Note: In 2005, the faculty of the department approved changes in the course requirements for the doctorate in English. These requirements take effect with classes entering in the 2005-2006 academic year. Students who entered the program in earlier years should refer to previous versions of the Handbook for information on the course requirements for the Ph.D.
A. General
Students entering the program in Full Standing (with the B.A., but not an M.A.) are expected to take at least 56 hours of coursework, generally thirteen seminars for four credit-hours and an additional two seminars for two credit-hours. Normally, this means the following:
- in the first year, three four-credit seminars and one two-credit seminars per semester
- in the second year, three four-credit seminars per semester; or two four-credit seminars and two two-credit seminars per semester
- in the third year, a final four-credit seminar or two two-credit seminars
If you enter with the B.A. degree alone, you should strongly consider devoting your first year primarily to broadening the scope of your literary background. Take courses in areas you have studied superficially or not at all. Do not be overly concerned about specialization during your first year. If an area is completely unfamiliar, you may take for graduate credit a maximum of two undergraduate courses as preparation for future seminar work in those areas. These courses, however, will not count toward the Department's minimum course requirements.
Students entering the program with Advanced Standing (with an M.A. in English) must take at least 40 hours of coursework, generally nine seminars for four credit-hours and an additional two seminars for two credit-hours. Normally, this means the following:
- in the first year, three four-credit seminars and one two-credit seminars per semester
- in the second year, three four-credit seminars, usually in the fall semester.
These coursework recommendations for students in both full and advanced standing should be considered the minimum requirement. In consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies or your individual advisor(s), you should plan your program carefully, taking time to assess your individual strengths and weaknesses and to define your professional goals. The DGS or your advisor may recommend additional courses beyond the minimum for the best possible preparation in your field. You may want to take more than the minimal number of courses to strengthen your preparation in pertinent areas. Also, more course work may be required for students pursuing a Certificate in Women’s Studies or Comparative Literature (see Section IX, Certificate Programs Available to Ph.D. Students in English.). You will normally devote your final two or three semesters to exploring courses primarily in your area of specialization or to increasing your competence by taking complementary courses outside the Department.
B. Two-credit seminars
Graduate seminars normally award four credits per semester. However, students should also elect during their first two semesters to take a seminar for two credits. The requirements for this two-credit option vary from seminar to seminar, but they generally involve completing the requirements for the seminar with the exception of the major writing project. The seminar professor will explain the specifics for his or her individual course. Please note that this option will not usually be available for courses offered outside the English Department.
In addition, during your second year you may substitute taking two seminars for two credits for taking a single seminar for four credits. You may exercise this option once per semester (taking, for instance, two two-credit seminars and two four-credit seminars instead of three four-credit seminars). Doing so will allow you to gain greater breadth in your studies.
C. Distribution requirement
During your coursework at Emory, Ph.D. students must take at least one course in each of the following areas:
- one course in early modern or medieval literature
- one course in the literatures of the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries
- one course in the literatures of the twentieth or twenty-first centuries
- one course organized by genre or theory
D. Grades in Coursework
Students in graduate school (whether at Emory or elsewhere) are often perplexed by how to interpret the grades that they receive for their coursework. The faculty wishes students to understand that it uses a range of grades to evaluate the performance of a student in a course. ";A" grades are generally reserved for superior work throughout the semester, particularly written work of the top caliber. "A-" grades are usually awarded for work that meets the professor's expectations and shows signs of further potential. The faculty gives "B+" grades as a way of signaling the need for improvement either in a student's writing or in other intellectual contributions to a course. A grade lower than "B+" often signals a concern on the part of the professor about the student's performance, and suggests that the student is not performing at a level commensurate with his or her peers. Of course, individual professors may also articulate their own criteria for how they assign letter grades.
For students who are in coursework, grades play a large part in the review of graduate students conducted by faculty at the conclusion of each academic year. However, the faculty does not measure a student's success against defined GPA benchmarks, nor does the faculty attribute too much weight to a grade in a single seminar. Rather, the faculty looks for patterns across one or more semesters, and considers where the student stands in the graduate program. Regardless of the grades that a student receives in the first semesters of course work, the faculty expectation is that all students will be receiving a combination of "A" and "A-" grades by the time that they complete their coursework, take their Ph.D. examination, and move on to the dissertation.
E. The "Survey of English: Histories, Theories, Methods" Seminar
As one of their required seminars, all students enroll in "Survey of English: Histories, Theories, Methods" during their first semester in the program. The course addresses a range of methodological and theoretical approaches in order to help students orient themselves within the field; it also provides some background in the history of the discipline. By offering students a preliminary perspective on crucial debates that have shaped English literary studies, the seminar aims to give them foundations on which they will build in future course work and research. Note that this course is required of students entering in the fall of 2008 and later.
F. Pedagogical Training
The Department of English participates in the Graduate School’s Teaching Assistant Training and Teaching Opportunity Program (TATTO). As part of their pedagogical training, students are required to complete the following requirements:
- A summer workshop, run by the Graduate School, held in August before the second year of graduate study.
- English 791, the Teaching of Composition. This course is taken in the spring of the fourth semester of coursework, before the students teach their own course.
- Teaching Mentorship. Also in the spring of the fourth semester of coursework, each student selects a member of the faculty to advise them on matters relating to teaching. This faculty member must not be the student’s primary advisor, and no faculty member may serve as mentor to more than one student from each class.
- A two-credit Pro-Seminar in the Teaching of Literature, usually taken in the fourth year of graduate study.
During their fourth year of residence, graduate students are required to participate in a two-credit Dissertation Colloquium. This Colloquium offers students an opportunity to share their writing with their peers, and serves as a forum for discussion of the dissertation writing process. In some circumstances—such as if a student has research that demands he or she relocate elsewhere—this requirement may be postponed or waived.
H. Graduate School Policies
There are certain Graduate School procedures and requirements relating to coursework about which students should know:
- After completing the first year (or 24 semester-hours of course work in good standing), students who entered the program with the B.A. will attain Advanced Standing.
- Students who enter with a regular M.A. in English from another institution are usually admitted in Advanced Standing.
- One Graduate School requirement differs from English Department policy (see the Graduate Catalogue's description of "Course Work and Residence" for the Doctor of Philosophy): once you have reached Advanced Standing, the Graduate School requires an additional 48 hours, 24 of which must be taken in courses. You will notice that while the Department's minimum course requirement in Advanced Standing (at least 28 hours) exceeds the Graduate School's minimum, it falls short of the total 48 hours the Graduate School requires. This presents no problem, however. You simply register for the additional hours as Doctoral Dissertation Research (English 799) once you have completed the number of seminars required by the Department plus additional ones recommended by your advisor. Of course, you are free to take the full 48 hours in course work if that suits your needs.
The English Department's Graduate Handbook
