The Ph.D. in English curriculum is comprised of professional development courses, elective courses, and courses in a graduate curricular specialization. You can think of the Ph.D. as proceeding in four stages: required courses, elective courses, doctoral exams, and dissertation. We have laid out degree progress here in the ideal order, and you will take Introduction to Doctoral Studies in your first year of study, your exams and dissertation hours after completion of your coursework, and the Writing for Publication course as a transition from coursework to dissertation. Other requirements may be fulfilled in the order that best fits your schedule and needs.   

Students are required to take 36 total hours of coursework, in the following distribution:    

Stage 1: Required Courses (18 credit hours: 6 classes) 

• Engl 7390: Introduction to Doctoral Studies 
• Engl 8318: Writing for Publication (this is a required course but is taken nearer Stage 4, after coursework is complete) 
• 4 classes in your chosen graduate curricular specialization (one of the following) 
  • Empire Studies   
  • Critical Studies of the Americas   
  • Critical Poetics   
  • Translingual Studies     

Foreign language requirement: Reading knowledge of two foreign languages or intensive knowledge of one foreign language. This requirement may have been met prior to the Ph.D., or be completed as part of the Ph.D. student’s course of study.   

Stage 2: Electives (18 credit hours: 6 classes)  

18 hours Elective Courses, each contributing to the student’s area of expertise. Students should select each of these courses in consultation with their faculty mentors.  

• 3 hours Early Literature (pre-1900)   
• 3 hours Later Literature (post-1900)    

Other electives can be chosen from the wide variety of courses offered within the English Department. Up to three electives (9 hours) may also be taken outside the English Department, with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.  

Stage 3: Doctoral Exams 

Students will begin forming their doctoral examination committee in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies and create provisional reading lists during the last semester of their coursework (usually spring semester of the second year or fall semester of the third).   

Students will work closely and collaboratively with their faculty advisors to develop examination reading lists.    

• 2 written exams (one major field; one sub-field) 
• 1 oral exam (based on the written exams)    

Stage 4: Dissertation 

When doctoral exams are complete, students may solicit their dissertation committee chair, followed by the remaining committee members in consultation with the chair. The student will then draft the dissertation prospectus in consultation with the chair and defend it before the full committee. Once the prospectus is approved, work on the dissertation may commence, and the completed dissertation is defended before the full committee in the student’s final semester. 

As part of the transition from coursework to dissertation, all Ph.D. in English students take English 8318: Writing for Publication. This course may be taken before or after completion of exams, depending on the student’s needs.  

For a complete list of degree requirements and procedures, current students may consult the Ph.D. Student Handbook by visiting the Graduate Student Sharepoint Site. Go to Academic Programs, Graduate Studies, Graduate Forms and Info.