesters at Trent before starting the certificate program at Humber in the summer. In the fall, students must complete a guaranteed internship before being eligible to graduate with a master’s degree.

Currently, an internship is an option in the English MA program at Trent but is not required, or guaranteed, in the certificate program. By combining opportunities, this new agreement will grant students unprecedented options when it comes to completing their internship, providing a wide variety of placements ranging from large publishing houses to local theatre companies and other community organizations.

Applications to the collaborative program are now being accepted. The first group of students are expected to begin their studies at Trent in the fall of 2009.

For more information visit the Public Texts M.A. program website.