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With one of the 30 top English PhD programs, career opportunities are numerous, because let’s face it: researching, writing, teaching, learning, communicating, and critical thinking all translate into a highly sought-after knowledge and skill set.
This is not a trick question: What would we do if we could not communicate with each other, whether verbally or in writing (or texting)?
Seriously think about it: Without language, what do we have?
There are those who live and breathe:
They can’t seem to get enough of learning about the dynamic subject we call English. If you love language, writing, research, learning, and continuously searching for that right word, a PhD in English may be the graduate program you’re looking for.
Check out our top English PhD program rankings and start preparing for your future!
A PhD in English is a terminal degree, meaning it’s the highest you can get in any given subject. While concentrations and programs of study differ, three parts of an English PhD are certain:
Coursework typically includes various literature classes to provide a strong breadth of English language and literature knowledge. Most top English PhD programs also require foreign language requirements. After the coursework is finished in around 2-3 years, English majors will take a comprehensive qualifying exam to achieve doctoral status. This exam covers all they have studied this far, and passing it will allow them to move on to their dissertation.
A dissertation is the final step to earning a PhD in English. Think of it as an independent research project that takes years to:
The dissertation defense is the last step, where you present your project to a faculty panel.
Most top English PhD programs take five to seven years to complete, but of course, it depends on full-time or part-time status. It is also worth noting that many graduate schools, including the ones we have reviewed, provide full funding to the student earning a PhD.
You may also like: Doctorate vs PhD
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Buffalo, New York
While all of our rankings in this article are notable, The University of Buffalo ranks in the top 1% of not just the country but the world by the Center for World University Rankings. Founded in 1846, SUNY Buffalo is the largest campus in the 64-campus SUNY system. It offers one of the best English PhD programs. It just happens to be our #1 choice!
What sets SUNY Buffalo apart from others? As a student, you are a part of a vibrant, supportive community as an active participant in every part of the program. You are not just going to school, but you are a part of the process. This includes attending and voting in department meetings and joining the English Graduate Student Association (EGSA).
This top PhD in English requires 72 credits, which are satisfied through ten graduate seminar courses in fields such as:
You will then take an oral qualifying exam and complete and defend a “book-length work of original scholarship,” otherwise known as a dissertation.
As a graduate program student, you are encouraged to publish during your time at SUNY Buffalo and equipped with a third-year workshop for this goal. This graduate program takes approximately five years and is fully in person. You can apply through the Graduate Enrollment Services.
Berkeley, California
Globally ranked as the fourth-best university according to U.S. News & World Report rankings, University of California-Berkeley has been described as a “glorious place,” full of “commitment to excellence.” This is a top graduate program in the country. The PhD in comparative literature, is both “historical and theoretical”. It includes a “signature combination of teaching and research on literature, film, and other media.”
In this English PhD program , you will choose one literature from a historical and critical perspective and complete comparative work in three kinds of literature. You will then complete ten courses encompassing:
The University of California-Berkeley says this program takes approximately seven years to complete and includes a recommended timetable to stay on track.
The University of California-Berkeley offers a myriad of fellowships and financial aid to help with the cost of this PhD program. In addition, you have the opportunity to seek employment through the department in teaching and research assistantship programs. Alumni have won national awards from the Modern Language Association and the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA).
College Park, Maryland
The University of Maryland is devoted to social entrepreneurship. It is recognized as the nation’s first “Do Good” university. Home to over 41,000 students and 388,000 alumni, UMD spans 12 schools and colleges. It offers 297 academic programs, including the nationally ranked PhD in English. This graduate program prepares students who plan to teach at the university level with:
Along with You will study an in-depth range of topics such as:
You will complete a minimum of 12 courses, including a foreign language requirement, while maintaining a 3.6 GPA.
UMD’s top English PhD program is highly competitive but well worth the competition if you are accepted because all students receive a five-year funding package. To apply, you need to submit:
Austin, Texas
UT Austin is not only known for its food (especially breakfast tacos!) and music, but it’s also our #4 ranking. It has:
It is ranked #20 in Best Graduate Schools from U.S. News & World Report . UT Austin offers a PhD in English with a concentration in literature or rhetoric and digital literacies.
Whether you enter the program with a bachelor’s or a master’s degree, you are required to complete 39 graduate seminar hours before the end of your third year. You must pass the third-year examination to achieve doctoral candidacy. The final milestone for the PhD in English is the dissertation defense. Graduate students have access to six years of funding from combined teaching assistantships.
UT Austin’s admission is highly competitive. Each year, this English PhD program accepts 12-14 students into the literature concentration and four in the rhetoric and digital literacies program. You can apply through ApplyTexas if you have a BA or MA plus at least 15 hours of upper-division English credits with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Madison, Wisconsin
A top-ranked university with 19 faculty and alumni Nobel Prize winners? Yes, please! Check out UW-Madison, awarded #13 in America’s Best Colleges from U.S. News & Report . UW Madison offers more than 9,000 courses across over 450 academic programs, including a PhD in English with the following specializations:
This graduate program “combines a sharp focus on conceptual approaches to literary and cultural works with a commitment to broad coverage of the field of Anglophone literature.” As a student, you will tailor the program to your career goals through a required minor. You will also study interdisciplinary areas such as:
You will complete 51-63 coursework credits depending on which concentration you choose. Each concentration includes:
While some of the best English PhD rankings offer online or hybrid formats, UW-Madison’s coursework is face-to-face. Applicants must have a bachelor’s or master’s degree from an accredited institution. English degrees are preferred but they are not required.
Lubbock, Texas
Texas Tech warded a “Very High Research Activity” category by Carnegie Classification of Institution of Higher Education. It is a comprehensive public research university that spans 13 colleges and schools and 200 degree programs. At Texas Tech, you can earn a PhD in English with a specialization in literature.
One of the best parts of Texas Tech’s PhD in English is vast areas of study. You can choose any of the following concentrations:
No matter which concentration you choose, you will take courses such as:
Texas Tech employs a holistic assessment for applicants while looking for:
Tampa, Florida
Located in the heart of Tampa Bay, the University of South Florida is one of the fastest-rising universities in the nation. U.S. News and World Report ranks it as the 46th best public university in the country. At UCF, you can earn a PhD in English with either a literature or rhetoric and composition concentration.
UCF’s top English PhD program requires at least 30 hours of coursework, including:
After completing your coursework, you must create and submit a portfolio and fulfill a foreign language requirement before you are admitted to doctoral candidacy. Then, the real fun starts: writing your dissertation.
USF graduate students can also earn graduate certificates in:
UCF’s program is pretty competitive. You need:
Salt Lake City, Utah
“Step One: Imagine. Step Two: Do.”
The University of Utah is fondly known by students, faculty, and alumni as “The U,”. It features a simple yet profound motto that has inspired many graduates to go on and make their mark on the world. Notable alumni include writer Orson Scott Card and award-winning actor Stephen Covey, among many others.
You, too, can imagine what is possible and then take action by checking out the top PhD in English . It has concentrations in rhetoric and composition or literacy and cultural studies. The program entails:
The Department of English features ample opportunities for publications, along with the graduate student reading series, Working Dog, where you can showcase your original work to not only other classmates, but the public.
Tucson, Arizona
The University of Arizona is a nationally ranked university in public research and best value. It features a rich Native American history. The first graduating class in 1895 included three students before Arizona was even a state!
Check out the PhD in rhetoric, composition, and teaching of English – perfect if you intend to teach at a four-year college or a writing program. UA’s Department of English states that the graduates of this doctoral program are “distinguished for their public engagement and action-oriented research, published scholarship, and innovative teaching.”
The University of Arizona has an outstanding 97% job placement. English PhD graduates find themselves as nationally recognized scholars teaching, researching, and writing all over the world.
In this top English PhD program, you will complete 66 credit units, which includes 18 dissertation credits. Courses include:
To apply, you need to submit:
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
LSU is Louisiana’s flagship institution. Louisiana State University is known for its top-notch academics and impressive return on investments. Ninety-two percent of all students receive scholarships or financial aid. Two in three students graduate with absolutely no debt. LSU’s PhD in English arms graduate students with the knowledge and skills to become expert:
Similar to most English PhD programs, this program is organized into three phases:
The coursework consists of 48 credit hours of literature that “range across periods, genres, and traditions,” and critical and theoretical methods. Students will then take their exams and progress into the dissertation phase.
Students typically write one chapter of their dissertation per semester while enrolled in the Dissertation Writing Workshop. A perk of this program is that you can apply if you have either a Bachelor’s or Master’s of Arts. If you already have a master’s degree, you can apply up to 24 credit hours toward this degree and finish the PhD in just four years.
Tempe, Arizona
Arizona State University boasts several national recognitions. This includes #1 in the country for most innovative school and the best graduate schools from U.S. News & World Report. Among the half a million alumni include notable:
ASU features a PhD in English literature that is worth checking out!
The PhD in English literature emphasizes literary texts not only from a cultural and historical perspective but also from the “production, distribution, and reception.” The “texts” are defined as “folklore, oral traditions, popular culture, and film and digital media in addition to traditional literature.” The graduate program includes 42-72 hours in coursework. It also includes 12 hours of dissertation work.
This doctoral program is highly flexible and allows you to take courses in your interest areas. Sample courses include:
To apply you need:
The deadline to apply is January 1, and the GRE is not required.
Los Angeles, California
Have you ever wondered which U.S. city features the most museums and theaters than any other city? Well, it’s Los Angeles! UCLA is proud to be right in the center of the excitement. (And in case you’re wondering, LA is home to 105 museums and 225 theaters!) At UCLA-Los Angeles, you can join the current 15,724 graduate students and earn a comprehensive PhD in English literature.
UCLA structures its PhD in three stages. Stage one entails 14 graduate seminars in English literature, with various requirements to ensure a diverse depth of literature. Stage one also includes a first qualifying exam before you proceed to stage two for a second qualifying exam. Stage three is the research, writing, and completion of a dissertation. It begins in year five and typically takes two years to complete.
Component of UCLA’s PhD program include:
Teaching assistantships are available and encouraged for graduate students. To apply you need to submit:
Currently, the GRE exam requirement is waived because of Covid-19.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor was voted #1 for Best Small College Town in America and Best U.S. Public University ( QS World University Rankings and Wallethub ). It is globally recognized for its exceptional academic quality. U-M Ann Arbor features a stellar doctoral program in English language and literature for those who aim to:
This top English PhD program allows you to specialize in British, American, or anglophone literature. Also, to“explore a wide range of critical, theoretical, and cultural perspectives.” The program focuses on learning as a social process. This is one reason why English graduate students are guaranteed six years of program funding! A huge perk.
In your first year you will:
Your second year will be devoted to the preliminary examination. In the third year, a third-year review, which will provide feedback and direction. Finally, you will devote your last few years to your dissertation.
Columbia, Missouri
If you know what the Tiger Walk and Tiger Prowl are, you certainly are familiar with the University of Missouri. It is fondly known as Mizzou. With a long history of traditions, Mizzou’s pride is seen all over the world. You can earn a PhD in English in just five years, including 30 hours of coursework that provides “deep knowledge and methodological sophistication. with a concentration on creative writing or literature.
Sample courses include:
By the spring of your third year, you should begin writing your dissertation. This could be scholarly or creative, depending on your concentration. You will have two years to complete your dissertation before you defend it by the end of your fifth year.
Recent dissertation titles include:
Charlottesville, Virginia
The University of Virginia is one of the very best in the nation. Both U.S. News & World Report and Money Magazine rank UVA #2 and #4 as the best public university and the best value. UVA houses a PhD in English language, literature, and research that leads graduates to all types of careers in:
This best English PhD program entails 72 credits, including courses like:
During the second semester of the fourth year, students will give a 40-min talk about their dissertation. This is a great opportunity for students to share their work with a formal venue before they defend their dissertation later.
In addition to this degree, you can earn graduate certificates in:
Accepted students receive financial support and health insurance for at least five years of their duration in the program.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1794, UT Knoxville is one of the oldest in the country. UT Knoxville spreads across 910 acres. The 294 buildings house 11 colleges and 900 programs of study! If you’re a teacher and want to continue your education studies, then UT’s PhD in literacy studies and education may be for you.
This program is not a standard PhD in English. It combines English and education and allows you to choose from a number of concentrations and specializations. You can choose between literacy studies and education. Then you can further choose an emphasis like:
This program includes 48 credit hours beyond a master’s degree. This includes six credits in a cognate area and 24 hours of doctoral research and dissertation courses. Comprehensive exams should be completed in five years. The dissertation should be completed within eight years. To apply to this program, you need at least three years of teaching experience.
Lafayette, Louisiana
Smart. Spirited. Solution-Driven.
Those are words to describe the University of Louisiana at Lafayette It is the second-largest university in Louisiana, home to over 19,000 students. We also must mention that UL’s sports teams are THE Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns®! With a PhD in English from UL, you will receive a strong background in British and American language and literature. You can further customize your program to match your career goals.
UL now has over 100 students in its PhD program, which is a lot for a PhD in English! You can specialize in four areas (out of 21!) such as:
The degree requires 72 credit hours, which include 48 in coursework and 24 in dissertation research.
UL’s PhD program asks for application materials that “testify to solid academic preparation for advanced work.” These materials include:
To enter in the spring, submit your application by November 15.
New York City, New York
Imagine studying English in one of the most vibrant cities in the nation: New York City. New York University Steinhardt is a top university. It is ranked #10 among the Best Graduate Schools in Education ( U.S. News & World Report ). NYU Steinhardt offers a range of programs:
This includes the notable PhD in English education: secondary and college.
This doctoral program at New York University prepares graduates to become:
You will enjoy small classes in one of the most diverse settings in the world: New York City! As a student, you will complete 48-60 credits, depending on the focus area and prior coursework.
Coursework includes:
Before beginning your dissertation, you will complete a research experience course to prepare you. While many programs require full-time status, you can complete this PhD full-time or part-time. To apply, you need:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin once said, “well-done is better than well-said.” This statement, by the school’s founder, serves as the cornerstone tradition of the University of Pennsylvania. Since the 1740s, Penn continues to evolve into a place of social activism, touching all of its programs. Penn’s PhD in English combines English and American literature to produce a comprehensive program with a range of specializations.
This “intellectually dynamic and rigorous” PhD program prepares students to be scholars and educators of English. You can specialize in one primary field. Or you can specialize in two additional fields such as:
Penn recognizes that true learning comes when students become active participants in their academic and social community. The program’s emphasis is on the relationships between scholars and faculty.
In this top English PhD program , you will take courses such as Teaching of Literature and Composition. This is along with six literature courses spanning throughout various time periods. During your third year, you will choose a specialization as you start working on your dissertation. All PhD students receive the Benjamin Franklin Fellowship, which covers tuition and health insurance for five years.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Have you ever wondered which academic institution is our nation’s oldest? Well, it’s Harvard University, established in 1636! With over 400,000 alumni all over the world including:
It’s no wonder Harvard University made our list of top English PhD rankings. After all, it’s Harvard! Check out Harvard University’s PhD in English that covers topics ranging from medieval literature to criticism and theory.
Harvard’s PhD in English provides a broad knowledge of English and teaches students to:
The first two years are devoted to coursework and preparing for the PhD qualifying exam, while the rest of the time is spent working on the dissertation.
Check out the many past doctoral theses and dissertations published on Harvard University’s website. Harvard states that this program typically takes between four and seven years. Most students finishing in five or six years. While GRE scores are not required for admission, past English classes, strong writing samples, and excellent letters of recommendation are.
A private Ivy League University, Columbia University has been a leader in higher education for over 250 years. Columbia University spans three undergraduate schools and 13 graduate schools. This includes the Teacher College, which opened in 1880. Columbia’s Teacher College features a PhD in English education for students who aim to become teachers and researchers in higher education.
This English PhD program includes 75 credits, and students may transfer up to 30 credits from previous graduate work. All PhD English education majors will take courses like:
As a student, you stay on track through:
While most doctoral English PhD programs only admit students once a year, Columbia’s program allows entry in both the summer and fall. To apply you need:
Ithaca, New York
Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university in Ithaca, NY. It is home to over 24,000 students. This top-ranked university includes 15 colleges and schools, including The College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University. You can earn a PhD in English and language literature. This English PhD program comes with a generous financial package for students.
Cornell’s PhD in English language and literature allows you to customize your plan of study to suit your interests. You will form a faculty committee that will work with you on selecting your courses and writing and revising your dissertation. You can choose from a myriad of areas such as:
This graduate program also emphasizes teaching an essential part of this plan of study. As a student, you are required to teach writing-intensive courses for at least one year during your time at Cornell. As mentioned, Cornell University provides five years of funding that includes:
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse University, a highly-ranked private research institution, states that “being orange is more than just a color, a place or degree. It embodies a lifelong connection to a global network of innovators, thinkers, and creative solution finders.” Join the “Orange Community” of 22,000 other students when you earn a top PhD in English from Syracuse University.
Syracuse’s Ph.D. in English includes “specialized professional training in criticism, theory, research, and the teaching of literary and filmic texts”. It prepares you to teach at the college and university level. You can apply whether you have a BA or master’s degree, and you will take between 12-18 courses, depending on your past academic records.
This PhD program is pretty straightforward. You will take courses like:
You will also take two exams: the field exam and the qualifying exam. This will qualify you as a doctoral candidate to begin:
Syracuse boasts an excellent job placement record for PhD in English graduates.
St. Louis, Missouri
Washington University was founded in 1853 in St. Luis. WashUis an independent university with more than 16,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries. It offers many opportunities, including:
You won’t want to miss the PhD in English and American literature from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Washington University’s PhD in English and American literature is described as “innovative, collegial, competitive, and generously funded, offering one of the top financial packages in the nation”. The program is rooted in literary history. As a student, you can tailor your plan of study to incorporate areas of English that you want to explore.
During your time at WashU, you will serve as both a graduate assistant and instructor in undergraduate English and literature courses. During year four, you will submit a dissertation prospectus. The next two years you will spend working on your dissertation. By April of year six, you will be ready to defend your dissertation and become a Doctor of English!
Evanston, Illinois
Ranked #9 in the U.S. News & World Report 2020 Best Colleges, Northwestern University is a comprehensive research university. It has more than 13,000 graduate students and an impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6:1. Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University features a PhD in literature that emphasizes:
This best English graduate program includes:
You will complete 20 graduate-level courses in diverse historical periods during your first three years. In addition, you will complete a foreign language requirement by the end of year one.
At Northwestern, you will:
While this PhD program can be completed in five years, most students complete it in six. As a graduate student at Northwestern, you will receive:
Coral Gables, Florida
Established in 1925, the University of Miami is a private research academic institution with numerous national recognitions in academic and research success. Check out UM’s Pride Points and what it means to be part of the Hurricane family. While you’re at it, check out the PhD in English with concentrations in Caribbean studies or early modern literature. This is a degree full of diversity and opportunity.
UM’s PhD in English is nationally ranked by the National Research Council for student and faculty diversity. As a student at UM, you will enjoy diverse topics such as:
The cohorts are only five to seven students, so you will be among a tight-knit community of English scholars.
UM admits incoming students with either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in English, and your previous degree(s) will determine whether you need to take 54 or 36 credits of coursework. You will also receive:
UM reports that over 90% of its PhD graduates have full-time employment within nine months of graduating.
Chicago, Illinois
The University of Chicago, a highly-ranked private research university, is known for its value of free and open inquiry. This has led to research breakthroughs such as:
UChicago’s PhD in English language and literature involves intensive research for solutions, and open expression, staying true to UChicago’s values.
The University of Chicago’s PhD in English language and literature “prepares students for independent work as teachers, scholars, and critics by developing their abilities to pose and investigate problems in the advanced study of literature in English.” The four major elements of this program include:
Part of the appeal of this program are the dynamic courses like:
Newton, Massachusetts
“Education with a heart and soul – and the power to transform” is Boston College’s motto. Boston College is the first higher education institution in Boston. This private Jesuit research university is among one of the nation’s leaders. Boston College’s PhD in English gives graduate students the choice of a wide range of courses to tailor the program to their interests and career goals.
As a student, you are required to take just four PhD seminars along with courses in composition theory and pedagogy and research colloquium. The rest is up to you, and you will work with your advisor to build your program. Teaching is another component and starting with your second year, you will become a teaching assistant in a British or American literature class.
We’ll be honest: the very thing that we love about this program—the small classes—means that each year Boston College only admits 4-5 students. Applications for the fall semester are due by January 2. To apply you need:
Washington, D.C.
Right in the heart of our nation’s capital, you will find the Catholic University of America. It is the only national research academic institution found by the U.S. bishops. CatholicU is a great place to earn a PhD in English language and literature offering:
And who wouldn’t want to study literature in Washington D.C.?
CatholicU’s English language and literature program includes 54 credit of coursework, a comprehensive exam, and a dissertation. The comprehensive exam consists of three parts:
After you pass the exam, you will begin your dissertation, described by CatholicU as “a substantial piece of original research,” which “gives the doctoral program its capstone.”
CatholicU’s location allows you to become fully immersed in literary history since you are among some of the most reputable museums, research collections, and libraries. Classes are small, so you will get personalized attention, including pedagogical training. CatholicU offers funding for this English language and literature PhD program for up to seven years.
Notre Dame, Indiana
Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters features a “flexible and dynamic” PhD in English that entails 42 credits of literary criticism courses, preparing you for:
Your written and oral exams in the third year will assess your knowledge and skills in your specialization, a secondary field, literary theory, and methodology.
You will then focus on researching for your dissertation, which you will defend in year five or six.
Notre Dame also offers a 5+1 program that gives job incentives for students finishing this program in five years.
PhD graduates can find rewarding careers in academia, journalism, media, and other communication fields. You can also become a content strategist or explore writing opportunities. Your expertise in language and literature opens doors to diverse fields of research and publishing.
Historical trends indicate PhDs in English graduates find jobs in academia, research, publishing, and related fields. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of postsecondary teachers (which includes university professors) is projected to grow 8% through 2032. This should result in about 118,000 new job openings each year, over the next 10 years.
Pay varies for PhD in English graduates, based on factors such as experience, location, and employment sector. In academia, assistant professors with a PhD in English start with salaries ranging from $60,000 to $80,000, while more experienced professors earn higher salaries.
A PhD in English typically takes 5 to 7 years. It involves coursework, comprehensive exams, dissertation research, and writing. Some online PhD programs allow students to finish their degree in less time, but the average is 6 years.
Many PhD programs in English offer financial support to students, which can include tuition waivers, stipends, and teaching or research assistant positions. Students often receive compensation for their teaching or research contributions, helping to offset costs during their doctoral studies. Stipends and compensation for teaching or research assistantships can range from a few thousand dollars to more substantial amounts, depending on the university, location, and program.
Yes, earning a PhD in English grants you the title of “Doctor.” When you successfully complete a doctoral program, including a PhD in English, you’re awarded the academic title of “Doctor of Philosophy.” You can use the prefix “Dr.” before your name in professional and academic contexts.
Yes, it is possible to pursue a PhD in English without a master’s degree. Some doctoral programs accept students with a bachelor’s degree directly into their PhD programs, providing specific academic and admission requirements are met.
The Department of English offers a program leading to the PhD degree in literatures in English. The department is small in numbers and its graduate students are carefully selected on the basis of their professional distinction as teachers, critics, and scholars. Because of its small size, the department affords students exceptionally focused attention.
The department accepts only full-time students for the PhD. Continuance beyond each of the first three years depends on satisfactory performance in the graduate seminars and passing two foreign language examinations. Students who successfully continue are awarded an MA degree in the course of the PhD program, but the department does not offer a separate master’s program. Students proceed to the dissertation after successfully passing a qualifying examination in the third year.
The PhD in English literature at Johns Hopkins consists of two years of course work and three years devoted to the research and writing of a dissertation. Students who remain in good standing will be guaranteed the same level of financial support for the full five years.
The cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., jointly contain a large collection of manuscripts and printed books. Major libraries and museums in Baltimore possess more than a thousand early manuscripts and 3 million books. The 12 million books and numerous manuscripts in the Library of Congress are supplemented in Washington by many specialized collections, notably those of the Folger Shakespeare Library, with which the university is affiliated. Opportunities for research in those libraries are open to students in the English department.
The Tudor and Stuart Club, along with a number of other outstanding lecture series within the university, enables students to learn about advances in research, criticism, and theory, and to confer with leading scholars.
The Journal Club is a departmental series in which students present to the department papers drawn from their dissertation research.
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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Phd program in english, starting study in fall 2024 and later.
This page contains information only for students who are beginning their graduate study in Fall 2024 or later .
Our Ph.D. program in English provides students with interdisciplinary coursework in a range of research areas, mentorship from faculty at the forefront of their fields, teachi ng experience in First-Year Writing and beyond, and dedicated support for job searches in academia and beyond. After completing required coursework, Ph.D. students work with their advisory committees to devise exam reading lists that will deepen their knowledge in their selected fields for both teaching and research purposes. Students then design a dissertation project that best suits their intellectual and professional goals – whether that project be a traditional textual dissertation, a born-digital project, or a creative or translation work with a critical introduction. Students entering our Ph.D. program with a B.A. enjoy financial support through a teaching assistantship for six years. Students entering with an M.A. in English or Rhetoric and Composition are funded through a teaching assistantship for five years.
Learn about Financial Support
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Advisory committee.
All Ph.D. students are assigned a Major Advisor by the Director of Graduate Studies upon matriculation. Associate Advisors may be members of any University department. Students should discuss all courses and program policies with their Major Advisor.
Students may change Major or Associate advisors at any time (for example, when selecting an appropriate examination committee). Forms to change Advisory Committee members are available in the Graduate English Office and on the university's website for the Graduate School .
The Plan of Study for the Ph.D. degree must be signed by all members of the Advisory Committee and submitted to the Graduate School when 18 credits of coursework have been completed. The Graduate School requires 15 credits of the mandatory research course GRAD 6950. These credits can be fulfilled within two to three semesters of continuous registration with a full Teaching Assistantship.
The Plan of Study must indicate which courses have been taken and are to be taken in fulfillment of requirements, how the language requirement has been or will be fulfilled, and what the dissertation topic will be. The Plan of Study must be on file with the Graduate School before the Dissertation Prospectus Colloquium takes place. Any changes–in courses submitted, language requirement plans–must be submitted to the Graduate School on a Request for Changes in Plan of Graduate Study form. All forms are available in the English Graduate Office and the Graduate School website .
Students entering with an MA are required to complete 25 credits of coursework and at least 15 credits of dissertation research. Students entering with a BA are required to complete 37 credits of coursework and at least 15 credits of dissertation research. Coursework credits include distribution requirements (described below) as well as two seminars taken in the first semester in support of the teaching assistantship: ENGL 5100, The Theory and Teaching of Writing (3 credits) and ENGL 5182, Practicum in the Teaching of Writing (1 credit).
Students who feel they have fulfilled any of the course requirements at another institution may petition the graduate program office to have those requirements waived at UConn.
MA/Ph.D. students who are continuing for the PhD have until the end of the third year of coursework to fulfill the distribution requirements.
Coursework is normally taken at Storrs. Transfer of up to six credits from another institution’s graduate program, or six credits from non-degree graduate coursework undertaken at UConn, may be accepted toward the MA or the Ph.D., provided that such credits are not used to earn a degree at another institution.
The Graduate Executive Committee recommends that students take no more than six credits of Independent Study. All Independent Studies must be requested through the Independent Study Form and approved by the Graduate Executive Committee.
All graduate students (MA and PhD) are required to fulfill three distribution requirements:
For MA students, these requirements ensure breadth of study to support common pathways beyond that degree, including secondary education and doctoral work. For PhD students, these seminars provide vital context for the deeper investigations required by PhD exams and the dissertation.
The 1800 pivot date of the chronological distribution requirements is not meant to signal an important shift in literary or cultural history but instead establishes a midpoint in common areas of study; in asking students to take coursework on either side of 1800, these distribution requirements ensure that students in earlier periods look forward to later developments in the field and that students in later periods trace the field backward.
Students can fulfill these requirements in the following ways:
Note that some seminars can fulfill more than one distribution requirement. For example, a seminar in African American Literary Theory fulfills the theory distribution requirement and can, with relevant research writing, fulfill either the pre- or post-1800 requirement.
Students should email the graduate program administrator when they complete a distribution requirement to ensure that the graduate office keeps accurate records.
The Graduate Executive Committee strongly discourages incompletes. However, the Committee recognizes that, at times, extenuating circumstances merit offering a student additional time beyond the semester to complete work for a seminar. In that case, the student should determine with the faculty member teaching the seminar a reasonable timeline for completing and submitting seminar work — ideally no more than one month. It is the student’s responsibility to remain in communication with their professor about outstanding work, especially if the student requires additional time.
According to the academic regulations of the Graduate School, if a student does not submit all work required to resolve an incomplete within 12 months following the end of the semester for which the grade was recorded, no credit will be allowed for the course. A limited extension of the incomplete beyond 12 months may be granted by the Graduate School upon the recommendation of the instructor, but the Graduate School is not obligated to approve an extension if the instructor of the course is no longer at UConn.
If a student accumulates more than three incompletes on their transcript, they will be placed on probationary status by the Graduate Executive Committee and may be required to resolve those incompletes before being allowed to register for additional coursework. A student whose transcript includes four or more grades of incomplete may not be eligible for a teaching assistantship.
Overview. As part of their graduate work, PhD students in English study at least one language other than English. In fulfilling the language requirement, students are not expected to achieve spoken or written fluency in another language. Instead, the goal of this requirement is to acquire reading knowledge . This requirement is in place to:
The methods students may use to fulfill this requirement are outlined below. While we require students engage only one language other than English, we recognize that those specializing in certain research areas might find acquiring additional language skills necessary for their research.
The Director of Graduate Studies recommends that all students, and especially those who are not entering the program with knowledge of a language other than English, discuss their plans regarding this requirement with their major advisor early in the program, preferably during their first semester. They should plan on fulfilling the requirement prior to completing coursework. At the latest, students should plan to complete the requirement before the submission of the dissertation prospectus. Please consult with the Director of Graduate Studies if any problem arises in completing this requirement according to that timeline.
Methods. In collaboration with their major advisor, students should determine which of the methods of fulfilling the language requirement described below best suits their course of study. For methods (1) through (3), students must have completed the courses or examination no more than five years prior to submitting their PhD plan of study for approval.
The options below are arranged from those that require no additional work to those that require the deepest investment. If a student anticipates that a language will be vital to their research, we encourage them to select a means for fulfilling the requirement that allows for substantial language study. Please note that students may choose to pursue the study of written languages (such as Spanish, German, Arabic, Mandarin, etc.), digital languages (such as Python), and gestural languages (ASL). The option to pursue any particular language will depend, in part, on resources (faculty, coursework) available at UConn and beyond.
The Ph.D. Qualifying Examinations are based on two reading lists (details below), which are created in the final semester of coursework and must be approved by the Graduate Executive Committee. The Graduate Executive Committee recommends the following timeline for completing the Doctoral Examination and moving to the dissertation.
The Ph.D. Qualifying Examinations are based on two reading lists, which provide the materials for three discrete exams: one addressing the first reading list, one addressing the second reading list, and a third which combines materials from both lists. For the purposes of the exams, each list designates a clearly defined and professionally recognizable field or subfield of scholarship (e.g., a literary-historical period such as the Renaissance, a transtemporal genre such as Drama, a critical tradition such as Feminism, an established body of literature such as Children’s Literature). The relationship between the two reading lists is to be determined by the advisory committee, with the understanding that the fields identified by each list are to complement one another (in terms of history, discipline, method, genre, or otherwise). When appropriate, students should discuss with their advisors ways to handle the challenges of representing multiple subfields and/or disciplines within the two-list structure
Traditionally, each list comprises approximately 60-75 works, including 75% primary works and 25% secondary works. A “secondary” work may refer to a book, essay, or group of essays including literary criticism, historical, or theoretical texts. Lists from students in certain fields may look slightly different. For example, lists in Rhetoric and Composition may contain entirely secondary texts, including articles and book chapters alongside book-length texts. Lists in fields such as Digital Humanities or Film Studies may include texts in a variety of modalities. Students in these fields should discuss with their advisors the best way to proceed. All lists should include no fewer than 60-75 works overall, of any genre or modality. Because each field is different, a student’s list should reflect the kind of texts (e.g., theoretical, multimodal, visual) that are important in that field. How each text “counts” on the Ph.D. exam list will be determined at the discretion of the student and their advisory committee, as the graduate office recognizes that length and complexity are not equivalent.
Generally speaking, excerpts are not permissible, though standard excerpts of exceedingly long or multi-volume works may be permitted with the approval of the advisory committee. In assembling selections of poems, essays, excerpts, etc., students should not use undergraduate-oriented anthologies such as the Norton or Bedford anthologies; instead, students should research and choose an authoritative scholarly edition that surveys adequately — for a Ph.D.-level exam — each author’s writings. The student’s reading lists should reflect both breadth and depth of reading, as well as a sense of the history of criticism throughout the fields and contemporary critical and theoretical approaches. There should be no overlap of works between reading lists. Selections of works should take into consideration both coverage of the field and preparation for the anticipated dissertation.
Reading lists are to be drawn up by the student in consultation with their advisory committee, beginning at the end of the fall semester of the final year of coursework. Students are encouraged, though not required, to meet with the advisory committee as a whole to discuss the creation of the lists. All items in each list should be numbered clearly, and lists should be arranged chronologically or in some other systematic fashion.
Each list should be accompanied by a brief rationale (no longer than 500 words), that explains its content. The purpose of the rationales is the following: (1) to identify a body of texts and its legibility as part of a professionally recognizable field or subfield; (2) to justify inclusions or exclusions that might seem idiosyncratic or which are, at least, not self-explanatory (e.g., including more drama than prose or poetry on a Renaissance list); (3) to indicate a methodological, theoretical, or other type of emphasis (e.g., a high number of gender studies-oriented secondary works).
You can find a sample examination list with correct formatting and marginal notes explaining its elements here.
The student is responsible for making copies of their lists and rationales and depositing them, along with the completed PhD Exam List Approval Form , in the Graduate English Office no later than April 15th of the final year of coursework. All reading lists will then be referred to the Graduate Executive Committee for approval. The Graduate Executive Committee will not approve lists that fail to meet the basic guidelines recommended above. Students whose ideas about the exams continue to change during the reading period may update their lists with the approval of their advisory committees.
After examination lists are approved, students in consultation with their advisory committees need to agree upon the timing and format of the exams (details below) as well as specific dates on which their exam is to be administered. Please complete the PhD Exam Scheduling Form which will be automatically routed to the Graduate English Office. If the student requires a space on campus to take the exam, arrangements should be made at this time. The deadline by which all students must take their Examination (including the exam conference) is February 28th of the fourth year for MA/Ph.D.s or the same date of the third year for Ph.D.s.
The Ph.D. examination was devised in part to facilitate students’ timely completion of the doctoral degree, and so the Graduate Executive Committee requires that students meet all official deadlines. Students incapable of meeting an examination deadline, for whatever reason, must apply for a time extension from the Director of Graduate Studies by submitting a typed request, signed by the student and their major advisor, ideally at least one month in advance of the deadline. The letter must state the specific reasons for the time delay and also designate the specific amount of extra time requested.
The Director of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Graduate Executive Committee, will determine an appropriate response to the request, which will be communicated to the candidate by the Director of Graduate Studies. The Committee’s response will specify new deadlines by which the exam should be taken.
The PhD exam consists of three parts. The first two exams (Field 1 and Field 2) test the student’s knowledge of works on each field list. The third exam (Synthesis) tests the student’s ability to combine material from both reading lists in the service of a comprehensive argument, ideally one informing future work on the dissertation.
The exam can take one of two formats:
Written exams should be allotted 24 hours for completion. The three exams can be spaced across any three dates within a period of one month, with approval of all members of the advisory committee. If a student is taking the exams on three consecutive days, they should receive all exam questions at once. If a student is taking the exams according to a more dispersed timeline, they should receive one set of questions at a time.
These formats are designed to provide graduate students and their advisory committees the flexibility to design a Ph.D. exam that is intellectually challenging and responsive to a student’s needs and goals. As students prepare reading lists for their exams, they should consult with their advisory committee to select a fitting exam format. In the course of these conversations, students and their committees should take into account matters of access (outlined below) as well as students’ caretaking responsibilities, their ability to secure a quiet space to take exams, and other relevant factors. If these factors require a change in the exam’s format not recognized above, or in the event of a disagreement, the student should consult with their major advisor and/or the Director of Graduate Studies.
Examination questions are to be drafted by the candidate’s committee and reviewed by the Director of Graduate Studies, but the major advisor is responsible for assembling the exam. Candidates are not permitted to view the questions prior to the examination. The Graduate Office asks the major advisor to distribute questions for written exams upon the schedule determined by the student and their committee. The Graduate Administrator will assist in scheduling a space for the oral exam, if applicable.
The Graduate Executive Committee strongly recommends that all candidates consult their entire Advisory Committee about their understanding of the examination process and expectations for each part of it — ideally throughout their preparations but certainly early in the process of assembling the lists and at a later stage just prior to scheduling the examination.
The Graduate Executive Committee assumes that answers to written exams will be approximately 10-15 pages of double-spaced prose (with limited block quoting); that each essay will answer the question asked by the advisory committee, however creatively; that each essay will establish a clear argument and seek to back it up with textual evidence; and that each essay will be clearly written and appropriately revised. Pre-written essays are strictly forbidden. The candidate should pay attention to the question’s instructions regarding the number of texts they should use in their response and not consider a text in detail in more than one essay.
The University of Connecticut is committed to achieving equal educational and employment opportunity and full participation for persons with disabilities. Graduate students who have questions about access or require further access measures in any element of the graduate program should contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD), Wilbur Cross Building Room 204, (860) 486-2020, or visit the Center for Students with Disabilities website . Alternatively, students may register online with the CSD by logging into the student MyAccess portal .
The English Graduate Office advises students who would like to discuss matters related to access to consult with the Director of Graduate Studies, ideally during the creation of the exam lists. Access measures for Ph.D. exams may include, but are not limited to, extended time to complete the exam, the use of voice recognition programs and the extended time some programs require, or locating and scheduling space to take the exam.
Upon completion of the examination, students will receive a grade from their committee of “Pass,” or “Fail.” Major advisors should communicate this grade to their advisees as soon as possible and before the day set for the examination conference. Students who fail the examination will be required to meet with their advisory committee to determine an appropriate time and plan for retaking it. Students failing the examination twice will be dismissed from the program. Please Note: ABD status grants a salary increase and eligibility for a library study carrel.
Within two weeks of a student passing the Ph.D. examination, the advisory committee will meet with the student to discuss the examination. This examination conference is a mandatory, but not a graded, component of the examination. The purpose of the conference is twofold: to offer candidates a forum for a thorough discussion of their exam’s strengths and weaknesses and to help the student transition from the examination phase to the prospectus phase of the Ph.D.. To this end, the Graduate Executive Committee assumes that advisory committee members will divide time appropriately between offering feedback on each of the three exams and working collaboratively to establish a clear understanding of expectations, goals, deadlines for completion of the prospectus.
In light of growing diversity in students’ motivations for attaining a PhD in English and professional opportunities available to humanities PhDs, the department supports and encourages dissertations in many forms. For example, the dissertation might take the form of a prototype for a book manuscript; a born-digital project or a project with some online or computational components; or a creative work or translation with a critical introduction.
Students should consult with their advisory committee and, if necessary, the Director of Graduate Studies about the proposed format of their dissertation as early in their graduate career as is practical. During those conversations, students and their advisors should consider the format of the dissertation in relation to the students’ scholarly needs and professional goals, the expectations and standards of the profession or intellectual community the student plans to enter, and the resources the student will require to complete the proposed project, including time, funding, advising, and skills. The student, advisory committee, and Director of Graduate Studies will agree upon the form and scope of the dissertation through the submission, review, and approval of the prospectus.
The Dissertation Prospectus Colloquium is an opportunity for the student to discuss the thesis topic in detail with the Advisory Committee. The colloquium should take place before the student begins writing the dissertation. The Advisory Committee expects to be presented with a Prospectus sufficiently far along in its development for a judgment to be made on its scholarly validity and potential as a fully developed dissertation. The student and Major Advisor should inform the Director of Graduate Studies at least one month in advance of the day and time of this event. Departmental Representatives need at least two weeks notice before the actual colloquium to read the prospectus. The readers are expected to attend the colloquium; however, it is not necessary that they do so. Comments from the readers can be given to the Major Advisor and student.
The Dissertation Chapter Advisory Conference is a non-graded opportunity for students to discuss with their advisory committees the strengths and weaknesses of a complete draft of a dissertation chapter. The conference is designed to serve three basic purposes: 1) to facilitate the transition of ABDs into the process of researching and writing the doctoral dissertation; 2) to encourage early communication between students and their committee members, and between primary and secondary advisors; 3) to encourage discussion of a future plan for the completion of the other dissertation chapters/parts. The Graduate Executive Committee requires every Ph.D. student to submit a complete draft of a chapter to the advisory committee, within 3 months but no later than 6 months after the date of the Dissertation Prospectus Colloquium. By “complete,” the Committee wishes to emphasize that the intellectual integrity of the submitted chapter must not be compromised by any omitted material (such as notes, bibliography, etc.), by significant stylistic weaknesses, grammatical errors, etc. After the Conference, students must turn into the Graduate office a First Chapter Conference Form , which must be signed by all advisory committee members.
A dissertation defense is required of every student by the Graduate School. The student’s Advisory Committee and 2 Departmental Representatives are required to attend; members of the department and the University community are invited to attend. The defense is both an examination and a forum for the candidate to comment on the scope and significance of the research. As a result of the dissertation defense, the student’s Advisory Committee may require revisions and corrections to the dissertation. The student initiates scheduling of the Defense by consulting first with members of the Advisory Committee and the Graduate Office. At least five members of the faculty (including the members of the student’s Advisory Committee) must attend the defense. Only members of the Advisory Committee, however, may actually recommend passing or failing the student.
According to the Graduate School catalog, the dissertation should represent a significant contribution to ongoing research in the candidate’s field. While the Graduate School does not stipulate a minimum length for dissertations, the Graduate Executive Committee strongly suggests a minimum length of 60,000 words inclusive for a traditional dissertation in English (not a creative dissertation or a “born-digital” DH dissertation). The committee suggests this length as representing approximately 2/3 of the standard length of an academic monograph according to current publication practices. Students who wish to complete a creative dissertation, a “born-digital” dissertation, or a project in a format other than a collection of textual chapters should consult with their advisory committee and the Director of Graduate Studies.
Students must schedule the dissertation defense with the Graduate Office and Advisory Committee at least three months ahead of time. Electronic copies of the dissertation should be distributed at least three weeks prior to the defense: to each Advisory Committee member and to department representatives. The student must also notify the UConn Events Calendar two weeks in advance. For further information, see this helpful guide from the Graduate School .
Beginning in their first semester following the completion of coursework, Ph.D. students must annually report their progress by completing an Annual Review of Progress toward Degree , including a self-evaluation and a response from their major advisor. Neither evaluation need exceed 250 words. These evaluations are reviewed each spring semester by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) in consultation with the Associate Director of Graduate Studies (ADGS). In the preparation for the review, students and their major advisors should consult with one another about the students’ achievements, progress, and any potential delays over the previous academic year. The review is due to the Graduate Office no later than April 1. Please see the form for submission instructions.
For students in the first year following the completion of coursework, satisfactory progress is measured by the student and major advisor in terms of their preparation for and writing of their PhD examinations. Subsequent reviews focus on the remaining milestones in the program, including the language requirement, the dissertation prospectus and colloquium, and progress toward the dissertation defense. Note that students can consult with their major advisors and/or the DGS to request extensions on deadlines, which are designed to help students complete their degree within funding .
For students who are ABD, the Review of Progress toward Degree should focus on the dissertation. The self-evaluation from the student should record milestones achieved and set forth research and writing accomplished since the last evaluation as well as research and writing plans for the next twelve months.
If the student’s review raises concerns about their progress, the DGS will arrange a meeting with the student to devise a plan for moving forward.
In the semester prior to submitting applications for a job, contact the Director of Graduate Studies to announce your intentions to go on the job market. The department runs annual meetings on CV and cover letter writing, teaching portfolio workshops, MLA and campus interviewing, etc. The Executive Committee recommends that Ph.D. students attend all of them.
The English Department will begin reviewing completed MA applications on January 1, 2024 and will continue to accept them until the March 15, 2024 deadline
BU PhD Program Profile metrics
In the PhD Program, students move toward specialization in a particular area of study. The requirements include:
Please note that successful completion of requirements in the first year earns each Ph.D. student an M.A. degree as a matter of course.
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of English guarantee five full years (12 months each) of financial support for PhD students who maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress . This support will be in the form of Teaching Fellowships or Graduate Fellowships. All requirements for the doctorate, including dissertation, must be completed within seven years (exceptions require a petition to GRS). A leave of absence of up to two semesters is permitted for appropriate cause.
Given these time constraints, students should work closely with their advisers and dissertation readers to devise an efficient schedule for meeting all benchmarks. Faculty and students share responsibility for adhering closely to this schedule.
Students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher, have no more than 2 failing grades (lower than B- or an incomplete grade older than 12 months), and pass qualifying exams and other milestones on the following recommended schedule:
Year 1: Eight graduate courses – for the M.A. degree / first foreign language requirement.
Year 2: Continue course work and study toward the completion of the language requirement.
Year 3: Complete course work and language requirements. In the fall of the third year, students take the pro-seminar (EN794 A1), in which they develop their Qualifying Oral Examination rationale and reading list, and form an oral exam committee.
Year 4: Fall: Students should take the Qualifying Exam early in the Fall semester.
Spring: Prospectus submitted and dissertation writing begins.
Years 5+ : Dissertation.
Additional departmental details regarding all stages of the degree can be found in the graduate handbook
For GRS college policies and general information please see the Graduate Bulletin
Robert Chodat, Director of Graduate Studies
The Department of English at the University of Chicago has played an important role in the transformation of literary studies over the past half-century. Our faculty and students have participated centrally in the rethinking and reshaping of the discipline. Our intellectual work continues that effort, creating a rigorous and exciting intellectual environment for our students.
The PhD program prepares students for independent work as teachers, scholars, and critics by developing their abilities to pose and investigate problems in the advanced study of literatures in English. The program consists of four major components: coursework, teaching, fields exams, and the dissertation. Together, these elements introduce students to a wide variety of textual modes, critical methodologies, and historical/cultural questions; provide extensive practice in research, discussion, argument, and writing; and develop pedagogical skills.
The Joint PhD Program in Theater & Performance Studies (TAPS) allows students to complement their doctoral studies in English with academic and artistic work in Theater & Performance Studies.
TAPS graduate program website
All students in the first year of the program take six courses for letter grades, as well the PhD Colloquium, which is designed to introduce theoretical and practical questions posed by the student of literature.
In the second year of the program, students who entered the program with an MA in English take at least two courses for letter grades. Students who entered the program without a previous MA take six courses. All students enroll in the Research Paper Proseminar (ENGL 52000) in the Spring of year 2, which counts as one of their required courses for the year.
By the end of their second year in the program, students must meet the Department's foreign language requirement.
All third year students complete the department's pedagogy course, Teaching Undergraduate English. Students also begin to fulfill their fellowship teaching obligations during this year, typically by serving as a course assistant in the department. By the end of year three, students complete their oral fields examinations and form their dissertation committee.
In year four, students work to complete their dissertation proposal. Students should meet regularly with members of their dissertation committee, as well as enroll in the Dissertation Proposal Proseminar(typically taught over the Fall and Winter quarters), which is designed to help students compose a strong proposal. Students also gain additional teaching experience during this year, usually as course assistants in the department and potentially as interns or tutors with the writing program. In order to be admitted to candidacy, students must have completed all coursework, including substantial paper requirements, the PhD Colloquium, the Research Paper Proseminar, and Teaching Undergraduate English; have completed their foreign language requirement; have passed their oral fields exam; and have submitted an approved dissertation proposal to the Department.
In their fifth year, students continue to work on the dissertation, and to meet regularly with their committee members. (Students must hold annual advisory meetings with their full committee to discuss timelines and progress towards the dissertation defense.) Fifth year students should enroll in the Advanced Writing for Publication Proseminar(offered in Winter or Spring), which is designed to help students prepare an article for publication. In year 5, students also have the opportunity to teach a standalone undergraduate course, work for the writing program, and sometimes mentor English undergraduates writing BA theses.
Teaching Opportunities
Students continue to hold annual advisory meetings with their committee as they progress toward completion of the dissertation. (Students must complete one approved chapter per year in order to make satisfactory progress. However, it is expected that most students will complete and receive committee approval for two or more chapters per year.) Beginning in year 6, students should take part in the Job Seekers Proseminar, which is designed to help prepare students to seek full-time professional employment, and to support them as they do so.
More information can be found in our Graduate Student Handbook .
The Ph.D. program in English at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest and best doctoral programs of its kind. Ranked in the top 20 English Graduate Programs by U.S. News & World Report , our program offers students intensive research mentoring and pedagogical training in the vibrant setting that is Austin, Texas. In addition, all admitted English PhD students receive six years of full funding .
Drawing on the resources of two units, the Department of English and the Department of Rhetoric and Writing, our program has at its center a dynamic and dedicated faculty of over 60 .
While the Ph.D. program is housed in and administered by the Department of English , the Department of Rhetoric and Writing is a crucial partner in helping to educate our shared students. The make-up of each cohort of students mirrors our unusual interdepartmental collaboration: each year we accept 10-12 students in literature and 4 in rhetoric and digital literacies.
One of the distinguishing features of our program is its collegiality and sense of shared purpose. Students and faculty work collaboratively on a number of departmental and university-wide committees, participate actively in reading and writing groups, and treat one another with respect.
Our program is engaged not only in meeting the challenges of a complex, rapidly changing academic discipline but also in helping to shape it. Our graduate courses examine relationships between writing and other cultural practices and explore the social, historical, rhetorical, and technological processes by which literature and other discourses are constituted. While we take seriously our responsibility to help train the next generation of the professoriate—that is, to cultivate scholarship, effective teaching, and collegiality—we also encourage our students to think of their training and their futures in the broadest terms possible.
All students, regardless of whether they enter with a BA or MA, are required to complete 39 hours of formal graduate coursework taken for a grade before the end of their third year. These 39 hours must include:
These curricular requirements ensure that students encounter a wide range of courses, faculty, and texts during their time at UT, extending well beyond their specialized area of interest. Students choose coursework in consultation with the Associate Graduate Advisor, who may allow substitutions for English courses in cases where alternate coursework is needed to supplement departmental offerings. This alternate coursework could take the form of the out-of-department courses listed above. Such substitutions may be warranted in cases where a student is pursuing a portfolio in an interdisciplinary unit such as CWGS, MALS, or AADS; where the English department offers few courses in the student’s area of interest; or where the student needs to pursue a foreign language for research purposes. We encourage students to investigate portfolio options early in their career so they can integrate those courses as soon as possible. Some portfolios require 12 hours of coursework; in those cases, the Associate Graduate Advisor will grant an exception to the 9-hour limit on out-of-department courses.
Students who hold the position of AI are also required to take RHE398T, which is usually taken during the fall semester of their third year, or when a graduate student teaches RHE306 for the first time. RHE398T does not count toward the required 39 hours of formal graduate coursework.
Beginning in their third year of the program, students have the option of enrolling in additional seminars inside or outside the department, choosing whether to take these courses for a grade or for Credit/No Credit. They can also enroll in E384L Scholarly Publication (usually taken in or after the third year) and E384M Professional Outcomes (usually taken in or after the fourth year). Students take these two courses for Credit/No Credit. The graduate program encourages students to continue enrolling in optional courses throughout their years as a PhD student, while they are reading for exams and planning and writing a dissertation.
In the spring of year three, students must pass the Third-Year Examination , which tests their knowledge of and engagement with chosen fields of specialization. Students will be examined on either a fixed reading list or a reading list developed by three faculty members in collaboration with the student. The list will contain 60-80 primary and/or secondary texts. The Third-Year Examination consists of a written and an oral component. The written component consists of: 1) a 1000- to 2000-word intellectual rationale for the list; 2) an annotated version of the list (at least 1/3 of the texts with an annotation of 100 words or more each); and 3) two syllabi based on the list—the first for a survey course, the second for an upper-division seminar. Students will then sit for a two-hour oral examination during which the committee will ask questions about both the written materials and the students’ comprehension of the reading list.
The Prospectus Examination grants students an opportunity to receive formal feedback from three faculty members on their proposed dissertation project. Students work closely with faculty to write and revise a 15- to 20-page prospectus. Once the faculty members are ready to sign off on the document, an oral Prospectus Examination is scheduled. Students are encouraged to pass the Prospectus Examination by the end of the fall semester of their fourth year in the program.
Doctoral Candidacy is achieved when students have successfully completed the Third-Year and Prospectus Examinations; fulfilled the foreign language requirement (see below); and identified a dissertation committee of at least four faculty members, one of whom needs to be from another graduate program or institution. All students must spend at least two long semesters, or one long semester and one summer, in candidacy before earning their degree.
The last milestone for the Ph.D. is the Final Oral Defense , otherwise known as the dissertation defense. In general, faculty will not schedule a defense until the dissertation is completed and ready for critical engagement.
Students working toward a Ph.D. in English at UT Austin are expected to pursue courses of language study relevant to their individual professional trajectories, as determined in consultation between students themselves; their faculty mentors; and graduate program advisor(s).
Student progress toward appropriate levels of competence will be assessed by means of a four-part Foreign Language Audit according to the following schedule:
Fall semester of the first year: Foreign Language Interview with the associate graduate advisor to review prior training, assess current levels of expertise, and, if necessary, begin developing an appropriate language study agenda.
Spring semester of the second year: as part of the Second-Year Reflection, students complete a first Language Study Check-in with the graduate advisor(s) and their faculty sponsor, to ensure that appropriate progress has been made toward execution of the agenda with alteration or addition in light of subfield expectations and project directions.
Spring semester of the third year (in most cases): as part of the Third-Year Exam, students will complete a second Language Study Check-in, this time with their exam committee, to determine whether satisfactory progress has been achieved on their language study agenda, again with alteration or addition in light of subfield expectations and project directions.
Fourth year (in most cases): as part of the Prospectus Exam, students will finalize their Foreign Language Audit. This will involve discussion with the exam committee, along with presentation of all necessary evidence to demonstrate that the language study agenda has been fulfilled. If, in the judgment of the committee, requisite levels of language competence have not been achieved, student and committee will agree upon a binding plan for fulfillment, during which period the student shall remain on probationary status with regard to the Foreign Language Requirement. Successful fulfillment of the Foreign Language Audit must be achieved before the student advances to Ph.D. candidacy.
Notes: Some students will enter the program with sufficient foreign language skills for their course of study (e.g. either compelling evidence of literate knowledge of a language other than English, such as a high school degree from a school in a non-English speaking country, or four or more semesters at the college level of a language other than English with a grade of B or better in the last semester, or its equivalent). These students will not need to complete the final three steps of the FLA.
Associate Chair & Graduate Adviser: Gretchen Murphy
Associate Graduate Adviser (Literature): Julie Minich
Associate Graduate Adviser (Rhetoric): Scott Graham
Graduate Studies Chair: Tanya Clement
Graduate Program Administrator: Patricia Schaub
Interdisciplinary clusters.
The Department of English's Doctoral program in Literature offers advanced study and research in literary history, criticism, and theory, with excellent opportunities for interdepartmental and interdisciplinary study. Courses within the department cover major genres, periods, authors, and a broad range of methodological and theoretical approaches.
The graduate curriculum is enhanced by frequent lectures and workshops with Northwestern faculty and visiting scholars from around the world. Student-organized colloquia, conferences, reading groups, and dissertation groups provide opportunities for students to present their research to an audience of peers.
The PhD program provides superb professionalization and training in a variety of settings, including teaching assistantships for undergraduate lecture courses and the opportunity to develop and lead courses in Northwestern's Writing Program and the School of Professional Studies .
Welcome from the director of graduate studies.
Teaching fellow application and instructions ● listing of teaching fellow offices ● courses of instruction
Fellowship application information for Graduate Society Fellowships/Term Time Awards for Dissertation Research ● Harvard Merit Fellowships ● Harvard Research and Travel Fellowships ● GSAS Summer School Tuition Waiver Fellowships ● Dissertation Completion Fellowships.
An internal website with an exhaustive listing of all the forms you will need as an English graduate student; it also contains Generals Lists, example language exams, example Fields Lists and example prospectuses.
The Committee of Graduate Students (COGS) consists of elected representatives who serve on decision-making committees in the department as well as in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
A full listing of English graduate prize submission guidelines and prize information.
A comprehensive list of recent job placements, current alumni positions, and a sampling of books from dissertations.
General info.
Kathy Psomiades Director of Graduate Studies Department of English Duke University Box 90017 Durham, NC 27708-0017
Phone: (919) 684-5538
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://english.duke.edu/graduate
The department offers a wide range of program options, from the study of historical periods and genres (medieval to postcolonial) to literary criticism and theory. The department's recent emphasis on contemporary anglophone and trans-national studies, the relationship of science and literature, and questions of "modernity" complement the more traditional canonical concerns of the department. There is close cooperation with the Literature Program, with which the department shares faculty, and our own English and American literature offerings are supplemented by the program's interdisciplinary and internationalist interests. For more information, visit http://english.duke.edu/graduate .
Application Terms Available: Fall
Application Deadline: December 5
Graduate School Application Requirements See the Application Instructions page for important details about each Graduate School requirement.
Department-Specific Application Requirements (submitted through online application)
Writing Sample A writing sample (nonreturnable, limited to 25 pages) is required and must be submitted in the Departmental Requirements section of the Graduate School’s online application. The writing sample should be a copy of an essay (nonfiction), preferably a critical or scholarly essay submitted as an academic requirement in a literature course. The applicant's name should appear on each page in top right corner.
We strongly encourage you to review additional department-specific application guidance from the program to which you are applying: Departmental Application Guidance
List of Graduate School Programs and Degrees
Get a ph.d. in english.
The Ph.D. in English at the University of Houston engages international dialogues on poetics, narrative, history, and culture. Our innovative doctoral program centers transnational and multilingual approaches to study, and our award-winning research faculty foster dynamic intersections among multiple disciplines and media. The Ph.D. student experience at the University of Houston is enlivened by the English Department’s connections to the intellectual and cultural life of Houston, a global city with thriving literary and arts communities.
UH English Ph.D. students receive dedicated advising and mentorship from department faculty and professional development support at all stages of the degree. We can typically provide five years of funding, including tuition remission and a stipend. (See our Financial Aid page for more information.)
All first-year Ph.D. students receive preparation for expert teaching in the university classroom. Second- through fifth-year students have the opportunity to teach a range of courses, with continued pedagogical training and working groups. Students in their fourth and fifth years are eligible for department- and college-level awards to support dissertation research.
Minimum requirements for admission.
The application deadline for our Ph.D. in English is February 1.
For more admissions information, visit the How to Apply web page for our Ph.D. in English.
Humans use stories to cope and thrive, from prehistoric cave paintings to distilling experience in novels, screenplays, and hip hop rhymes. By studying English literature, students learn how to analyze and appreciate the language of the past and to contribute to the narrative of the future. Concentrators will develop expertise in interpreting others’ rhetoric and learn to communicate meaningfully.
The Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree is designed for industry professionals with years of work experience who wish to complete their degrees part time, both on campus and online, without disruption to their employment. Our typical student is over 30, has previously completed one or two years of college, and works full time.
The Graduate Program in English aims to provide Ph.D. candidates with a broad knowledge of the field of English, including critical and cultural theory. Additional important skills include facility with the tools of scholarship—ancient and modern foreign languages, bibliographic procedures, and textual and editorial methods. The program also emphasizes the ability to write well, to do solid and innovative scholarly and critical work in a specialized field or fields, to teach effectively, and to make articulate presentations at conferences, seminars, and symposia.
Students enrolled in the Master of Liberal Arts program in English will deepen their understanding of fiction, poetry, and drama while learning to analyze and interpret literary texts. Students will hone their research and writing skills, and become a stronger reader and critical thinker.
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Choosing the right and appropriate Online PhD program in English is essential because these courses can be difficult and time-consuming. As a result, it’s critical to pick a program that offers enough assistance and is aligned with your long-term objectives. It can be difficult to choose the best online PhD program in English because there are so many possibilities. Here we have come up with our research part and listed the best programs. These programs have been chosen because they are excellent in terms of academic quality, student support, program outcomes, and affordability, even though we are still working on producing our full rankings list.
PhD in Creative Writing and English Literature | Study Portal |
English (Online) PhD | University of Nottingham |
Online English PhD Program | Texas A&M University |
100% online English literacy PhD programs | |
Hybrid Online English PhD Program | Old Dominion University’s |
Phd in creative writing and english literature, english (online) phd, online english phd program , 100% online english literacy phd programs, hybrid online english phd program, advantages of pursuing online and hybrid phd in english , list of best hybrid and online phd in english.
There are various hybrid and online PhDs in English available for you. Here is a list of some of the of the best online degrees we mentioned in the below table:
Learn about the PhD in Creative Writing and English Literature course below:
Manchester Metropolitan University’s Creative Writing and English Literature program is research-based. You will study a subject of your choosing or one we promote on your own. Throughout your studies, your supervisory team will provide knowledgeable direction and evaluate your work in progress. You will participate in an annual training and development program to improve your professional abilities, subject-matter knowledge, and research methodologies.
Duration | 3 years |
Fee | 1,990,737 INR/year |
Offered By | Manchester Metropolitan University |
Oct 2024 | Start date |
Mode | Online |
Website: https://www.phdportal.com/studies/376907/creative-writing-and-english-literature.html?ref=search_card#content:key_facts
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Learn about the English (Online) PhD course offered by the University of Nottingham below:
The majority of a PhD in English consists of independent study, with supervision meetings spaced out across the year and conducted virtually (using Microsoft Teams, for example). A PhD has no teaching credits associated with it; instead, full-time students are required to participate in the online Arts Faculty Researcher Skills training program. During the duration of their registration, part-time students must participate in all mandatory research training, attend one postgraduate researcher (PGR) symposium, and postgraduate seminars when feasible.
Duration | 96 months |
Fee | UK fees: £5,350International fees: £23,000 |
Offered By | University of Nottingham |
Start Date | October 2025, February 2026 |
Mode | Online |
Website: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/course/research/english-online-phd
Learn about the English PhD Program Online offered by the Texas A&M University below:
Online or mixed classroom for English PhD programs. In order to gain practical classroom experience, eligible students can also take part in tutoring or teaching assistantship programs offered by Texas A&M University that allow admittance in the fall, spring, and summer, which sets it apart from many other programs and allows you to begin your studies whenever it’s most convenient for you. Specialization options will not be desired by English majors enrolled in Texas A&M’s program. The school offers three focuses that are specific to literature in addition to two specialities in written discourse.
Duration | 4 to 5 years |
Fee | NA |
Offered By | Texas A&M University |
Start Date | NA |
Mode | Hybrid and Online |
Website: https://www.tamuc.edu/programs/english-phd-applied-linguistics/
Learn about the 100% online English literacy PhD programs offered by the St. John’s University below:
If you are interested in learning literacy. Enrol in St. John’s University’s PhD program in Literacy to equip yourself to assist students from all backgrounds in overcoming obstacles to reading competency and excelling throughout their academic journey. This program is one of the few online doctoral programs in literacy in the country. In as little as three years, you can graduate prepared to work with students, teachers, and administrators to improve learning in every subject area.
Duration | 2.5 years |
Fee | NA |
Offered By | Texas A&M University |
Start Date | NA |
Mode | 100% online |
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Learn about the Hybrid Online English PhD Program offered by Old Dominion University’s below:
This Hybrid Program is offered by ODU Global which helps you to learn about Writing, rhetoric, discourse, technology, and textual studies. The program offers a flexible approach to advanced English studies, combining the convenience of online learning with in-person interactions. Students primarily take courses online but also participate in on-campus residencies, workshops, or seminars. This format caters to working professionals or those with geographic constraints. Programs typically focus on areas like literature, writing, rhetoric, or English education.
Duration | 2.5 years |
Fee | NA |
Offered By | Old Dominion University’s |
Start Date | NA |
Mode | Hybrid or Online |
Website: https://online.odu.edu/academics/programs/english-phd
Online PhD programs are made to provide flexibility and convenience to support your academic goals, regardless of your circumstances, such as working full-time, raising a family, or living far from school. Just two of the many advantages of earning an online and hybrid PhD in English are as follows:
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Is Online PhD Acceptable in India? Indian universities do not provide online PhD programs since the University Grants Commission (UGC) has not sanctioned them. In addition, there are additional options that are appropriate everywhere in the world and are specially made for working professionals.
The UGC has not approved the PhD program, so it is not offered remotely in India. Candidates may enrol in this course normally.
Two Indian accrediting authorities, UGC and AICTE, do not recognise these kinds of online courses. It is therefore best to thoroughly investigate the legitimacy of any course you wish to take. Particularly when it’s an online PhD, the greatest degree you will ever pursue.
Related Reads
Hope this blog provides you with all the important details about Hybrid and Online PhD in English, for more information about such courses, visit our online courses page .
Aditya Saini is a content writer with over a year and a half of experience helping national and international students navigate their journey to work abroad. His expertise lies in “jobs abroad”, all things practical, from writing articles on different topics such as part-time and full-time jobs to understanding salaries for different and highest-paying professions and securing internship programs in different countries. Aditya's passion is ensuring students have all the information they need to make the right decision about their career journeys overseas.
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Learn about the Ph.D. program in English at Stanford, a prestigious department that trains scholars and leaders in academia and related fields. Find out about the program overview, financial support, teaching requirements, language requirements, and other requirements for the Ph.D. degree.
Learn about the five-year Ph.D. program in English at Princeton, which offers rigorous and supportive training in diverse fields and methods. Find out the course requirements, funding opportunities, teaching experience, and job placement for graduate students.
The PhD candidate is normally expected to complete six or seven one-semester courses for credit in the first year of residence and a total of six or seven more in the second and third years. The program of any doctoral candidate's formal and informal study, whatever his or her particular interests, should be comprehensive enough to ensure ...
Ian Newman. Director of Graduate Studies. Associate Professor of English. Email: [email protected]. Blake Holman. Graduate Program Coordinator. Email: [email protected]. Notre Dame's English Department offers graduate and undergraduate degrees with a focus on literature's cultural and interpretive contexts, creative writing, creative reading, film ...
The Berkeley English Department offers a wide-ranging Ph.D. program, engaging in all historical periods of British and American literature, Anglophone literature, and critical and cultural theory. The program aims to assure that students gain a broad knowledge of literature in English as well as the highly-developed skills in scholarship and ...
The PhD in English (literature) at ASU is a premier graduate program in the U.S. with strong interdisciplinary ties and faculty links to research centers on campus and in the state, including the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, the Institute for Humanities Research, and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing.
Learn how to apply for the Ph.D. program in English at Stanford, which offers intellectual rigor and graduate support. Find out the application requirements, deadlines, and funding options for domestic and international applicants.
Learn about the graduate program in English at Harvard, which offers a broad and flexible curriculum in literary history, theory, and criticism. Find out how to apply, what to submit, and when to apply for the PhD degree in English.
English. The PhD program in English prepares students for a range of scholarly careers in English through a combination of literary studies with writing and rhetoric. In literary studies, we emphasize American literature, Transatlantic and Caribbean literature, Early Modern literature, and the study of gender and sexuality.
Brown's doctoral program trains graduate students to become teachers as well as researchers. Thus we require that, with some exceptions, our students teach for three years as assistants to members of the English Department faculty and as instructors of sections of ENGL0900 (formerly ENGL0110) Critical Reading and Writing I: The Academic Essay, and ENGL0200 Seminars in Writing, Literatures ...
2024-25 Catalog. English, PhD. The Department offers full-time M.A. and Ph.D. programs. Comprehensive in their range of specializations, these programs are intellectually dynamic and rigorous. Our M.A. program offers students a solid foundation in the professional study of literature and culture, and our Ph.D. program prepares students for full ...
30 Best PhD Programs in English. Quick Highlights: Our #1 ranked school for a PhD in English is University at Buffalo, followed by University of California, Berkeley. PhD English programs focus on comprehensive English language and literature knowledge. They require coursework, exams, and a dissertation.
The Department of English offers a program leading to the PhD degree in literatures in English. The department is small in numbers and its graduate students are carefully selected on the basis of their professional distinction as teachers, critics, and scholars. Because of its small size, the department affords students exceptionally focused attention. The department...
Learn about the requirements, structure, and goals of the PhD program in English at Harvard University. The program takes four to seven years to complete and covers critical and cultural theory, foreign languages, and scholarly skills.
This page contains information only for students who are beginning their graduate study in Fall 2024 or later. Our Ph.D. program in English provides students with interdisciplinary coursework in a range of research areas, mentorship from faculty at the forefront of their fields, teaching experience in First-Year Writing and beyond, and ...
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of English guarantee five full years (12 months each) of financial support for PhD students who maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress. This support will be in the form of Teaching Fellowships or Graduate Fellowships. All requirements for the doctorate, including dissertation, must be ...
The PhD program prepares students for independent work as teachers, scholars, and critics by developing their abilities to pose and investigate problems in the advanced study of literatures in English. The program consists of four major components: coursework, teaching, fields exams, and the dissertation.
Overview. The Ph.D. program in English at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest and best doctoral programs of its kind. Ranked in the top 20 English Graduate Programs by U.S. News & World Report, our program offers students intensive research mentoring and pedagogical training in the vibrant setting that is Austin, Texas.In addition, all admitted English PhD students receive ...
The Department of English's Doctoral program in Literature offers advanced study and research in literary history, criticism, and theory, with excellent opportunities for interdepartmental and interdisciplinary study. Courses within the department cover major genres, periods, authors, and a broad range of methodological and theoretical approaches.
Our graduate students come from across the globe, with a huge range of life experiences, tastes, and talents. Graduate education in the Harvard English Department is about helping each of our unique students become the scholar, teacher, writer, reader, mentor, and citizen they want to be. To that end, we have rigorous requirements: exams ...
Kathy Psomiades Director of Graduate Studies Department of English Duke University Box 90017 Durham, NC 27708-0017 Phone: (919) 684-5538 Email: [email protected]
Get a Ph.D. in English. The Ph.D. in English at the University of Houston engages international dialogues on poetics, narrative, history, and culture. Our innovative doctoral program centers transnational and multilingual approaches to study, and our award-winning research faculty foster dynamic intersections among multiple disciplines and media.
The Graduate Program in English aims to provide Ph.D. candidates with a broad knowledge of the field of English, including critical and cultural theory. Additional important skills include facility with the tools of scholarship—ancient and modern foreign languages, bibliographic procedures, and textual and editorial methods. The program also ...
English (Online) PhD. Learn about the English (Online) PhD course offered by the University of Nottingham below: Credit: University of Nottingham . The majority of a PhD in English consists of independent study, with supervision meetings spaced out across the year and conducted virtually (using Microsoft Teams, for example).