Doctor of Philosophy Degree Program

Last updated Spring 2022

Qualification

Successful completion of the qualifying procedure enables the student to proceed with preparations for the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination, beginning with the formation of a guidance committee. The qualifying procedure involves competence in foreign languages and satisfactory performance in required coursework.

Program of Study

Students in the PhD Program must complete 12 graduate course credits at the 600-800 level (excluding dissertation credits), of which 6 must be in Comparative Literature. That is:

• 21 credits or 7 courses in Comparative Literature; 6 of these courses (18 credits) must be at the 600 level or above
• 6 credits or 2 courses in the literature/field of primary concentration
• 6 credits or 2 courses in the literature/field of secondary concentration
• 3 credits or 1 course in the literature/field of tertiary concentration (third language requirement)
• 9 credits of electives, 6 of which must be at the 600 level or above
• 1 credit of Teaching Workshop (for teaching assistants; not part of academic course requirements)

In addition to coursework, all students must register for a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 18 dissertation credits.

Also required: successful completion of the comprehensive examinations, prospectus, doctoral dissertation, and doctoral defense.

Comprehensive Examination

Candidates for the Ph.D. take the Comprehensive Examination at the end of their third year of study and no later than October 15 of the fourth year of graduate study. Those who enter the program with a prior M.A. are required to take the exams by the end of the third year of study.

The Comprehensive Examinations consist of three fields; for each, students submit a detailed rationale and reading list of 20-25 primary texts, along with a comparable list of secondary materials. These rationales and reading lists are to be prepared in consultation with the student’s advisor and committee and must be approved by the committee and formally submitted to the GPD 30 days prior to the examination date.

The Comprehensive Examination entails a written and oral component and is graded on a pass/fail basis. In the event that a student fails to pass the exams, the GPD will determine if the student will be allowed to take the exams a second and final time; otherwise, the student will be notified of termination from the program.

Terminal M.A.

Students may be awarded a terminal master’s degree based on their graduate performance. Students must have successfully completed eleven courses or 33-credit hours to be eligible for the terminal M.A.

The Dissertation

The dissertation may deal with any subject in literary history, or with the comparison of texts, in the original languages of works from two or more literatures. A translation dissertation may be proposed, provided that it is prefaced by an extensive introduction, with a level of analysis appropriate to a doctoral dissertation. The introduction should deal with theories and specific problems of the translation.