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Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination The purpose of the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination is to determine whether the candidate has gained sufficient breadth and depth of research knowledge in Hispanic literatures or in Spanish linguistics to enter the profession. The Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam includes both a written and an oral component. The written portion consists of a three-hour exam in each of the candidate's four areas; an oral examination follows, usually of two hours' duration. The examining committee is comprised of five members of the Department, or four members from the Department and one from a closely related department such as the Department of Linguistics or the Department of Cinema and Comparative Literature. Typically, of the five committee members four direct the exam areas and the fifth is an additional examiner. However, it may be the case that a given area is co-directed by two faculty members. It is required that all five members of the examining committee have areas of expertise related to the four exam areas. In no case shall an individual faculty member direct more than two of the four exam areas. As with advisory committees, the candidate's advisor contacts the relevant faculty members to request their participation in the examining committee, and then submits the proposed committee for approval by the DGS and the DEO. As part of the approval process, there will be consultation between these individuals and the advisor. This should be done as early as possible during the semester preceding the examinations, but not later than fifteen weeks prior to the start of examinations (see section below). Examination areas literature track 1. Two broad areas, one in Spanish peninsular literary history and one in Spanish American literary history. The broad areas may be based either on the study of one genre across time (e.g. Spanish American poetry from the Colonial period to the present; Spanish narrative from the Golden Age to the present) or on the study of three or more genres in one literary period, defined as comprising at least a century (e.g. Golden Age drama, narrative and poetry; Spanish American drama, narrative and essay in the 19th century). 2. Two specialized areas of the candidate's own choosing. Most typically, these areas involve further and more specialized exploration of particular periods, genres, or movements within Spanish, Spanish American, and/or Luso-Brazilian literary and cultural history; or they may involve in-depth study of specific problems in Hispanic literary criticism or in literary theory. Areas involving Spanish or Latin American cinema may also be included. It is expected that both of these areas are related to the student's proposed area of specialization for future research and teaching (e.g. peninsular vs. Spanish American literature). At least one of the specialized areas must be related to the student's anticipated dissertation topic. A three page abstract (pre-prospectus) must be submitted to the examining committee before the exam in the specialized area that relates to the dissertation topic. This abstract will be discussed during the doctoral oral. The reading lists for the broad areas should show a wide range of knowledge of the field, based on but not merely duplicating his or her coursework in that area. The reading lists for each of the specialized areas are drawn up by the candidate in consultation with the faculty member(s) directing the area. The exam areas and reading lists must be approved by the examining committee and then by the DGS and the DEO for approval not later than fifteen weeks prior to the start of examinations (i.e., fifteen weeks prior to the date set for the first written examination). linguistics track 1. Three required areas: 2. One area of the candidate's choosing. Typically, this will involve exploration of specialized topics in the core areas listed above [phonology, syntax and acquisition] or study of particular topics in comparative Romance linguistics, Spanish dialectology, history of the Spanish language, Portuguese linguistics, comparative foreign language pedagogy, sociolinguistics, or linguistic theory. The reading lists for all four areas of the exam are prepared by the candidate in consultation with the faculty member(s) directing each area, based on but not merely duplicating his or her coursework in that area. The exam areas and reading lists must be approved by the examining committee and then by the DGS and the DEO, not later than fifteen weeks prior to the start of examinations (i.e., fifteen weeks prior to the date set for the first written examination.) Of the four exam areas, two are intended to be broad, and two, including the specialized topic, focused. At least one of the specialized areas must be related to the student's anticipated dissertation topic. A three page abstract (pre-prospectus) must be submitted to the examining committee before the exam in the specialized area that relates to the dissertation topic. This abstract will be discussed during the doctoral oral. Examination procedure: Graduate students planning to take Ph.D. Comprehensive Exams must file, by the third week of the relevant semester, the "Notification of Intent to Take M.A. or Ph.D. exams" form (available in the department office). By departmental policy, students presenting the comprehensive exams cannot have more than one coursework requirement left to be completed, including courses for the fulfillment of the language tool requirements, after the semester in which the exams are presented. Typically, students either have finished their coursework requirements prior to presenting the comprehensive exams, or they are finishing them in the semester of the exams. The Graduate College requires that written and oral exams be completed within a 15-week period. Written examinations are usually scheduled over a three- to four-week period and terminate at least one week before the oral exam. Between the time of the written exams and the oral exam, examining faculty individually evaluate and discuss the exams with the candidate. The information provided in this evaluation should guide the candidate in final preparation for the oral component of the examination; however, it does not include specific questions to be asked in the oral, nor does it limit the questions which may be asked. The oral examination provides the opportunity for further development of the written examinations as well as examination of other aspects of the candidate's reading lists. At the end of the oral exam, the candidate will be asked to leave the examining room in order for the committee to determine its evaluation of the exam. S/he will then be invited to return to the room in order to learn of the committee's evaluation of the exam, including an appraisal of specific areas of strength and/or weakness and recommendations for future academic work. The official evaluation of the examination as reported to the Graduate College is satisfactory, reservation, or unsatisfactory. If reservations are imposed, the examination committee must send a letter to the student specifying the reservations to be met and the deadline for removal, with copies to the student's file, the DGS and the Graduate College. Students must be registered during the semester in which they take the comprehensive examinations. If all course work has been completed prior to that semester, then the student should register for 2 semester hours of special work (35:298) with her/his advisor, on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. By departmental policy, students may not register for thesis credits (35:299) during the semester of the comprehensive examinations (see below). DISSERTATION Dissertation Committee After the Ph.D. comprehensive examination, the candidate requests that one member of the departmental graduate faculty serve as the dissertation director, in accordance with the proposed topic of the dissertation and faculty expertise. The dissertation director, after discussion with the candidate, proposes a dissertation committee of five members, four of whom are faculty members of the department and are chosen in accordance with their areas of expertise. The fifth member, by Graduate College policy, must be from outside the department. It is strongly recommended that the outside member be someone whose area of expertise is related in some way to the proposed dissertation topic, and able to read Spanish. Professors on phased retirement should function only as co-director of dissertations. It is the responsibility of the dissertation director to contact the faculty members to request their participation on the committee. The entire committee, including the dissertation director, must be approved by the DGS and the DEO. As part of the approval process, there will be consultation between these individuals and the advisor/dissertation director. The dissertation director will also serve as the student's advisor during the dissertation period. Dissertation Prospectus No later than the fourth week of the semester subsequent to the completion of the Ph.D. comprehensive examination, the candidate submits a dissertation prospectus to the dissertation committee for approval. his prospectus consists of two sections: (1) a narrative of approximately twenty pages which describes in detail the dissertation topic, the work done in the field previously on this topic, the research methodology and/or theoretical approach to the topic, and a preliminary description of chapter divisions, and (2) a preliminary bibliography indicating primary and secondary sources and a timetable for completion of the research and writing of the dissertation. The dissertation director sets up a meeting of the dissertation committee at which the candidate gives a brief oral presentation of the prospectus and answers questions which the committee members may have. The committee members should receive the written prospectus AT LEAST TWO WEEKS prior to this meeting. At this time two members of the dissertation committee, in addition to the director, will agree to read the dissertation on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Once approved, a copy of the prospectus and the departmental prospectus approval form are handed in to the departmental graduate secretary by the dissertation director, to be placed in the student's file. Registration Graduate College regulations require that students be registered during each semester after passing the comprehensive examination until the degree is awarded, excluding summers. In general, this continuing registration requirement can be met by registering for Ph.D. postcomprehensive registration, which entails a special minimal fee. There are two different post-comp registration numbers the student can register for. One is for “continuing registration” (000:002:000) and the other is for “final registration” which the student register for during the semester of graduation, if all coursework and thesis hour requirements have been met. At some point during the dissertation writing process the student must register for the required 2 semester hours of thesis credit (35:299). Please note that students cannot register for thesis credit before the Ph.D. comprehensive examination is successfully completed, and therefore the earliest semester in which registration for 35:299 is possible is the semester following the semester in which the examination was taken. Presentation of the Dissertation & Final Examination One copy of the dissertation, complete and in final form, must be presented at the Office of the Graduate College before the final examination (dissertation defense), and no later than four weeks before the graduation date on which the degree is to be conferred. (Please see the relevant sections of the Manual of Rules and Regulation of the Graduate College for information on the dissertation and final examination.) Regulations regarding preparation of the dissertation copy, available from the Graduate College, must be strictly followed. In planning a timetable for the final semester of study, the student and his/her advisory committee should keep in mind the following filing dates on the Graduate College calendar: Application for Degree, Ph.D. Plan of Study, Request for Final Examination, First Deposit (of the dissertation), Final Examination Reports, and Final Deposit (of the dissertation). The candidate should provide the final copy of the dissertation to committee members sufficiently in advance of the defense date so as to allow committee members time for a careful reading (minimally, one month). The members of the dissertation committee must sign the Dissertation Ready for Defense Form one week prior to the oral defense as an indication that the dissertation is adequate for defense. The signing of this form does not indicate prior approval of the dissertation, only that it is adequate for defense. Progress Toward Degree As noted in the section on registration, the normal course load for a graduate student with a 50% teaching assistantship is three courses a semester. The minimum number of courses required beyond the M.A. to meet the coursework requirements for the Ph.D. are nine courses in the literature track and nine courses in the linguistics track, excluding language tool requirements at the first- and second-year level. The typical and expected progress toward degree for the Ph.D. is as follows: Year 1, semesters 1 & 2: 6 graduate courses
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