Ph.D. PROGRAM
Please note: All entering students are admitted into the M.A. program in Comparative Literature. Students are officially accepted into the Ph.D. program only upon the successful completion of the Second Year Examination. (The Second Year Examination is also required of students entering with advanced work from another M.A. or Ph.D. program.)
Overview of Requirements for the Ph.D:
• 54 credits in Comparative Literature,* including:CL 702
at least two other 700-level courses
CL 822 (Translation Seminar)
at least one other 800 or 900-level course.*The 21 MA credits are included in this total.
The 54 credits must include a course in the comparative literatures of each of the following periods:
- archaic/classical
- medieval/Renaissance/early modern.
In addition, a course in each of the three major literary genres -- narrative, poetry, drama -- is strongly encouraged.
Additional requirements for the Ph.D. in the Department of Comparative Literature:
- Complete a 12 credit Ph.D. minor (included in 54 total Ph.D. credits);**
- Demonstrate proficiency in a third language by passing an intermediate literature course with a grade of AB or better;
- Demonstrate reading proficiency in an ancient, a medieval, or a major Asian or African language by completing an appropriate course with a grade of AB or better;
- Successful completion of the comprehensive ("prelim") examinations, written and oral;
- Successful completion of the doctoral dissertation and its oral defense;
- Celebration (optional but strongly encouraged).
** Please note: If the minor is not in a foreign language department, the student must nonetheless take at least 3 literature courses in a foreign language department or departments.
Course Requirements: This is not an exhaustive list of requirements. For complete information, please see the Graduate School Bulletin and the departmental bulletin.
Course Load: Three graduate level courses (8-9 credits) per semester are required until preliminary examinations are passed; reduced loads may be approved by students' committees to accommodate special circumstances. A TA or PA may carry a reduced load.
Quality of Work:
• Students must maintain a 3.5 average each semester.
• Incompletes may be granted only in emergency situations. No student is allowed to carry more than one incomplete in a semester on his/her record. To be considered as making satisfactory progress, incompletes in one semester must be removed within the subsequent semester.
PH.D. COURSEWORK AND EXAMINATIONS
The Reading Committee and Distribution of Coursework:
The Reading Committee consists of three faculty members or faculty affiliates in the Department of Comparative Literature in conjunction with
whom the candidates will develop reading lists. The Reading Committee shall determine
that the student's three reading lists and areas of focus are sufficiently comprehensive
and coherent. (See description of the areas of Ph.D. focus below.)
The student must complete at least 54 hours of coursework in Comparative Literature of which no more than 9 credits may be at the 400 level. A minimum of three courses must be taken in each of the student's three Ph.D. areas of focus. These 54 credit hours of coursework must include C.L. 702 and at least two other 700 level courses as well as at least two 800 or 900 level courses in Comparative Literature, including CL 822; the 12 hours of work in satisfaction of the Ph.D. minor will be counted towards the requisite 54 credits. It is the responsibility of the student and adviser to see that the 54 credit hours include courses in each of the following historical literary areas: (1) archaic and/or classical literatures; (2) medieval, Renaissance, and/or early modern literatures. In addition to this literary historical requirement, Ph.D. students are strongly urged to take one CL class in each of the three major genres -- poetry, drama, and narrative -- regardless of Ph.D. focus.
Under any of the above areas, the student may include work in related disciplines, e.g., history, philosophy, film, etc. Credit earned for such study may be counted toward the 54 requisite credits in Comparative Literature only through petition to the Department.
Students will be expected to work in three languages and their literatures, one of which may be the student's native language.
The Ph.D. Comprehensive Areas & Examination:
The student will select and define each of the 3 prelim areas in close consultation with his or her Chair and Committee. The first two areas must be chosen from the categories I and II below:
I.
A significant question or problematic: Problems or question may include, but are not restricted to, the critical study of:
• the material conditions through which literary “meaning” is generated;
• the shifting boundaries between the study of literature and the study of culture;
• national and/or linguistic traditions;
• multicultural literary production.
II.
• A literary form, such as the novel, lyric, epic, or drama as genres; or the comic, lyric, epic, or fantastic as modes not confined to a given genre
• A literary period, such as the classical, medieval, Renaissance, early modern, modern, or post-modern;
• or a literary movement, such as Romanticism, Symbolism, Surrealism, Expressionism, Formalism;
• or a carefully worked out and defined historical concentration.
III.
- The third area is required for all students: literary theory and criticism, including the study of comparative methodologies.
In order to ensure a degree of coherence among the three areas, it is recommend that each student develop in consultation with her advisor a carefully defined conceptual question or problem that relates to one of her first two areas.
The first and second members of the Reading Committee are responsible for the student's first and second areas of focus, to be drawn from the fields above. The third member of the Reading Committee is responsible for comparative methodology and critical and theoretical approaches to literature and culture.
The Comprehensive Examinations or “prelims” consists of three take-home written examinations (one for each area) and an oral examination. The written examinations will treat materials on reading lists in each of the three areas. When the lists have been approved by the Advisor and the Reading Committee, the candidate may request scheduling of the examinations. A Reading Committee of three members will compose and administer the written examinations; the oral examination will be administered by the Reading Committee and one or two departmental Rotators. The written Comprehensive Examinations will be administered within a six week period and the subsequent oral exam will take place not more than six weeks following the final exam question.
All three of the written examinations must be completed within six weeks. Each examination question will be given to the student at 4 p.m. on a Monday to be completed and returned by 4 p.m. on the following Monday.
Each completed examination should be no more than 25 typed, double-spaced pages. Prior to the oral examination, the Committee Chair will inform the student of the results of the written examinations.
On each of the four parts of the Comprehensive Examination, the student may receive a grade of Pass, Condition, or Fail. Any student who receives a grade of Condition in one area will be allowed to re-take the examination no sooner than six months and no later than one year after the original examination. A grade of Condition upon re-examination will be considered a Fail. A grade of Condition in more than one area will also be considered a Fail. A Fail in any part of the Comprehensive Examination is equivalent to failure of the entire Examination.
A failed Comprehensive Examination cannot be retaken.
After successful completion of the coursework and of the Comprehensive Examination as outlined above, the student is ready to begin work on the dissertation and may be admitted to official candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. The University gives a Certificate of Candidacy in Philosophy (C. Ph.., A.B.D. status) to those who pass the examination.
Graduate School Ph.D. Minor Requirements:
All Ph.D. candidates must complete an Option A or Option B minor of 10-12 credits. (Please see the Major and Minor fields section of the Graduate School Bulletin.) If the minor is not in a foreign language department, the student must nonetheless take at least 3 literature courses in a foreign language department or departments. The student and the Ph.D. advisor will determine which courses best serve the student's interests and program of study.
Graduate School minimum course requirements for the minor
The Dissertation Proposal:
Within six weeks of satisfactory completion of the Comprehensive Examination the student will select a Dissertation Committee consisting of a Director and two members of the faculty of the Department of Comparative Literature. Within that same period, the student will submit to the Dissertation Committee a written proposal which will include a bibliography of primary and secondary source materials.
The Dissertation:
The dissertation must be a substantial original contribution to comparative literary theory, criticism, or research. It should be explicitly comparative in nature: that is, it should draw its evidence from the literatures of more than one linguistic and/or cultural tradition. It may, however, use this evidence for theoretical, analogical, illustrative, or historical purposes.
The student must submit individual chaptersas they are writtento members of the Committee for their consideration. Within two weeks of successful completion of all requirements for the Ph.D. degree, the candidate must deposit one typewritten copy and a signed abstract with the Dean of the Graduate School and one bound copy of the dissertation with the Chair of the Department of Comparative Literature.
The Dissertation Defense:
When all of the above requirements have been met, the student will be examined on the dissertation and related areas by members of the Committee in concert with two additional members, at least one of whom must be from a related discipline outside of the department.