phd admission 2022 in english literature

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

• PhD in Literature

Doctorate in Literature

Interdisciplinary clusters.

The Department of English's Doctoral program in Literature  offers advanced study and research in literary history, criticism, and theory, with excellent opportunities for interdepartmental and interdisciplinary study. Courses within the department cover major genres, periods, authors, and a broad range of methodological and theoretical approaches.

The graduate curriculum is enhanced by frequent lectures and workshops with Northwestern faculty and visiting scholars from around the world. Student-organized colloquia, conferences, reading groups, and dissertation groups provide opportunities for students to present their research to an audience of peers.

The PhD program provides superb professionalization and training in a variety of settings, including teaching assistantships for undergraduate lecture courses and the opportunity to develop and lead courses in Northwestern's Writing Program and the School of Professional Studies .

English (Literature), PHD

On this page:.

At a Glance: program details

• Location: Tempe campus
• Additional Program Fee: No
• Second Language Requirement: Yes

Program Description

Degree Awarded: PHD English (Literature)

The PhD program in English with a concentration in literature trains students in various methodologies, pedagogies and areas of inquiry that constitute literary and cultural studies.

With a diverse and distinguished faculty, the program offers opportunities for specialization in traditional areas of literary criticism, cultural analysis and theory, as well as various fields of interdisciplinary study.

A doctorate in literature equips students with a range of highly sought-after skills and competencies: research and analysis of complex material, communication in written and oral modes, collaboration, independence and self-motivation, creativity and adaptability.

Lee Bebout ,  Director  

Kira Assad, Program Manager

Faculty in Literature

Degree Requirements

Curriculum plan options.

• 84 credit hours, a foreign language exam, a written comprehensive exam, an oral comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation

A student with an appropriate master's degree must complete a minimum of 54 credit hours of approved graduate work, which includes 12 credit hours of dissertation, provided the student's master's degree is accepted by the supervisory committee and the academic unit. Research hours may be used toward coursework in consultation with the advisor.

A student without an appropriate master's degree must complete 84 credit hours of work at ASU. At the advisor's discretion, students may include up to 12 credit hours of appropriate, graduate-level coursework undertaken at another university and not previously counted toward any other degree.

Specifically required are six credit hours in theory courses and ENG 501 Approaches to Research. Students must complete eight graduate courses in any of the following categories:

• cultural studies
• ethnic studies
• gender studies
• history and structure of the English language
• literature 1500--1660
• literature 1660--1900
• literature since 1900
• literature to 1500
• postcolonial or anglophone literatures

Students must take at least five graduate seminars at the 600 level en route to the doctorate, at least three of which must be taken in the doctoral program. Up to 12 credit hours taken outside the department may be counted toward the degree. Students should consult with their supervisory committees when choosing electives.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree from a regionally accredited institution.

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.

All applicants must submit:

• graduate admission application and application fee
• official transcripts
• statement of purpose
• resume or curriculum vitae
• three letters of recommendation
• academic writing sample relevant to the field
• statement of teaching philosophy (teaching assistantship only)
• proof of English proficiency

Additional Application Information An applicant whose native language is not English and has not graduated from an institution of higher learning in the United States must provide proof of English proficiency, regardless of current residency. Applicants can find more information about English proficiency requirements on the school website . Please note that official scores must be sent to ASU in order for the application to be processed.

The well-considered, one- to two-page, single-spaced statement of purpose should explain the applicant's scholarly background and training, career goals, proposed research specialization, any secondary field of interest and why the applicant wishes to pursue a PhD in English (Literature) at Arizona State University. Applicants applying for funding must also submit a statement of teaching philosophy.

Next Steps to attend ASU

Learn about our programs, apply to a program, visit our campus, application deadlines, learning outcomes.

• Identify and evaluate various disciplinary arguments, trends, traditions and debates within the knowledge community of literary and cultural studies scholars.
• Demonstrate the ability to produce written work of publishable quality.
• Demonstrate research skills necessary to bring a project of literary or cultural analysis to fruition, including the ability to evaluate disciplinary debates and developments; and the ability to produce research on historical and cultural meanings of texts and related cultural productions.

Career Opportunities

Graduates are prepared for careers in higher education and other fields that value this expertise. Sectors employing high numbers of arts and humanities graduates include information and communication, financial and insurance, public administration and defense, arts and entertainment, and education.

Career examples include:

• art director
• criminal investigator or special agent
• intelligence analyst
• market research analyst
• museum curator, educator or exhibit designer
• political analyst
• public relations specialist or manager
• technical writer

Global Opportunities

Global experience.

With over 250 programs in more than 65 countries (ranging from one week to one year), study abroad is possible for all ASU students wishing to gain global skills and knowledge in preparation for a 21st-century career. Students earn ASU credit for completed courses, while staying on track for graduation, and may apply financial aid and scholarships toward program costs. https://mystudyabroad.asu.edu

Program Contact Information

If you have questions related to admission, please click here to request information and an admission specialist will reach out to you directly. For questions regarding faculty or courses, please use the contact information below.

• [email protected]
• 480/965-3168

Ph.D. Programme in English

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The Ph.D. in English at Ashoka University is designed for students who are passionate about literature as well as the wider world. The curriculum exposes students to diverse modes of analysing texts that collapse the traditional disciplinary silos of historical period and language. Students are asked to formulate questions that are firmly grounded in academic rigour while pushing the boundaries of current scholarship. Teaching and research are seen as mutually constitutive, and students receive extensive training in pedagogic practice, underscoring the dialogic nature of all learning and writing. As they progress in the programme, students are encouraged to experiment with their teaching in the classroom. The Ph.D. in English thus aims to produce colleagues whose work is academically rigorous, but who are also not afraid to inject intellectual adventurousness into their theory and practice.

The English Department at Ashoka University has strengths in literary theory, Indian literatures (including Dalit and Sufi literatures), Translation Studies, global medieval and early modern literature, Indian Shakespeares, Precolonial literature of European-Indian encounter, Queer Theory, Digital Humanities, Performance Studies, Postcolonial Literature, Modernism, Film Studies, and Ecocriticism.

Students thinking of applying to the Ph.D. programme in English at Ashoka are advised to first visit the university website and acquaint themselves with faculty specializations before devising a possible topic of research. The programme will only accept students whose specific research interest makes a clear fit with the scholarship of one or more members of the faculty.

All our PhD students are fully funded for a period of five years. In addition, we also offer funds for books and travel, including for international conferences.

Requirements

Requirements to Apply

Students with an MA or MPhil in English (with 55% or higher). We will also consider applicants from non-English backgrounds so long as they can demonstrate expertise in the field of English literature.

To apply to the Ph.D. in English, applicants need to complete an online application form and to provide the following:

Statement of Purpose (700 words)

Research essay on student’s area of interest (3500 words): We are looking for a critical writing sample and not a research proposal or programmatic abstract of your dissertation. The writing sample can be an academic essay or a chapter of an undergraduate or graduate (MA or MPhil) thesis that best represents your academic interests.

Two academic letters of recommendation

Applications to the PhD programme are based on the online application followed by

a) a written examination of the longlisted candidates and

b) an interview of candidates shortlisted after the written examination.

Requirements for the Ph.D. in English

As part of the programme, students sign up for a maximum of 12 credits–3 4000L English courses of 4 credits each–during each semester. Among the total of 12 required courses, students can opt for a maximum of two Independent Study Modules (ISM) on topics of their devising, and with professors of their choosing (provided the professors are willing). The maximum number of courses that students can take in other departments is three across the first two years.

Alongside these courses, the Ph.D. students also have to fulfil a teaching requirement for 6 semesters.

Timeline for applications: 2023-24 Applications Open: 20 January, 2024 Applications Close: 21 February, 2024 Online Written Exam for longlisted candidates: 17 March, 2024 Shortlist and Interviews: End April Decisions: Early May

The first two years will consist of coursework. Each PhD student must take three courses – of four credits each – per semester. This will allow students to study a wide range of theories and texts as they move towards formulating their dissertation topic.

Monsoon Semester

Mandatory Courses – Introduction to Literary Theory

Elective Courses – Two elective courses, at the 4000 level; classes at any other level will require special permission from the professor

Spring Semester

Mandatory Courses – Research Methods and Ethics

Elective Courses – One elective course at the 4000-level; classes at any other level will require special permission from the professor

Teaching Requirement –  Pedagogy Seminar: TA for one undergraduate class

End of Summer 1 / Beginning of Year 2: Written Qualifying Exam based on a mandatory list of tests. The list for this exam will involve literature stretching from 800 CE to the present. You will be provided with a list of 100 texts from among which you should pick 25, with the stipulation that at least half the texts should date from before 1800.

Elective Courses – Three elective courses, including, preferably, a seminar in Advanced Theory

Teaching Requirement – A Pedagogy Workshop and GA for the ASP Proseminar

Teaching Requirement – GA for the ASP Proseminar

Second week of the fifth semester in Year 3: Oral Qualifying Exam

PhD students must select at least 7 of their 9 elective courses from the department’s 4000-level graduate seminars. With the permission of the DGS, students can take two of their electives in the form of an ISM, an upper-level UG course, or a course in another department.

The maximum number of courses you can take in other departments is three across two years. The PhD Director can provide for exceptions to this rule under compelling circumstances.

End of third year: Defend a 10-12 page dissertation prospectus which will allow students to advance to the dissertation-writing stage of the PhD program. This prospectus will include a rationale for, and an outline of, the stakes of the proposed dissertation.

Years 4 and 5:-

The fourth and fifth years will be spent in researching and writing the thesis.

Teaching Requirement – Teach one Critical Thinking Seminar in one semester of your fourth or fifth year

End of fifth year: Dissertation submission and defense.

Download the Ph.D. Handbook

Applications for the Ph.D. Programme in English are now open

Applicants must apply through the online admissions portal., study at ashoka.

Programme Interested In Undergraduate Programme Young India Fellowship YSP PhD MA - Economics MA English MSC Biology

Year of Admission 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26

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Ph.D. Program

Click here for the Handbook for Graduate Study in English .  This document includes departmental policies and procedures concerned with graduate study.

The Berkeley English Department offers a wide-ranging Ph.D. program, engaging in all historical periods of British and American literature, Anglophone literature, and critical and cultural theory. The program aims to assure that students gain a broad knowledge of literature in English as well as the highly-developed skills in scholarship and criticism necessary to do solid and innovative work in their chosen specialized fields.

Please note that the department does not offer a Master’s Degree program or a degree program in Creative Writing. Students can, however, petition for an M.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing upon completion of the Ph.D. course requirements (one of which must be a graduate writing workshop) and submission of a body of creative work.

Students interested in combining a Ph.D. in English with studies in another discipline may pursue Designated Emphases or Concurrent Degrees in a number of different fields

Normative time to complete the program is six years. The first two years are devoted to fulfilling the course and language requirements. The third year is spent preparing for and taking the Ph.D. oral qualifying examination. The fourth through sixth years are devoted to researching and writing the prospectus and dissertation.

The general goal of the first two years is to assure that the students have a broad and varied knowledge of the fields of British and American literature in their historical dimensions, and are also familiar with a wide range of literary forms, critical approaches, and scholarly methods. Students will complete twelve courses distributed as follows:

• 1) English 200, “Problems in the Study of Literature”
• 2) Medieval through 16 th -Century
• 3) 17 th - through 18 th -Century
• 4) 19 th -Century
• 5) 20 th -Century
• 6) a course organized in terms other than chronological coverage.
• 7-12) Elective courses.

(A thirteenth required course in pedagogy can be taken later.) Students who have done prior graduate course work may transfer up to three courses for credit toward the 12-course requirement. Up to five of the 12 courses may be taken in other departments.

Students must demonstrate either proficiency in two foreign languages or advanced knowledge in one foreign language before the qualifying examination. There are no "canonical languages" in the department. Rather, each specifies which languages are to count, how they relate to the student's intellectual interests, and on which level knowledge is to be demonstrated. "Proficiency" is understood as the ability to translate (with a dictionary) a passage of about 300 words into idiomatic English prose in ninety minutes. The proficiency requirement may also be satisfied by completing one upper-division or graduate literature course in a foreign language. The advanced knowledge requirement is satisfied by completing two or three literature courses in the language with a grade of "B" or better.

At the end of the second year each student’s record is reviewed in its entirety to determine whether or not he or she is able and ready to proceed to the qualifying exam and the more specialized phase of the program.

The Qualifying Examination

Students are expected to take the qualifying examination within one year after completing course and language requirements. The qualifying exam is oral and is conducted by a committee of five faculty members. The exam lasts approximately two hours and consists of three parts: two comprehensive historical fields and a third field which explores a topic in preparation for the dissertation. The exam is meant both as a culmination of course work and as a test of readiness for the dissertation.

The Prospectus and Dissertation

The prospectus consists of an essay and bibliography setting forth the nature of the research project, its relation to existing scholarship and criticism on the subject, and its anticipated value. Each candidate must have a prospectus conference with the members of their committee and the Graduate Chair to discuss the issues outlined in the proposal and to give final approval to the project. The prospectus should be approved within one or two semesters following the qualifying exam.

The dissertation is the culmination of the student's graduate career and is expected to be a substantial and original work of scholarship or criticism. Students within normative time complete the dissertation in their fourth through sixth years.

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Direct-Admission Ph.D. in English: English & American Literature

For this six-year program, the minimum course requirements include 60 credit hours, not more than 12 of which may be taken in Dissertation Preparation. No more than 15 hours may be taken in courses numbered at the 500 and 600 levels.

• One course in American Literature, one in English Literature before 1660, one in English Literature after 1660, and one additional course in the student’s primary area
• English 700 is recommended and one critical theory course (732, 734, or equivalent) is required
• Twelve hours of electives, which may include the 3-hour 691-692 pedagogy sequence. (No more than six hours of electives may be taken from outside the department during the student’s total coursework; all such electives must be approved by the Graduate Director or the doctoral committee)
• Admission to doctoral candidacy at the beginning of the third term (see description of the process below).
• Eighteen hours of electives; course work must include at least two 800-level seminars
• Twelve hours of Dissertation Preparation (ENGL 899)
• Reading knowledge of one language other than English (satisfied by passing a reading exam or a 400-level course in literature, not in translation, with a grade of B or better, or a 500-level course in literature, not in translation, with a grade of C or better). Students may also fulfill a language requirement by passing ENGL 701: Old English or ENGL 701: Beowulf and Old English Heroic Verse with a grade of B or better.
• Written Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination in the primary and secondary field
• Oral Examination in the primary field
• Dissertation and Oral Dissertation Defense

Major areas may be chosen from the following literary fields: Medieval, Renaissance, Restoration and 18th-century English literature, 19th-century English literature, 20th–century English literature, Colonial and 19th-century American Literature, and 20th-century American Literature. Unless you minor in Children’s Literature or Rhetoric and Composition or you are completing the certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies (each has an established curriculum, listed below), you must create your own minor field of concentration. Students often minor in a second literary field or in specialized fields such as Linguistics, Comparative Literature, Criticism and Theory, Southern Literature, and History of the Book and Authorship.

To form your minor, you must work with an appropriate faculty member to assemble a specialized reading list and a committee for the minor field exam. Students are strongly encouraged to pursue relevant coursework. All minor fields must be approved by the Graduate Director.

By the beginning of your third term, you must, in consultation with your advisor, fill out the Ph.D. Program of Study form and submit it to the Director of Graduate Studies; students will bring this form to the meeting to determine qualification for doctoral candidacy scheduled with the Graduate Director and major advisor at the start of the third semester. This form must be on file with the Dean of the Graduate School before you will be cleared for graduation. But it will also help you and your advisor direct your progress toward the degree. The Program of Study should be amended periodically to reflect actual courses taken by filing the Adjustment form available through the forms library on the Graduate School’s website.

Admission by the Department of English for graduate study does not mean admission as a candidate in the English and American Literature Ph.D. program.

Students are admitted to doctoral candidacy on the basis of their record and a meeting with the Director of Graduate Studies and the major advisor, which students should schedule by the beginning of their third term. Prior to this meeting, the Graduate Director will review the student's class grades with the expectation of at least a 3.0 GPA over the course of the first year of study. The student will come to the meeting with a completed Program of Study form and an accompanying statement (5-6pp.) detailing progress toward dissertation and degree thus far and plans for future study and research. In the event of an unsuccessful review, the student will be put on probation, not be admitted to candidacy, and be required to maintain a 3.5 GPA for each of the following two semesters. Additionally, field faculty will meet at the end of the student's second year in order to make a recommendation to the Graduate Director about the probationary student’s future in the program. The Graduate Director will factor this recommendation and the student’s GPA into a decision about whether the probationary student should be admitted to candidacy at the end of the second year and allowed to continue in the program.

No later than the end of your second year, you should notify the Graduate Director that you have assembled a doctoral committee of three or four professors from the department and one professor from outside the department by obtaining the necessary signatures and filing a Doctoral Committee Appointment Request form available through the forms library on the Graduate School website.  In consultation with this committee, you must devise and file with the Graduate Office a reading list and tentative body of course work. As you progress toward your degree, you will likely need to file an Adjustment to the Program of Study form you completed as part of the process of admission to doctoral candidacy.

 At any time, you may change the composition of your committee by notifying the Graduate Director and any members removed from the committee (letters advising members of their removal should be copied to the Graduate Director) and by revising the aforementioned Doctoral Committee Appointment Request form.

Direct-admit PhD Students are required to take written comprehensive exams in both a major and minor field by the spring of their fourth year in the program. This 72-hour take-home exam will consist of a response to a question in the primary field and another response to a question in the secondary field. The completed exam should not exceed 7500 words in length. 

There are no standardized reading lists for the Ph.D. comprehensive exams in literature; instead, you are required to compile your own reading lists in consultation with your committee.  The purpose of these lists is twofold:  these lists should cover the major texts, authors, and debates in your chosen fields of expertise, but they should also reflect your particular interests, investigations, and priorities for your emerging dissertation project.  It is your responsibility to strike this balance between field coverage and dissertation focus.  To do this, you should start consulting with your committee about your reading lists well in advance (ideally a year before you take exams).  No later than three months before you plan to sit the exams, you must secure your committee’s approval for a provisional set of reading lists, which you must then file with the Graduate Office.  By the beginning of the semester in which you plan to sit the exams, you must secure your committee’s approval for your final lists, which you should also submit to the Graduate Office.  Students who have not followed this procedure will not be allowed to sign up for the exams.

Questions for the primary field exam are written and graded by the qualified members of your doctoral committee. Questions for the secondary field exam are solicited from appropriate faculty by a member of the doctoral committee, who also calls on members of that faculty as graders (graders are notified that they are reading minor field exams).

In the semester you plan to take the comprehensive exams, you must sign up with the Graduate Office during the first week of classes. The exams will be offered once in the fall semester and once in the spring semester (usually in the fourth week of each semester and will take place over a weekend—i.e., from Friday at noon until Monday at noon). Students will not be allowed to schedule alternative days or times in which to take the written exams.

To pass each exam, you must receive passing grades on both questions from two of your three readers. To receive a pass with distinction, you must receive grades of pass with distinction from two of your three readers. Should you fail one part of the exam, you will only have to retake that part; if, however, you fail both parts of the exam, you are required to retake the entire exam. You have two opportunities to pass the written exam, and you must retake any failed portion of the exam within one year.

You must take the oral comprehensive examination within one month of the time you are notified that you have passed the written examination. This exam typically lasts from one to two hours. The oral examiners will be the departmental members of your doctoral committee and may also include one faculty member from outside the department. The exam covers only your primary field and will be limited to those texts that appear on your reading list for your major field written comprehensive exam. If you do not pass the oral examination, you must take it again within a year. You have two opportunities to pass this exam.

Within thirty days of passing your oral exam, you must have a dissertation prospectus approved. This is done by submitting the written prospectus to your full committee, including the outside reader, and then discussing it at a meeting with that full committee. The purpose of this meeting is to help you avoid problems in research methodology, scope of the project, etc., during the later stages of the process.

Students should obtain the prospectus defense form from the Graduate English Office, bring it to the prospectus meeting, and obtain the necessary signatures at the end of the meeting. The prospectus defense form together with a brief description of the project should be filed with the Graduate English Office as soon as possible after the meeting.

Your dissertation committee is your doctoral committee in its final form; it includes your dissertation director, at least two specialists in your research area or areas, and one faculty member from an outside department. (English department faculty affiliated with other programs or with joint appointments may not serve as outside readers). The dissertation must be defended orally before the dissertation committee. At least two weeks before the defense is to be held, you must submit the dissertation in its final form, to the director and the rest of the committee. Be sure to consult the Graduate School for current requirements regarding the format of the dissertation as well as for information about electronic submission of the dissertation to the Graduate School .

Each applicant who applies by the first deadline (January 1) and is admitted to this PhD program will be considered for a Graduate Instructional Assistantship ('GIA') in the first year that provides in-state tuition status, a tuition supplement, and a stipend (currently $14,800). In the first year the student should complete the 18 hours of graduate English course work required to hold a Graduate Teaching Assistantship ('GTA') during the second year of study. Potentially renewable for five consecutive years, the Teaching Assistantship comes with the same benefits as the Direct-Admission student's GIAship.

Students awarded an assistantship by the Department of English are expected to

• carry no incompletes;
• earn no more than one grade below B during their academic career;
• perform assigned duties in a satisfactory manner;
• maintain a GPA of 3.5; and
• make steady progress toward the degree.
• Opportunities to present papers at conferences sponsored by USC graduate student organizations and by affiliated programs such as Women's and Gender Studies.
• Opportunities for financial support to fund paper presentations at other local, regional, national, or international conferences.
• Opportunities to teach undergraduate literature and writing courses.Eligibility for recognition and awards from The Graduate School (especially for presentations at Graduate Student Day).
• Opportunities for editorial or other career-advancing internships within the university or outside it.
• Guidance through the job search by an expert faculty committee, including CV workshops, presentation strategies, and mock interviews.
• Opportunity to apply for lucrative year-long Bilinski Dissertation Fellowship

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

The English PhD with a literature emphasis allows students to develop their literary criticism and scholarly interests, culminating in a dissertation of literary analysis. With a dedicated Graduate Faculty across all primary fields of literary studies, the program allows graduate students to either specialize in one of these fields or pursue broad preparation as a generalist. Our graduate programs pay particular attention to professional development, including scholarly and creative publishing. With its dual emphases in literature and creative writing, the English program offers students a uniquely hybrid experience in which emerging writers and critics study alongside one another and work with specialists in both fields, preparing students for creative, academic, and professional careers.

Admission Requirements

Successful applicants for regular admission to the PhD program usually have a GPA of 3.5 in all (undergraduate and graduate) English courses and will typically have completed a B.A. and/or an M.A. in English. The PhD with an emphasis in literature offers direct admission to the doctoral program from the B.A. For specific details, see program requirements below. Application materials include transcripts, three letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, a curriculum vitae, and a substantial writing sample. Letters of recommendation should be from persons qualified to assess the applicant’s readiness for graduate study.

Conditional admission is sometimes possible for applicants who do not meet all the criteria for regular admission. To remove conditional status, students must meet the Graduate School requirements described in the Admission Requirements and Procedures section of this Bulletin, and they must satisfy all additional requirements stipulated by the school.

Members of all underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply

See Admission Requirements and Procedures    for other admission requirements. The English graduate programs do not require GRE or other standardized exam results.

Program Requirements and Academic Policies

Students must complete one research tool: either proficiency  in one foreign language OR six graduate hours of coursework in an allied field of study approved by their advisor or the Graduate Program Coordinator.

500-level classes count towards a degree only with the approval of the Graduate Program Coordinator or the Dean of the Graduate School; at least 6 hours (2 courses) must be at the 700-level.

Students must take ENG 690 - Practicum in the Theory and Teaching of Composition if they hold an assistantship that includes teaching as one of their duties.

Students must successfully complete a Doctoral Qualifying Examination in August, after the first year of study. The exam may be retaken once, in the following December. Students who fail the exam twice will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

Students must successfully complete a Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam.

Students must write a dissertation, a substantial project embodying the result of significant and original research on a subject chosen by the candidate and approved by the student’s Doctoral Committee.

A 3.0 GPA is required for graduation.

See General Degree Requirements    and General Academic Information    for other requirements and policies.

Course Requirements (45 or 63 hours)

Students who are admitted to the PhD program who already have an MA must complete a minimum of 45 hours:

• ENG 640 - Critical Reading and Methods in English    (3 hours)
• ENG 641 - Advanced Research and Methods in English   (3 hours)
• 1 early literature course (American literature to 1865 OR British literature to 1800)
• 1 course in British literature 
• 1 course in Aritish literature 
• 1 course designated non-traditional
• 1 literary theory course or 1 course designated theory-rich
• Note: a single course may fulfill up to 2 of the above requirements 
• ENG 898 - Dissertation    (9-12 hours)

Students who are admitted to the Ph.D. without an M.A. must complete a minimum of 63 hours:

• ENG 641 - Advanced Research and Methods in English    (3 hours)
• 1 course in American literature to 1865
• 1 course in American literature post 1865
• 1 course in British literature to 1800
• 1 course in British literature post 1800
• Note: a single course may fulfill up to 2 of the above requirements
• ENG 698 - Thesis    (6 hours required)