PhD in Literary Studies: Preliminary Examinations
When all English course requirements and at least one of the foreign language requirements are complete, a student may sit for the Preliminary Examination. No one can sit for an examination with an Incomplete still on the record.
The Preliminary Examination takes place during the penultimate week before classes begin in either the fall or the spring semester. The exam has two written four-hour parts on successive days. It is followed at a later date by an oral Dissertation Prospectus Conference, the bridge between stages two and three.
Exam areas
Students may choose an area for examination in one of three ways:
- in a historical period
- in Women's Writing and Feminist Literary Theory, in Critical Theory, or in a genre—the novel, narrative, poetry, or drama
- as a combination of three fields.
For each of the chronological or otherwise set areas, there is a printed list of 125-150 items on which the examination is based. For the Three-Field Exam, a student develops an individual list, also of 125-150 items, with three foci that define a wide and deep research specialty equivalent in scope and complexity to the set generic and chronological areas. Such a list might cross the boundaries of conventional historical areas, allow fuller concentration on a body of material not heavily represented in the set lists, or supplement established lists with theoretical texts. Developing the list requires the supervision and consent of three English Department faculty members who serve as examiners.
Faculty Committees
For the purpose of administering the Preliminary Exam in each of the set examination areas, there are standing faculty committees. All students taking the written Preliminary Exam in the same area at the same time will take the same test, prepared and graded by at least three faculty members from the standing committee for the area. The examining committee for each area will be selected and announced during the preceding semester. For the Three-Field Examinations, the student has the responsibility of assembling a faculty committee, which for reasons of consultation must be in place at the beginning of the semester preceding the semester when the student plans to take the Preliminary Exam. Each individualized list must have written certification from each member of the faculty committee, approving the list. It must also be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies so as to insure that all Three-Field examination lists are coherent and equivalent to the standard examining fields. The list must be submitted to the DGS by the 8th week of the fall semester for August exams, and the 8th week of the spring semester for January exams.
Levels of Pass
There are two levels of Pass on the written Preliminary Examination, Pass with Distinction and Pass. If the student's performance on the examination falls somewhere in between Pass and Fail—a provisional grade of Marginal—the examining committee will require an oral examination, normally within the first two weeks of the semester, to resolve whether to award a Pass or a Fail. A student who fails the Preliminary Examination normally may retake it once.
(rev. 12/2007)
