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Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. degree requires satisfactory completion of 60 credit hours beyond the master's degree. Graduate credits earned at other institutions may be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the doctoral program. Transfer credit will be evaluated individually by the Director of Graduate Studies in terms of Graduate School requirements, program requirements, and the student's Plan of Study.
This section includes basic information about:
- Course Requirements
- Special Conditions Applicable to Course Requirements
- Foreign Language Requirement
- Candidacy Examination
- The Dissertation Process
Course Requirements
1. Six required courses (18-21 s.h.):
- ENGL 8601 Advanced Research Methods (3 s.h., may be repeated up to a maximum of 6 s.h.),
- ENGL 8605 Advanced Discourse Analysis (3 s.h.),
- ENGL 8615 Advanced Rhetorical Theory (3 s.h.),
- ENGL 8630 Advanced Cultural Rhetoric and Writing (3 s.h.),
- ENGL 7004 Research Ethics (3 s.h.),
- ENGL 8780 Advanced Theory of Professional Communication (3 s.h.).
2. Fifteen semester hours in the Department of English (15 s.h.) selected in consultation with an advisor and committee by constructing a coherent Plan of Study that moves students toward an identifiable goal. These courses will rely on the department's emphases in:
- Discourses and Cultures
- Writing Studies and Pedagogy
- Professional and Technical Communication.
3. Nine hours of electives (9 s.h.) that focus on a student's particular interests selected from other courses at the 7000 level or above offered by any graduate faculty member in the Department of English, from similar courses in Affiliate departments, or any combination of these sources.
4. Optional ENGL 8100 Directed Reading (3-6 s.h.).
5. A dissertation—ENGL 9000 Dissertation—involving original and independent research (minimum of 18 s.h.).
Special Conditions Applicable to Course Requirements
1. The Director of Graduate Studies, in concert with the Graduate Admissions Committee, will evaluate each applicant's academic history to determine if earlier work can be used to waive certain courses, or to suggest additional work to remedy deficiencies.
2. Teaching assistants must complete ENGL 7625 Teaching Composition: Theory and Practice (3 s.h.) or a similar course. In some instances, evidence of previous teaching experience may allow a student to waive this requirement.
3. Foreign nationals should be aware of the Immigration and Naturalization Service requirements that mandate 12 s.h. per term. Creating a Plan of Study for such students will be addressed by advisors.
Foreign Language Requirement
Since research often forces one to read texts published in languages other than English, the Ph.D. requires competency in one foreign language. That requirement can be fulfilled by:
- Passing the GRE Foreign Language Examination,
- Passing a test administered by a faculty member competent in the language,
- Completing FORL6000, or
- Presenting evidence of successful completion of five semesters of college-level study with an average grade of B.
In some instances, it may be more appropriate to demonstrate knowledge of a contemporary quantitative or social science programming language. An advisor can help in selecting the best approach for specific research needs. This language competency requirement must be completed before a student may commence work on the dissertation.
Candidacy Examination
In consultation with the dissertation committee, students declare a major area and two minor areas in which they agree to be examined. The Candidacy Examination allows students to demonstrate that they can develop and defend a sophisticated position on important questions in their major and minor areas of study. The Candidacy Examination must be completed successfully before a formal Dissertation Prospectus can be submitted.
The dissertation committee chair has the responsibility for guiding a student through the research and writing of the dissertation. Typically, students submit individual dissertation chapters to their committee members for review and approval before they submit the completed dissertation. If and when a committee considers a dissertation to be defensible, the authoring student must defend the dissertation publicly.