Students: Graduate Information

About Our Programs: The PhD program

Program of Study

The way a student proposes to fulfill these requirements must be set out in the Program of Study. This is a written plan, outlining the student’s proposed course of study and its rationale worked out by the student and his/her adviser and Candidacy Examination Committee. In their first year, Ph.D. students will submit, by the first Friday of Spring Quarter, a Preliminary Program of Study signed by the adviser, which addresses the following:

a short statement of their area(s) of interest;
a description of their M.A. program and a brief statement of how the Ph.D. will build on it;
a list of their intended Ph.D. courses.

In their second year, no later than 6 weeks after completion of 45 hours of course work, Ph.D. students will submit a Program of Study that includes the following:

a description of the student’s plans for the Ph.D. Candidacy Examination, defining both the field and focus areas of the Exam;
reading lists for the field and focus areas;
the members of the Examination Committee;
the student’s teaching experience and plans for taking English 903;
completed course work for the M.A. and Ph.D.;
a preliminary description of the dissertation;
a timeline for the student’s progress toward graduation;
any other information relevant to the student’s professional development.

The purpose of the Program of Study is to ensure that the student has formed a coherent program, proposed achievable goals, and is able, with the advice of faculty members, to chart a route to the degree. The adviser approves the Program of Study (in consultation with the rest of the Candidacy Exam Committee) and writes a letter of endorsement to the Graduate Program & Policy Committee. The faculty members of the Graduate Program & Policy Committee then review and approve the Program of Study, requesting changes if they are deemed necessary. Students should consult the document "Guidelines for the Ph.D. Program of Study" for detailed information on how to compile the Program of Study. Return to top of page.

Guidelines for the Ph.D. Program of Study

The Program of Study in the Ohio State University English Department is a written plan of study and its rationale, worked out by the student and her/his adviser and Candidacy Examination Committee. Its primary purpose is to help the student form a coherent program, propose achievable goals, and chart a route to the Ph.D. degree. The Final Program of Study also asks the student to articulate his/her primary scholarly field and particular area of focus within that field. These field and focus areas comprise the two parts of the Candidacy Examination, and through them the student defines her/his areas of scholarly interest and expertise. In formulating them, students should consider the following questions: What area of English studies do you want to publish, teach, and eventually apply for positions in? How do you want to define yourself within the larger discipline of English studies? It is possible, and often desirable, to have other areas of interest as well, but the Program of Study asks students to identify their primary areas as they will be manifested in the Candidacy Examination and Dissertation. To that end, an important component of the Program of Study is the reading list that will be the basis for the Candidacy Examination, as well as an explanation of how this list corresponds to or justifies the description of the field and focus.
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Deadline:

The Preliminary Program of Study must be submitted to the Graduate Studies Program and Policy Committee by the first Friday of the spring quarter of the student's first year in the Ph.D. program.
The final Program of Study must be submitted to the Graduate Studies Program and Policy Committee no later than the sixth week after the completion of 45 hours of course work toward the Ph.D. (for full-time students on a 50% GTA or GAA appointment, this date should typically fall no later than the sixth week of the spring quarter of the student's second year in the Ph.D. program).

The Preliminary Program of Study must include the following:
- a short statement (no more than two double-spaced pages) of the student's area(s) of interest and the general goals and guiding principles of her/his course of study.
- a description of the student's M.A. program (whether obtained at OSU or elsewhere), and a brief statement of how the Ph.D. will build on it. This description must include:
  - a list of course numbers, course titles, instructors, quarters taken, and grades received;
  - itles of major seminar papers;
  - a one- or two-sentence description of any Independent Studies;
  - a one-paragraph description of the M.A. thesis or exams;
  - a list of Ph.D. courses the student has taken and intends to take, including, if relevant, courses outside of the English Department.
  - a brief statement on how the student plans to meet (or has met) the foreign language requirement and the Graduate Workshop requirement (a total of 2, one in the first two years of Ph.D. study and one in final two years)
  - a brief statement on teaching and other work the student hopes to do
  - a brief statement of plans the student has for professional activities, if applicable (e.g., conferences, courses or workshops outside of OSU)
- the Preliminary Program of Study must be signed by the student's adviser.
The Final Program of Study must include the following and should be presented in this order:
1. a description of the student's plans for the Ph.D. Candidacy Examination. This section (about two single-spaced pages) should define both the "field" and "focus area" of the Exam. The "field" section should reflect current categories used in the larger profession, such as those used in advertisements in the job lists produced by the MLA, CCCC, and other relevant professional organizations. Students working in emerging fields should explain those fields' relation to current categories used in the larger profession. The "focus area" is a critical problem, which the student will explore in preparation for the Exam. The relationship between the "field" and the "focus area" must be clear; i.e., explain how the critical problem fits into the field. Include a reading list as an Appendix to the Program of Study. Although reading lists will vary by field, in general the "field" portion should contain no more than 75-85 works, and the "focus area" portion no more than 40-45. Each of these lists should include both primary and secondary works. In general the works listed in the field and focus portions should not overlap.
  Examples of recently approved field and focus areas include the following:
  - 20th Century American Literature; focus - Confessional writing
  - Medieval Studies; focus - Middle English debate poetry
  - Restoration and 18th-Century British literature; focus - The Rhetoric of Identity in 18th-Century Novels
  - Film theory and criticism; focus - the Western
  - History of Rhetoric; focus - Nineteenth-Century Women's Rhetoric
  - Literacy Studies; focus - Business and Professional Communication
2. the members of the Candidacy Exam Committee. The Graduate School requires that this committee be composed of four graduate faculty members, and it must be chaired by a faculty member with Category P graduate faculty status. This Committee is formed specifically to administer the Candidacy Exam and is not the same as the Dissertation Committee, which is composed of a director, who must be a Category P Graduate Faculty member, and at least two other graduate faculty members.
3. a preliminary description of the student's dissertation and its relation to the field and focus. This description should be two to three paragraphs long and should include the central questions the dissertation will address and an overview of texts and approaches to be used.
4. completed course work for the M.A. and the Ph.D., including dates when courses were taken, grades received, titles of completed major papers and brief (one- or two-sentence ) descriptions of Independent Study projects.
5. the student's teaching experience and plans for taking English 903. This section should include a description of past teaching assignments and classes the student would like to teach in the future.
6. any other information about the student's professional development (such as publications; conferences; work(s)-in-progress; special RA, AA, or tutoring assignments) that the student feels is relevant.
7. a timeline for the student's progress toward graduation. The timeline should indicate the projected dates for the completion of all Ph.D. requirements, including course work, foreign language requirement (specify language and how the requirement was met), English 903, graduate workshops, candidacy exam, Dissertation Prospectus, dissertation research and writing, and job application process. The timeline should also indicate plans for getting funding for research, if applicable. The timeline should list the activities planned for each quarter. See attached example of a timeline.
The Program of Study should be submitted with a brief letter of endorsement from the student’s primary adviser (usually the Candidacy Examination chair). This letter should explain the adviser's sense of the appropriateness of the student's field and focus. For this purpose, the adviser must have Category P status on the Graduate Faculty; please consult the Graduate Studies Handbook if you are in doubt about this.
Before submitting the Program of Study to the Program and Policy Committee, the student should meet with his/her Candidacy Examination Committee as a group, or at the very least circulate the Program of Study to all members of the Committee. The primary adviser's letter must state that the student has worked with her/his entire committee in the process of formulating the Program of Study, indicating that all committee members are familiar with and approve of the document.

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Review of Program of Study:

The Director of Graduate Studies will review the Preliminary Program of Study. The final Program of Study will be reviewed by the faculty members of the Program and Policy Committee in order to insure that the student has taken full advantage of the Department and College's course and study options and has developed a solid professional program. The Program and Policy Committee has final approval of the Program of Study and may request changes, should it deem the document in need of revision. Such requests, when they occur, typically ask the student to articulate more clearly the field and focus areas and the relationship between them, the dissertation project, or the justification for the reading lists.

Example of Timeline:

The following example is offered as a model for constructing your own timeline; it is not intended to be rigidly prescriptive. Activities should be listed quarter by quarter. Please note that the foreign language requirement must be met before the Candidacy Exam, and in order for candidates to retain funding for the fourth year, students must complete the Candidacy Exam and present an approved Prospectus no later than winter quarter of the third year. Autumn quarter is the optimum time to ensure readiness for job interviews a year later.

Year I: Begin Ph.D. course work. Turn in Preliminary Program of Study by the first Friday of spring quarter.
Year II: Complete Ph.D. course work and foreign language requirement, Program of Study (no later than the sixth week after completion of course work), and English 903. Begin teaching 200-level courses if available. Study for and take Candidacy Examination.
Year III: Choose Dissertation Committee, Prospectus Conference and Prospectus (autumn quarter). Begin dissertation research and writing.
Year IV: Dissertation writing, job applications, mock interviews, and dissertation defense.