Degree Requirements for the MA and the PhD

Curriculum:  Summary of Requirements and Structure
    (See Year-by-year chart)

1. Foreign Language Requirement.   .   Proficiency in at least one relevant foreign language is required for graduation.  For certain dissertation topics, a second language may be required by the Dissertation Advisory Committee.  We strongly recommend fulfillment of this requirement prior to admission and will seek to admit applicants to our doctoral program with significant training in a foreign language.

[*Note: we will verify each candidate's proficiency by means of a translation exam administered either by the Foreign Languages Dept. or in-house.]

2.  Core Courses:  We require a two-semester sequence of all graduate students,  both those admitted for the Ph.D. and those admitted for the M.A.  The first, a fall-semester course, "Advanced Literary Studies," will survey research methods and materials, bibliography and textual editing, and the history and practices of the profession up to the present.  The second will be a spring semester course, "Survey of Literary Criticism.”   Fellowship students preparing to teach undergraduate classes will be required to complete training sessions/workshops before the fall of their second year and will enroll in our "Teaching Practicum" in the fall semester.

3. The M.A. Degree:  The department will sustain two tracks, one for doctoral students on fellowship, another for non-fellowship students pursuing the M.A. as a terminal degree.  Exceptional non-fellowship M.A. candidates can be admitted to the Ph.D. program on recommendation of the Director of Graduate Studies and the graduate committee.  Doctoral candidates will be awarded the M.A. after having completed the Qualifying Exams (normally after the student’s third year in residence).  Students who leave the program after completing 30 hours may be allowed to take an exam and receive the M.A. degree.  Any student receiving a negative recommendation of his/her First-Year Advisory Committee** may be given the opportunity to complete requirements for the Master's degree by completing six credits hours of M.A. thesis writing within the following 12 months.  Standards for continuing first-year students include:  a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, demonstrated ability to do successful work in seminars, continuous progress in the program (i.e.  no lingering incompletes), and the recommendation of the Committee.  All appeals of a decision to terminate a student will be decided by the Department Chair. 

[**Note:  the First Year Advisory Committee will consist of four members:  the Director of Graduate Studies, the two professors who taught that year’s incoming classes in, respectively, Advanced Literary Studies and Survey of Literary Criticism, and one or two appointed members.]

4. Distribution Requirements:  Beyond the two required "Core" courses (the Introduction and the Survey of Criticism courses) and the “Teaching Practicum, all Ph.D. students must take a minimum of four 7000-level seminars.***  (See Courses.) To ensure adequate breadth of study, a student’s Advisory Committee will strive to ensure a candidate completes courses covering the fields represented in the Department.  The Department will schedule cycles of courses that will enable all students to achieve comprehensive training, preparing them for both the Qualifying Exams and an eventual job search.  We will permit students to develop interdisciplinary approaches by taking, with permission of the Advisory Committee, up to two courses outside the department.

[***Note: Proseminars will be 6000-level courses, open to undergrads with instructor's permission; will be dedicated to breadth of study in a field; and will require a written final exam.  They will provide breadth of coverage in a field and, through the final exam, prepare students for their written qualifying exams.  Seminars will be listed at the 7000-level, will be closed to undergrad enrollment, and will require a research paper.  They will be designed for depth of study on, for example, a topic, issue, area, or author; and their objective will be to foster individual and collegial research and professional writing practices required for dissertation work.]

5. Curriculum/Exam structure, year-by-year (please see the model sketched below):  

            a. Year One:  doctoral students do not teach; each takes 24 hours of course work, 6 of which entail the Fall and Spring semester Core courses; they will be taking mostly proseminars.  As Spring term ends, each student submits a brief written evaluation of his or her progress thus far, and meets with the First Year Advisory Committee (see note, and 3., above), which will determine whether the student will continue (or be awarded the terminal MA).  At this meeting, the student and the First-Year Advisory Committee discuss/advise on plans for  the student’s upcoming coursework and a possible field of concentration leading to a dissertation.  That summer, the student participates in training sessions to prepare for teaching. 

            b. Year Two:  each student teaches a total of 2 courses, and takes 15 hours, including a 3-hour teaching practicum in the fall.  The student should be taking 7000-level seminars and completing the foreign language requirement, if it is not yet satisfied.   By the end of spring term, the student should have selected a Doctoral Advisory Committee, whose chair will normally be a prospective dissertation director, with two other members drawn from areas of interest.  The student meets with the Dissertation Advisory Committee at year’s end to discuss progress and possible dissertation topics and to set goals for the coming year when he/she will be preparing for the qualifying exams.  

            c. Year Three:  the student teaches 2 courses and concludes his/her seminar and other course work, but may audit additional classes in preparation for the Qualifying Exams.  The student meets with his/her Dissertation Advisory Committee as needed and prepares reading lists in consultation with the Dissertation Advisory Committee.   Over the summer, the student reads for written exams in three of four fields, selected and defined by the student and his or her Dissertation Advisory Committee, and with a view to a projected dissertation topic.  The four fields:  historical period, genre, author, theoretical/conceptual approach. 

            d. Year Four:  the student again teaches 2 courses, and enrolls in 7398/99 Directed Readings.  After passing the Qualifying Exams, he or she enrolls in 8398/99 (Dissertation) and remains enrolled until the completion of the dissertation.  In August, prior to the beginning of the fall semester, the student sits for the written portion of the qualifying exams in the three fields.  After passing those exams, the student writes a dissertation prospectus detailing the subject, scope, research questions, methodology, prospective organization, and a selected bibliography; the student orally defends the prospectus before the Dissertation Advisory Committee, normally by the end of Fall term in Year Four.  After passing this qualifying oral exam, the student advances to candidacy. 

            e. Year Five:  dissertation fellowship year, no teaching; student is enrolled for 8398/99 (Dissertation). (Alternatively, the dissertation fellowship may be taken in year six.) 

            f.  Year Six:  the student teaches 2 courses unless he or she takes year six as the dissertation fellowship year; in either case, the student remains enrolled in 8398/99, completes and defends the dissertation, and begins the job-search. 

            g.  Year Seven:  possible Visiting Assistant Professorship at SMU (a competitive position).

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The Graduate Curriculum by Year/Term  (60 hours)

Year One

By May 15^th :  Evaluation of progress by First Year Advisory Committee (Four members, including the Director of Graduate Studies, the Introduction to Advanced Literary Studies and Survey of Literary Criticism professors; plus appointed members)
End of summer: workshops to prepare for teaching

Year Two

Appoint and meet with Doctoral Advisory Committee regarding evaluation. & major/minor fields of study
Foreign Language requirement completed by end of summer

Year Three

Summer:  prepare for written qualifying exams in minor fields; & write 5 pg. Dissertation Abstract

Year Four

 Year Five

 Year Six

 Year Seven:  Possible Visiting Assistant Professor of English (competitive), SMU; Teach 3/3

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