Both programs include extensive coursework in English, American, and Anglophone literature, two language examinations , two qualifying examinations , and a doctoral dissertation . The PhD for students who enter with an MA should take no more than four years.
Additional support comes from teaching assistantships .
Most students become teaching assistants, whether as section leaders in advanced literature courses or as instructors in the Writing Program , by their second year in the program, if not earlier. They are embarking on a systematic course of study designed to ensure an understanding of literary history in both its canonical and non-canonical aspects and to make them fully participating members of a community of scholars and critics. The following is a synopsis of the main requirements of our graduate programs. For further and more detailed information, see the program regulations in the Graduate Handbook .