diff --git a/appendices/phd-qualifying-exam.md b/appendices/phd-qualifying-exam.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..67edd3f --- /dev/null +++ b/appendices/phd-qualifying-exam.md @@ -0,0 +1,88 @@ +--- +title: PhD Exam Procedures +author: Department of English, Loyola University Chicago +--- + +# Initial preparations + +See the GPD to convey your intention of taking the PhD exam well before you plan to take it. +At this time you and the GPD may also want to discuss possible fields and examiners. +Note that the examination committee does not have to be the same as the eventual dissertation committee, though the 502 director generally becomes the dissertation director. + +At least six months before you plan to take the exam, assemble your committee of three examiners, and, in consultation with them and with the GPD, choose your three fields. +Fields may be of the following kinds: + +1. a literary period +2. an author +3. a genre +4. an area of critical theory +5. composition and rhetorical theory + +At least one field must be in a literary period, and all fields must be of different types, except that two may be periods. + +Each field may be related to the anticipated dissertation topic; however, some breadth across fields is expected. +And although the selection of texts within each field will be influenced to some extent by your particular interests and approach, you will also be expected to demonstrate a general mastery of the field. + +# Field lists + +Make up your field lists in consultation with your committee. +Typically, you will present your committee members with draft lists of works for their fields. +In turn, they will suggest others, and you may negotiate dropping some. +It is impossible to compare reading lists for different fields, but you should aim for lists of approximately 30 works, including primary and secondary reading material. +With an examiner's approval, a list may consist solely of primary works, but then you are responsible in addition for doing the necessary outside reading to make yourself a critically informed reader in that field. + +The reading list for each field, with a ballot indicating the approval of the examiner for that field, must be turned in to the GPD by the following dates: + +- For November exams, by the end of exam week in the preceding Spring semester +- For February exams, by the end of the third week of classes in the preceding Fall semester +- For April exams, by the end of the second week of the preceding November + +Be sure that each examiner gets a copy of all three reading lists. + +Stay in touch with your committee as you read for the exam, discussing issues that gain your attention, questions that arise, and ideas you would like to pursue on the exam. +It is extremely important that you do this, both to keep in touch with the exam process and to familiarize yourself with the expectations and likely interests of your examiners. + +# Field statements + +You may begin working on your statements anytime after your lists have been approved. +You should aim for statements between six and ten pages for each field, though some projects require longer statements. +The statements should identify three or so issues, questions, or arguments about the works on your list, and, in the course of discussing these, should traverse (very briefly, of course) most of the works on the reading list for the field. +In this sense the statement can be thought of as justifying the field as a field. +Remember that you are responsible for anything you write in your statements, including critical-theoretical terminology. +Your examiners will draw on your statements when writing their questions. +Keep in mind that you are responsible for all works on your lists regardless of whether you refer to them directly in your field statements. + +You must turn in to the GPD the final version of the statement for each field, with a ballot indicating the approval of the examiner for that field, at least four weeks prior to the beginning of the written exam. +Because revision is inevitable, you should give drafts of your statements to the examiners at least six weeks prior to the exam, and earlier if possible. + +Be sure that each examiner gets a copy of all three field statements. + +# The written exam + +A month before the exam week, inform the Graduate Program Secretary of the dates, times, and fields of your written exam. +Which field you take on each day, and at what time, is your choice. +However, keep in mind that you must take the written portion during regular office hours, 8:30-5:00 on Mondays through Fridays. +The Secretary will reserve an office in which you can write your exam and prepare the computer in that office for your use. + +The written portion of the exam is nine hours, three hours for each field. +You may bring books to the exam, but not notes. +The Graduate Program Secretary will distribute your answers to the examiners. +Most students turn in approximately 8-10 pages for each section of the exam. + +# The oral exam + +The oral portion of the exam is two hours long. +Contact your committee to arrange a date and time, and then inform the Secretary so that a room can be reserved. +This should be done a month before the exam. + +Before the oral exam, you should go over the questions and your answers from the written portion, preparing to develop, revise, or explain them. +This is a very important part of your preparation for the oral. +You may bring copies of the questions and answers to the oral exam, as well as notes, and, if you expect.to need them, a few books. +Remember that the examiners are not limited to asking you about the written portion of the exam, although in practice the bulk of the oral is usually devoted to it. + +# Outcome + +At the end of your oral exam, the committee will confer and then inform you of the outcome. +The categories for performance on the PhD Exam are Pass, Fail, and Pass "With Distinction." +The last two categories are rare. +If you fail the exam, you may retake it one time; the retake must take place within one year of the original exam. diff --git a/handbook.md b/handbook.md index d1600ff..1ca215f 100644 --- a/handbook.md +++ b/handbook.md @@ -367,39 +367,8 @@ For course requirements, including field-specific requirements, see the [Academi ### Ph.D. Qualifying Examination -The Ph.D. examination includes a written and an oral component. -The written exam consists of three three-hour papers covering fields to be chosen by the student in consultation with his or her examining committee and the Director of Graduate Programs. -With the approval of their examiners, students must define three fields. -Fields may be of the following kinds: - -1. An area of critical, cultural, or literary theory -2. An author -3. The literature of an historical period and/or genre, which may be additionally focused -4. Textual studies/digital humanities - -Students may include up to three fields of the third type, but only one field of any other type. -Examples of literary fields might include: - -- 17th-Century British poetry -- Early Modern women's writing -- Postcolonial drama -- Medieval drama -- African-American literature, 1914--1959 -- Contemporary working-class fiction of the U.S. -- Modernist poetry -- Modernist manifestos - -Any or all of the exam fields may be related to the student's dissertation topic; however, some breadth across fields is expected. -And although the selection of texts within each field will be influenced to some extent by the student's particular interests and approach, he or she will also be expected to demonstrate a general mastery of the field. - -Exams are given in November, February, and April each year. -Field descriptions and reading lists are worked out by the student in consultation with his or her examining committee and must be approved by the examiners and by the Director of Graduate Programs well before the written examination is scheduled. -The Director of Graduate Programs will provide a packet of materials detailing all exam-related procedures. - -Reading lists are due several months before the exam date, and field statements are due one month prior to the exam. -Students cannot schedule their exam times until the field statements have been submitted. -The written examination is followed by a two-hour oral examination that is based on, but not limited to, the written portion. -Students who fail the exam may retake it once, within one year. +For basic information about the Ph.D. qualifying examination, see the [Academic Catalog](https://catalog.luc.edu/graduate-professional/graduate-school/arts-sciences/english/english-phd/#curriculumtext), under "PhD Qualifying Examination." +Full instructions are supplied in the [Appendix](#phd-exam-full-instructions). ### Research Tool @@ -546,10 +515,18 @@ Last updated \today. \newpage -# Appendix +# Appendices ## Stanley Clayes Essay Competition Submission Guidelines ``` {.include} appendices/clayes-prize-submission-guidelines.md ``` + +\newpage + +## Instructions for the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam {#phd-exam-full-instructions} + +``` {.include} +appendices/phd-qualifying-exam.md +```