The place, date, and time are to be reported to the Graduate Chair at least one month before it is to take place. If the paper presented by the student in the Colloquium is not among these, it should also be included. Papers are to be those on which the final grade was based, without further editing. In the case of courses that require oral exams, a brief note from the instructor indicating the content of the exam and the student's performance on it will suffice. The Qualifications Evaluation may be taken at any time during the second year of course work, but it will not be officially recorded before the modern language requirements have been certified.
Examination is designed to demonstrate that a student is ready to begin work on a dissertation.
It is taken when the candidate has identified a dissertation topic and begun to research it, normally by the end of the third year in residence. All course and general language requirements must be satisfied before the Preliminary Examination may be taken. Candidates are to sit for four examinations within a period of two weeks, according to a schedule approved by the Graduate Chair. Each set of exams is tailored to the student's individual area of specialization. This proposal should be accompanied by a dissertation preproposal of 3-5 pages, outlining a topic for original research within the area of specialization covered by the other exams.