The Ph.D. Degree in English
Course Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree (Effective Fall 2008)
A minimum of 27 credits of course work (10 courses, including two 1 ½ credit courses), with flexible scheduling of courses (allowing students to take advantage of course offerings relevant to their studies and requirements each semester, rather than locking them into a set, standardized schedule; must take a minimum of 6 hours per semester for first two years, in some combination)
Year 1 & 2: eight 3 credit courses (distributed over 3-4 semesters*) and two 1 ½ credit courses** (distributed individually over semesters)
Year 2: one optional 3 credit Independent Exam Reading course(s)
EXAMS: Ideally beginning of third year (but no later than Spring of third year)
* One summer course could be taken between first and second year, reducing the number of courses taken during Spring ideally to one Independent Exam Reading course.
** A 1 ½ credit course entails taking a regular course but without the formal writing assignments/papers; student would be responsible for attendance, reading, participating in discussions, any assigned presentations or informal reading journals.
- Teaching Fellows with no prior teaching experience must must take a one credit graduate level Teaching College Writing course in addition to the required 30 credit hours.
- Students who have not taken a comparable course in an M.A. program may be encouraged to take English 500—Aims and Methods of Literary Scholarship.
- English 566—Literary Theory—or a comparable general theory course at the graduate level is required of all students.
- All students must complete a 600-level graduate seminar.
- Courses are required in the following four general areas on the graduate level: British Literature prior to 1800, British Literature after 1800, American Literature prior to 1900, American literature after 1900 (with the Graduate Director’s approval, a course extending beyond a single, specified historical period may fulfill an area requirement as long as the area is covered by the course).
- At least one course in the student’s primary field/historical period must be taken at Duquesne on the graduate level.
- Students must demonstrate reading knowledge of one foreign language. This requirement must be met prior to taking comprehensive examinations.
Ph.D. Exam Structure
The Ph.D. Exam will be comprised of two four-hour written exams:
- A field exam: with the aim to gain depth and breadth of knowledge, the student will select a broadly recognized historical period that may or may not match one of the distribution areas
- A specialization exam: the student will focus on a genre, a theoretical emphasis, or a set of critical/cultural issues or problems
In consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, students will constitute two committees of at least two faculty members each, one for the field exam and one for the specialization exam. Depending on students’ areas of study, these committees may (but need not) be the same. In consultation with their committees, students will formulate for each exam a reading list of 50 to 100 titles, including both primary and secondary texts. In addition, students will present to their examining committee and then to the Graduate Studies Committee for approval a one-page written rationale for their choice of and the connections between their chosen field (exam 1) and area of specialization (exam 2). This proposal should include a discussion of the kind(s) of scholarly work these two exams will allow them to engage.
Ordinarily, students will take their exams within a year of completing their course work. In scheduling the two four-hour written exams, the second written exam must be taken within three months of the first written exam. A two-hour oral exam will follow within three weeks of successful completion of the two written exams. The oral exam will emphasize the relations between the chosen field and specialization. Students who pass both the written and the oral exams may proceed in the program.
Students who fail one or both of the written exams may not proceed to the oral exam but may retake the failed section(s) at a time approved by the Examining Committee. Students who fail the oral exam may retake it at a time approved by the Examining Committee. Students retaking a part or all of the examination who fail any one part a second time may be dismissed from the program.
Dissertation
In addition to the above requirements, students must submit a dissertation proposal and then complete a dissertation approved by designated readers in order to obtain a degree. The dissertation must be defended orally and formally accepted by the Dean of the Graduate School of Liberal Arts.
Application Information
