Graduate Programs

Ph.D. Program

Admission to the Program

The Preliminary Examination is administered twice a year (usually mid-October and the week after Spring Break) by a departmental committee to those students who have completed their core curriculum and are ready to start on their Ph.D. concentrations. Students who enter the program with an M.A. in an area of Germanic studies usually take the examination in their second long semester of study at U.T. (but in no case later than their fourth long semester); students who enter with a B.A. take the examination within two semesters after they complete 36 hours/the core curriculum.

Students entering the Ph.D. program with graduate work at another institution are considered on a case-by-case basis. When the Graduate Adviser is satisfied that such students possess proficiency in areas represented by the core program, they will be allowed to take the Preliminary Examination and, upon passing it, take the Admission to Candidacy Examination and apply for candidacy at the Graduate School.

Further details on both the Preliminary Examination and the Admission to Candidacy Examination are set forth in the departmental Graduate Program Guidelines available from the Graduate Coordinator.

Requirements

Although the Ph.D. is not awarded on the basis of a specified number of courses or credit hours, 30 credit hours beyond the core program are considered a minimum.

Areas of Specialization: The student who pursues a Ph.D. must choose a primary area, which will be the area of specialization of the dissertation. The most common areas of specialization are:

1. Germanic Linguistics and Philology
2. German Literature: Middle Ages through Humanism
3. German Literature: Renaissance/Reformation through Baroque
4. German Literature: Enlightenment through Realism
5. German Literature: Naturalism to the Present
6. Scandinavian Languages and Literature
7. Dutch Language and Literature
8. Yiddish Language and Literature
9. Applied Linguistics/Pedagogy

Emphasis given to the specialization will vary. Areas may overlap. Specializations may also be oriented toward culture, literary or linguistic theory, film, or translation. In consultation with the Graduate Adviser students will develop both a major and a minor field in their area of specialization.

Major Field: The student takes a minimum of six courses beyond the core program in the area of specialization. Any course not taken within the department should relate to the area in question.

Supporting Work: The student takes a minimum of four courses beyond the core program, supporting the area of specialization. The courses are chosen from the offerings of the University deemed relevant by the student in consultation with the Graduate Adviser.

Admission to Candidacy Examination

Approximately four semesters after the M.A.--or after core requirements have been fulfilled by those students not pursuing a thesis or report, or who have entered the Department of Germanic Languages with an M.A.--students will have to pass an Admission to Candidacy Examination in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. candidacy. The purpose of the examination is to test the student's preparedness to proceed to the writing of a doctoral dissertation. Directions for arranging the ACE are available from the Graduate Coordinator.

After the examination has been passed and all other university and departmental requirements have been fulfilled, students may apply for Ph.D. candidacy. After this application is approved by the Office of Graduate Studies, students will register for dissertation research (399R, 699R, or 999R). Students should see the Graduate Coordinator for details on this procedure.

Prospectus Presentation

After the student has been admitted to candidacy, s/he will be expected to present their Prospectus to the Department within one calendar year of the date of their admission to candidacy. Students who are returning from a grant for study abroad will have a small extension: they are required to present as soon as possible in the Fall Semester after they return from the grant. Students who expect to be abroad for more than one year should arrange to present their Prospectuses before they leave.

A Prospectus Presentation lasts one hour. The student distributes a 10- to 20-page handout on the project (at least a week before the scheduled presentation), then presents approximately 20 minutes orally and answers questions. This is a work-in-progress presentation intended to help the student design and test a workable outline for the dissertation. See the Graduate Coordinator for a more detailed handout on how to organize this presentation.

NOTE: For more extensive procedural information on all program policies, please ask the Graduate Coordinator for copies of the Academic Guidelines and the Teaching Guidelines.