Doctor of Philosophy Program

Specifically, the program seeks to develop the following:

• A comprehensive and intensive knowledge of the literature, with specialization in one area (period, type, or author) of British or American Literature.

Purpose of exam

The oral DQE provides students the opportunity to:

• Defend their dissertation proposals
• Defend their contextual or secondary areas of study

Once the exam is completed, the candidate should be ready to write the dissertation and complete it within 18-24 months.

Scheduling of Exam

Students are expected to take the DQE in the semester following their completion of 8830. This means the DQE will typically take place fall semester of the third year. When students register for their DQE the faculty advisors should:

• Fill out the DQE Checklist
• Submit it to the DGS.

To accommodate the individualized exam format and to assist student progress through the program, Ph.D. qualifying exams are typically offered between September 30 and May 15, normally within two months of the student's request to take the exam.

Faculty Committee

• Composition: The DQE committee is composed of three faculty, chosen by the student in consultation with the faculty advisor who chairs the committee. (The student’s three-person dissertation committee is usually though not always drawn from this group.)
• Function: Committee members generate questions based on the student's dissertation outline and on the contextual/secondary field bibliography. Prior to the DQE, the faculty advisor collects the questions from committee members and compiles the questions into an exam format, culling out any repetitive questions; the exam is then circulated to all committee members before the exam and serves as a script for the oral DQE exam.

Readiness for Taking the Exam

Students may schedule their DQE if they have met the following requirements:

• Successfully completed English 8830
• Obtained DQE committee members' approval for their dissertation outlines and for their contextual/secondary field annotated bibliographies.

Evaluation

The qualifying exam requires a vote of 3-0 or 2-1 to pass. To pass the DQE, students must demonstrate their readiness to write their dissertations by meeting the criteria on the following form, which is to be filled out by the director and submitted to the DGS:

• DQE Criteria for Assessment

Reporting

To record the results of the DQE, the advisor/committee must complete the above assessment form, and in addition the following two forms, which likewise must be submitted to the DGS, so they can be processed and sent on to the Graduate School:

• DQE Chairperson's Summary Form
• DQE Committee Member's Evaluation Form

Post-Exam Consultation

After the DQE has been graded and the results reported to the Graduate School, students are encouraged to review their performance with their field advisors.

The student should then submit the proposal materials to the graduate school, using the following form: Outline for Dissertation Form. This is also an appropriate time to submit to the graduate school the official form declaring the student's candidacy: Advancement to Candidacy Form.

Students are encouraged to begin thinking about their dissertations as early as possible.

• Use Early Coursework: Students may plan coursework and paper topics to explore possible dissertation topics
• Solicit Advice: Students may consult with faculty members, who are willing to brainstorm with students about how to frame a dissertation topic as a research question so that it results in a thesis contributing to on-going scholarly conversations.
• Complete ENGL 8830
• Complete DQE

When writing the dissertation, students follow the steps below so as to finish their dissertations in a timely fashion and in accordance with the Graduate School's Dissertation Directives.

Select Director:

Students select directors who are knowledgeable in students' chosen fields and who are people with whom students can have a comfortable and productive working relationship. Directors read early drafts of dissertation chapters, determine when chapters are ready to be given to other committee members, and conduct 2-hour oral dissertation defenses, including overseeing completion of required paperwork.

Select Committee Members:

Students, in consultation with directors, set up dissertation committees consisting of the director and two faculty readers. Readers provide feedback on later drafts of dissertation chapters, consult with directors on a dissertation's readiness for defense, and participate in a 2-hour oral dissertation defense.

Submit Dissertation Outline:

The dissertation outline should be written in English 8830 and approved in the DQE. The dissertation outline, which frequently undergoes revision in response to suggestions from the DQE and dissertation committees, should be submitted to the Graduate School no later than a couple months after the DQE has been passed. Although dissertations often diverge from particulars in the dissertation outline, the outline enables students to begin with clear arguments and methods that can serve as a reference for all subsequent efforts on the dissertation.

Consult regularly with Director:

Successful and timely completion of the dissertation within 18-24 months depends on students' sustained work, including remaining in close consultation with directors. At least one formal communication per month is recommended, and more frequent meetings, phone calls, and email exchanges are helpful. In these communications, directors and students discuss students' reading, writing, and general progress. Directors may suggest or require certain avenues of inquiry, set deadlines, and read initial drafts of dissertation chapters. These initial drafts represent students' best current efforts; as such, they are crafted pieces of writing with complete citations, not hastily-composed or casual rough drafts. Directors read the initial drafts in a timely fashion and return them to students with suggestions for revision.

Consult Committee Members:

Directors may seek advice from two readers about initial drafts or wait until initial drafts have been revised. Although readers typically communicate formal responses to students through directors, students should feel free to call on the expertise of the readers at any time. 

Once directors and committee members approve dissertations, public defenses may be scheduled.

• Advisers should submit the English Department Dissertation Checklist to the English Director of Graduate Studies.
• At least four weeks before the defense, students prepare a Dissertation Defense Program for the Graduate School, together with an Announcement for Public Defense of the Dissertation. Members of the dissertation committee must sign the Announcement, indicating that they have approved a final version of the dissertation and agree on the defense date.

Students defend their dissertations in a two-hour oral exam. 

Prepare for the Dissertation Defense:

Students plan to undertake their defenses no later than a month prior to graduation. Students are responsible for presenting each member of the committee with a clean copy of the final version in ample time to insure its reading before the scheduled date of the defense.

Pass the Dissertation Defense:

Students defend their dissertations by answering questions posed by committee members about the dissertations' claims, methods, and potential for publication. At the conclusion of defenses, committee members vote on whether to accept the dissertations. To pass, a dissertation must receive a vote of 3-0 or 2-1. Committees may pass a dissertation as is or require minor revisions before students submit final drafts to the Graduate School.

The committee will fill out a Dissertation Assessment Sheet to be handed in to the departmental director of graduate studies. Directors fill out the Dissertation Approval Form.

• Although faculty directors and readers offer advice and encouragement, students ultimately write their own dissertations. Consequently, the primary responsibility for completing the dissertation rests with students; as such, the dissertation process trains students in the research habits needed for successful academic careers.
• Even though students have six years beyond the M.A. to complete their coursework, DQE, and dissertations, the department does all it can to insure that students complete their work even faster.
• The goal of directors and readers has always been to facilitate students' work in ways that produce the best possible dissertations. Our department's record of degree completion and its academic placement attest to the success of faculty and students in achieving this goal.