G-LIT-PHD - Literature - PhD

All Literature graduate students are required to complete the following requirements:

• a total of 12 graduate courses (500-level or above):

  • 7 of these courses must be offered by primary faculty in Literature (one of which will be a “cohort” course offered in the fall semester, assigned for the entering cohort each year; and another a Doctoral Exam Preparation independent study to be completed in the spring semester of the second year)

  • and 5 of these must create a coherent teaching field of the student’s choice

• a preliminary examination in two major fields of study to be conducted in year three, which includes the following:

  • a dossier comprised of a Teaching Field Reading List, a Dissertation Field Reading List, two fully developed syllabi (an introductory survey of the teaching field and an advanced undergraduate course on current debates in the teaching field), as well as a list of sample exam prompts

  • two 48h written exams (one a Teaching Field Exam, and another a Dissertation Field Exam)

  • and a 2-hour oral exam on all the aforementioned materials conducted with the student’s Preliminary Exam Committee

• a chapter workshop in year four, which focuses on a concrete piece of writing representing a substantial chapter students will have written, in conjunction with an outline and prospectus for the rest of the dissertation project

• and a final dissertation project, and its defense (usually by year six), which is expected to be a mature and competent piece of the student’s own writing, embodying the results of significant and original research. In Literature, the general expectation is for the dissertation to be composed of 3 or 4 main chapters, plus an introduction and conclusion, with a total page count (including bibliography) of around 270 pages (plus or minus 70 pages). 

Students entering the program are strongly advised to have reading knowledge of one language other than English and to acquire reading competence in a second language relevant to their field of study before taking their preliminary examination.

All matriculating PhD students at Duke University are required to complete 12 hours in Responsible Conduct of Research training in research ethics. Six of these are taken care of by the six-hour RCR orientation at the start of the first year—the remaining six are taken care of by attending three two-hour seminars. Students must complete their RCR training to graduate with the PhD.

Students entering Literature’s PhD program with a Master’s degree are also required to take a minimum of twelve courses as outlined above, and to satisfy all the other aforementioned requirements.