English, PhD

Admission

A student may enter the program directly from the baccalaureate (see Admission Requirements for M.A. degree program in English), but it is strongly advised that the M.A. degree be completed as part of the program. In addition to the general admission requirements from the Graduate School, application to the Ph.D. program in English requires a critical writing sample (10-20 pages), a statement of purpose, and a curriculum vitae. Applicants for the Creative Writing concentration also must declare a genre of specialization in their statement of purpose (fiction, poetry, drama, or creative nonfiction) and must also submit a creative writing sample in that genre (10-20 pages). Applicants for University Fellowship funding are required to provide official GRE General Test scores.

Degree Requirements

Students accepted into the Ph.D. degree program in English must complete at least 75 hours of graduate credit after earning the bachelor’s degree. These hours include 15 credit hours of core coursework, 36 credit hours of concentration coursework, and 24 credit hours of dissertation coursework. Beyond the required coursework, students also must satisfy the comprehensive examination, foreign language, and dissertation requirements described below.

Foreign Language Requirement

In addition to a command of English, the student must demonstrate reading knowledge of two other languages OR advanced reading competency in one other language.

Reading knowledge of other languages may be established in one of the following ways:

1. Satisfactory completion of an appropriate language requirement in an M.A. or other post-baccalaureate program; or
2. Presentation of evidence of having completed, within the past six years prior to entering the English Ph.D. program at UL Lafayette, the second semester, sophomore-level college course in an approved language with a grade no lower than C; the course work may be taken while the student is attending UL Lafayette; or
3. Successful completion of 4 semester hours in Old English at the graduate (500-600) level, either during the graduate program in English at UL Lafayette or within the last six years prior to entering the Ph.D. program; or
4. Successful completion of a reading knowledge examination designed and administered by appropriate faculty in the Department of Modern Languages; or
5. Presentation of a satisfactory score on the Graduate School Foreign Language Test administered by the Educational Testing Service.

Advanced reading competency in other languages may be demonstrated in one of the following ways:

1. Passing a test designed and administered by the UL Lafayette Modern Languages Department; or
2. Passing with a grade of B or better 9 semester hours in the target language at the junior or senior (300-400) level, or 6 hours at the graduate (500-600) level within the last five years prior to entering the Ph.D. program in English at UL Lafayette. These courses may be taken while the student is attending UL Lafayette.
3. Passing with a grade of B or better 6 semester hours in Old English at the graduate (500-600) level, either during the graduate program in English at UL Lafayette or within the last five years prior to entering the Ph.D. program

General Comprehensive Examination

After completing all coursework and language requirements, every student, regardless of the concentration, is tested in four areas of study elected by the student. This general comprehensive examination will include one examination in a primary area and one examination in each of three secondary areas. Further regulations governing these examinations are available in the English Graduate Student Handbook.

Concentration-Specific Exam Requirements

Creative Writing Concentration: The primary exam for students pursuing this concentration may be chosen from Literature, Theory, or Special Topics with a literary or creative focus. Two of the three remaining secondary exam areas must be chosen from literary areas.

Folklore Concentration: The primary exam for students pursuing this concentration will be Folklore. Two of the three remaining secondary exam areas must be chosen from literary areas.

Linguistics Concentration: The primary exam for students pursuing this concentration will be Linguistics. Two of the three remaining secondary exam areas must be chosen from literary areas.

Literature Concentration: The primary exam for students pursuing this concentration may be chosen from Literature, Theory, or Special Topics with a literary focus. Two of the three remaining secondary exam areas must be chosen from literary areas. At least one exam area must be on British literature, and at least one must be on American literature.

Rhetoric and Composition Concentration: The primary exam for students pursuing this concentration will be Rhetoric and Composition. One of the three remaining secondary exam areas must be Linguistics or Folklore, and the other two exam areas must be from Literary Studies, Linguistics, Open Topics, or Folklore.

On the basis of performance on these examinations, the student will be either (1) passed unconditionally, (2) required to repeat examination(s), or, in the case of repeated failure, (3) deemed ineligible to continue in the Ph.D. program. Any student deemed ineligible to continue may write an appeal to the English Graduate Appeals Committee and the Graduate Council’s Appeals Committee.

Dissertation

As soon as possible after beginning graduate study, a Ph.D. student should elect a field of specialization and, in consultation with a specialist in that field, select some problem for investigation. In the semester following successful completion of the General Comprehensive Examination, the student should submit a prospectus for the dissertation. The student should begin this step early enough to allow for its approval by mid-October when examinations were completed the previous spring or mid-March when examinations were completed the previous fall. The chair of the student’s dissertation committee, in consultation with other committee members, will then recommend to the dean of the Graduate School that the student’s dissertation committee be approved. This committee will direct the candidate through the final stages of the program. The dissertation may be a work of literary or linguistic scholarship on a single subject, a literary biography, a work concerned with the history of ideas or American or English studies. Creative writing students submit an original work of literature with supporting critical/theoretical commentary. The dissertation should meet the minimum standards for publication.

Final Oral Examination

When the dissertation has been completed and approved by the dissertation committee, the committee will conduct a final oral examination of the candidate. The examination will be devoted to a defense of the dissertation and to related matters.

Notes

Students must complete:
ENGL 596 - Research Methods  or an approved equivalent
ENGL 500 - Professional Colloquium  in each of their two semesters

Students must complete a minimum of 75 credit hours of graduate credit (including a minimum of 24 hours for dissertation) above the baccalaureate.

A minimum of 51 of credit hours must be in English courses at the 400(G), 500, and 600 levels. At least 27 of these credit hours must be at the 500/600 level.

Students must complete at least 21 post-M.A. credit hours of coursework at UL Lafayette by the semester before the General Comprehensive Examination is scheduled. Up to 27 credit hours may be transferred in from previous graduate-level work. For those pursuing the creative writing concentration, all workshop requirements must be competed at UL Lafayette; transfer credit for workshops will count as elective credit.

With prior permission of the English Department, students may take selected graduate courses in related disciplines.

Students are urged to plan early and continuously, with the help of graduate advisors and the Graduate Coordinators, for adequate coursework before their written examinations.