StudyQA — PhD: English — Princeton University

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Description Contents Requirements Funding

The aim of the Princeton graduate program in English is to produce well-trained and field-transforming scholars, insightful and imaginative critics, and effective and creative teachers. The Ph.D. program is rigorous but also supportive. It is certainly possible to complete the degree in five years, though we now offer multiple funding opportunities for research fellowships in year six, should students need an additional year for dissertation completion and for the academic job market or for pursuing other career opportunities should they choose to do so.

While a high-powered research institution, Princeton also maintains a feeling of intimacy. In keeping with the goals of the University at large, the Department of English seeks to cultivate and sustain an extremely diverse, cosmopolitan, and lively intellectual community. Because this is a residential university with a tradition emphasizing teaching as well as research, the faculty is easily accessible to students and committed to their progress.

The faculty of the Department of English is notable for its world-renowned scholarly reputation, commitment to teaching, and accessibility. The faculty showcases wide-ranging interdisciplinary interests as well as a diverse range of critical approaches within the discipline. In addition to offering seminars in every major historical field of concentration, from medieval to contemporary literatures, we offer a wide range of theoretical specializations in fields such as feminist theory, gender and sexuality studies, psychoanalysis, Marxism, postcolonialism, environmental studies, political and social theory, and cultural studies. Students may also take courses in cognate departments such as comparative literature, classics, philosophy, linguistics, history, and art history.

The University offers programs in creative writing, dance, theater, American studies, gender and sexuality, environmental studies, and visual arts. The faculty in creative writing is one of the most outstanding in the country, and includes Jeffrey Eugenides, Jhumpa Lahiri, Paul Muldoon, Joyce Carol Oates, James Richardson, Toni Morrison, and Edmund White.

Courses:

The graduate program in English is a five-year program (with multiple opportunties for funding in year six, as necessary) leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). During the first two years, students prepare for the general examination through work in seminars and directed or independent reading.

Each entering student is assigned a faculty adviser who works with the director of graduate studies in planning course selection in the first and second years.

The major work of the first two years should reinforce the student’s general knowledge of English and American literature. During the second year, students also begin intensive work in their special fields of interest, which may include a historical period, a genre, or literary theory and criticism. Students choose their courses at the beginning of each term with the aid of the departmental director of graduate studies. While programs are flexible, students normally enroll in three seminars each term to complete the required 12 courses by the end of the second year.

Language(s):

Students must demonstrate a reading knowledge of two foreign languages as soon as possible after enrollment. The languages normally recommended are French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, and Spanish, but other languages relevant to a student’s program of research may be substituted with the approval of the director of graduate studies. The language requirement must be satisfied before the completion of the general examination.

General Exam:

The general examination, taken in October of the third year, is the main qualifying examination for the Ph.D. The purpose of this examination is to prepare students to present themselves as strong job candidates with wide-ranging knowledge of two or more fields. The examination committee consists of three faculty members, who assist the student in preparing a reading list for the examination. Students elect to be examined on either two major fields, or one major and two minor fields. They also decide, in consultation with their examination committee, which examination format is most appropriate for them: an eight-hour written examination, or a two-hour oral examination.

Qualifying for the M.A.:

Students normally qualify for the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree on the way to the Ph.D. by completing the general examination. Students who leave the Ph.D. program for various reasons may also be awarded the M.A. by satisfactorily completing all required course work, the course distribution requirement, and the language requirement.

Teaching:

All graduate students who have passed the general examination are required to teach in undergraduate courses as part of their preparation. While the minimum department requirement is four hours, most students teach more than this. The department offers many opportunities for teaching experience in conjunction with its large and popular undergraduate program. Students may teach in the writing program, conduct sections of large lecture courses, or direct precepts in upper-division courses. This teaching is supervised by experienced members of the faculty. The department and University also offer, on an annual basis, teacher training seminars.

Post-Generals Requirement(s):

The third, fourth, and fifth years are devoted to teaching in undergraduate courses and to the writing of the dissertation. Through numerous funding opportunities, we are able to offer sixth-year students who require it generous support with time off from teaching to complete their dissertation and go on the academic job market or pursue another career trajectory of their choosing. Students are strongly encouraged to continue taking courses in the third year and beyond, both in the English department and in related departments such as comparative literature. After completing the general examination, all students participate in a dissertation seminar led by a faculty member in which they write a thesis proposal. This dissertation proposal becomes the basis of a one-hour oral examination, after which students continue to work on the dissertation with the guidance of their faculty advisers. Upon successful submission of the dissertation proposal but no later than the beginning of the fourth year, each student chooses three department faculty members who will serve as their dissertation advisers.

Dissertation and FPO:

A final public oral examination is given after each candidate’s dissertation has been read and approved by their dissertation faculty advisers. The examination has two parts. The first consists of a 30-minute lecture on the dissertation to cover the following topics: a justification of the subject treated; an account of possible methods of treating the subject and a justification of the method chosen; an account of any new contributions made; and a consideration of the possibility of future studies of the same kind, including an account of plans for future scholarship and publication. During the second part of the examination, the student answers a series of questions growing out of subjects presented in the lecture and sometimes relating to the teaching of literary material dealt with in the dissertation.

Statement of Academic Purpose
Resume/Curriculum Vitae
Recommendation Letters
Transcripts
Fall Semester Grades
Prerequisite Tests
English Language Tests
Application Fee: $90
GRE : General and English Subject tests

Additional Departmental Requirements:

Sample of critical writing, approximately 25 pages in length, preferably in the student’s proposed field of study. This sample must be a sustained piece of writing, not the total of several smaller works, and can be an excerpt from a larger work.