Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree
Revised June, 2002
In addition to the general requirements of the Graduate School, the Department of English stipulates that the following requirements be met prior to the awarding of its doctorate of philosophy:
1. Each prospective doctoral candidate must submit a "Declaration of Intent" to be approved by the Chair of the English Department and filed with the Graduate School immediately upon the student's admission to the doctoral program.
2. Every Ph. D. candidate is required to complete at least 24 semester hours of course work at the 5000 level and above for graduate credit beyond the M.A. degree. Prior to graduation, each student's M.A. and Ph.D. level coursework must include at least one course in literary theory and at least four graduate seminars, at least one of which must be in the student's chosen field of specialization. Upon completion of all post-M.A. coursework, the student must have maintained a grade-point average of at least 3.50 in that work. A student who begins doctoral study here with an M.F.A. or with an M.A. from another university may be required, at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies, to take certain designated deficiency courses in lieu of electives. These hours will, however, count toward the 24-hour course requirement for the doctoral degree. Each student may take up to six hours of graduate-level courses in other departments that, subject to the approval of the student's advisor, can be counted towards the 24-hour course requirement.
3. Prior to the completion of each candidate's first year of doctoral studies, he or she must complete a form specifying a tentative area of specialization for the doctoral candidacy exams. This form should also name the faculty members who have consented to constitute the written and oral exam committees. Each of these committees has three members. Students are encouraged, but not required, to employ the same committee for both exams. The exam plan must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. It may be changed later with approval of same. Suggested broad fields of specialization include traditional periods as in the current catalog, including Medieval, Renaissance to 1660, Restoration and Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth-Century British, Twentieth-Century British, American literature and culture to 1900, and Twentieth-Century American. Other suggested fields include Southern Literature and Culture, World Literature and Culture in English, American Multiculturalism, Gender Studies, Film and Media Studies, Literary Criticism and Theory, Popular Culture and Popular Genres, and Literary History. However, students, in conjunction with their committee and with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, may propose additional fields if their particular projects do not fit within any of these suggested areas.
4. Every doctoral student is required to pass a comprehensive take-home written examination in the broad field of specialization. Students have 72 hours after receiving the questions to turn in their answers, typed, double-spaced. Answers should be submitted in the form of coherent, well-argued essays, with a maximum overall length of 30 pages in a standard 12-pt. font. Committees are encouraged to give students 3-4 questions, of which two, of the student's choice, are answered.
5. The second candidacy exam is an oral exam focused on a more specific topic, approved jointly by the student and the exam committee, within the student's broad field. This topic should be directly related to the student's planned dissertation topic. Prior to this exam, each student is required to submit a research paper (20-25 pages, typed, double-spaced) on the topic to the committee. The student must also develop a substantial related reading list for the exam topic, including, but not limited to, material covered in the paper. This list will generally include both primary works and relevant critical or theoretical works. The oral exam itself is 3 hours in length and includes both a defense of the research paper and a general oral exam on the reading list.
6. After successfully completing the candidacy exams, each student is required to submit a dissertation proposal, the length and content of which are determined by the student in conjunction with the student's dissertation committee, which consists of three faculty members. (Students are encouraged, but not required, to employ the same committee for the dissertation as for their candidacy examinations.) In general, the dissertation proposal explains the nature of the student's project and why that project is expected to make an important contribution to the field in which the student is working. It is also typically useful for the proposal to give a general idea of the expected organization of the dissertation in chapters and to include an extensive bibliography of relevant works, even though the student is not likely, at this point, to have read all of the items on the bibliography. The student then discusses the resultant proposal in a formal meeting with the dissertation committee. This meeting would normally occur about 4 months after the completion of the final candidacy exam.
7. Prior to taking the Candidacy Examination, each doctoral student must document a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language relevant to the study of British or American literature. Students who elect the medieval period as the field of specialization must also demonstrate a reading knowledge of Latin, Old English, and Middle English.
8. Before taking the Candidacy Examination, the doctoral candidate must have completed the Graduate School's residency requirement and the departmental course requirements or be registered for courses which if passed will complete these requirements.
9. Within the time limits specified by the Graduate School, the student must submit a dissertation acceptable to the designated committee. The dissertation must subsequently be successfully defended before the student's full dissertation committee.