Policies and Procedures

Doctoral Program Guidelines

Course Work

All PhD students must take eight (8) letter-graded courses of four credits each. All courses must be graduate level courses (500-level or above). In their first year, students must also take the Proseminar sequence, ENG 591 and 592 for 1 credit each semester.

Students may take up to two courses in departments other than English. Students may also take up to two independent studies (see below). Up to three graded courses, including independent study courses, may be from the same faculty member. Creative Writing students may take up to three creative writing workshops. Funded PhD students are also required to take pedagogy course in the spring semester of their first year (ENG 589).  

All funded graduate students in the course work stage are required to take a minimum of two courses per semester as well as a one-credit proseminar (first year required) or TRIP (foreign language preparation course) to maintain good financial standing. All students must maintain at least a B+ average to remain in the program.  

Independent Study

The independent study is a directed and graded study that the student takes with a professor. It allows the student to develop reading lists that are tailored to their specific interest and future dissertation work. It also gives students the opportunity to work rigorously on their chosen topic with the professor who specializes in the field. While professors are more likely to take on an independent study student if they have previously worked with that student, they are not obligated to do so, particularly since an independent study, although meaningful in other ways, lacks the rich learning environment offered by a seminar with different perspectives. During their course work, students may take up to two independent studies. Students may not take independent studies in their first semester. If considering an independent study, a student should contact the professor well in advance of the semester deadline for course registration. 

Usually, an independent study is for 4 course credits and takes the place of a graduate seminar. If the independent study is for four credits, the reading list and expectations should be commensurate with a graduate seminar. However, if the student opts for fewer credits, then the independent study supervisor and the student should decide on what constitutes an appropriate amount of work and reading. An independent study of fewer than 4 course credits will not take the place of a graduate seminar. 

In order to register for the independent study, students should complete and submit the independent study form (available in the English Graduate Office). The form requires a brief but precise description of the topic and direction of the independent study, with a brief starter reading list, and a final reading list submitted within a few weeks of the semester. The delay in the submission of the final reading list is in place gives the student time to refine the reading list as the study proceeds. The form must be signed by the faculty member supervising the independent study, and it must be approved by the Graduate Director.

Students have often used an independent study as a building block towards a field exam. While the independent study can be a step towards a field exam, the grade for the independent study and work required is separate from the field exam. The assignments that determine the grade for the independent study are separate from the field exam itself. The independent study reading list may (and often does) feed into the field exam, but the field exam reading list is a more substantial list that speaks to a broader field.

Foreign Language Requirement

All PhD candidates must demonstrate a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language at a level of competence sufficient for the understanding of scholarly and critical materials. If English is your second language, please talk with the Graduate Director about an exemption from this requirement.  Foreign language competence may be demonstrated in any one of five ways: 

1. Evidence of the student having passed a certified translation exam in a graduate program at an accredited institution similar to Binghamton University. 
2. Transcript evidence of at least three years (six semesters) of college-level study of a single foreign language (we will count as two semesters each, fourth and fifth year high school study in the same language) with a grade average of B or better, completed no more than five years before admission to the PhD program at Binghamton University. 
3. Successful completion of a graduate course in a foreign language, or of a graduate course in comparative literature in which a significant portion of the work is done in a foreign language. 
4. Successful completion of a graduate proficiency workshop and examination.
5. Successful completion of a translation examination.  

Note that the TRIP program offers 1-credit translation courses to help students prepare to meet this requirement (see course schedule in BU Brain). Students may register for this as their ninth credit after completing their first year in the doctoral program.

Translation Exam Guidelines

The examiner sends the exam (translation of 2 pages of critical/theoretical work) to the Graduate Program Assistant. The program assistant then gives the exam to the student. The student has seventy-two hours to complete and return the exam. The student may use the dictionary as well as dictionary sites on the internet, but they may not use any online translation tools or translation websites. The translation exam relies on the honor system and trusts that the student will abide by it. The department sends the completed exam to the examiner, who reviews the exam within two weeks. The Graduate Director informs the student whether or not they have passed the exam.

The grading is at the discretion of the examiner. The grade should be determined by the ability of the student to appropriately translate the piece set for the examination, capturing the nuances of language and meaning in accordance with the piece's historical and cultural context. The needs of Creative Writers and Literature students taking the exam are different, but we expect the student's translation work to reflect their graduate-level competence at understanding literary, critical, and/or theoretical material in the language under consideration. The exam should demonstrate sufficient reading knowledge for research purposes. 

A student may re-take the exam as many times as necessary within the space of an academic year.

Students must fulfill the Foreign Language Requirement in addition to passing the Field Exams in order to become ABD (All But Dissertation). If the student has completed the Field Exams, but has yet to complete the Foreign Language Requirement, they will not be eligible for ABD status.

Field Exams 

Because of the accelerated time-line, we recommend that students start taking their field exams after completing two or three semesters of course work. We strongly recommend that students complete all three field exams (two written and one oral exam for research dissertations, and three written exams for creative dissertations) by the end of the fifth semester. 

Students should coordinate their fields of study so that the time spent preparing for their examinations will provide a foundation for subsequent work on their dissertations, as well as preparation for their professional identity.

PhD in English with a Research Dissertation - Exams and Prospectus

The PhD in English with a Research Dissertation requires two written exams and an oral exam. The oral exam reading list is an aggregate of the two earlier exam lists. The faculty supervisors of each exam often form the dissertation committee, with one faculty member selected as the dissertation advisor.  The oral exam must be scheduled and completed during the same semester as the second written field exam.

A. Written Field Exams

Field Exam I typically addresses a conceptual framework, genre, or a period. It does not necessarily need to speak to a specific periodization, but whatever the field chosen,the list should look at the historical, critical, and literary shifts within the defined category: for instance, 20th century British and American Modernisms, Transatlantic 18th Century Literature and Culture, Victorian Poetry, The Global Novel, The Slave/Captivity Narrative etc.

Field Exam II typically has a conceptual and or theoretical rubric or otherwise defines a narrower topic crucial to the student’s dissertation plans and future teaching. Past topics include feminist theory, American exceptionalism, theories of transnationalism, critical race theory, queer theory, diaspora and migration studies, and witnessing and human rights, among many others.

In preparation for an exam, the student chooses an examiner to help develop the exam list and read the exam. The reading list of 35-40 titles (both primary and secondary) for the written examination should be developed through close collaboration with the specific field examiner. Once the examiner approves the list, the approved reading lists must be handed in to the Graduate Director no later than three weeks before the proposed written field exam.

Field Examiners and Second Readers:

1. Each exam has a field examiner and a second reader. All must be members of the university's graduate faculty (must be tenured or tenure-track). The second reader is assigned by the Graduate Director, not chosen by the student.

2. Field examiners and readers may read more than one exam for a particular student (up to a maximum of two), but each of the three examining "teams" must be unique.

3. Only one of the three field examiners may be from a faculty outside the English Department.

4. Second readers are assigned solely by the Director of Graduate Studies, who may seek advice from the field examiner or from other members of the department faculty.

5. The second reader must be provided with a copy of the student's reading list and a copy of the question. 

6. Copies of reading lists and examination questions are placed in the student’s files.

Examination:

The examiner defines the nature of the examination, however, there are some general guidelines.

1. Exams are usually set up in such a way that the student has 72 hours to write the exam paper. 

2. All exams should be given with sufficient directions for the student. The English Graduate Office cannot and will not answer student questions about the exam after it has been given to the student.

3. Normally, the examiner will submit the examination question to the English Graduate Office to distribute to the student (giving the office at least forty-eight hours to distribute it to the student). The exam will be returned to the English Graduate Office within 72 hours. The English Graduate Office will then pass the exam back to the field examiner for grading. 

4. Field examiners will normally read the examination and return it to the Director of Graduate Studies within two weeks. The Director of Graduate Studies will then pass it along to the second reader.

5. Second readers are also asked to return the exam within a week.

6. Students are graded "pass" or "fail" for each field exam.

7. If the field examiner grades the exam as a "fail," it will not go to a second reader. The field examiner may request that the student write a new exam. If the field examiner grades the exam as a "pass," and the second reader grades the exam as a "fail," the exam will be given over to a third reader (chosen by the Graduate Director) to break the tie. If the third reader gives the exam a "fail," the student may request to write a new exam, and the process will begin anew. In no case may a student be examined in the same area more than twice. After a second failure in the same area, a student must make a proposal to the Graduate Admissions Committee in order to continue in the program.

B. Oral Exam

The student should put together a committee of three faculty members for the oral exam, and that group typically becomes the dissertation committee. The committee comprises the two faculty members who have supervised/examined the two written field exams and along with a third faculty member who will be present at the Oral Exam. The student should choose one of the three faculty members as a dissertation advisor.

The oral exam should be scheduled and take place in the same semester as the second written exam. The reading list for the oral exam is the aggregate of the two field exams, and it should be submitted to all three faculty members on the committee. Those faculty members will also read the written exams in preparation for the oral exam. 

Because the oral exam serves as a bridge between the written exams and the dissertation, students should submit a 5-page dissertation proposal to their oral exam committee two weeks before the date of the Oral Exam. The dissertation proposal should address the central problem/ question of the proposed dissertation and offer a brief review of the primary and secondary sources. The dissertation proposal should be drafted in consultation with the dissertation advisor.

The oral exam serves three purposes: 

1) During the oral examination--lasting approximately 60-90 minutes, the student will be examined on their fields as well as the exams they wrote, giving them an opportunity to demonstrate expertise in their chosen fields and speak about specific exam essays to their committee. The committee may also ask about texts on the field list that the student did not address in the written exams.

2) The oral exam will also be a testing and discussion ground for the paradigms of their dissertation and short dissertation proposal. 

3) It serves as an opportunity to speak about their work in a formal institutional setting before the defense. 

The student only becomes ABD upon passing Field Exam I, Field Exam II, and the Oral Exam and after completing the foreign language requirement.

C. Dissertation Prospectus 

Within 5 weeks of the oral examination, the student will write and submit a more substantial dissertation prospectus (approximately 20 pgs. including bibliography) to the dissertation advisor. The prospectus is a substantive revision of the dissertation proposal. It should be revised according to the discussions of the dissertation proposal during oral exam. Once the advisor has approved it, it should be submitted to the Graduate Director and circulated to the committee members.

The prospectus is a preliminary description of the proposed dissertation. It must set out the central question/topic and area that the dissertation intends to explore. It must also situate the dissertation’s topic and intervention within the current academic scholarship on the subject. In other words, it must offer a review of the work that has already been done on the area and answer the significant question of how the dissertation will add to and/or shift existing scholarship. The prospectus should include a provisional chapter outline. Dissertations typically consist of an introduction and three chapters. The chapter outline should be succinct as possible, while demonstrating a structural, theoretical, and thematic development of the central argument of the dissertation. While the prospectus is by nature a fluid and provisional document, its primary purpose is to stake out the central question, delineate argument and structure, while elaborating on the scholarly significance of the proposed dissertation. In doing so, the prospectus allows the student to clarify and focus their dissertation writing process.

PhD in English with a Creative Dissertation

Students will take three written field exams, which will be the foundation for their creative dissertations. This will also lay the groundwork for the student’s teaching specializations. 

Written Field Exams

Topics:

Field exam I will focus on the historical dimension or a chronological understanding of their subject matter. Field exam II must focus on genre. Field exam III must focus on a conceptual or theoretical topic.

Field Examiners and Second Readers:

1. Each exam has a field examiner and a second reader. All must be members of the university's graduate faculty (tenured or tenure-track). The second reader is assigned by the Graduate Director, not chosen by the student.

2. Field examiners and readers may read more than one exam for a particular student (up to a maximum of two), but each of the three examining "teams" must be unique.

3. Only one of the three field examiners may be from a faculty outside the English Department.

4. Second readers are assigned solely by the Director of Graduate Studies, who may seek advice from the field examiner or from other members of the department faculty.

5. The second reader must be provided with a copy of the student's reading list and a copy of the question.

6. Copies of reading lists and examination questions are placed in the student’s files.

Examination:

The examiner defines the nature of the examination, however, there are some general guidelines.

1. Exams are usually set up in such a way that the student has 72 hours to write the exam paper. 

2. All exams should be given with sufficient directions for the student. The English Graduate Office cannot and will not answer student questions about the exam after it has been given to the student.

3. Normally, the examiner will submit the examination question to the English Graduate Office to distribute to the student (giving the office at least forty-eight hours to distribute it to the student). The exam will be returned to the English Graduate Office within 72 hours. The English Graduate Office will then pass the exam back to the field examiner for grading. 

4. Field examiners will normally read the examination and return it to the Director of Graduate Studies within two weeks. The Director of Graduate Studies will then pass it along to the second reader.

5. Second readers are asked to return the exam within a week.

6. Students are graded "pass" or "fail" for each field exam.

7. If the field examiner grades the exam as a "fail," it will not go to a second reader. The field examiner may request that the student write a new exam. If the field examiner grades the exam as a "pass," and the second reader grades the exam as a "fail," the exam will be given over to a third reader (chosen by the Graduate Director) to break the tie. If the third reader gives the exam a "fail," the student may request to write a new exam, and the process will begin anew. In no case may a student be examined in the same area more than twice. After a second failure in the same area, a student must make a proposal to the Graduate Admissions Committee in order to continue in the program.

The student becomes ABD after completing all three field exams (provided the foreign language requirement has been fulfilled as described above).

Dissertation Committee, Outside Examiner, and Defense

Once students acquire ABD status, they proceed toward preparing the dissertation. At this point, students register each semester for ENG 699: Dissertation Research. This indicates their ongoing research and writing. They must register every semester to remain in good standing. 

Dissertation Committee

Like the field exam committee, the dissertation committee in the early stages consists of three tenured or tenure-track faculty members: the dissertation advisor, who must be from the English department, and two members. The committee may have more than three members, and they may be from other academic departments. The dissertation committee may be the same as the field exam committee (as it often is), or it may change according to the student’s shifting interests as they proceed with their research. However, for the sake of intellectual continuity, we recommend that the dissertation advisor stay the same. During the dissertation writing process, the student works closely with the committee, especially the advisor. The student shares multiple drafts of their chapters with the advisor and the committee members as the dissertation takes shape. The advisor will determine how frequently the student should share chapter drafts with the committee. The dissertation committee has direct charge of all matters pertaining to the dissertation. 

The student's dissertation must have the unanimous approval of the dissertation committee to proceed with a Defense (or final oral examination) before arrangements are made for the final examination for the degree.

Members of the dissertation committee serve on the examination committee, and the dissertation chair normally servers as examination chair.

Outside Examiner

Before setting the date for the defense, the Graduate School mandates that an outside examiner be added to the dissertation committee. The outside examiner or OE must be tenured faculty who has previously served on academic dissertations. They may be from Binghamton University or they may be faculty from other research institutions.

As the OE represents the Graduate School, the nomination must come from the advisor or graduate director. Students are encouraged to talk with their advisors about possible Outside Examiners several months before the scheduled defense. At least a month prior to the defense date, if not earlier, the student must submit a completed OE form (available on the Graduate School website) to the English Department Graduate Office. Once it is approved at the departmental level, the form is sent to the Associate Dean of the Graduate School for Approval. Outside Examiners that already meet Graduate School criteria can be chosen from the pre-approved list by the department, and an email informing the Graduate School of the choice is all that's needed. If the OE is not on the pre-approved list, the linked nomination form should be completed and emailed to gad@binghamton.edu with a CV for review.

The OE will have no involvement in the supervision of the student's dissertation. The OE reads the dissertation and participates fully as a dissertation-examining committee member only during the dissertation defense. The OE's function on the examination committee is to render an independent judgment and to assure that the dissertation satisfies Graduate School standards. An outside examiner is intended to serve the Graduate School and, therefore, must have substantial experience evaluating the scholarship/research of doctoral students. 

For more information and a list of pre-approved OEs, see the Graduate School policy on Outside Examiners.

Intent to Graduate

Doctoral degree students must file a Graduate Application for Degree (GAFD) form at the beginning of the semester in which they plan to complete all degree requirements and graduate. This serves as notification to both the Graduate School and the department of a student’s intent to graduate. The GAFD can be accessed from the Graduate School website and is valid for one semester only.  

Dissertation Defense

After the student has been notified of the approval of an outside examiner, the student with the approval of the dissertation committee may proceed to schedule the Defense.

Because of the time required to give adequate consideration to the student's research, the student should submit the dissertation to the dissertation committee well in advance of the final oral defense. Normally, two months is recommended; the student should consult the committee. At the Defense, the student will be required to respond to examiners' questions concerning the dissertation and to defend the validity of the dissertation. To pass, the student must receive the unanimous approval of the dissertation examining committee, including the outside examiner. 

Once the student has passed their Defense, they must submit their dissertation to the Graduate School. The submitted dissertation must conform to the Graduate School requirements for a dissertation, as outlined in the Graduate School Handbook.

After successful completion, defense, and submission of the dissertation, the student is awarded the PhD in English. 

Basic Timeline for Preparing to Defend Your Dissertation

One semester prior to the intended defense semester:

• Discuss your timeline with your committee and make sure everyone agrees the plan is feasible.

At the start of the semester in which you plan to defend your dissertation:

• File a Graduate Application for Degree (GAFD) form with the Graduate School. 
• Discuss possible Outside Examiners with your advisor and/or the Director of Graduate Studies. Your advisor should discuss with the Director of Graduate Studies who the recommended OE might be if it is someone on the pre-approved list maintained by the Graduate School or, for someone not on the list, file the Outside Examiner form with the department (once approved, it will be sent to the Graduate School).

Beginning two months prior to your intended defense date:

• Schedule your exam with your committee and the English Department. Your defense date should be at least 2 weeks prior to the dissertation filing deadline set by the Graduate School. These deadlines are posted at the start of each semester on the Graduate School website.
• Hand in your completed dissertation to your committee, and be sure to check the dissertation filing deadlines and formatting requirements set by the Graduate School. Most committees will need at least one month to read. The student should be sure to discuss the proposed timeline with committee members well in advance.
• Format and file your dissertation with the Graduate School.