Ph.D Requirements:

A total of 64 credit hours (previously 16 units) are required beyond the M.A. degree or beyond the M.A. equivalent examinations.  This is a minimum, not a maximum, requirement.  If a student has taken more than 32 credit hours while in the M.A. Program, some of those credit hours may be applied toward the residency requirement in the Ph.D. Program.  The use of those extra hours in this manner is not automatic, however, and the final determination is made by the DGS.  The 64 credit hours are normally divided equally between courses and dissertation research.  A student must be enrolled in graduate seminars until the preliminary examinations are taken and passed.  It is not unusual a student to take more than the required 32 credit hours of coursework.  In these cases, it is permitted for the student to take 24 credit hours of dissertation research rather than the normal 32.

The student must take a minimum of 32 credit hours before sitting for the preliminary examinations.  The student must enroll in graduate seminars until the preliminary examinations are passed, so it is to the student’s benefit not to delay taking the prelims.  The minimum distribution of the courses is as follows:

1. •CWL 582 (on the discipline of Comparative Literature)
   

2. •Three CWL core courses (551, 561, 571 and 581), of which one course must be cross-cultural.
   

3. •Two courses in the major literature beyond the work at the M.A. level.  A course outside the period of specialization is recommended.
   

4. •One course in each of the minor literatures of specialization.
   

Examinations: The preliminary examinations should be taken at the conclusion of 32 credit hours of coursework or as soon as possible thereafter.  These examinations are of two kinds: written and orals.   The written examinations – which should be completed within a three-week period – are based on reading lists which should be deposited in the Program office no later than the semester before the examination is to take place.

    The written examinations consist of four parts:

1. 1.A Comparative Literature examination (4 hours total) covering two areas (2 hours each).  This exam is made up by the director of the student’s dissertation.
   

2. •The literary theory and criticism relevant to the dissertation topic.  This exam will be based on a reading list arrived at in consultation with the director of the dissertation.
   

3. •A comparative analysis and explication de texte of three passages, quoted in the original, drawn from important works of each of the student’s three literatures.  The three passages will be drawn from the student’s literature reading lists but will not be made available to the student before the exam.
   

2. 2.An exam on the history of the major literature (4 hours).  Normally, this exam will not cover the entire history of the literature in question, but it should cover several successive periods.  This exam will be based on a reading list agreed upon by the student, the student’s Major Advisor, and the faculty member giving the exam.  Though the list need not be comprehensive, it should be substantial, as the successful Ph.D. recipient will most likely be hired by a department interested in having this particular literature taught. 
   

3. 3.A period exam in the first minor literature (2 hours).  This exam will be based on a reading list agreed upon by the student, the student’s Major Advisor, and the faculty member giving this exam.
   

4. 4.A period exam in the second minor literature (2 hours).  This exam will be based on a reading list agreed upon by the student, the student’s Major Advisor, and the faculty member giving this exam.
   

The literatures and periods chosen should have a coherent rationale within the field of Comparative Literature.  In the case of European and American literatures, both minor literatures should cover similar periods (for instance, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance through the Enlightenment, Romanticism through the 19th century, or the 20th century).  If one or two classical literatures are combined with more modern literatures, then the requirement of similar periods for both minor literatures may not apply.  In the case of other literary traditions, a different periodicity may apply.  If the student’s work crosses rather different cultures and civilizations, then other criteria of comparativity must be established.  Students are urged from the start of their graduate careers to enter into a conversation with the DGS and then with the Major Advisor on which combinations of literatures and periods make the best professional sense in light of their interests. 

The oral examination (2 hours) normally occurs about 10 days after the successful completion of the student’s last examination.  This exam covers two areas:

1. 1.The written examinations, revisited. The student may be asked to address the answers given in the written examinations.  In order to review for this part of the orals, the student shall be given copies of the questions and the student’s answers on the written examinations.  Comments and evaluations by the professors, however, will remain confidential.
   

2. 2. The dissertation proposal. The proposal shall be submitted to all the members of the committee at least two weeks before the date of the orals.   A suitable proposal is generally about 10 pages long, those pages covering several areas: a statement of the topic itself, giving the grounds for comparison as well as the critical approach(es) to be used, and detailing what the student expects to find or to prove (5 or 6 pages, single-spaced); a topical outline (no more than 2 pages, single-spaced) giving a firm sense of the structure of the dissertation and its argument; a bibliography (no more than 2 pages, single-spaced) of the most relevant primary and secondary works. 
   
   

In the case of failure in one or more of the written examinations, the oral examination is postponed.  The student is given one more chance to pass the examination(s) in question.  A second failure results in dismissal from the Program.  The oral examination will then not be necessary.  In the case of failure in the oral examination, the student is given one more chance to pass it.  A second failure in the oral examination results in dismissal from the Program.