Graduate Study in English at SMU

Ph.D. in English Literature

SMU began enrolling students in a new Ph.D. program in English in fall 2007.  Our program offers students the chance to study and work with a distinguished faculty in a collegial environment.

We admit students to the Ph.D. program who have the B.A. degree as well as a number of students who have received the M.A. degree.  All students admitted to the Ph.D. program in English will receive fellowship support. Our aim for the Ph.D. is to graduate comprehensively trained scholar-teachers prepared to assume college and university positions.  We are committed to ensuring our graduates’ professional success through a program featuring:

• One-to-one student-faculty ratio, ensuring small seminars and ample options for tutorial studies.
• Fellowships for all doctoral candidates for six full years at extraordinarily generous rates, followed by the opportunity for a seventh year as a Visiting Assistant Professor.  
• Medical benefits, tuition waivers, summer seminars in Taos, NM, and professional travel support for all doctoral Fellows.
• Opportunities for doctoral Fellows to teach writing and literature classes, beginning in year two. 
• Dissertation-year support for all doctoral Fellows.
• Close mentoring from matriculation to and beyond graduation. 

Degree Requirements:

The Ph.D. in English requires 60 hours of courses, including classes, directed readings and dissertation hours.  Core courses required of all students are English 6310 (Advanced Literary Studies), English 6311 (Survey of Literary Criticism) and English 6312 (Teaching Practicum).  Students will also be required to complete workshops in teaching before the fall of their second year, in preparation for teaching undergraduate courses during that year and subsequent years of graduate study.  In addition, students must take a minimum of six 7000-level seminars and will be expected to include in their program of study courses covering a wide range of fields.  With permission, students may develop interdisciplinary approaches by taking up to two courses outside the English Department.

Proficiency in one foreign language relevant to the student’s course of study is required and should be demonstrated by the second year in the program.  For certain dissertation topics, a second language may be required.  Further requirements include written exams no later than the fall of the third or fourth year of study (depending on the student's program), a dissertation prospectus, and an oral defense of the prospectus during the spring semester of the third or fourth year.  The M.A. degree will be awarded after completion of these requirements once the student applies to SMU's Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

Students who remain in good standing – with a G.P.A. of at least 3.0, demonstrated ability to do work of appropriate quality in seminars, continuous progress in the program and the recommendation of an advisory committee – will receive fellowship support for six years.  They will teach two courses a year for four years beginning in the second year of study, with either their fifth or sixth year serving as a dissertation fellowship year with no course requirements or teaching responsibilities.  Exceptional students may be offered a one-year visiting assistant professorship in the English department after fulfilling all requirements for the Ph.D.

Students who leave the Ph.D. program after completing 30 hours and who have demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language will be allowed to take an exam in order to receive the M.A. degree.  Any student who has demonstrated foreign language proficiency and achieves a G.P.A. of 3.0 in 24 hours of course work during the first year of study but does not receive the positive recommendation of the advisory committee to continue on to Ph.D. candidacy will be allowed to fulfill the requirements for the M.A. by enrolling in English 6398, 6399 and completing a thesis within the following 12 months.

Funding Overview:

Fellowships begin at over $25,000 per year, renewable annually for up to six years.  Additional stipends and scholarships may be available through the SMU Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

The base package of Fellowship support includes:

• an annual stipend of over $25,000 (distributed monthly);
• medical  benefits;
• full tuition waiver;
• $500 moving allowance;
• laptop computer;
• professional travel support, usually commencing in year four with successful completion of the Qualifying Exams;
• dissertation year as Research Fellow, with no teaching duties;
• possible seventh year as Visiting Assistant Professor of English, after completion of the Ph.D. (competitive basis).

Fellows who have completed the Qualifying Exams may teach literature courses, and they will be given no teaching duties for one year (either 5^th or 6^th Year) as Research Fellows while writing the dissertation.  The Department’s Graduate Committee annually reviews the progress of all doctoral candidates, and a finding of inadequate progress toward the degree may be cause for revoking Fellowship support.  The seventh year of support as Visiting Assistant Professor is contingent on the completion and successful defense of the Ph.D. dissertation.  These appointments will be competitive.  The Guide to English Graduate Study details the full course of studies and the provisions and processes for advancing to the Ph.D.

Graduate Curriculum by Year/Term (60 hours) [revised Jan. 2009]:

1^st Year

By May 15^th of the spring semester, an evaluation of progress will be conducted by the First Year Advisory Committee (Four members, including the Director of Graduate Studies, the Introduction to Advanced Literary Studies and Survey of Literary Criticism professors, and one additional appointed member).

By the end of summer following the first year, students will attend required workshops to prepare for teaching in the upcoming fall semester.

2^nd Year

The student will appoint and meet with their Graduate Advisory Committee regarding evaluation and major/minor fields of study.

            The foreign language requirement should be completed by the end of the summer.

3^rd Year

During the summer, the student will prepare for written qualifying exams in three fields, to be administered by the end of the fall semester.

4^th Year

5^th Year

6^th Year

7^th Year

            Possible Visiting Assistant Professor of English at SMU teaching 3 courses in both the fall and
            spring semesters.

Proseminars:

            6310    Advanced Literary Studies (required of all doctoral candidates)
            6311    Survey of Literary Criticism (required of all doctoral candidates)
            6312    Teaching Practicum (required of all doctoral candidates)
            6313    Rhetorical Theory
            6320    Medieval Literature
            6330    Early Modern British Literature
            6335    Early Modern American Literature
            6340    British Literature in the Age of Revolutions
            6345    American Literature in the Age of Revolutions
            6350    Modern and Contemporary British Literature
            6360    Modern and Contemporary American Literature
            6370    African American Literature
            6373    Hispanic American Literature
            6375    Sex, Gender, and Literature
            6380    History of Print Culture

Seminars:

            7311    Seminar in Literary Theory
            7340    Seminar in British Literature
            7350    Seminar in American Literature
            7370    Seminar in Minority Literature
            7372    Seminar in Transatlantic Literature
            7374    Problems in Literary History