Corresponding to the pattern of study that underlies the Ph.D. program are the oral examination and the special field conversation that all students take. The first, a three-hour general examination taken at the end of the fifth semester, enables each student to concentrate on three literary periods or two literary periods and one issue, genre, or theory relevant to the student's interests. The two-hour special field conversation, conducted in the sixth semester, focuses on the student's intended area of research and fosters the bibliographical and methodological skills needed to compose the dissertation proposal.
In addition, all doctoral students must successfully complete the program requirements outlined above. Ph.D. students receiving financial support must enroll in EGL 697, Teaching Practicum, which provides them with supervision during their first semester of teaching at Stony Brook. Teaching assignments are varied and flexible. Teaching assistants teach courses in composition or introductory courses in literature or creative writing, tutor students in the Writing Center, and assist professors in large lecture courses. All Ph.D. students on financial support must be registered as full-time students. The following, in addition to the minimum Graduate School requirements, are required for admission to the Ph.D. program:
- A bachelor's degree from a recognized institution.
- An average of at least B in the last two years of undergraduate work.
- An official transcript of all undergraduate work and of any graduate work that may have been done.
- Letters of recommendation from three instructors.
- The applicant's score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test, required by the Graduate School of applicants in all departments.
- A sample of recent scholarly or critical writing.
- Proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to two years of college work.
- Acceptance by both the Department of English and the Graduate School.
- A
special note to international students:
As of Fall 2008, we require candidates from countries where English is
not the primary language to submit scores from the iBT (internet-based
TOEFL). Although our admissions committee weighs a number of factors
when selecting students, we will generally not admit students with a
total iBT score below 100. Please note that in no case will
we
admit applicants with scores below 90 as this is the minimum score set
by the Graduate School.
In addition to the minimum requirements of the Graduate School, the following are required:
Course Requirements
The minimum course requirement for students in the doctoral program is 11 courses, including at least seven 600-level seminars. No course with a grade below B- may be used to satisfy course requirements. In order to continue in the program, students must maintain an average grade of B or better in all coursework, and no more than two grades below B- will be permitted. No transfer credit is accepted at the seminar level.
One of the seven seminars the student must satisfactorily complete is the proseminar, EGL 600, The Discipline of Literary Studies. Students must take this course in their first Fall semester in the program.
While the majority of courses for the Ph.D. requirements must be taken in the English department, students may, in consultation with their advisors, take courses of an equivalent level in other departments or programs.
It is assumed that students entering the Ph.D. program will have studied Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, and a variety of literary periods in their B.A. or M.A. programs. However, students with a variety of backgrounds are welcome into the Ph.D. program; those without the kind of broad-based knowledge outlined above will work out a suitable program of study with their advisors.
Students with teaching assistantships must pass EGL 697, Teaching Practicum, in their first Fall semester in the Ph.D. program.
Foreign Language Requirements
Students must complete one of two options:
- Option I: Students must, on examination, demonstrate ability to translate writings of moderate difficulty in two foreign languages appropriate to the area of study, and hence ability to make use of relevant literary and scholarly writings in those languages. Students can satisfy this requirement by obtaining a grade of B or higher in a 500-level reading/translation course (e.g., FRN 500, GER 500). Other language courses offered to fulfill this requirement will need the approval of the graduate program director.
- Option II: Students must, on examination, demonstrate (1) ability to read, understand, and speak well one living foreign language, or ability to read and understand well one classical language appropriate to the area of study, and (2) knowledge of the major literature of that language in the original language, and hence ability to make full use of the literature of another language. This option can be satisfied by passing a half-hour oral examination conducted in the language on the major literary figures or works of the language. Students should consult the graduate program director about setting up such an examination. Passing the reading and/or comprehensive examination at the M.A. level shall not be sufficient evidence that the student has met Option II.
Students will not be permitted to take the special field examination without first satisfying the foreign language requirement. Students choosing Option I must satisfy one language requirement before taking the three area examinations and the second before taking the special field conversation.
General Examination
The general examination is a three-part, three-hour oral with three examiners. Two parts of the examination must focus on different literary periods of approximately 100 years each, and the third will either address another literary period or engage a problem or area of special interest (e.g., a genre, issues, or a line of theoretical inquiry).
In consultation with their examiners, students will offer reading lists for this examination that outline the area of inquiry for each part of their exam. Because one of the purposes of the exam is to give students the opportunity to make sense of their lists, the period lists may or may not vary from the traditional literary historical divisions of the anthologies. Whereas one student may follow traditional texts for a literary period, another may choose to study non-canonical texts within a traditional chronological range, while another may redefine the range (e.g., 1750-1850 or 1850-1945 instead of the 18th century, 19th century, or 20th century).
Taking this examination brings students a step closer to entering a profession in which one writes and publishes scholarship and constructs and teaches courses. To promote this kind of professional development, to facilitate students' studying and focus, and to enhance the conversations that make up the examinations:
- For the first part, the student will submit to his or her committee, at least two weeks prior to the exam, a 15-30 page paper related to a particular period or problem area. In most cases, this will be a revised seminar paper, and will include a bibliography. The paper is not intended as additional work, but rather as a way for the student to organize an approach to one of the lists. During the exam, the paper will serve as a springboard for discussion of the entire period or problem area being examined.
- For the second part, the student will submit to his or her committee, at least two weeks prior to the exam, a syllabus and bibliography of background reading for an advanced undergraduate course in a particular period or problem area. Questions regarding pedagogical and theoretical approach, as well as inquiries into criteria of selection and content, will help to initiate and focus discussion of the entire period or problem area being examined.
- For the third part, the student may simply invite questions without using one of the above devices, or may submit another paper or syllabus (or some other piece of writing agreeable to the committee) as a means of generating and directing discussion of the entire list.
Each of the three parts will be judged separately as either pass or fail. Each failed part may be retaken one addition al time, no later than a year after the original examination. It is the responsibility of the examination committee chairperson to inform the Graduate Office in writing of the date, time, and place of the examination two weeks before the examination.
Special Field Conversation
This conversation will be based on a written rationale and a reading list prepared by the student with the advice and approval of the student's chosen committee, and approved by the graduate program director at leas one month before the conversation. The focus of the conversation will be the topic that the student has chosen for his or her dissertation; thus, the reading list will embrace the various kinds of text that the student must engage in order to begin writing. All three members of the committee will be chosen by the student.
Students must contact the Graduate Office six weeks prior to the date they wish to schedule the conversation to fill out the necessary papers. The conversation will be scheduled by the Graduate Office. Within one week following the special field conversation, the student, in consultation with the director, will write a summary of the important issues in the conversation and submit it to the graduate program committee.
All the doctoral requirements described above must be completed before a student is allowed to schedule the special field conversation.
Advancement to Candidacy
After successful completion of the, special field conversation, the student is recommended to the dean of the Graduate School for advancement to candidacy.
Dissertation
No later than the beginning of the seventh semester, students will prep a written statement setting out the scope and method of the dissertation and submit it to their dissertation director and two other members of the department who will serve as readers. After the student's director has conferred with the other readers and the dissertation committee has approved the proposal, the director will submit the proposal and names of the committee members to the graduate program committee of the department for its approval. The graduate program director, in consultation with the student's dissertation committee, will name a reader from outside the department.
The four readers of the dissertation must recommend acceptance of the dissertation before it can be approved by the Graduate School. Students will present the results of dissertation research at a colloquium convened for that purpose by the Department of English, which will be open to interested faculty and graduate students.
Dissertation Defense
At least eight weeks before the Graduate School's deadline for submitting the completed dissertation, the student will submit to his or her readers what is intended to be the final draft of the dissertation. No more than four weeks after that, if the readers have agreed that the dissertation is ready to be defended, the director will schedule the defense. (This is distinct from the actual acceptance of the dissertation, which can take place only at the defense itself.)
Teaching Program
Training in teaching is stressed by the department, and every student should expect to teach as part of the doctoral program. Teaching assistants instruct in a variety of courses including composition and introductions to poetry, fiction, and drama; tutor in the Writing Center; and assist in large lecture courses. An important part of the teaching experience is the Practicum in Teaching (EGL 697), required of all teaching assistants.
Residency Requirement
The Graduate School requires at least two consecutive semesters of full-time graduate study beyond the baccalaureate. Students will be considered in full-time residence during any semester in which they (1) are taking at least one 500-level course or 600-level seminar or are, in the opinion of the graduate program committee, properly preparing for the special field oral examination; (2) are holding no position other than that required under the teaching program; or (3) are registered for EGL 690 Dissertation Research or EGL 699, Directed Reading for Doctoral Candidates, for three, six, nine, or 12 credit hours, depending on the number of other courses being taken, and the teaching assignment. The total of all these credits and teaching hours is to be no more than 12 for G3, 9 for G4 students.
Advising and Review of Student's Progress
Each incoming student will meet with an assigned advisor before the start of classes to plan his or her first semester's coursework. The student will also meet with his or her advisor in November and May before pre-registration for each semester's courses. At the end of the first year, each student will select his or her own advisor and inform the Graduate Office in writing of the advisor's name. Students will meet at least once each semester with advisors to plan their coursework.
Each Spring semester, the graduate program committee will review each student's progress and determine whether the student may proceed with doctoral studies, may continue if certain requirements are met, or may not continue in the doctoral program because of unsatisfactory work. In order to retain financial support, teaching assistants must maintain a 3.5 GPA, in addition to satisfying the program requirements described above.