Skip to Main Content

ENGLPHD - English

Download as PDF

EnglishGraduate Degree SeekingPHD - Doctor of Philosophy
Completion requirement

63

Completion requirement

Students who have earned the M.A. in English at the University of Arizona:

  • Must complete at least 15 units of 500- or 600-level course beyond the requirement for the MA, for a total of 45 units (including 9 minor units).

  • At least 33 units (11 courses) of the 45 must be in regularly scheduled in our program literature classes, unless otherwise approved by the Program Director.

  • Complete at least 18 units of dissertation units. 

  • Must pass the Comprehensive Examination.

  • Must satisfy the Foreign Language requirement. Students are strongly encouraged to satisfy the foreign language requirement in their 3rd year (if they enter with the BA) or their 1st year (if they enter with the MA); dissertation proposals cannot be submitted until the requirement is met. 

  • Write a dissertation acceptable to the Department of English.

Students who earned the M.A. in English (Literature) elsewhere:

  • Must complete a minimum of 30 units (10 classes) of course work at the University of Arizona.

  • At least 18 units (6 courses) must be in regularly scheduled literature classes, unless otherwise approved by the Program Director.

  • The additional 15 units towards degree requirements is typically transferred from the M.A. 

  • Must satisfy the Foreign Language requirement. Students are strongly encouraged to satisfy the foreign requirement in their 1st year (if they enter with the MA); dissertation proposals cannot be submitted until the requirement is met.

  • Must pass the Comprehensive Examination

  • Complete at least 18 units of dissertation units.

  • Write a dissertation acceptable to the Department of English.

Note: Students who wish to transfer credit from their M.A. Program must submit a Transfer Credit form in GradPath before the end of their first year of study in order to have the courses evaluated for transfer eligibility. The credits must be approved by their major or minor department and the Graduate College. The minimum grade for transferred credits must be an A or B or the equivalent at the institution where the course was taken. Transferred units may not count toward more than one doctorate.

 

While there are no required courses, students may choose, in consultation with the director, among the following 3 unit ENGL courses listed below in the semesters they are offered. There is no minimum grade required for any course as long as the student's total GPA is 3.0 or above. 

  • 501: Advanced Creative Writing Nonfiction Writing            

  • 503: Latina Feminisms in the Americas            

  • 505: History of the English Language            

  • 506: Modern English Grammar            

  • 510: Teaching of Composition            

  • 514: Advanced Scientific Writing            

  • 515: History of Criticism and Theory            

  • 518: Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory            

  • 520: History of the German Language            

  • 522: Asian American Literature            

  • 524: Studies in Southwest Literature            

  • 526: Medieval English Literature            

  • 527: Chaucer            

  • 529: Chinese Immigrant Literature and Film            

  • 531: Advanced Studies in Shakespeare            

  • 533: Studies in the Renaissance            

  • 541: Studies in the Restoration and Eighteenth Century            

  • 543: Mexican-American Literature in English            

  • 544: Media Archaeology: Moving Image as Evidence            

  • 549A: Folklore            

  • 552A: Mixed Media Stories: Stories in Text and Film            

  • 555: Introduction to Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language            

  • 555A: Studies in Nineteenth-Century British Literature            

  • 557A: Modern British Literature            

  • 557B: Contemporary British Literature            

  • 561A: French Linguistics            

  • 565: Studies in American Literature to 1900            

  • 566: Studies in Twentieth-Century American Literature            

  • 567: Topics in French Linguistics            

  • 573: Semiotics and Language            

  • 577: Studies in American Indian Literature            

  • 580: Second Language Writing            

  • 587: Assessment in Second/Foreign Language Learning            

  • 588: European Literary-Political Cabaret            

  • 589: Internet Technologies in Second/Foreign Language Education            

  • 593: Internship            

  • 596A: British Literature            

  • 596B: Studies in Colonial and Post-Colonial Literature and Theory            

  • 596F:  American Literature            

  • 596G: Comparative Literature            

  • 596J: Second Language Acquisition Research            

  • 596K : Methods and Materials of Literary Research            

  • 596L: Theories of Criticism            

  • 596O: Topics in Second Language Teaching            

  • 596P: Women's Life Writing: Autobiography, Diary, Oral History, Biography                    

  • 596Y: Topics in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching            

  • 597Q: Qualitative Research in Rhetoric and Composition            

  • 597R: Research Methods in Rhetoric and Composition            

  • 597S: Methods of Rhetorical Analysis            

  • 598: Approaches to Teaching Writing            

  • 612: Grammatical Analysis            

  • 613: Methods of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages            

  • 615: Second Language Acquisition Theory            

  • 620: Cultural Dimensions: Second Language Acquisitions            

  • 646: Ancient and Contemporary Voices            

  • 680: Reader Response Theories            

  • 693A: Applied ESL            

  • 696A: Latina/o Literary and Cultural Studies            

  • 696D: History of Rhetoric            

  • 696E: Studies in Rhetoric and Composition            

  • 696F: Literature and Creative Writing            

  • 696G: Queer Theories            

  • 696J: Sexuality and Aesthetics            

  • 696M: Gender, Sexuality, and International Migration            

  • 696S: Historical Studies in Rhetoric and Composition            

  • 696T: Contemporary Rhetorical Theories

Completion requirement

Students who have earned the MA in English at the University of Arizona can take 12 units of any graduate coursework outside of English, found in the catalog, upon approval of the director. 

Students who earned the MA elsewhere must complete 30 units of graduate coursework at the University of Arizona.  Students can take 12 units of any graduate coursework outside of English, found in the catalog, upon approval of director.

Completion requirement

FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT:

English Ph.D. students must fulfill a foreign language requirement to demonstrate their ability to use the language in research. Students are strongly encouraged to satisfy the requirement in their 3rd year (if they enter with the BA) or their 1st year (if they enter with the MA); dissertation proposals cannot be submitted until the requirement is met. The Graduate Program Coordinator for the department has the responsibility of administering this requirement.

About the Requirement
You may fulfill the requirement by demonstrating reading competence in any language other than English relevant to your research.

Acceptable Languages
Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Italian automatically qualify as acceptable languages for the requirement. If you wish to fulfill the requirement in another language you should consult with the Coordinator of Graduate Studies well before you expect to complete the requirement. In practice, you may elect any language in which a) a suitable examiner can be found or b) appropriate courses are offered at the university.

Fulfilling the Requirement
You may satisfy the foreign language requirement by:

  • Receiving a grade of Pass on the departmental translation test

  • Earning an "A" in either a senior-level or graduate literature course in the language

  • Earning an "A" in one of several graduate-level translation courses offered every Spring

Translation Test
The foreign language requirement may be fulfilled through a translation test (this by far the most common way of fulfilling it). The following guidelines govern the test:

  • The exam will be a two-and-a-half hour translation test (from the foreign language into English). You will be given a passage of scholarly writing and a passage of literary writing (350-500 words each) in the foreign language and asked to choose one of them to translate. You may use a dictionary and verb book.

  • The grader will not know the name or the level (M.A. or Ph.D.) of the candidate.

  • The grade of PASS satisfies the language requirement for both M.A. and Ph.D. students.

  • To assist you in preparing for the departmental exam, the Coordinator of Graduate Students maintains files of sample passages in the languages for which the department itself administers and grades the exam (French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Latin). The actual exam passages need not be selected from the works from which the sample passages come; the purpose of the samples is to suggest the kinds of materials on which your can expect to be tested, and the level of difficulty.

  • If you fail the exam, you should consult with your Program Director to see how you can satisfy the foreign language requirement, either by retaking the exam or in some other way, such as through course work.

  • You are limited to two attempts for the departmental exam. If you fail the exam a second time you must register for a graduate translation/reading course in order to fulfill the requirement.

The following criteria will be used in grading the exam:

  • FAIL: The translation shows a general misunderstanding of the basic events of the passage or is repeatedly inaccurate. Verb tenses and idioms are repeatedly mistranslated. The translation is overly literal, displaying no sense of the nuances of the original. The translation is incomplete.

  • PASS: The translation is complete and accurately conveys the sense of the passage, without distortions (although minor lapses are permitted). Basic verb tenses and idioms are translated correctly. The translation is not overly literal and is written in fluent, idiomatic English.

Completion requirement

9+ units

All PhD students must declare a minor and will need to indicate the courses used to fulfill that minor to the Graduate College. Students can elect to minor in English or a department other than English. Nine units are generally required for a minor, but may be more depending on each departments requirements. A member of the minor department or program must serve on the student's comprehensive examination committee and approve the units taken for fulfillment of the minor.

Completion requirement