The Doctor of Philosophy is a research degree designed to prepare students to discover, integrate, and apply knowledge as well as to communicate and disseminate it. The degree emphasizes development of the capacity to make significant original contributions to knowledge within the context of free inquiry and expression. The student pursuing this degree is expected to develop the ability to understand and to evaluate the literature of his or her field and to apply appropriate principles and procedures to the recognition, evaluation, interpretation, and understanding of issues at the frontiers of knowledge. In contrast to the PhD, other doctorates such as the Doctor of Education and the Doctor of Musical Arts are designed for professional training or focus on applied rather than basic research. No specific number of semester hours has been set for attainment of the Doctor of Philosophy degree, although advanced coursework is an integral part of a doctoral candidate's preparation.
All doctoral work is subject to review by the graduate dean.
In addition to courses and research in a field of specialization, additional work is taken to broaden or supplement the field. At least three courses or the equivalent from outside the major area are generally proposed. The Graduate School has no foreign language requirement. However, many graduate programs require the study of one or more languages. These requirements are given in chapter 4 or are available from the graduate adviser.