University General Course Catalog 2022-2023 ARCHIVED CATALOG: LINKS AND CONTENT ARE OUT OF DATE. CHECK WITH YOUR ADVISOR.
English (Literature Emphasis), Ph.D.
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 Return to: Programs in the College of Liberal Arts
The Ph.D. program is designed for students preparing to be teachers and scholars at universities and community colleges. Two emphases are offered within this selective degree program: literature and rhetoric and writing studies. - The literature emphasis offers an individualized course of study in English or American literatures; students take comprehensive examinations on their selected period, genre, topic, and major author or work.
- The rhetoric and writing studies emphasis includes coursework in rhetorical history, composition theory and practice, advanced imaginative writing, rhetoric and criticism, and other areas in English studies.
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Program Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes
Declarative Knowledge: broad knowledge of several of the historical fields in, literary genres of, and major critical approaches to British, American, and World Literatures in English; or, broad knowledge of writing studies issues and methodologies; or, broad knowledge of linguistics issues and methodologies. Students will demonstrate specialized competence in the primary and secondary literature of an appropriate specialized sub-field of literature or writing or language. Admission Requirements
Applicants to the Ph.D. program must hold an M.A. in English or a closely related field with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. Potential applicants without an M.A. in English should talk with the Director of Graduate Studies before applying to determine whether their graduate work is comparable to that expected. I. Program Requirements
Students design their programs of study following departmental guidelines in consultation with their advisory committees, complete comprehensive examinations in their fields of specialization, and pursue original research resulting in a dissertation of publishable quality. Proficiency in one foreign language (the equivalent of four semesters of college-level coursework), or a three course rotation in linguistics and language studies is required. Students in the program are strongly encouraged to participate in professional activities, including academic conferences. Thirty-one units of 700-level coursework are required. One unit of comprehensive examination (ENG 795 ) is required and is allowed to fulfill the 700-level requirement.
* Curriculum requirements described in this catalog supersede the handbook. A. Literature Emphasis
The Ph.D. Literature emphasis is designed for people planning to pursue careers in scholarship and teaching at the college or university level. It is a rigorous but flexible emphasis in which individual programs of study are shaped through negotiation between the Ph.D. student and his or her advisory committee. Students in the program are supported in their pursuit of professional activities, including academic conferences. ii. Course Requirements
a. Research Methods:
ENG 711 , Introduction to Graduate Study, is required and must be taken at the first opportunity; it is customarily taught each fall semester. Students who have had a graduate-level research methods course at another university should consult with the Director of Graduate Studies to see whether that course fulfills this requirement
b. Elective Courses:
The Ph.D. Literature emphasis does not require a specific core of courses. Rather, the student and his or her advisory committee plan a course of study, considering the student’s prior course work, primary areas of interest, planned examination fields, and long-term professional aspirations. Please review the list of Elective Courses. iii. Comprehensive Examination
Each student in the Literature emphasis will take comprehensive exams in three areas: period, genre, and (theoretical) method. The format for taking the exam is determined by the student and his or her advisory committee. Exams, which are open book, are offered in the following format: the student will write the exams in three areas and will not take longer than a month to complete them. The student will have eight hours to complete each exam. The student should plan to spend about four hours writing a response for each exam and about four hours planning, freewriting, outlining, revising, polishing, proofreading for each exam.The exam should be no longer than 20 pages. Committee members should keep these time constraints in mind when drafting questions. At the conclusion of the exam period, the student will email the chair the completed exam in .docx or PDF format.
- Period: Periods may be selected from the following list: Old English, Middle English, Renaissance to 1600 (including all of Shakespeare), 17th-century British (including all of Shakespeare), 18th-century British, 19th-century British, 20th-century British, 20th- and 21st-century global Anglophone, American to 1890, American since 1890, or a field of linguistics or philology to be defined by the student and his or her advisory committee. Students will be expected to be familiar with the literature, the literary history and the intellectual history of the chosen period.
- Genre: Genres may be selected from the following list: poetry, drama, fiction, intellectual prose, or a field of linguistics or philology to be defined by the student and his or her advisory committee. Students will be expected to know the major theories pertaining to their chosen genre and the literature within their genre in the historical periods immediately preceding and immediately following their period of specialization.
- Theory/Method:Theories and methods refer to a body of ideas and intellectual traditions that help reveal new perspectives about a literary texts. Some examples of theory/method include Feminism, Marxism, Critical Race Theory, Postcolonial Theory, Poststructuralism, Queer Theory, and Cultural Studies. Students will be expected to know the major authors and texts of a given theoretical tradition, and be able to apply theories to literary texts.
The written comprehensive examinations will be followed by an oral examination, as described under General Requirements. The student must register for ENG 795 , Comprehensive Examination, one credit, the semester he or she will be completing the oral exam. iv. Dissertation Defense (final oral examination)
After the dissertation has been accepted by the candidate’s advisory committee, the committee will conduct an oral examination dealing with the dissertation and related topics. The defense will be approximately one and one-half to two hours in length. Click here for a checklist of degree requirements for the Ph.D. English, Literature emphasis. II. Total Units (72 units)
Up to 24 units from an M.A. may be approved to count towards the degree. |
Return to: Programs in the College of Liberal Arts
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