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Graduate Program in Comparative Literature |
Mapping
the Graduate Program in Comparative Literature
The Ph.D. in
Comparative Literature is a 72-credit program. Course distribution
includes at least 12 credits in Comparative Literature seminars,
including CL 402 or a comparable CL-based theory class; 12 credits in one national
literature, and 6 credits in a second national literature.
The program also requires the study of a third discipline
relevant to the student's intellectual and critical concerns:
English or another national literature, music, the plastic
arts, philosophy, history, film.
The
following maps outline typical paths toward the degrees with
optimal funding. We also understand that students may have
legitimate reasons for modifying these paths. As progress
toward the degree is an essential factor in our decisions
to recommend students for TAships and fellowships, students
should carefully review their progress with the DGS during
the registration period each semester.
Map:
Students Entering without an M.A.
Map:Students Entering with an M.A.
Examinations
Dissertation
Teaching
and Study Abroad
Students
Entering without an M.A.
M.A.
The M.A. in Comparative
Literature is a 30-credit program centered on advanced work
in one national literature and substantial work in a second.
Beyond these general requirements, the student can explore
his/her interests with flexibility to include relevant courses
in other departments and disciplines, but with a firm grounding
in literary theory.
a. with Fellowships both
terms: Fall, 12 credits; Spring, 12 credits
b. with one semester Fellowship/ one semester TAship:
Fall, 12 credits; Spring, 9 credits (or the reverse)
c. with TAship both terms:
Fall, 9 credits; Spring, 9 credits
Summer: Prepare M.A. Exam
a. with TAship
both terms: Fall, 9 credits+ M.A.
Exam by Oct. 1;Spring 9 credits
b. with TAship both terms: Fall, 9 credits+
M.A. Exam by Oct. 1; Spring
9 credits
c. with TAship both terms: Fall, 9 credits; Spring 9 credits
+ M.A. Exam
by Feb. 1
*All
students who obtain the M.A. in Comparative Literature at
WU and who wish to pursue either the Ph.D. in Comparative
Literature or one of the Combined Ph.D. programs in Comparative
Literature at WU should note that entry into the Ph.D. program
will follow: 1) their request (optimally by December 15 of
the final M.A. year) that they be considered for admission;
2) their successful completion of the M.A. exam as certified
by their M.A. examining committee; 3) the recommendation from
this committee and the Chair that they be admitted into the
Ph.D.; and 4) the subsequent approval for continued funding
from the Dean of the Graduate School.
Ph.D.
The Ph.D, with TAships years 2-5:
2a
(continued from above) Second Year:
a. [Fall M.A.];
Spring, 9 credits
Summer: Satisfy one foreign language requirement foreign
language requirement (consider Spanish, French, German
at WU, having obtained summer funding support during the
spring term)
6
Sixth Year with
Dissertation Fellowship**:
Fall, dissertation;
Spring, dissertation and oral examination
**Comparative
Literature normally recommends fellowship support for two
semesters. The second semester of Dissertation Fellowship
support, however, presupposes that the student will make
significant progress on the dissertation during the first
semester (typically, this means a completed chapter of the
dissertation approved by the director and committee members).
—
Students
Entering with an M.A.
1 First Year with
Fellowship:
Fall, 12 credits;
Spring, 12 credits
2
Second Year with
TAship:
Fall, 9 credits
fall ; Spring, 9 credits
Transfer up to 24 units from the M.A
3
Third Year with
TAship:
4
Fourth Year with
TAship:
Fall, 3rd Comprehensive; Spring
dissertation work
5
Fifth Year with Dissertation Fellowship**:
Fall, dissertation
work; Spring, dissertation and oral exam
**Comparative Literature
normally recommends fellowship support for two semesters. The
second semester of Dissertation Fellowship support, however,
presupposes that the student will make significant progress
on the dissertation during the first semester (typically, this
means a completed chapter of the dissertation approved by the
director and committee members).
Examinations
M.A.
Exam (students entering without an M.A.):
M.A. final exam is a seminar paper that students revise
in preparation for an oral exam. We ask students to
expand upon a paper they have completed during their
first semesters of study (normally first two semesters), following the suggestions
of their professor. The paper should be a critical analysis
of a literary work or a work on theory. A translation
per se is not appropriate, although an extensive analysis
of a translation would be a possible option.
The M.A. candidate should ask the professor in whose
course s/he completed the original paper and two other
faculty members whom s/he selects upon consultation
with the DGS in Comp. Lit., to serve on the M.A. committee,
with the original professor serving as the Director
of the committee. The student will then revise the seminar
paper according to the Director's indications and following
additional discussions. Once the Director has approved
the revised paper, the student will submit it to the
other two members of the M.A. committee. Committee members
should receive the revised version no later than two
weeks prior to the date of the oral exam, which needs
to occur by October 1, February 1, or August 15 for
fall, spring, and summer terms, respectively. The oral
exam involves all the members of the M.A. committee,
who will question the student primarily about the revised
paper but also about its relation to the student's overall
program of study. The oral exam is, then, the final
stage of the M.A. exam. The Director of the M.A. committee
will report the results of the exam to the DGS in Comp.
Lit.
If the seminar paper that the student selects to revise
and the M.A. committee lead logically to future research,
the process can be exceptionally rewarding. All that
is needed at this juncture, however, is that the student
concentrate on a seminar paper of particular interest,
one that the student would appreciate the opportunity
to pursue further.
Qualifying
Exam
The Qualifying Exam is to be determined by the DGS and one or (more typically) two other Comparative Literature faculty members whom the student selects to form part his/her exam committee. The Qualifying Exam consists of two essays. The exam is designed to offer the student the opportunity to synthesize course material studied during the first two semesters following the M.A. This exam is "open book": the student is free to consult primary and secondary texts, to use the Internet, to go to the library, etc. (being careful to footnote all citations and other references to such material). The student may not, however, consult other people (students, family, faculty, etc.) in preparing the essays.
The Administrative Assistant will email the student his/her questions by 9:00 a.m. on the Friday date selected for the exam. The student will have 48 hours to complete the essays. It is recommended that the student start (open) the exam as soon as possible after receiving it on Friday morning; but, provided that the student begin by 1:00 p.m. that day in order to finish the exam by 1:00 p.m. on Sunday of the same weekend, s/he will be within the allowable time limit. Upon completion of the essays, the student will submit them via email attachment (Word document) to all committee members and to the Administrative Assistant. The student also must present a hard copy of the essays to the Administrative Assistant in the Comparative Literature office by 9:00 a.m. on the Monday immediately following the exam.
Comprehensive
Exams
Working with the DGS in Comparative Literature, the
student should select a committee of three faculty members,
including the likely Director of the student's dissertation,
who will chair the committee for the comprehensive exams,
and the two other likely readers for the dissertation.
This committee will structure the exams according to the
following guidelines:
Comprehensive 1: a written exam, "open
book," on the student's principal national literature,
covering all major periods and all genres, following the
reading lists established by the national literature program.
The student completes the exam over the course of a weekend.
That is, the student receives the exam questions (typically,
by email) by 10 a.m. on a Friday and the student must
submit a hard copy of his/her responses to the Comp. Lit.
office by 9 a.m on the following Monday. The faculty will
read the exam during that same week, reporting the results
to the DGS by Friday (one week after the student began
the exam). The student who passes the written exam will
proceed to the oral exam, to be scheduled as soon as possible
within the following 2-week period (that is, no later
than than 3 weeks after the student began the exam).
Comprehensive 2: a field exam, "open book,"
covering both primary texts and major critical studies,
that covers two "principal" national literatures
and one other "secondary" literature. The students
works with his/her committee to establish a reading list
of all major primary and secondary reading in the student's
principal field of interest (for example, "the 19th-century
English novel"). S/he then creates a shorter list
of primary and secondary sources for the second national
literature (for example, "the 19th-century French
novel"). The third national literature is represented
by a single, standard work (novel, play, or book of poems
[and not an individual poem]), read in the original or
in English translation, selected by the student with the
committee. In the above example, the work might be Anna
Karenina, Effi Briest, or a Japanese or
Chinese novel written in response to the 19th-century
English and French traditions, such as Tanizaki's Sasame
yuki (Makioka Sisters) or Mao Dun's Ziye
(Midnight). The goal of the exam is to provide
training in the student's major concentration as extended
to a second national literature, with an awareness, albeit
limited, of the larger global context represented by the
primary field.
We define field broadly, however, to include not only
literature but also film, comparative arts, theater, etc.
A student working in "German literature of the 20th
century" (major field) could elect to do film, but
not exclusively "German film," as the second
component, or the reverse. That is, the student could
not elect to do an all-German exam. In this case, as in
the previous example, the minor work could be a work of
contemporary Mexican cinema, or a major Chinese novel
in translation. The student completes the exam over the
course of a weekend. Specifically, the student receives
the exam questions (typically, by email) by 10 a.m. on
a Friday and the student must submit a hard copy of his/her
responses to the Comp. Lit. office by 9 a.m. on the following
Monday. The faculty will read the exam during that same
week, reporting the results to the DGS by Friday (one
week after the student began the exam). The student who
passes the written will proceed to the oral exam, to be
scheduled as soon as possible within the following 2-week
period (that is, no later than than 3 weeks after the
student began the exam) .
Comprehensive 3: a defense of the student's dissertation
proposal, including detailed prospectus, primary texts,
and critical sources. The student should first obtain
his/her director's approval for the prospectus, make necessary
revisions, and then submit a final copy to all members
of the examining committee. The exam should be scheduled
within two weeks of the circulation of the proposal.
Dissertation
Prior
to the completion of the Comprehensive Exams, CL Combined
program students should select a dissertation topic and
a dissertation Director, as well as two additional readers.
The dissertation will need to be comparative in focus,
that is, it should involve at least two national literatures.
While we encourage students to consider links to other
disciplines such as art, film, architecture, etc., the
basis of the dissertation should be literature.
The student should submit
a 1-2 page proposal and a list of bibliographical sources
for the dissertation, approved by the all 3 members of
his/her Dissertation Committee, to the CL Director of
Graduate Study within two weeks of the final comprehensive
exam.
The student should work with
the thesis Director to establish an effective and efficient
calendar for submission of work, allowing time for revisions.
Once the Director has approved a chapter, the student
should submit it to the other two readers.
Students are expected to
respect the suggestions for revision from all three of
their readers for each chapter as they go along. This
process ensures that the dissertation is sound from their
different perspectives before the student submits the
completed dissertation to the larger committee for the
"defense."
The student is responsible
for completing all of the necessary forms for the Graduate
School by the dates that it sets, and for formatting the
dissertation in accordance with its guidelines.
The dissertation Director
is responsible for assisting the Graduate School in assembling
the full six- or seven-member committee for the defense,
and for arranging a defense date.
Once the dissertation Director
has approved the content and the style (we recommend MLA
style) of the entire dissertation, the student should
distribute hard copies of the full document to all members
of the defense committee, including external readers,
in preparation for the oral defense. Students should allow
a minimum of two weeks for committee members to read the
thesis; three is better.
While certain critiques and
suggestions from the larger committee during the defense
are to be expected, indeed encouraged, the dissertation
Director, by signaling his/her approval for the student's
submission of the dissertation to the defense committee,
is indicating that he/she, along with the other two committee
members, stands by the work and is prepared to articulate
support for its content and its form at the defense.
Teaching
Ph.D. candidates may teach in Comparative Literature
and/or in one of our allied programs, including language
instruction. In order to be qualified to receive funding
as a Teaching Assistant in a language department, students
will be required to take the relevant course in language
pedagogy. Courses taught in Comparative Literature will
be supervised by the Director of Undergraduate Studies
working closely with the Chair.
Study Abroad
Students are encouraged to spend time abroad
either for language study or research or both. Extended
periods of study may be supported through University grants
or funding from external sources, such as Fulbright fellowships
and grants from the U.S. and other governments. Washington
University maintains relations with universities, research
centers, and libraries in the U.S. and abroad that can
provide research assistance to our students.
Updated 4/13/2007
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