Doctor of Philosophy in English
The Ph.D. program in English is designed to develop knowledgeable scholars, critics, and teachers of English literature. Course work is offered and dissertations directed in the full range of subjects defined by our faculty’s expertise and by our internationally renowned archival holdings of manuscripts and books in FIX Cultural Campus Libraries. Specific clusters of study that carry the advantage of faculty depth and the potential for original research are:
20th-century literature - Modern and Contemporary British, Irish, and American literatures;
19th-century literature - antebellum and post Civil War literature, British and European Romanticism, Victorian literature;
American studies, cultural and gender studies, African American literature, and women’s literature.
Seminars are also offered in Early Modern and 18th-century literature, in critical theory, in the pedagogy of composition, and in the creative writing of fiction and poetry. The doctoral idependent study program is administered by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Program Committee. All members of the Faculty of English participate as instructors and on student committees.
The Doctor of Philosophy program is fully flexible in coursework and focused by student interest in specific clusters of study that carry faculty depth of expertise and library archival resources. Research and writing culminates an approved dissertation project and final manuscript. A proven reading knowledge of one foreign language (classical or modern) and the successful completion of a qualifying examination, taken after the completion of course work, are necessary before students can proceed to formal work on the dissertation. The examination encompasses one primary and two secondary fields chosen by the student in consultation with faculty advisors. The primary field and one secondary field must be in literary historical periods; the third field is frequently critical theory and/or method but it may also be a literary historical period.
Admission
Applicants to the Ph.D. program must hold a master's degree in English or the equivalent.
Residence Requirements
The minimum period in which the Ph.D. degree can be earned is two full academic years of study. The student must spend at least two consecutive semesters in residence as a full-time student in work toward the doctorate.
Course Requirements
The doctoral program is designed to be a five-year program for students entering with the B.A.; such students will complete coursework directed study and dissertation research. To assure adequate breadth and depth of preparation during doctoral coursework, at least three courses in literary periods prior to 1800 and three in periods after 1800 are required.
Language Requirements
Doctoral students are required to achieve a sound reading knowledge of one classical or modern language, as demonstrated by passing a translation test set by program faculty. Students must propose for approval the language on which they intend to be examined. The standard is a capacity to translate accurately a representative critical or scholarly passage with some bearing on the student’s field of interest. The requirement should be met as early as possible in a student’s career and must be fulfilled prior to taking the qualifying examination.
Graduate Courses
ENGL 7023 - Creative Writing Workshop
ENGL 7053 - Theory I
ENGL 7063 - Theory II
ENGL 7073 - Feminist Theory
ENGL 7083 - The Classical Tradition
ENGL 7093 - Middle English Literature
ENGL 7113 - 16th-Century British Literature
ENGL 7153 - Shakespeare
ENGL 7163 - English Drama, 1558-1642
ENGL 7183 - 17th-Century British Literature
ENGL 7193 - Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature
ENGL 7213 - African American Literature
ENGL 7223 - 18th-Century British Fiction
ENGL 7283 - Romantic Fiction
ENGL 7293 - Romantic Poetry
ENGL 7373 - 19th-Century British Prose
ENGL 7383 - 19th-Century British Fiction
ENGL 7403 - Rhetoric and Composition
ENGL 7413 - Victorian Poetry
ENGL 7453 - Modern British Fiction
ENGL 7473 - Yeats and Modern Irish Literature
ENGL 7483 - Modern British Poetry
ENGL 7493 - Modern British and Irish Drama
ENGL 7513 - American Literature, 1820-1865
ENGL 7523 - American Literature, 1865-1914
ENGL 7533 - American Literature, 1914-1960
ENGL 7543 - Contemporary American Literature
ENGL 7563 - American Literary Histories
ENGL 7573 - Contemporary British Literature
ENGL 7961 - Residency
ENGL 7993 - Directed M.A. Research; Directed Writing
ENGL 8103 - Representative Figures
ENGL 8113 - Gender Formation in Early Modern Literature
ENGL 8123 - Gender Formation in Modern Literature
ENGL 8133 - Restoration and 18th-Century Women Writers
ENGL 8143 - 19th-Century Women Writers
ENGL 8153 - 20th-Century Women Writers
ENGL 8163 - Special Topics in Women’s Literature
ENGL 8173 - Special Topics in Literature before 1800
ENGL 8183 - Special Topics in 19th-Century British Literature
ENGL 8193 - Special Topics in American Literature
ENGL 8203 - Special Topics in Modern Literature
ENGL 8213 - Studies in Genre
ENGL 8791 - Qualifying Exam Preparation
ENGL 8991 - Directed Doctoral Readings
ENGL 9961 - Residency
ENGL 9981 - Dissertation
