French Studies
The Graduate Program in French Literature
The graduate degree program in French Studies combines substantial course work in French literature and culture with increased emphasis on independent study. The aim is to provide the student with a broad overview of his/her field as well as a professional specialization within that field, thus training students to be effective teachers and productive scholars of French language, literature, and culture. Given the more interdisciplinary nature of both teaching and scholarship in the 21st century, doctoral students should be able to work across disciplines; to this end, the program will require course work with faculty in affiliated areas (History, Art History, European Studies, Comparative Literature, Middle Eastern Studies, etc.) to complement our own departmental offerings. In the three years of required course work, doctoral students should acquire a comprehensive knowledge of French literature, history, and culture; in working closely with faculty during their fourth year in preparing for Comprehensive Exam, they should start to define their fields of specialization as independent scholars. A Qualifying Exam based on a departmental reading list taken at the end of the second year will demonstrate mastery of literary history, canonical texts, and pertaining critical theory. The Comprehensive Exam, taken in the fourth year, will demonstrate the student’s mastery of more specialized fields and genres in three areas. After defending a dissertation prospectus at the end of the fourth year, students may conduct doctoral research in France or a Francophone country relating directly to their topic. Our program aims to train scholars of French literature and culture who intend to pursue a career in academic research and teaching in universities and colleges.
The graduate program in French Studies is a Ph.D. program. The MA degree may be obtained en passant to the Ph.D. at the end of the second year of course work provided a student has earned a sufficient number of credits and has maintained the minimum grade point average required by the Graduate School.
Admission to Ph.D. program:
Admission to the Ph.D. is granted by the graduate faculty of the Department after the student has served a probationary period as a graduate student (see “Satisfactory Progress” below). For students who transfer into the program with an M.A. degree from elsewhere, the vote is taken during the second semester of course work at the University of Texas. Students who are completing their first two years of graduate coursework in French Studies here and who wish to continue toward the Ph.D. will demonstrate their competency to continue toward the Ph.D. through coursework, through qualifying exams, and through research. Students must submit a request to be considered for admission to a doctoral program in writing to the Chairman of the Graduate Studies Committee. In evaluating such requests, the Committee will take into account the student's progress, defined in part by classroom performance, term papers, examinations, and one 10-12 page scholarly paper from a completed course, either in French or in English (revised, if necessary). The Committee will also take into consideration input from faculty members in the student’s area as well as input provided by the student’s own performance report. The applicant must submit the paper to a vetting committee appointed by the Graduate Studies Committee Chair in consultation with the Graduate Adviser, at least one month before papers are due for consideration by the entire GSC.
Course work
Students are expected to take courses that provide a thorough understanding of the history and critical theories of French literature and culture. To this end, they will take a minimum of three courses (9 hours) per semester for their three years of course work, and 10 hours their first semester, which includes a one-hour Proseminar. Students holding fellowships and not teaching are encouraged to take four courses a semester. The first two years will include 13 required courses:
• A one-hour Proseminar (FR 180P)
• Seven literature courses: students will take one three-hour course from each of the following periods in preparation for the Qualifying Exam:
Medieval ∫ Renaissance ∫ 17th Century ∫ 18th Century ∫ 19th Century ∫ 20th & 21st Century ∫ Francophone Literature
• FR 381: Critical Approaches to Literature
• FR 383N: Intro to French Linguistics
• FR 398T: Supervised Teaching in French
• 2 courses in related fields outside of the department but within the Program (i.e. French history, art history, film studies, cultural or ethnic studies, etc).
The third and final year of course work consists of six courses (18 hours) that can be taken in fields and areas best suited to the student’s scholarly orientation; a minimum of three courses must be taken within the French Department, but the remaining three may be taken in related departments. Thus, for example, a student working in medieval literature might take a Medieval Studies course in English or History, an Art History course in medieval manuscripts, or medieval music to complement her work in French medieval literature and culture. A second course in critical theory or critical approaches to literature/culture (as offered by Comparative Literature, Women’s and Gender Studies, etc.) is strongly advised.
Coursework Policies:
Credit/No Credit. Students may take no more than two graduate courses on a CR/NC basis, neither of which can count for any core or area degree requirement.
Incompletes. All grades of X on a transcript must be made up within one semester or they become permanent incompletes [I] on the transcript. Students with an I on their record become ineligible for funding reappointment.
Courses outside the Department: Students should plan to take 5-7 courses in related disciplines. Note that University rules require that at least two graduate courses be taken outside the Department of French and Italian.
Language competency requirements
Students are expected to have advanced fluency in written and spoken French when they enter the program; those with language deficiencies will be required to take remedial course work. Beyond French, students must also eventually demonstrate competency in Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic, or any other modern language approved by the Graduate Advisor at a fourth semester level. Competency can be demonstrated through course work in the language (at UT or elsewhere) or by passing a translation exam. Students working in earlier periods may satisfy the language requirement with a two semesters of Latin or the equivalent. It is strongly advised that students acquire these language skills before beginning graduate study or over the summers. Lower-division language courses will not count toward the degree requirements and will slow the student down in the completion of requirements. The language requirement must be fulfilled before the Comprehensive Exam for the PhD.
Qualifying Examination
Immediately following the fourth semester of course work students will take Qualifying Exams in four of the seven periods (chosen by the student). The exams, based both on course work and a departmental reading list, will include close reading (explication de texte) and essays (at least one of which to be written in French) covering literary movements, genres, critical issues, and themes in the various centuries. Students who do not successfully pass the QE will receive a terminal Master’s degree.
Portfolio Programs
Students are encouraged to consider adding a Portfolio Program to their degree plan. The Portfolio Program provides opportunities for students to obtain credentials in a cross-disciplinary academic area of inquiry while they are completing the requirements for a master's or doctor's degree in a particular discipline. A Portfolio Program usually consists of four thematically related graduate courses and a research presentation; possible Portfolio Programs of interest might include African and African American Studies; Cultural Studies; Disability Studies; Interdisciplinary European Studies; Study of Religion; and Women’s and Gender Studies. For a complete list and description of all Graduate Portfolio Programs at UT, see http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/docport/ .
Comprehensive Examination
The goal of the Comprehensive exam is to assess the both the breadth and depth of the student’s competency in the fields of French literature, culture, and theory. During the fall of the fourth year, each student will submit reading lists for the Comprehensive Exam and work closely with faculty in three reading courses to prepare for the exams in January of the fourth year. The exams will cover three fields: 1) the works of a major author or group of authors (i.e., the Troubadours, the Pléiade, Diderot, Proust, Césaire, le nouveau roman, etc.); 2) a theme or topic that can be traced over two centuries (i.e., utopias/dystopias; representations of women; representations of the city; nation and identity; gender and the body; etc); 3) a diachronic examination of aspects of a genre over at least two centuries: genre here is broadly construed to include film, poetry, the novel, and theatre, but also to include more limited “sub-genres” such as comedy; the epistolary novel; the novel of development; travel narrative; art criticism; the prose poem; documentary films; la nouvelle vague; etc. The individual lists should include both primary and critical texts and can, in part, be conceived in terms of a French Studies course the student might someday teach. These three fields are flexible in nature and can be shaped to accommodate student concentrations and interdisciplinary fields with approval from the graduate adviser. These areas will constitute general background for the dissertation.
By the twelfth class day of the semester before the Comprehensive Exam, the student must:
• Establish their examination committee (supervisory professor and two or three members of the Graduate Faculty in French Studies) and obtain signatures from all participating faculty.
• Submit three reading lists to the Graduate Advisor that have been prepared, approved, and signed by the individual professors and the supervising professor. No major changes may be made to the reading lists once they have been approved.
• Register for three reading courses with faculty members on the Comps committee, focusing on each of the three lists.
The Comprehensive Exam will consist of a two-hour oral examination conducted by 3-4 members of the Program faculty. Students who do not successfully pass the Comps may retake them at the end of the following semester. Only one retake is allowed.
Candidacy:
When the student has fulfilled all Ph.D. coursework and foreign language requirements, has passed the Comprehensive Examination, and has chosen a dissertation director and a supervising committee of at least four other faculty members, then he or she will file for doctoral candidacy with the Graduate School and begin registering for the dissertation course. The student must fill out the Graduate School "Program of Work" and candidacy forms online (http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/pdn/) after obtaining approval of the director, the Graduate Adviser, the Graduate Studies Committee Chair of the Program, and the Graduate Dean. Please refer to the Graduate Catalog for all rules governing progress and completion of the dissertation
Prospectus
After passing the comprehensive exam, the student, working with the dissertation adviser, will write a dissertation prospectus of a length agreed upon with the dissertation committee (generally from 15-25 pages). The prospectus should be a carefully argued written presentation of the basis for the student’s dissertation research. It should explain the significance of the project in relation to work in the field, justify the research methodology or approach, and set forth the texts to be examined and the critical questions to be addressed. This should be followed by brief summaries of each chapter. The prospectus should demonstrate the student’s ability to undertake research on a topic within the context of current scholarship and critical methodologies, and give evidence of the student’s breadth of knowledge and potential for future success as a scholar. The dissertation prospectus must be presented in written form and orally defended to the student’s dissertation committee and by the end of the eighth semester. Once the prospectus is successfully defended, students will be admitted to doctoral candidacy and begin working on the dissertation.
Research Year
During the fifth year, students will normally spend one to two semesters doing research in France or a Francophone country directly related to their dissertation field. This research abroad may take place at a different point in the student’s career with the approval of his/her advisor.
Dissertation:
It is expected that the dissertation will make a substantial contribution to existing scholarship in the field. The Graduate School requires that dissertations be written in English, unless special permission is granted prior to undertaking the project. Progress on the dissertation is regularly monitored. The dissertation must be completed and defended within a total of three years after admission to candidacy. If it is not, the student’s case will be reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee.
Dissertation defense:
The supervisory committee is responsible for approving the dissertation, which the student defends in an oral examination between one and two hours in length. This examination is conducted by the committee (at least four of its members must attend) and is open to the university community. The defense covers the dissertation, the general field of the dissertation, and other parts of the student's program, as determined by the committee. Forms are available from the Graduate School both to apply for the granting of the Ph.D. and to request the official scheduling of the defense (called the "Final Oral"). The dissertation committee should be given at least one month to read the dissertation before the “Final Oral.” The student should arrange with the Graduate Coordinator to arrange a date, time, and place to conduct the defense.
Satisfactory Progress
All students must make satisfactory progress toward their degree goals in order to continue in the program toward the Ph.D. Satisfactory progress is defined as follows:
• A minimum 3.7 grade point average for those with Walther, Pre-Emptive, or Continuing scholarships and a minimum 3.4 grade point average for all other students.
• A minimum average of 3.5 out of 5 for “quality of instructor” on the student-generated Course Instructor Survey (CIS) and a satisfactory rating from the supervisor of lower-division instruction for AIs.
• The completion of all coursework, foreign language requirements, and examinations within the first three years (for those with an M.A.) or five years (for those with a B.A.) of entering the program.
• The successful defense of the thesis research proposal before a properly established supervisory committee within six months of the completion of the comprehensive exams.
• The demonstrated potential to conduct sustained and innovative independent research, deemed relevant to the discipline.
Termination from the program:
Progress will be measured not only in terms of objective grades, but also by feedback from faculty and statements by the students themselves via their annual progress report. The Graduate Studies Committee will continually evaluate each student for evidence of his/her potential to complete the Doctor of Philosophy. Should a student’s scholarly progress in the program be deemed unsatisfactory for continuation, the student may receive a terminal MA degree after four or more semesters of coursework, as long as he/she maintains the minimum average grade point average of 3.0 required by the Graduate School.
