Mar 28, 2024  
2012-2013 Graduate Catalog 
    
2012-2013 Graduate Catalog [Not Current Academic Year. Consult with Your Academic Advisor for Your Catalog Year]

English and American Literature, Ph.D.


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Admission Requirements

The department offers two majors under this degree: English and American Literature, and Literature and Creative Writing.

In addition to meeting the college graduate admission requirements , applicants must meet the following minimum requirements for admission to the program and for the degree:

  1. A reading knowledge of an appropriate foreign language. A paragraph outlining the applicant’s foreign language competence should be submitted.
  2. A statement of intent (500 words minimum)
  3. Three letters of recommendation, at least two of which must be from persons familiar with the applicant’s academic work.
  4. Submission of a sample of the applicant’s critical writing (either a graduate-level paper that the applicant wrote or the applicant’s Master of Arts thesis).
  5. Only for applicants to the creative writing program, the submission of a sample of creative writing (either of 10 pages of poetry or 20-25 pages of fiction).
  6. Two official transcripts of all previous university work.
  7. GRE General Aptitude score and GRE Advanced Subject (Code 64) score.

Consult the Department of English graduate office for additional information and more specific requirements.

Degree Requirements

Beyond the achievement of the master’s degree, doctoral students must complete a minimum of 36 semester hours of approved coursework distributed as follows:

  1. 3 hours of Introduction to Doctoral Studies in English
  2. 6 hours of bibliography, literary theory, or rhetoric. If students have taken a course or courses in these areas for the M.A., these requirements will be waived, allowing the student an additional 3 to 6 hours of elective course work (but not a reduction in the total hours required).
  3. 27 hours of literature, including (1) 9 hours in early literature, (2) 6 hours in later literature, and (3) 12 hours of elective courses, each contributing to the student’s areas of expertise. Students should select each of these courses in consultation with the graduate advisor and his/her faculty mentors. Early British literature is defined as British literature before 1800 and early American literature is defined as American literature before 1865.

In addition, students must pass three written doctoral examinations in their areas of specialization and an oral defense of their dissertation prospectus. They will then write and defend the doctoral dissertation for six semester credits.

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