Students must secure departmental approval for a program of courses including a minimum of 90 hours beyond the baccalaureate (usually 60 hours of course work plus 30 hours of dissertation credit). Work completed as part of a master's program and accepted as part of admission credentials may be included in the 90 hours. Other transfer credit, to a maximum of 9 hours, will be evaluated by the Director of Graduate Studies. Students who do not have courses in Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton in their undergraduate records must include such courses in their program of courses at the master's or doctoral level. All doctoral students must have English 501 Bibliography and Methods of Research and English 511 History of the English Language (or another graduate-level course in Old English language or Middle English language). Programs must also include at least four 600-level seminars. The author courses, if taken at the graduate level, and the seminars may also be offered in satisfaction of the core and area requirements listed below.
In addition, students who select Option A, the traditional research emphasis, must include in their programs of study three graduate courses (500- or 600-level) in each of the following areas:
Students who select Option B, the pedagogical emphasis, must include in their programs of study courses in the following areas:
Students in either option may select a minor field consisting of a program of not more than 12 hours of closely related courses in any one of the following fields or in some other field approved by the department:
A. Core Requirements (6 hours)
1. Bibliography & Methods of Research: _______
2. English 511 (or 512 or 513): ________
B. Area Requirements (27 hours)
1. Major Authors (graduate or undergraduate)
Chaucer _________
Shakespeare _____
Milton __________
2. Pre-1660 British Literature (9 hours)
_______, _______, _______
3. Post-1660 British Literature (9 hours)
_______, _______, _______
4. American Literature (9 hours)
_______, _______, _______
C. Related Area: Optional Minor Area, Outside English (6-12 hours)
D. Seminars (12 hours) (May also satisfy requirements in areas above)
_______, _______, _______, _______
E. Foreign Languages
F. Candidacy Examinations
G. Doctoral Dissertation
(N.B. It is recommended that students enroll in ENGL 699 only after admittance to candidacy. The Graduate School expects that a student has an approved dissertation director and work-in-progress by the end of the first term of 699; thereafter, continuous enrollment in ENGL 699 is required, including summers).
A. Core Requirements (12 hours)
1. Bibliography & Methods of Research: _______
2. English 511 (or 512 or 513): _______
3. Literary Criticism (3 hours): _______
4. Rhetoric (3 hours): _______
B. Area Requirements (30-42 hours)
1. Major Authors (graduate or undergraduate)
Chaucer _______
Shakespeare _______
Milton _______
2. British Literature (9 hours)
_______, _______, _______
3. American Literature (9 hours)
_______, _______, _______
4. World Literature (6 hours)
_______, _______
5. Language/Linguistics (6 hours in addition to 511)
6. Internship/Pedagogy (6-12 hours; students with prior college teaching experience may request waiver of this requirement)
C. Related Area: Optional Minor Field, outside English (6-12 hours)
_______, _______, _______, _______
D. Seminars (12 hours) (May also satisfy requirements in areas above)
_______, _______, _______, _______
E. Foreign Languages
F. Candidacy Examinations
G. Doctoral Dissertation 699
For admission to candidacy for the doctorate in English students must:
1. Complete at least 50 semester hours of graduate course work in the doctoral program of study.
2. Demonstrate a knowledge of:
a. two foreign languages, average reading proficiency, or
b. one foreign language, high level of reading proficiency.
The choice of language(s) shall be subject to departmental approval. The proficiency examinations must be passed before a student takes the candidacy examinations. (For means of demonstrating language proficiency, see Section V.)
3. Secure departmental approval of a dissertation topic and prospectus, and a dissertation director.
4. Pass candidacy examination:
a. On three fields of study selected from the list on p. 16 of this handbook.
b. Or, if the student selects the pedagogical emphasis, on two areas defined by the student in consultation with an advisory committee and the Graduate Studies Committee and an oral examination.
The candidate must write a dissertation that will contribute to literary or linguistic scholarship. If a student selects the pedagogical emphasis, the dissertation project should have direct relevance to classroom instruction. The candidate will present an oral defense of the dissertation before his or her dissertation committee for its final approval. This committee shall consist of three or more members of the department's Graduate Faculty especially qualified in the area of the dissertation. One of these shall be the dissertation director, who must be a senior member of the Graduate Faculty. The committee may include members from related fields. (See also Section V, p. 20 on dissertations.)
Students must complete all requirements for the Ph.D. degree in nine years. If a student drops out of the program for more than two years without approval of a formal leave of absence, he or she must re-apply through the Graduate School in order to continue.
With the advice and approval of the graduate director, doctoral students in the Option A program must prepare three fields of specialization to present for candidacy examinations. Students in Option B must present two areas and take an oral examination. Students may select their fields from the thirteen defined by the Graduate Faculty and listed in the Graduate Catalog. In addition, a fourteenth field provides each student with an invitation to propose a specifically designed field as a substitute for one of the regular fields. Students in Option B must formally designate their two areas even if those areas are also regular fields defined for Option A.
If students receive a grade of pass or pass with distinction in each of the three fields, they are recorded as having passed the examination; if students fail one or more of the fields, they are recorded as having failed the candidacy examination and must repeat the failed fields. If upon repetition of one or more fields the student passes, he or she is then reported as having passed the candidacy examination; if he or she fails, no additional opportunities to take the examination are permitted.
Students are expected to demonstrate that they possess an adequate body of information and the ability to make use of standard critical methodologies and techniques. In the administration of the examinations every attempt is made to emphasize the generally agreed upon aspects of each field. Graduate students admitted to the examination may wish, in preparing for it, to consult the file of previous candidacy examinations in the Reserve Room of Founders Memorial Library and in the department. They may also wish to consult with members of their examination committees prior to the examination. However, the Graduate Faculty wishes to emphasize that candidacy examinations are field examinations, designed in accordance with the demands of a field rather than the personal interests of individual examiners; therefore, a student is in no way obliged to contact committee members in advance of the examination, and may prefer to preserve anonymity.
The candidacy examination is normally offered twice a year: at the start of the fall semester in August and at the start of the spring semester in January. For admission to the examination, students must apply to the Director of Graduate Studies no later than the first Monday in November for the January examination and the second Monday in March for the April and August examinations. Before applying, they must meet with the Director of Graduate Studies to complete a checklist of courses that ensures course preparation in their chosen fields. The Director also checks the record of students who apply to make sure they have met all the eligibility requirements for admission (specified in Section V) and then provides for the selection of examination
Students are informed in writing of their admission to the examination and of the examiners in each field. The Director of Graduate Studies schedules the examination during the week prior to classes in both the fall and spring semesters. The graduate examination subcommittee appoints three examiners for each field listed by the eligible students. Where there are more than three faculty members available, assignments are generally rotated. Examiners are not informed about the identity of the students, unless individual students choose to identify themselves to faculty in the process of consulting with them in preparation for the examination. Frequently several students take the same field examinations, and examiners very rarely know whose paper they are reading. The examinations are administered over a period of a week. A period of four hours is allotted for the writing of each paper.
When the papers have been written, the Director of Graduate Studies circulates them (identified only by a letter code) in turn to each of the three examiners. Each reader submits a grade of "pass," or "pass with distinction," or "fail" in a sealed envelope to the Director of Graduate Studies. If the results are not unanimous, the Director of Graduate Studies instructs the readers to hold a conference and issue a consensus ballot. After each committee has held its conference and reported its final judgment to the examinations committee, grades are reported to the students and to the Graduate School. Students failing one or more fields are invited to arrange through the Director of Graduate Studies a conference with those faculty members who have read the failing paper. At this conference they may discuss any aspect of the paper which they believe to be significant. They are advised about the weaknesses of the paper and given instructions as to preparation for a second sitting, which may include the recommendation to pursue further independent study or to pursue further course work, whichever seems advisable in light of the weaknesses of the paper.
The procedure for reexamination is similar to that for a first attempt, except that even more detailed attention is devoted to the student's preparation. Should a student fail a second time, the Graduate School dismisses him or her from the doctoral program. Should irregularities in grading be alleged, the charges are considered in the first instance by the examinations subcommittee. The subcommittee's decision may be appealed to the Graduate Studies Committee, and ultimately to the Graduate Faculty.
In sum, then, each student writes three papers, each of which is read anonymously by three examiners, and the student's grade is determined by a majority decision of the readers.
Upon successful completion of the candidacy examinations, and after a dissertation director has been appointed, the Graduate School formally recognizes the student as a candidate for the doctoral degree.
Students who wish to design a special field in the Option A doctoral degree or who must design two areas in the Option B doctoral degree must proceed as outlined on pp. 32-33 of this handbook.
A. Procedure for Ph.D. Option B Oral Candidacy Examination:
Step 1: Formation of a three person ad hoc exam committee:
A. Committee to include representatives from the two approved Areas.
B. Committee to include at least one representative from an area defined as "pedagogy."
C. Committee to be appointed at the time all other exams committees are determined.
Step 2: Assignment of examinations room, date, and time:
A. Oral exams are to be conducted during the regular exams week.
B. The examination period for the oral is not to exceed 2 hours.
Step 3: Designation of a Chairperson for the Exam:
A. Chairperson will be a member of the Graduate Exams Subcommittee.
B. Chairperson will be non-voting, non-questioning: administrative only.
Step 4: Conduct of the Exam and Report of Results:
A. Examination results will be reported by the ad hoc committee at the conclusion of the examination.
B. Report is to the Graduate Exams Subcommittee.
B. Content for the Oral Examination:
A special examination focusing on teaching literature (or, where appropriate, language). To provide a core for this portion of the examination the committee will assign the student a brief literary (or linguistic/philological) text two weeks prior to the examination. The student will prepare to teach the text to secondary students or to general education undergraduates (as assigned by the committee). Examination may include demonstration teaching before the committee as well as theoretical and practical questions about teaching literature (or language). The examination may also include general literary questions focusing on the teaching of authors, works, and critical approaches which might reasonably be included in a literature course or curriculum.
Copies of area and Field XIV proposals previously approved by the Graduate Studies Committee may be obtained from the Director of Graduate Studies.