Required Courses

•Required Credit Hours (54 hours)

The official requirement of credit hours necessary to receive a PhD is 54, but this number can include work transferred from earlier graduate programs. In a typical case, you have recently completed an MA in English at a reputable university with something in excess of 30 semester hours. We accept 24 of those hours toward the degree, leaving you with 30 to complete from the time of your matriculation, excluding dissertation hours.

If you did graduate work in another discipline or another time, and fewer than 24 of your hours are accepted as transfer credit, you will need to complete more than 30 hours. The Director of Graduate Studies and your Committee on Studies make decisions on credit matters Your Committee on Studies will also help you choose your elective hours.

•Required Courses

The following requirements are part of the 54 hours described above:

English 500: Introduction to Graduate Study (3 hours)

500 for students in literature. Students who have had a similar introduction to graduate methods and styles during MA may have this requirement waived.

English 600-level Seminars (12 hours):

Seminars receive 4 credit hours because of longer hours and more intense research demands. All PhDs take two, usually in their major fields of study.

Language and Theory Requirement (9 hours total: 3 from “Language”; 3 from “Theory”; and another 3 from either category) .

Language (at least one course from the following):

• English 541—English Grammars
• English 545—History of the English Language
• English 547—Old English
• English 548—Beowulf and Other Topics
• English 549—Middle English Language

Theory (at least one course from the following):

• English 510—Criticism and Theory
• English 511 (when applicable)—Special Topics: Criticism and Theory; Literacy and Cultural Movements
• English 540 (when applicable)—Topics in Language and Rhetoric
• English 542—Major Texts in Rhetoric
• English 543—Contemporary Texts in Rhetoric

English Pedagogy (6 hours): two 3-hour courses from the following:

• English 536: Teaching Adult ESL Writing
• English 537: Teaching Composition (required of all new TAs)
• English 538: Writing Theory for Teachers
• English 539: Teaching Professional Writing
• English 592: Teaching Literature

Dissertation (18 hours)