phd literary and cultural studies

Department of English College of Liberal Arts

Literature, Theory, Cultural Studies at Purdue

The  Literature, Theory, Cultural Studies (LTC) program  offers both MA and PhD degrees, and all admitted students receive full funding as TAs, RAs, or research fellows. Flexible plans of study allow coverage in conventional literary-historical areas as well as exposure to newly emerging critical and theoretical fields. LTC is a nimble, forward-looking program that values the archival alongside the digital; readings both close and far (or symptomatic and surface); and makes room for the new methods that keep alive our love of literature and its study.

LTC is home to the largest number of faculty in the English department, offers an unmatched diversity of course offerings, and perhaps there is no better testament to our historical and methodological breadth than the fact that we are proud to host the top-ranked but otherwise highly different journals MFS Modern Fiction Studies and Arthuriana .

Within LTC program, students specialize in any of four main areas, while acquiring breadth in all of them:

• Medieval & Early Modern Studies
• Transatlantic & Early Atlantic Studies (17 th – 19 th centuries)
• 20 th- & 21st-Century Literary Studies
• Theory & Cultural Studies

For more information regarding the LTC graduate program, contact the English department’s graduate director, John Duvall .

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Literary and Cultural Studies PhD

Key information, full-time - 4 years, part-time - 8 years.

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Why choose this programme

Research in literary and cultural studies brings together researchers from across the School of Literature and Languages to examine pressing social and cultural issues. These include:

• Social and cultural networks
• Cities and urban culture
• Embodiment and the practice and politics of movement
• Post-humanism
• Queer studies and subversive space
• Medical humanities
• Transnationalism and its limitations.

We’re part of the interdisciplinary  School of Literature and Languages , which has research-active staff in English literature, creative writing, film studies, translation studies, theoretical and applied linguistics, and literary and cultural studies.

We’re a member of  TECHNE , an  Arts and Humanities Research Council  AHRC)-funded doctoral training partnership, which provides access to comprehensive academic and professional training programmes, as well as the possibility of funding for your studies.

Our projects have examined areas such as the international reception of British artists, publishing and activism networks in Latin America, and French migration and anarchist movements.

Here at Surrey, you’ll join a cosmopolitan, multilingual and multicultural community of students and scholars, and we see our research students as being a core part of the School.

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 ranked the School of Literature and Languages 10th in the UK for research impact, with 75% of our case studies rated as having outstanding impacts, in terms of reach and significance (4*). Our submission to REF included contributions from the Guildford School of Acting (GSA).

Frequently asked questions about doing a PhD

What you will study

This is a programme which will take you on a research journey across cultures. You will develop your own research methodologies to navigate contemporary or historical cultural issues relevant to your project. This might involve archival study, action-based research or field work, as well as literary and cultural analysis.

Research in areas such as gender and sexuality, medical humanities, mobilities and urban studies, creative collaborations and the visual arts, contemporary and historic film, and environmental or political activism, will be supported by expert academics working at the cutting edge of fields such as these. Your research may focus on the intersections between different cultures and languages, or it may take a deep dive into a particular cultural or literary phenomenon.

As a researcher in literary and cultural studies you will become an expert in your project area through in-depth research and advanced analytical skills. You will be fully supported by academic supervisors to engage with current research and to advance the importance of cultural understanding in our globally networked world.

You’ll be assigned two supervisors, who you’ll meet with monthly to discuss your progress. Your supervisors will guide you through your PhD and will give you feedback and advice on your work.

As a doctoral student in the School of Literatures and Languages, you’ll receive a structured training programme covering the practical aspects of being a researcher, including grant-writing, publishing in journals, and applying for academic jobs.

It normally takes three to four years of full-time study or six to eight years of part-time study to complete our PhD in Literary and Cultural Studies. You’ll take a confirmation viva at 12-15 months (or 24-30 months part-time) and then be assessed by a thesis and viva examination.

Your final assessment will be based on the presentation of your research in a written thesis, which will be discussed in a viva examination with at least two examiners. You have the option of preparing your thesis as a monograph (one large volume in chapter form) or in publication format (including chapters written for publication), subject to the approval of your supervisors.

Research support

The professional development of postgraduate researchers is supported by the Doctoral College , which provides training in essential skills through its Researcher Development Programme of workshops, mentoring and coaching. A dedicated postgraduate careers and employability team will help you prepare for a successful career after the completion of your PhD.

Research themes

• Latin American literary and cultural studies
• Transnational history and its methodologies
• Franco-British political and cultural exchanges of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Our academic staff

See a full list of all our  academic staff  within the School of Literature and Languages.

Research areas

Research facilities.

You’ll be allocated desk space within the School of Literature and Languages, and you’ll also be able to take advantage of our common rooms for socialising and networking with other students and staff.

Our close proximity to London also means that the British Library and many other important archives and institutions are within easy reach.

You’ll also be able to take advantage of a wide range of services to support and develop your writing and research skills, including the University’s Researcher Development Programme. In addition to a number of excellent training opportunities offered by the University, our PhD students can take additional subject-specific training and take part in the School’s research seminars and other events, which provides a valuable opportunity to meet visiting scholars whose work connects with our own research strengths across literature, cultural studies and creative writing.

A dedicated postgraduate Careers and Employability team will help you prepare for a successful career after the completion of your PhD.

Entry requirements

Applicants are expected to hold a good bachelors degree and/or masters degree (2:1 or equivalent) in languages (with a literary or linguistic background), or in related subject areas is required.

For other topics, a good bachelors degree (2:1 or equivalent) and an MA in a relevant topic is required.

International entry requirements by country

English language requirements.

IELTS Academic: 6.5 or above (or equivalent) with 6.0 in each individual category and at least 7.0 in the writing component.

These are the English language qualifications and levels that we can accept. 

If you do not currently meet the level required for your programme, we offer intensive pre-sessional English language courses , designed to take you to the level of English ability and skill required for your studies here.

Application requirements

Applicants are advised to contact potential supervisors before they submit an application via the website. Please refer to section two of our  application guidance .

After registration

Students are initially registered for a PhD with probationary status and, subject to satisfactory progress, subsequently confirmed as having PhD status.

Selection process

Selection is based on applicants:

• Meeting the expected entry requirements
• Being shortlisted through the application screening process
• Completing a successful interview
• Providing suitable references.

Student life

At Surrey we offer the best of both worlds – a friendly campus university, set in beautiful countryside with the convenience and social life of Guildford on your doorstep.

Start date: July 2024

Start date: October 2024

Start date: January 2025

Start date: April 2025

• Annual fees will increase by 4% for each year of study, rounded up to the nearest £100 (subject to legal requirements).
• Any start date other than September will attract a pro-rata fee for that year of entry (75 per cent for January, 50 per cent for April and 25 per cent for July).

View the list of fees for all postgraduate research courses.

Additional costs

There are additional costs that you can expect to incur when studying at Surrey.

A Postgraduate Doctoral Loan can help with course fees and living costs while you study a postgraduate doctoral course.

Apply online

If you are applying for a studentship to work on a particular project, please provide details of the project instead of a research proposal.

Read our application guidance for further information on applying.

To apply online first select the course you'd like to apply for then log in.

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Select the course you wish to apply for.

To apply online sign in or create an account.

Code of practice for research degrees

Surrey’s postgraduate research code of practice sets out the University's policy and procedural framework relating to research degrees. The code defines a set of standard procedures and specific responsibilities covering the academic supervision, administration and assessment of research degrees for all faculties within the University.

Download the code of practice for research degrees (PDF) .

Terms and conditions

When you accept an offer to study at the University of Surrey, you are agreeing to follow our policies and procedures , student regulations , and terms and conditions .

We provide these terms and conditions in two stages:

• First when we make an offer.
• Second when students accept their offer and register to study with us (registration terms and conditions will vary depending on your course and academic year).

View our generic registration terms and conditions (PDF) for the 2023/24 academic year, as a guide on what to expect.

This online prospectus has been published in advance of the academic year to which it applies.

Whilst we have done everything possible to ensure this information is accurate, some changes may happen between publishing and the start of the course.

It is important to check this website for any updates before you apply for a course with us. Read our full disclaimer .

Course location and contact details

Campus location

Stag Hill is the University's main campus and where the majority of our courses are taught. 

University of Surrey Admissions

University of Surrey Guildford Surrey GU2 7XH

College of Arts and Sciences » Academic Units » English » Graduate Programs » Literary and Cultural Studies

Literary and Cultural Studies

The graduate program in Literary and Cultural Studies (LCS) offers students fully-funded opportunities for individualized paths of study in a wide variety of literary traditions, cultural theories, and research methodologies. MA students are eligible for two years of a full-tuition fellowship plus a teaching assistantship. PhD students are eligible for four years of a full-tuition fellowship plus a teaching assistantship. In recent years, the English Department has been able to provide students with enhanced student lectureships that supply a fifth year of funding, and there are additional research funding and grant opportunities through the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center and the University Research Council.

Unlike many graduate programs where teaching assistants support faculty teaching large lecture classes, graduate teaching assistants at UC are instructors of record in their own courses and they receive extensive pedagogical training, including a required graduate seminar on teaching composition. Similarly, while graduate teaching assistants in comparably-sized programs often teach 3 or 4 classes per year, MA and PhD students at UC teach only one section of composition per semester. Furthermore, our PhD students also have opportunities to teach literature courses, including both historical surveys and topics courses, where they can design creative classes on subjects that reflect their research interests and growing areas of expertise (e.g. “Queer Comics,” “Badass Women on Film,” and “Revenge”).

At UC, MA and PhD students benefit from a 1:1 student to faculty ratio that affords intimate graduate seminars and opportunities for intensive, personalized mentorship. Our research faculty in LCS are linked by a variety of interests that tend to overlap periods and fields, and we are particularly strong in the following areas: American Literature and Culture, Transatlantic Nineteenth-Century Literature, Material Culture, Gender & Sexuality, Drama & Performance, Race & Ethnicity, and Poetry & Poetics. Furthermore, our PhD students in LCS benefit professionally from working alongside graduate students and taking courses in our Creative Writing and Rhetoric & Composition tracks, and many of our students take advantage of opportunities to pursue certificates in affiliated programs like Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (WGSS), Film & Media Studies, and Professional Writing.

Facilities and Activities Available to Graduate Students

The Charles Phelps Taft Research Center for the Humanities provides graduate students in literature unique opportunities for interdisciplinary study, exchange and collaboration with both students and faculty through its Urban Studies, Visual Culture, and Human Rights Working Groups. The Taft Research Fund also provides our graduate students with opportunities for both conference travel funds and summer research support. The George Elliston Poetry Fund supports one of the nation’s finest collections of twentieth-century poetry. The Elliston Poetry Room , in Langsam Library, represents a rich research opportunity for scholars of poetry, and its digital archive of lectures by acclaimed visiting poets will be of interest to anyone engaged in digital humanities scholarship. Literary and Cultural Studies students with research interests in contemporary fiction and poetry also benefit from the Creative Writing program’s dynamic series of lectures and readings, including the Emerging Writers series, since these events allow students access to visiting writers. The rare books collections at the Blegen Library include Petrarch and Shakespeare collections, first editions of Charles Dickens, correspondence by D.H. Lawrence, and the letters of Ambrose Bierce. The Helen Weinberger Endowment, devoted to drama and performance studies, supports interdisciplinary initiatives in dramatic theater. Faculty and graduate students collaborate on The Cincinnati Review , which is in its ninth year of publication and ranked in the top twenty of literary journals nationally. The department is home as well to a new academic journal , The John Updike Review , now entering its third year of publication. Graduate students take the lead in organizing and running an Annual Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference. Recent themes for the graduate conference include “Being Undisciplined,” “Works in Progress,” and “Composing Spaces.” Lecture series, foundations, and private endowments have brought a wealth of outstanding scholars-speakers to our program, including, among many others, Stephen Greenblatt, Lawrence Buehl, N. Katherine Hales, David Halperin, Jack Halberstam, Alan Liu, Charles Bernstein, Jane Smiley, and Paul Theroux .

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The Ph.D. in Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies offers two major concentrations: 1) Literary and Cultural Studies and 2) Critical Studies of Language/Linguistics. S tudents in each concentration may opt to develop a secondary field of expertise in the other.

The program is designed primarily to prepare students for careers as university professors and research scholars. Students develop advanced language, teaching, and research skills that lend themselves to other professions, as well. A variety of geographic, temporal, and theoretical concentrations allow students to carry out innovative and interdisciplinary research projects, often with a transnational focus.

Admission Requirements

• Your completed application must include the following (incomplete applications will not be considered): A completed application, including a detailed statement of purpose explaining your research interests and why is the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Miami a good place to pursue your graduate training.  We only accept on-line applications.  Apply on-line  here .
• Three substantial letters of recommendation.
• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.
• A substantial writing sample in English.
• Writing samples in the primary language(s) of study (French, Portuguese, and/or Spanish).
• For International students only:  TOEFL  scores (please use Institution code 5815 and Department code 2699).
• Application fee of $85.00.
• GRE scores are encouraged but *not* required for admission(please use Institution code 5815 and Department Code 2699). However, they are required only in order to be nominated for University-wide fellowships.

Basic Curriculum Requirements

The requirements set out below for the  Ph.D. in Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies  are minimum requirements. The Graduate Studies Committee, Director of Graduate Studies, and individual advisors may set additional requirements.

• for students entering on the “five-year plan” (with a B.A. or M.A., see below), passing satisfactorily a minimum of 60 graded credit hours in approved courses, 30 of which must be open to graduate students only;
• for students entering on the “four-year plan” (with an M.A. in a closely related field, see below), passing satisfactorily a minimum of 48 graded credit hours in approved courses, 24 of which must be open to graduate students only;
• Passing  MLL 701  ,  MLL 711  ,  MLL 799 , and a minimum of 18 graded credit hours in the area(s) of research emphasis to be determined on an individualized basis in collaboration with the graduate advisors. 15 out of the 18 graded credit hours should be in MLL. However students may petition the GSC to take 3 more credit hours in an outside department only if the class directly relates to the student's research project. 
• For students in the Literary and Cultural Studies concentration, three credits of Critical Studies of Language/Linguistics and three credits in any Arts and Sciences discipline focusing on Colonial or Early Modern Studies (18 th  century or earlier).
• At least six credits in an approved cognate discipline to be determined in consultation with graduate advisors.
• Nine credits in Literary/Cultural Studies or Critical Studies of Language/Linguistics, for students pursuing an optional minor concentration.
• reading knowledge of two other languages; or
• holistic knowledge of one other language (for example, by passing the equivalent of a course at the 300-level).    Note : Appropriate languages of study will be determined in collaboration with the student’s advisors (e.g. students of Latin America  may be encouraged to study Portuguese or an indigenous language; students focusing on early modern Spanish or French studies may be encouraged to study Italian; students working in the French-speaking Caribbean many need to take Haitian Kreyòl; etc.);     
• if areas of specialization include Medieval, Early Modern, or Colonial Latin American Studies, students must demonstrate reading knowledge of Latin.                                                           
• one geographic region over three time periods;
• two geographic regions over two or three time periods;
• two geographic regions over one or two time periods and one area of critical sociolinguistics;
• two areas of critical sociolinguistics and one geographic region over one-time period.   ​ Note : Students entering the doctoral program with an MA in a relevant field may petition to waive the Breadth Exam (normally taken in the spring semester of the second year) after the first semester of study. The Graduate Studies Committee will consider petitions on an individualized basis.
• literature, cultural studies, or sociolinguistics;
• critical theory;
• a cognate discipline (e.g. history, sociology, philosophy, law, art, film, etc.). 
• Successfully defending a dissertation prospectus.
• Completing and defending satisfactorily a dissertation. 
• Satisfying the requirements of the Graduate School as stated in the Graduate Bulletin.

 12. Students can also opt to complete two doctoral concentrations and/or one doctoral certificate while choosing courses to fulfill the requirements for the degree.

Concentrations

Graduate concentration in medieval and early modern studies.

The  Medieval and Early Modern Studies Concentration  is an interdisciplinary concentration to be earned in conjunction with the individual Ph.D. requirements for the departments of English, History, and Modern Languages and Literatures (Romance Studies, Spanish, and French). Graduate students will continue to be housed in any one of the three departments and must fulfill the requirements of their discipline. To qualify for the Concentration, students must successfully complete a minimum of two courses (6 credit hours) in  medieval and/or early modern studies  in one or both of the other two departments, substituting for courses within their department; and a minimum of two courses (6 credit hours) in  medieval and/or early modern studies  within their home department. Thus, for example, a student whose home department is MLL would need to take two courses in medieval and/or early modern studies in MLL and then  either  two courses in English or History  or  one course in English   and  one course in History.  A list of courses for the academic year is posted regularly on the website of the  Center for the Humanities .

Graduate Concentration in Caribbean Studies

This is an interdisciplinary concentration to be earned in conjunction with the individual Ph.D. requirements for the departments of English, History, and Modern Languages and Literatures. Ph.D. students pursuing the doctoral concentration take a minimum of two Caribbean-focused courses (6 credit hours) within their home department, and a minimum of two Caribbean-focused courses (6 credit hours) outside of their department.

Students pursuing the doctoral concentration in Caribbean Studies must take as part of their required course credit hours a minimum of four Caribbean-focused courses (12 credit hours) as shown below.

A minimum of two courses (6 credits) selected from the following:

• FRE 727: Topics in French Caribbean Cultural Studies
• FRE 775: Topics in Francophone Studies
• MLL 721: Atlantic Crossings: Literature and Immigration in the Age of Globalization
• MLL 727: Topics in Caribbean Cultural Studies
• SPA 727: Topics in Hispanic Caribbean Cultural Studies
• SPA 733: Topics in Colonial Literature
•  SPA 735: Topics in 19th Century Latin American and Caribbean Literature
• SPA 736: Topics in 20th Century Latin American and Caribbean Literature
• ENG 612 The Digital Caribbean
• ENG 658: Studies in Transatlantic Literature
• ENG 665: Studies in African American Literature
• ENG 666: Caribbean Literature
• ENG 667: Caribbean Popular Culture
• ENG 668: Studies in Race and Diasporic Literatures
• ENG 686: Theories of Gender and Sexuality
• ENG 687: Studies in Literature and Culture since 1950
• ENG 688: Studies in Latino/a Literatures and Cultures
• ENG 689: Comparative Americas Studies 
•  ENG 695 Special Topics: Global Black Film
• HIS 602: Africa and the African Diaspora
• HIS 602: Africa in Cuba / Cuba in Africa
• HIS 611: South Asians in the Caribbean and the United States
• HIS 652: Race in Latin America
• HIS 652: Travels through Latin America
• HIS 654: Caribbean Religions: Healing and Power
• HIS 654: Haiti in History
• HIS 654: Caribbean Intellectual History and Social Movements
• HIS 662: Slavery and Capitalism
• HIS 669: Black Protest Thought
• HIS 669: Rethinking African-American Culture
• HIS 669: History of Global Slavery
• HIS 697: Navigating New Worlds
• HIS 708: Slavery in the Atlantic World
• HIS 708: Atlantic Histories
• HIS 716: Caribbean Field Prep 
• HIS 717: Field Preparation in Modern Caribbean History

**Or other courses with advisor’s approval following these guidelines.**

For courses  not listed as fulfilling requirements for the concentration,  the student should reach out to the professor to obtain the following confirmation to get the course approved:

• at least 50% content of the course focuses on the Caribbean region 
• that the student’s papers for the class and/or the final project should focus on Caribbean studies.

Guidelines for one-time approval of a course with less than 50% of Caribbean content:  If you are taking this course to meet the Caribbean Concentration requirements, you will need to supplement the readings for the course in consultation with the departmental Caribbean Concentration representative and your advisor so that it meets the reading requirement of 50% content in Caribbean studies (i.e. the additional readings include at least one Caribbean focused reading for 7 weeks or more of the course).  Your final project will also need to meet the requirement by focusing on a topic in the field of Caribbean Studies.

Certificates

Graduate certificate in digital humanities in the departments of english, history, and modern languages and literatures    .

The Graduate Certificate in the Digital Humanities is an interdisciplinary concentration in Digital Humanities to be earned  in conjunction  with the individual Ph.D. requirements for the Departments of English, History, and Modern Languages and Literatures. The certificate offers students a depth and breadth of knowledge about computational approaches to humanities scholarship; the ability to clearly articulate their own methodological approaches to digital projects they complete; the ability to intervene in and discuss the larger theoretical debates that have shaped and continue to shape digital humanities scholarship; knowledge in multiple digital methods, digital tools, and project management skills that students may employ to answer research questions; and experience working in cross-disciplinary collaborative research teams.

Ph.D. students pursuing the certificate will take a minimum of three DH-focused and/or digital methods courses (9 credit hours). All students pursuing the certificate will be required to take the DH practicum course (MLL 774). Students may fulfill the additional 6 credits required for the certificate by taking two other DH or digital methods courses of their selection, either selected from the current MLL and ENG DH offerings or from those courses outside of the department listed below. The final requirement is the creation and approval of an online portfolio showcasing projects and research utilizing digital humanist methodologies.

http://bulletin.miami.edu/graduate-academic-programs/arts-sciences/modern-languages-literatures/digital-humanities-certificate  

Graduate Certificate in Second Language Acquisition & Teaching Certificate (SLAT)

The SLAT Graduate Certificate is an integrated group of courses designed to acquire expertise and experience in the field of critical studies of language, centering on theories of second language acquisition and bilingualism, empirical research in these areas, and their applications to the teaching of second and heritage languages at the postsecondary level.

Ph.D. students pursuing the certificate will take a minimum of three SLAT- related courses for a total of 9 graded credits. It is required to take MLL 701,  “Intro to Second Language Teaching: Theory and Practice,”  in addition to two other  SLAT-related courses ( for example, MLL  702, MLL 703, MLL 704). Students pursuing this certificate should consult with the SLAT faculty to determine which courses to take. 

https://mll.as.miami.edu/graduate/slat-certificate/index.html

Sample Plan of Study: 5-Year Plan

The Ph.D. in LCLS moves beyond the traditional Spanish/French binary of Romance Studies to bridge those two critical areas of emphasis with one another, as well as with additional areas of expertise offered by our tenured and tenure-track faculty in Arabic, Chinese, Italian, and Luso-Brazilian Studies. Graduate training in MLL prepares students to work as teachers and researchers of literary, linguistic, and cultural studies at universities and four-year colleges, as well as to serve in administrative, advocacy, and leadership positions in a range of educational and cultural institutions.

The Department seeks:

1) to train innovative and productive intellectuals whose work can contribute to the creation of more knowledgeable and just societies;

2) to help students prepare for fruitful and fulfilling careers in scholarship, research, teaching, community service, and related professions; and

3) to guide and support graduating students in the successful pursuit of academic or non-academic employment.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Graduate students should demonstrate a broad, critical understanding of literary and cultural forms, traditions, products, and processes from the geographies and time periods specific to their fields of study.
• Students working as Teaching Assistants will demonstrate the ability to teach innovative, well-crafted, well-received courses in language, literature, and cultural studies at various levels.
• MLL will equip its students as innovative and productive intellectuals, preparing them for fruitful careers in scholarship and research within and/or beyond the academy.

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Literary and cultural studies.

in the Department of English

Literature teaches us to engage with the past and with others. Whether we are looking at sonnets by Shakespeare, Science Fiction short stories, or novels by Chinua Achebe, Virginia Woolf, or Rigoberto Gonzalez, we are moving across imaginative boundaries: into the past or into the literary culture of a different society. The study of literature makes us aware of our own distinctiveness, as well as the uniqueness of these other places and times.

Literary study is a bridge into different imaginative realms; it encourages us to read closely and to read deeply, to lose ourselves in a created world, but then to come back to our current realities with fresh eyes.

Undergraduate Literary and Cultural Studies

Undergraduate students with interests in literature have a variety of opportunities to develop their interests in:

• British Literature
• American Literature
• Ethnic Literatures (including African American, Irish, Chicana(o) American, Asian, Native American, and Jewish American)
• World Literatures (including Canadian, African, Caribbean, and European)
• Film History, Theory, and Criticism
• Literary History
• Literary Criticism and Theory
• Literary Genres (such as poetry, drama, fiction, life-writing, and environmental literature)

Literature students may also pursue a Literary and Cultural Studies concentration .

UNL students who graduate with an English major in literature pursue a variety of career and professional work, including

• Graduate and professional school (including law, graduate study in English, and graduate school in education)
• Advertising
• Publishing and editing

Graduate Literary and Cultural Studies

The Department of English offers formal M.A. and Ph.D. specializations Literary and Cultural Studies. Graduate students who wish to pursue Literary and Cultural Studies have opportunities to work closely with faculty and design individualized programs of study. Graduate Faculty members in Literary and Cultural Studies work on varied scholarly projects, share a commitment to the analysis of literature within larger cultural, social and political contexts, and utilize a wide range of critical methodologies, such as textual recovery, archival work, digital scholarship, and theoretical analyses.

Graduate Specialization

Literary and Cultural Studies Faculty

Willa Cather Professor of English and Film Studies and Department Chair Courtesy Professor in Department of Communication Studies

Stephen Behrendt

George Holmes Distinguished Professor of English

Caterina Bernardini

Trevor Bleick

James Lowell Brunton

Assistant Professor of Practice and Coordinator of Film Studies

Stephen Buhler

Aaron Douglas Professor of English

Peter J. Capuano

Associate Professor of English, Director of Literary and Cultural Studies

Willa Cather Professor of English and Ethnic Studies Director of Institute for Ethnic Studies

Professor of English, Co-Director of the Walt Whitman Archive, Co-Director of the Charles W. Chesnutt Archive, and Affiliate Faculty in Native American Studies

Timothy J. Cook

Literary and cultural studies, modernist poetry, and epic poetry

Kwame Dawes

George Holmes Distinguished Professor of English and Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner

Andrew Del Mastro

Kwakiutl Dreher

Associate Professor of English and Film Studies

Amanda Gailey

Associate Professor of English

Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies Associate Director of Ethnic Studies

Chris Harding Thornton

Arden Eli Hill

Creative writing (poetry) and women's and gender studies

Melissa J. Homestead

Professor of English and Director of the Cather Project

Kathleen Lacey

Academic Advisor

Kevin McMullen

Research Assistant Professor of English

Director of the Center for Transformative Teaching Courtesy Professor of English

Elva Moreno Del Rio

Ng’ang’a Wahu-Mũchiri

Assistant Professor of English

Gabrielle Owen

Michael Page

Assistant Professor of Practice and Coordinator of Curriculum

Kenneth M. Price

Hillegass University Professor of American Literature, Co-Director of the Walt Whitman Archive, and Co-Director of the Charles W. Chesnutt Archive

Stephen Ramsay

Guy Reynolds

Professor of English

Gregory E. Rutledge

(그레고리 유진 러틀레지) Associate Professor of English and Ethnic Studies

Julia Schleck

Associate Professor of English and Vice Chair

Elizabeth Spiller

Kelly Stage

Associate Professor of English and Director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program

Pascha Sotolongo Stevenson

Assistant Professor of Practice

Laura White

John E. Weaver Professor of English and Chair of the Undergraduate Program and Curriculum Committee

Adrian S. Wisnicki

Associate Professor of English and Digital Humanities Program Coordinator

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Research degrees (mphil/phd) cultural, literary and postcolonial studies.

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Key information

Home student fees (full-time) : £4,860 per year Home student fees (part-time) : £2,430 per year Overseas student fees (full-time) : £22,490 per year Overseas student fees (part-time) : £11,245 per year

Please note that fees go up each year.   See  research fees  for further details.

We normally require a 2.1 bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) plus a Masters degree in appropriate subject area plus one reference. In exceptional cases we may accept applicants who do not meet these criteria if they show evidence of a strong Masters degree and/or appropriate level of relevant work experience. International applicants should also see  Doctoral School English language requirements

Course overview

The SOAS Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies (CCLPS) welcomes applications from MPhil/PhD students wishing to undertake research in the disciplines of Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Studies.

The Centre has developed its own MPhil training programme which will enable research students to be registered in the Centre rather than in specific regional Departments or those of other disciplines. The Centre places its emphasis on the acquisition of critical theoretical skills and in-depth regional, linguistic and cultural knowledge with specific reference to Asia, Africa and the Middle East, but also to literatures written in European languages.

Prospective research students will have the unique opportunity to work on an exceptionally wide range of topics, theoretical and critical, supervised according to the expertise of a wide range of academic staff across the Faculty and SOAS.

A research degree in Comparative Literature (Asia/Africa/the Near and Middle East), Cultural Studies (Asia/Africa/The Middle East) or Postcolonial Studies (Asia/Africa/The Near and Middle East) normally takes three years, or up to a maximum of four years should periods of fieldwork/research and material collection be required. Part-time registration is also possible.

Why Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies at SOAS?

• SOAS is specialist in the studies of Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and South East Asia
• SOAS is ranked 1st in London in the Complete University Guide 2021 for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and 6th in the UK
• Ranked 8th in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2021 for South Asian Studies

In the first year, students prepare for research by following an MPhil training programme convened by the Chair of the Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies. Students will also be strongly encouraged to attend the core theory courses in the three disciplines, the other elements being agreed between the student, the Research Tutor (a member of the CCLPS Steering Committee) and the supervisor(s). Optional elements may consist of specialist disciplinary, language or regional culture courses, attendance of which can be agreed between the student and the supervisory committee.

MPhil students are required to attend the CCLPS Weekly Research Training Seminar and a generic research methods course offered within the Faculty of Languages and Cultures, convened by the Associate Dean for Research. The generic research methods training includes courses offered by the Academic Development Directorate (ADD) and the SOAS Library .

Doctoral School website also offers information on research training across London higher education institutions.

MPhil/PhD students are in addition expected to attend regularly the Centre’s seminar series, lectures, conferences and the CCLPS Postgraduate Annual Conference which started in June 2012 and is annually organised by the CCLPS PhD community. All details of CCLPS events will be available on the CCLPS pages . Third and Final Year CCLPS PhD students are asked to present their research projects in the CCLPS seminars and lecture series as that constitute an important element of their professional training.

Upgrade procedure

MPhil students submit an upgrade chapter (of about 10,000-12,000 words excluding bibliography), typically including the following elements:

• research rationale and context of proposed research
• literature review
• main research questions
• theoretical and methodological framework & considerations
• proposed research methods
• rthical issues (where applicable)
• outlining structure of PhD dissertation
• schedule of research and writing
• bibliography

Adjustments to one or more of these sections, including additions or deletions where appropriate, are possible by prior arrangement between the students and lead supervisors.

This upgrade proposal is assessed by the student’s research committee, based on a 20-30 minute oral presentation, followed by a discussion, also open to other staff and student members of the Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies. On successful completion of the upgrade chapter, students are formally upgraded to PhD and proceed to the second year. (If the assessors consider there to be shortcomings in the upgrade proposal, students will be asked to revise it to their satisfaction before the upgrade to PhD status can be confirmed.) Students are not normally permitted to proceed to the second year until the upgrade process has been completed.

Students studying part-time take the MPhil training seminar in the first year and write the upgrade paper in the second year. The length of time for field or research and material collection, and writing up, is adjusted accordingly.

Degrees are awarded by SOAS University of London and are subject to SOAS University of London regulations.

CCLPS weekly research training seminar

In addition to generic methods training, MPhil/PhD students in the CCLPS are required to attend a weekly Research Training Seminar in the disciplines of Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Studies as well as in interdisciplinary methods and methodologies in term one and two. The aim of the training programme is to provide a thorough grounding in theory, methods, regional, cultural, linguistic and any special disciplinary expertise that may be required for the research.

The focus of the CCLPS MPhil/PhD Research Training Seminar will be on the disciplines of Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Studies, and in relation to the literary, critical and cultural practices of Asian and African traditions. The programme of training will also be supported by regular CCLPS Lecture and seminar series, conferences and workshops and the CCLPS Annual Postgraduate Conference.

CCLPS training sessions

The CCLPS training sessions are designed to offer:

• analysis of and a grounding in theoretical premises and critical paradigms underlying the three disciplines and their intertwined trajectories and interdisciplinarity
• a critical exploration of European and non-European critical traditions
• a critical grounding in the crossing of Humanities and Social Sciences critical methods and methodologies
• practical analytic exercises and selective in-depth analysis of certain texts as well as cultural phenomena and institutions, particularly in relation to the field of Cultural Studies
• modes of engagement with critical scholarship and ways of constructing theoretical frames
• a critical grounding in the new theories on ‘World Literature'
• critical contexts in which students are able to identify and pursue figures, schools, theories they deem relevant to their work - the training sessions are not designed to offer general surveys
• exercises in the application of certain analytic tools and critical methods, particularly in relation to adopting a comparative method of study, a postcolonial approach to research and cultural studies strategic interdisciplinarity
• training in fieldwork and collection and analysis of data
• training in methods used for media and film studies
• training in practices of reading the corpus of the thesis or its primary material
• training in presentation, dissemination, communication of research and ways of using feedback on one’s project as students are asked to present on their 'literature review' in term 1 and on 'ways of reading their corpus' in terms 2
• the CCLPS Research Training Seminar also offers the opportunity for first year students to meet and greet their senior CCLPS PhD students and exchange views and  experiences of the CCLPS postgraduate community.

The CCLPS weekly Research Training Seminar aims at grounding our new MPhil/PhD students in various theory and practice based methodology so that the agency of non-European traditions may be identified and exercised, strengthened by the unique range of research activities and regional expertise offered at SOAS. This is also the envisioned path through which students may be able not only to place their work in a discipline, but also to plan future contributions in this discipline, while expanding the spheres of their respective fields.

Important notice

The information on the website reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. The modules are indicative options of the content students can expect and are/have been previously taught as part of these programmes. However, this information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.

Teaching and learning

Research will be guided throughout by a research committee of three core CCLPS members, consisting of one primary supervisor (core CCLPS Faculty of Languages and Cultures member) and two supporting supervisors in an advisory capacity (CCLPS core or SOAS members). Depending on the nature of the research joint supervision is sometimes recommended, under the direction of two supervisors.

SOAS Library

SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.

Scholarships

Fees and funding, fees for 2023/24 entrants per academic year.

Please note that fees go up each year.

• See  research fees  for further details.

Graduates of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics leave SOAS not only with linguistic and cultural expertise, but also with skills in written and oral communication, analysis and problem solving.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

• Africa Matters
• Amnesty International
• Arab British Chamber of Commerce
• BBC World Service
• British High Commission
• Council for British Research in the Levant
• Department for International Development
• Embassy of Jordan
• Ernst & Young
• Foreign & Commonwealth Office
• Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
• Middle East Eye
• Saïd Foundation
• TalkAbout Speech Therapy
• The Black Curriculum
• The Telegraph
• United Nations Development Programme
• UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
• Wall Street Journal

Find out about our  Careers Service

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English (Literature), PHD

On this page:.

At a Glance: program details

• Location: Tempe campus
• Second Language Requirement: No

Program Description

Degree Awarded: PHD English (Literature)

The PhD program in English with a concentration in literature trains students in various methodologies, pedagogies and areas of inquiry that constitute literary and cultural studies.

With a diverse and distinguished faculty, the program offers opportunities for specialization in traditional areas of literary criticism, cultural analysis and theory, as well as various fields of interdisciplinary study.

A doctorate in literature equips students with a range of highly sought-after skills and competencies: research and analysis of complex material, communication in written and oral modes, collaboration, independence and self-motivation, creativity and adaptability.

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. With these resources and a strong mentorship program at their fingertips, our graduates are prepared for a wide array of professional opportunities including careers in college teaching, research, writing, editing, higher education, and humanities-related organizations.

Lee Bebout ,  Director  

Sheila Luna , Program Manager

Faculty in Literature

Doctoral Examinations

Doctoral Procedures and Timeline

Teaching Assistantships

Degree Requirements

84 credit hours, a foreign language exam, a written comprehensive exam, an oral comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation

A student with an appropriate master's degree must complete a minimum of 54 credit hours of approved graduate work, which includes 12 credit hours of dissertation, provided the student's master's degree is accepted by the supervisory committee and the academic unit. Research hours may be used toward coursework in consultation with the advisor.

A student without an appropriate master's degree must complete 84 credit hours of work at ASU. At the advisor's discretion, students may include up to 12 credit hours of appropriate, graduate-level coursework undertaken at another university and not previously counted toward any other degree.

Specifically required are six credit hours in theory courses and ENG 501 Approaches to Research. Students must complete eight graduate courses in any of the following categories:

• cultural studies
• ethnic studies
• gender studies
• history and structure of the English language
• literature 1500--1660
• literature 1660--1900
• literature since 1900
• literature to 1500
• postcolonial or anglophone literatures

Students must take at least five graduate seminars at the 600 level en route to the doctorate, at least three of which must be taken in the doctoral program. Up to 12 credit hours taken outside the department may be counted toward the degree. Students should consult with their supervisory committees when choosing electives.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree from a regionally accredited institution.

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.

All applicants must submit:

• graduate admission application and application fee
• official transcripts
• statement of purpose
• resume or curriculum vitae
• three letters of recommendation
• academic writing sample relevant to the field
• proof of English proficiency

Additional Application Information An applicant whose native language is not English and has not graduated from an institution of higher learning in the United States must provide proof of English proficiency, regardless of current residency. Applicants can find more information about English proficiency requirements on the school website . Please note that official scores must be sent to ASU in order for the application to be processed.

The well-considered, one- to two-page, single-spaced statement of purpose should explain the applicant's scholarly background and training, career goals, proposed research specialization, any secondary field of interest and why the applicant wishes to pursue a PhD in English (Literature) at Arizona State University. Applicants applying for funding must also submit a statement of teaching philosophy.

Courses and Electives

Approaches to Research (3 credits / one class) :  Students must take the core class ENG 501 Approaches to Research.

Theory (6 credits / two courses): Appropriate courses for filling this requirement must be in the area of the history of criticism, literary theory, rhetorical theory, linguistic theory or cultural theory. Examples of courses which meet this requirement, if the specific topic is appropriate, include the following: ENG 502, 503, 504, 550, 551, 552, 554, 556, 602, 604, 651, LIN 510, 516, 517; however, an equivalent or more advanced course in linguistic, rhetorical or literary theory would also be acceptable.

Additional Required Courses (24 credits / 8 classes): Students must complete eight graduate courses in any of the following categories: cultural studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, genre, history and structure of the English language, literature to 1500, literature 1500-1660, literature 1660-1900, literature since 1900, postcolonial or anglophone literatures.

A minimum of five courses counted toward the PhD, which may include those listed above, must be taken at the 600-level (three of which must be taken in the doctoral program at ASU). Students wishing to take courses outside of the department may count up to 12 credit hours toward the degree. These courses may also fulfill some of the above degree requirements. Students should consult with an advisor or their committee chair when choosing electives.

Other Requirements

Language Requirement : PhD students must demonstrate evidence of a competent knowledge of a natural language other than modern English, to be selected by the student, subject to the approval of the chair of the dissertation committee. The language requirement must be completed before the student is eligible to take the doctoral exams. This requirement may be met by

• Earning a “B” (3.00) or higher in a 400- or 500-level course in an appropriate (approved) language.
• Demonstrating comparable proficiency by taking a language examination, administered by the School of International Letters and Cultures, in a language approved by the student’s supervisory committee.
• Demonstrating native-speaker proficiency, as determined by the School of International Letters and Cultures, in a language approved by the student’s supervisory committee.
• Earning a “B” (3.00) or higher in both ENG 530 Old English and ENG 531 Old English Literature or their equivalent.
• Holding a bachelor’s degree in an approved foreign language.
• Having fulfilled a foreign language requirement towards a previously awarded master’s degree that has been completed within five years of the semester for which the student has been admitted to the doctoral program. This foreign language must be in a language approved by the student’s doctoral supervisory committee.
• For languages which the School of International Letters and Cultures does not offer or does not offer above the 200 level, two years (4 semesters) of successfully completed college level coursework at least at the 100 and 200 level with a C or better would fulfill the requirement. The coursework must have been successfully completed no more than six years prior to admission to the degree program.

PhD Examinations :  Essay, oral exam, colloquy on the dissertation prospectus.

Dissertation : Students must take 12 credit hours of ENG 799.

Miscellaneous : Students may take research (ENG 792) for the purpose of working independently in preparation for the doctoral examination. This is an alternative to be elected by the student at the discretion and with the approval of the advisor and supervisory committee and can count towards course work. Satisfactory completion of ENG 792 is indicated by the grade of "Y." Individual interim segments of ENG 792 will be graded "Z" (course in progress), and changed to "Y" (successful completion) after the dissertation defense. No conventional letter grades are awarded for ENG 792 or 799.

The Graduate College also requires that students be enrolled every semester, excluding summer sessions, until they have completed all requirements for the degree. Continuous enrollment may be satisfied by registration for one hour of ENG 799, or, in cases where dissertation or other credit hours are not needed, Continuous Registration (ENG 595 or 795). If students wish to interrupt their programs of study for one or more semesters, they may apply for a leave of absence, not to exceed one year. Failure to enroll or obtain leave status for the semesters in which they are not enrolled will result in dismissal from the program.

Doctoral Supervisory Committee

The doctoral supervisory committee consists of a minimum of three members from the  graduate faculty  selected at the time the student files a program of study. In consultation with the director of the Ph.D. program, the student will select the committee chair, who also serves as the student's advisor. Once a graduate faculty member has agreed to serve as the student's chair, the student and chair will then consult before recommending two other members to the director of the doctoral program. Ideally another member of the supervisory committee in addition to the chair should be in the area of specialization. It is the responsibility of each student to form a supervisory committee very early in the program so that the chair and members of the committee may be involved in shaping the course of study, for example, in determining such matters as the choice of foreign language(s) and in specifying courses that will be required for the student's particular area of concentration.

Important Notice to Current International Students

In order for international students to maintain good standing for their VISAs, they must take a minimum of 9 credit hours per semester (i.e., 3 classes), 6 credits (2 classes) should be face-to-face classes.

Next Steps to attend ASU

Learn about our programs, apply to a program, visit our campus, application deadlines, learning outcomes.

• Identify and evaluate various disciplinary arguments, trends, traditions and debates within the knowledge community of literary and cultural studies scholars.
• Demonstrate the ability to produce written work of publishable quality.
• Demonstrate research skills necessary to bring a project of literary or cultural analysis to fruition, including the ability to evaluate disciplinary debates and developments; and the ability to produce research on historical and cultural meanings of texts and related cultural productions.

Career Opportunities

Graduates are prepared for careers in higher education and other fields that value this expertise. Sectors employing high numbers of arts and humanities graduates include information and communication, financial and insurance, public administration and defense, arts and entertainment, and education.

Career examples include:

• art director
• criminal investigator or special agent
• intelligence analyst
• market research analyst
• museum curator, educator or exhibit designer
• political analyst
• public relations specialist or manager
• technical writer

Global Opportunities

Global experience.

With over 250 programs in more than 65 countries (ranging from one week to one year), study abroad is possible for all ASU students wishing to gain global skills and knowledge in preparation for a 21st-century career. Students earn ASU credit for completed courses, while staying on track for graduation, and may apply financial aid and scholarships toward program costs. https://mystudyabroad.asu.edu

Program Contact Information

If you have questions related to admission, please click here to request information and an admission specialist will reach out to you directly. For questions regarding faculty or courses, please use the contact information below.

• [email protected]
• 480/965-3194

PhD Program in English Language and Literature

The department enrolls an average of ten PhD students each year. Our small size allows us to offer a generous financial support package. We also offer a large and diverse graduate faculty with competence in a wide range of literary, theoretical and cultural fields. Each student chooses a special committee that works closely along side the student to design a course of study within the very broad framework established by the department. The program is extremely flexible in regard to course selection, the design of examinations and the election of minor subjects of concentration outside the department. English PhD students pursuing interdisciplinary research may include on their special committees faculty members from related fields such as comparative literature, medieval studies, Romance studies, German studies, history, classics, women’s studies, linguistics, theatre and performing arts, government, philosophy, and film and video studies.

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 familiarity with:

• The authors and works that have been the most influential in determining the course of English, American, and related literatures
• The theory and criticism of literature, and the relations between literature and other disciplines
• Concerns and tools of literary and cultural history such as textual criticism, study of genre, source, and influence as well as wider issues of cultural production and historical and social contexts that bear on literature

Areas in which students may have major or minor concentrations include African-American literature, American literature to 1865, American literature after 1865, American studies (a joint program with the field of history), colonial and postcolonial literatures, cultural studies, dramatic literature, English poetry, the English Renaissance to 1660, lesbian, bisexual and gay literary studies, literary criticism and theory, the nineteenth century, Old and Middle English, prose fiction, the Restoration and the eighteenth century, the twentieth century, and women's literature.

By the time a doctoral candidate enters the fourth semester of graduate study, the special committee must decide whether he or she is qualified to proceed toward the PhD. Students are required to pass their Advancement to Candidacy Examination before their fourth year of study, prior to the dissertation.

PhD Program specifics can be viewed here: PhD Timeline PhD Procedural Guide

Special Committee

Every graduate student selects a special committee of faculty advisors who work intensively with the student in selecting courses and preparing and revising the dissertation. The committee is comprised of at least three Cornell faculty members: a chair, and typically two minor members usually from the English department, but very often representing an interdisciplinary field. The university system of special committees allows students to design their own courses of study within a broad framework established by the department, and it encourages a close working relationship between professors and students, promoting freedom and flexibility in the pursuit of the graduate degree. The special committee for each student guides and supervises all academic work and assesses progress in a series of meetings with the students.

At Cornell, teaching is considered an integral part of training in academia. The field requires a carefully supervised teaching experience of at least one year for every doctoral candidate as part of the program requirements. The Department of English, in conjunction with the  John S. Knight Institute for Writing  in the Disciplines, offers excellent training for beginning teachers and varied and interesting teaching in the university-wide First-Year Writing Program. The courses are writing-intensive and may fall under such general rubrics as “Portraits of the Self,” “American Literature and Culture,” “Shakespeare,” and “Cultural Studies,” among others. A graduate student may also serve as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate lecture course taught by a member of the Department of English faculty.

Language Requirements

Each student and special committee will decide what work in foreign language is most appropriate for a student’s graduate program and scholarly interests. Some students’ doctoral programs require extensive knowledge of a single foreign language and literature; others require reading ability in two or more foreign languages. A student may be asked to demonstrate competence in foreign languages by presenting the undergraduate record, taking additional courses in foreign languages and literature, or translating and discussing documents related to the student’s work. Students are also normally expected to provide evidence of having studied the English language through courses in Old English, the history of the English language, grammatical analysis or the application of linguistic study to metrics or to literary criticism. Several departments at Cornell offer pertinent courses in such subjects as descriptive linguistics, psycholinguistics and the philosophy of language.

All PhD degree candidates are guaranteed five years of funding (including a stipend , a full tuition fellowship and student health insurance):

• A first-year non-teaching fellowship
• Two years of teaching assistantships
• A fourth-year non-teaching fellowship for the dissertation writing year
• A fifth-year teaching assistantship
• Summer support for four years, including a first-year summer teaching assistantship, linked to a teachers’ training program at the Knight Institute. Summer residency in Ithaca is required.

Students have also successfully competed for Buttrick-Crippen Fellowship, Society for the Humanities Fellowships, American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), Shin Yong-Jin Graduate Fellowships, Provost’s Diversity Fellowships, fellowships in recognition of excellence in teaching, and grants from the Graduate School to help with the cost of travel to scholarly conferences and research collections.

Admission & Application Procedures

The application for Fall 2024 admission will open on September 15, 2023 and close at 11:59pm EST on December 1, 2023.

Our application process reflects the field’s commitment to considering the whole person and their potential to contribute to our scholarly community.  Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of academic preparation (e.g., performance in relevant courses, completion of substantive, independent research project). An applicant’s critical and creative potential will be considered: applicants should demonstrate interest in extensive research and writing and include a writing sample that reveals a capacity to argue persuasively, demonstrate the ability to synthesize a broad range of materials, as well as offer fresh insights into a problem or text. The committee will also consider whether an applicant demonstrates a commitment to inclusion, equity, and diversity and offers a substantive explanation for why study at Cornell is especially compelling (e.g., a discussion of faculty research and foci). Admissions committees will consider the entire application carefully, including statements and critical writing, as well as transcripts, letters of recommendation, and a resume/cv (if provided). Please view the requirements and procedures listed below, if you are interested in being considered for our PhD in English Language and Literature program.

Eligibility: Applicants must currently have, or expect to have, at least a BA or BS (or the equivalent) in any field before matriculation. International students, please verify degree equivalency here . Applicants are not required to meet a specified GPA minimum.

To Apply: All applications and supplemental materials must be submitted online through the Graduate School application system . While completing your application, you may save and edit your data. Once you click submit, your application will be closed for changes. Please proofread your materials carefully. Once you pay and click submit, you will not be able to make any changes or revisions.

Deadline: December 1st, 11:59pm EST.  This deadline is firm. No applications, additional materials, or revisions will be accepted after the deadline.

PhD Program Application Requirements Checklist

• Academic Statement of Purpose Please describe (within 1000 words) in detail the substantive research questions you are interested in pursuing during your graduate studies and why they are significant. Additionally, make sure to include information about any training or research experience that you believe has prepared you for our program. You should also identify specific faculty members whose research interests align with your own specific questions.  Note that the identification of faculty is important; you would be well advised to read selected faculty’s recent scholarship so that you can explain why you wish to study with them. Do not rely on the courses they teach.  Please refrain from contacting individual faculty prior to receiving an offer of admission.
• Personal Statement Please describe (within 1000 words) how your personal background and experiences influenced your decision to pursue a graduate degree and the research you wish to conduct.  Explain, for example the meaning and purpose of the PhD in the context of your personal history and future aspirations.  Please note that we will pay additional attention to candidates who identify substantial reasons to obtain a PhD beyond the pursuit of an academic position. Additionally, provide insight into your potential to contribute to a community of inclusion, belonging, and respect where scholars representing diverse backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn (productively and positively) together.
• Critical Writing Sample Your academic writing sample must be between 3,000 and 7,500 words (12-30 pages), typed and double-spaced. We accept excerpts from longer works, or a combination of shorter works.
• Three Letters of Recommendation We require 3 letters of recommendation.  At the time of application, you will be allowed to enter up to 4 recommenders in the system.  Your application will be considered “Complete” when we have received at least 3 letters of recommendation.   Letters of recommendation are due December 1 . Please select three people who best know you and your work. Submitting additional letters will not enhance your application. In the recommendation section of the application, you must include the email address of each recommender. After you save the information (and before you pay/submit), the application system will automatically generate a recommendation request email to your recommender with instructions for submitting the letter electronically. If your letters are stored with a credential service such as Interfolio, please use their Online Application Delivery feature and input the email address assigned to your stored document, rather than that of your recommender’s. The electronic files will be attached to your application when they are received and will not require the letter of recommendation cover page.
• Transcripts Scan transcripts from each institution you have attended, or are currently attending, and upload into the academic information section of the application. Be sure to remove your social security number from all documents prior to scanning. Please do not send paper copies of your transcripts. If you are subsequently admitted and accept, the Graduate School will require an official paper transcript from your degree-awarding institution prior to matriculation.
• English Language Proficiency Requirement All applicants must provide proof of English language proficiency. For more information, please view the  Graduate School’s English Language Requirement .
• GRE General Test and GRE Subject Test are NO LONGER REQUIRED, effective starting with the 2019 application In March 2019, the faculty of English voted overwhelmingly to eliminate all GRE requirements (both general and subject test) for application to the PhD program in English. GRE scores are not good predictors of success or failure in a PhD program in English, and the uncertain predictive value of the GRE exam is far outweighed by the toll it takes on student diversity. For many applicants the cost of preparing for and taking the exam is prohibitively expensive, and the exam is not globally accessible. Requiring the exam narrows our applicant pool at precisely the moment we should be creating bigger pipelines into higher education. We need the strength of a diverse community in order to pursue the English Department’s larger mission: to direct the force of language toward large and small acts of learning, alliance, imagination, and justice.

General Information for All Applicants

Application Fee: Visit the Graduate School for information regarding application fees, payment options, and fee waivers .

Document Identification: Please do not put your social security number on any documents.

Status Inquiries:  Once you submit your application, you will receive a confirmation email. You will also be able to check the completion status of your application in your account. If vital sections of your application are missing, we will notify you via email after the Dec. 1 deadline and allow you ample time to provide the missing materials. Please do not inquire about the status of your application.

Credential/Application Assessments:  The Admission Review Committee members are unable to review application materials or applicant credentials prior to official application submission. Once the committee has reviewed applications and made admissions decisions, they will not discuss the results or make any recommendations for improving the strength of an applicant’s credentials. Applicants looking for feedback are advised to consult with their undergraduate advisor or someone else who knows them and their work.

Review Process:  Application review begins after the submission deadline. Notification of admissions decisions will be made by email by the end of February.

Connecting with Faculty and/or Students: Unfortunately, due to the volume of inquiries we receive, faculty and current students are not available to correspond with potential applicants prior to an offer of admission. Applicants who are offered admission will have the opportunity to meet faculty and students to have their questions answered prior to accepting. Staff and faculty are also not able to pre-assess potential applicant’s work outside of the formal application process. Please email [email protected] instead, if you have questions.

Visiting: The department does not offer pre-admission visits or interviews. Admitted applicants will be invited to visit the department, attend graduate seminars and meet with faculty and students before making the decision to enroll.

Transfer Credits:  Students matriculating with an MA degree may, at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies, receive credit for up to two courses once they begin our program.

For Further Information

Contact [email protected]

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International PhD Programme Literary and Cultural Studies

IPP Application Form - Deadline: February 1, 2024 (Applications Closed)

The IPP offers a clearly structured and research-oriented three-year doctoral programme of high academic standards. Its curriculum, comprised of both academic and practical course offerings, is tailored to suit the needs of doctoral researchers. Participating departments include English and American Studies, German Studies, Romance Studies, Slavic Studies, Comparative Literary Studies and Theatre Studies. The languages of instruction are English and German.

Set in an intellectually stimulating and international context, the IPP provides ample opportunities for developing an academic profile and acquiring transferrable skills in close cooperation with the GGK/GCSC’s Career Services and Teaching Centre. Extensive supervision and mentoring structures for German and international doctoral researchers will ensure that your time in the IPP is well spent!

The programme:

offers an international curriculum that integrates doctoral researchers into national and international academic communities.

acquaints doctoral researchers with state-of-the-art theories, methodologies, approaches and concepts in the fields of literary and cultural studies.

improves the quality of the dissertation while reducing the time needed to obtain the degree.

encourages independent research from an early stage on (e.g. through international publications and conferences).

provides ample opportunities to acquire academic and practical qualifications, such as systematic training in academic teaching, as well as other practical and professional skills, in cooperation with the GCSC, Teaching Centre and GGK/GCSC Career Services.

Research profile:

In the thriving field of literary and cultural studies, the IPP is deeply committed to cutting-edge research in four key areas that illustrate the diversity of contemporary perspectives on and developments in the study of culture.

• Literary and Cultural Theory, Models, Methodology and Terminology This area includes basic research in literary and cultural studies such as approaches in poetics, aesthetics, semiotics, discourse analysis, and hermeneutics, as well as in gender studies, postcolonial theory and narratology. Furthermore, key terms, theories, interpretive models and methodology are discussed here.

This area encompasses not only recent theories in literary genres and their demarcation but also cognitive, feminist and postcolonial approaches in narratology.

Literary and Cultural Historiography

This area foregrounds diachronic perspectives in literary and cultural studies. It discusses and challenges categorisations and periodisation in literary and cultural historiography, as well as re-conceptualises selection criteria for canonisation processes.

Comparative and Interdisciplinary Issues

This area revolves around comparative issues with special reference to memory studies. It also includes intermediality (such as the relationship between image and text or text and theatre stage). It is enhanced by key topics from literary and cultural studies such as identity and transculturality.

Do you want to know more about our research profile? Take a look at the research projects of our current doctoral researchers !

IPP Curriculum:

An integral part of the IPP curriculum is the doctoral colloquium. Each year group meets for three or four times per semester for presentations and discussions of their work in progress. Each member of the IPP presents once a semester and receives feedback from the professors, the IPP coordinator, and her/his fellow colleagues.

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The Ph.D. in Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies offers two major concentrations: 1) Literary and Cultural Studies and 2) Critical Studies of Language/Linguistics. Students in each concentration may opt to develop a secondary field of expertise in the other. The program is designed primarily to prepare students for careers as university professors and research scholars. Students develop advanced language, teaching, and research skills that lend themselves to other professions, as well. A variety of geographic, temporal, and theoretical concentrations allow students to carry out innovative and interdisciplinary research projects, often with a transnational focus. 

Mission 

The Ph.D. in LCLS moves beyond the traditional Spanish/French binary of Romance Studies to bridge those two critical areas of emphasis with one another, as well as with additional areas of expertise offered by our tenured and tenure-track faculty in Arabic, Chinese, Italian, and Luso-Brazilian Studies. Graduate training in MLL prepares students to work as teachers and researchers of literary, linguistic, and cultural studies at universities and four-year colleges, as well as to serve in administrative, advocacy, and leadership positions in a range of educational and cultural institutions.

The Department seeks: 1) to train innovative and productive intellectuals whose work can contribute to the creation of more knowledgeable and just societies; 2) to help students prepare for fruitful and fulfilling careers in scholarship, research, teaching, community service, and related professions; and 3) to guide and support graduating students in the successful pursuit of academic or non-academic employment.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Graduate students should demonstrate a broad, critical understanding of literary and cultural forms, traditions, products, and processes from the geographies and time periods specific to their fields of study.
• Students working as Teaching Assistants will demonstrate the ability to teach innovative, well-crafted, well-received courses in language, literature, and cultural studies at various levels.
• MLL will equip its students as innovative and productive intellectuals, preparing them for fruitful careers in scholarship and research within and/or beyond the academy.

Guide to PhD Program

Students are expected to complete their degrees on time and with sound scholarly achievement. Every student is reviewed annually to evaluate progress toward the degree. While personal matters may understandably cause delay, lack of timely progress may result in non-renewal of the teaching assistantship and/or dismissal from the program. Some elements of the plans outlined below are suggestions (e.g. the timing for fulfilling the language requirement) while others define expected progress (e.g. the timing of exams). While most students are expected to complete the degree in five years, those entering with an M.A. may petition during their first semester to follow the accelerated 4-year plan of progress. If approved, this choice is irrevocable for funding purposes. 

• When you enter the program you will be assigned a faculty advisor whose research interests align with yours. Your advisor’s role is to assist you in choosing courses, meeting faculty relevant to your interests, deciding how to fulfill the language requirement, requesting course waivers and transfer credits, deciding whether to petition for a 4-year plan, and choosing the Breadth Exam areas and committee.
• While you’re taking courses you will meet with your advisor at least once per semester to discuss your plan of study; selections should be communicated to the DGS and the Graduate Program Administrative Assistant. First-year advisors typically chair the Breadth Exam and facilitate your exam organization.
• After passing the Breadth Exam you will select a Qualifying Exam chair and committee in consultation with your advisor. Your Qualifying Exam chair then becomes your advisor. It is fine to change advisors and committees as you move from one stage to another, as the Breadth Exam committee, Qualifying Exam committee, and Dissertation committee all serve different functions. It is also fine to work with the same professors throughout the process. Should you wish to change advisors in the middle of a stage, you must obtain approval from the DGS and your new advisor.
• Each Spring the DGS and your advisor will review your progress and help you plan for the following year. The review concerns the quality of academic and teaching performance and extra-curricular professional development, based on: 1)grades and written reports from the professor of each course taken in the previous two semesters; 2) a report from your current exam ordissertation committee; and 3) your teaching, lab, and/or tutoring supervisors. Lack of acceptable progress will be documented and communicated to student when necessary.
• Throughout the program , you should consult with your advisors and the DGS about degree requirements, progress toward the degree, and any other general program questions. You hold the ultimate responsibility for understanding and fulfilling all program requirements.
• In your first and second years , you should work towards fulfilling requirements, which are designed to provide a solid grounding in critical theory and breadth of knowledge in your field. It is expected that students will take the courses offered in their major research languages (FRE/SPA/POR/MLL), which will change every semester depending on the rotation among faculty.
• In your second and third years , you should continue to develop your knowledge in literary, cultural, and linguistic studies while exploring topics of particular interest. You should begin coursework in a relevant cognate field (e.g. History, Philosophy, Communications, etc.) to fulfill your Cognate requirement and prepare for the Qualifying Exam.
• “Independent Studies” : Students must submit a petition to take a Directed Reading (Independent Study) for approval by the DGS and the GSC. A syllabus must be submitted with the petition. In general, a student may take one or two Independent Studies at most throughout their career.
• Your course grades must reflect an overall grade point average of at least 3.3. Grades of B are cause for concern. If you receive such a grade, you should consult with your professor, faculty advisor, and/or the DGS. B- is the lowest passing grade.
• Incompletes . Courses should be completed before the end of the semester in which they are taken. Incompletes are discouraged, as no student is eligible to sit for any graduate exam or defense with an unresolved incomplete. On the rare occasion that a faculty member accords a student an Incomplete, the completed work should be submitted for grading no later than January 15th for Fall courses, or June 1st for Spring courses. The GSC generally considers work not completed within one semester as evidence of unsatisfactory progress, which may jeopardize future appointments to a teaching assistantship.
• The language requirement may be completed during the semester of the Qualifying Exam. All other requirements, including coursework (with the exception of MLL 799) must be completed before the semester in which you take your Qualifying Exam . No student will take the Breadth or Qualifying Exam if he or she carries incompletes .
• Students entering the program with previous graduate course work (M.A. degree or otherwise) can petition for two course requirements to be waived. Requests must be made during the first semester of study and accompanied by documentation that demonstrates that the coursework is equivalent to that offered in the program. In consultation with an MLL faculty expert in the relevant area of study, the GSC evaluates all waiver requests.
• Students with graduate credits that have not been applied toward an M.A. degree can request to have up to 6 credits transferred. Credits that have counted toward another degree cannot be transferred; credits more than 6 years old cannot be transferred. Requests must be made no later than the second semester of study. The GSC evaluates all transfer requests.
• The Latin requirement can be fulfilled by satisfactory work in LAT 725 or by following the LAT 101-102 sequence. Students who have taken university-level Latin within the last four years can request to have the requirement filled by equivalency. Requests must be made during the first semester. The GSC evaluates all equivalency requests.
• The language requirement can be met by demonstrating reading knowledge of two languages other than English and the language of study. Reading competency exams are given each semester. No student will be permitted to take more than one reading competency exam in a single semester. Students can prepare for reading exams on their own or by enrolling in graduate-level sections of basic language courses for zero credits. 
• Students can also fulfill the language requirement by demonstrating in-depth knowledge of one language other than English and the language of study. Holistic knowledge can be demonstrated with a grade of B or higher in a 300-level course or higher or by providing transcripts of a secondary or university-level education conducted in that language. In all cases, the language must be pertinent to the course of study and meet the approval of the students’ advisors and the GSC.

(students entering in 2021 may be grandfathered into old Breadth Exam format. All subsequent cohorts must take the exam in the new format).

The purpose of the Breadth Exam is to assess students’ mastery of fundamental issues in literary, cultural, and/or linguistic studies. The Breadth Exam demonstrates sufficient knowledge of works and problems of fundamental importance to students’ selected fields of study across a broad range of materials, time periods, and cultural forms. It also demonstrates that they master the major debates and theoretical approaches of their selected research fields. It establishes that students have the basic knowledge necessary to identify specialized topics for dissertation research and will be qualified to teach those fields when they graduate. The Breadth Exam consists of two parts, described in greater detail below:

• A research paper revised for publication;
• Design two syllabi, each in a distinct research area.

There are four possible configurations of research areas for the exam:

• three areas of literary movements/genres comprising one region over three periods; OR
• three areas literary movements/genres comprising two regions over two or three periods; OR
• two areas of literary movements/genres over one or two periods AND one area of sociolinguistics.
• two areas of critical language analysis and one area of literary movements/genres

Students are free to propose diverse configurations meeting the above definitions, or that incorporate a field represented by expertise from the research assignment that will be transformed into a publishable scholarly essay (course offerings will vary from year to year, changing possible research areas for the publishable article). Thus, diverse configurations may be proposed for consideration by student’s examination committee and the GSC. Examples include:

• Colonial, 19th-, and 20th/21st-Century Spanish America 
• 19th-, 20th/21st -Century Spanish America and Brazil/Lusophone 
• Golden Age Spain and 19th-, 20th/21st-Century Spanish America 
• Maghrebian Literature; 19th Century France; 20th/21st Century Francophone 
• 20th/21st-Century France and 20th/21st-Century Francophone ; Bilingualism 
• 20th/21st-Century France; 20th/21st-Century Spanish America; Critical Sociolinguistics 
• Critical Sociolinguistics; Bilingualism; and 20th/21st-Century Spanish America 

Breadth Exam reading lists include key genres and canonical texts of the period, and should be reflected in the syllabi crafted for undergraduate (and graduate) courses. Reading lists for critical language analysis include fundamental texts in the fields of critical discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, sociocultural theory, socio-cognitive approaches to second language acquisition, and ideologies of language.

Students whose focus in the program is literary and cultural studies should also have knowledge of the Core Reading Lists, intended to ensure basic knowledge of canonical texts beyond the students’ areas of specialization. Students may be queried on the list during the oral portion of the Breadth Exam.

The student will assemble committee of 3 faculty members, one of whom will serve as Chair of the exam and they will work with members throughout year two and submit before spring deadline at the end of the year. The Breadth Exam committee includes one faculty member from each exam area (this may include the faculty member with whom they have authored the original research paper selected for expansion but does *not* have to be the same person). Students are responsible for asking professors to serve on their committees and should seek advice from the advisor they were assigned during the first two years. The advisor does not necessarily need to be on the committee, but should serve as a resource for the student and facilitate the work between the respective committee members. Committee chairs, however, solicit questions from committee members and assemble the exam. Administrative decisions regarding the exam are made in consultation with the DGS. Students take the Breadth Exam in their fourth semester of study. Breadth Exam Format : Students will defend each of the following three artifacts (one essay and two syllabi) in a scheduled 3-hour oral examination within one week of submission of the written documents.

• SELECT a research paper completed during the first year of MLL Grad courses. Transform the paper with significant revision into a scholarly article by the end of year two (6000-7000 words). ( While it may be helpful, it is not *necessary* for the student to retain the same faculty member with whom they developed original project ).
• Accompany both syllabi with an 8-10-page paper explaining literary/cultural, pedagogical, and bibliographic choices
• Write a detailed description or summary of each source;
• Assess comparatively and critically how each source corroborates, dialogues, or disagrees with other sources and their overall argument;
• Explain how feasible or viable each source is in relation to the specific purpose or theme of the course.
• Students will defend their choice of primary (or foundational in the case of critical studies of language) and critical texts in their essays and in the oral defense, demonstrating deep familiarity with the canon and its criticism.
• If a student does not pass *any* part of the exam the student will have one month to revise the written components. It is up to the committee’s discretion (in consultation with the DGS) to request a second oral examination.

Oral defense  

Students will be asked to make an opening statement in which they supplement their written documents – the research article and two syllabi. The committee will then ask questions about the research essay and syllabi, interrogating theoretical as well as bibliographic choices, as well as scholarly debates chosen for the focus of the respective courses. The student may be examined about *any* work included in the research paper, the reading lists, and/or their annotated bibliographies.

Grading Scales

• Pass with Distinction
• Fail (with remediation – no more than one section)

Students failing one or more areas may retake the failed area(s) within one month but at least ten days before the end of the semester in a format determined by the committee. Remediation may not take place later than the beginning of the following semester. Students who fail a second time in one or more areas must withdraw from the program by the end of the academic year. Students who pass the Breadth Exam but who do not complete the Ph.D. may request a terminal M.A. degree.

Reading Lists 

Reading lists are available on-line. The Core reading lists include additional, fundamental works from all periods and all genres. Once the exam committee is established, students should consult with the members responsible for each area regarding their exam preparation. These reading lists should serve as a guide for the design and crafting of the two syllabi that will demonstrate mastery and command of major research areas.

•   Reading List Breadth Exam - 2014
•  Reading List Breadth Exam - 2013
•   Reading List Breadth Exam - 2010
•   Reading List Breadth Exam - 2009
•   Reading List Breadth Exam - 2008
•   Reading List Breadth Exam - 2007
•   Reading List Breadth Exam - 2006

Studying for the exam

Each student brings a different set of prior readings to the Breadth Exam and will devise a personalized method of study. Committee members can provide general guidance and should be consulted regularly to verify understanding of terms and classifications (i.e. movements, genres, critical debates, etc.). Students should submit drafts of their publishable essay and syllabi and complete all readings before the semester of the exam to allow at least one month for additional consultation with committee members prior to the due date. The student may not consult with the committee members after turning in the written materials, and before the oral exam, however, can seek guidance from the advisor (if not on the committee) or the DGS.

Language of the exam

Students must answer one question in English and another in the primary language of study. The third area may be answered in either language. Students should make these decisions in advance of the exam and in consultation with faculty in order to prepare accordingly.. 

Protocol for Breadth Exam preparation 

• Faculty should meet with students during the late spring semester prior to the academic year of the Breadth Exam to discuss research areas, possible research essay, as well as potential courses that reflect these research areas, so that students can begin preparation over the summer.
• Faculty should discuss the scope and genre of questions they will ask on the oral exam and their suggested guidelines for preparation of the publishable essay, and the two courses the student will design that reflect major research areas and relevant scholarly debates in those areas. Faculty and students should refer to the core reading lists for guidance when crafting the syllabi.
• Students should schedule regular meetings with their examining faculty to discuss readings and any doubts or concerns they might have about their exams. Students who fail to meet with one or more of the committee members prior to the exam may have their examination postponed or suspended depending on committee’s assessment of the student’s preparation of the examination materials. The student will not be allowed extra time to complete the program.
• Faculty should not meet with students after exam materials have been submitted.
• The Oral Defense is designed as an exercise where the student should be able to engage in the major scholarly debates relevant to their selected fields with the faculty examiners.
• Students receive three possible questions per field (theoretical, primary, cognate) three weeks prior to the exam.
• Students receive (on exam distribution day) one or two of the three questions per area (to be determined in advance by each committee member).
• Students have one week to complete their exams and should turn in answers of 15-20 double-spaced, typed pages per field.
• At least one area of the exam must be written in English and one in the primary language of study. While students may consult their texts and notes, time is best spent reflecting on the questions and synthesizing ideas. Citations may be helpful in composing answers, but are not required.

An oral defense lasting 2-3 hours will take place one week after the written exam. The discussion may be in English, the language of concentration, or both (students should consult with committee members regarding language of the exam ahead of time). In addition to discussing the written exam, students will consider relationships among the different approaches represented by the list areas and projected dissertation interests. One express purpose of the oral exam is to help students transition to the dissertation proposal. Committee members will communicate exam results (pass or fail) to students at the conclusion of the oral exam. In order to pass, examinees must pass each area. Students failing one or more areas must retake the exam by no later than the beginning of the following semester in a format to be determined by the committee. Students who fail the exam a second time will withdraw from the program by the end of the academic year and may petition to receive an M.A. degree.

• 830 (“Pre-Candidacy Dissertation”) for students who have not yet passed the Qualifying Exam.
• 840 (“Post-Candidacy Doctoral Dissertation”) for students who have passed the Qualifying Exam.
• 850 (“Research in Residence”), for one credit, for students who are writing their dissertations. 
• Choosing a dissertation director.  After the Qualifying Exam, students begin work on the dissertation. The first step is to choose a director with expertise in the areas of interest. The dissertation director may or may not be the chair of the Qualifying Exam committee. Students are responsible for asking faculty members to serve as their dissertation directors and committee members. Consult with the DGS if you encounter difficulties making arrangements.
• Develop your topic in consultation with your director before the end of the semester in which you take your Qualifying Exam. Consult, read, and write as much as possible, keeping in mind that you will defend your Dissertation Prospectus at the beginning of your fourth year in the program.
• The dissertation committee comprises at least four members, typically, three from the Department and one from outside the department. The chair and at least two of the other committee members must be members of the Graduate Faculty. A well-balanced committee should have a range of expertise and experience. Students are responsible for requesting the participation of all members. Faculty have the right to decline a request to participate or to impose specific conditions on their participation.
• The duties of the committee are: to advise you on your research; to meet on a regular basis to review progress and expected results; to read, critique, and approve the dissertation prospectus; to read and comment on drafts of the dissertation; to meet, when the dissertation is completed, to conduct the dissertation defense; to ensure that the dissertation is a contribution to knowledge written in lucid, correct language, and submitted in approved form; to help prepare you for the job market.
• The Dissertation Prospectus consists of : a description of the proposed research (approximately 15-20 pages), including an overview of the subject; rationale for the project; proposed contribution to the field; outline of projected chapters; and preliminary bibliography. The prospectus should be developed in consultation with all members of the dissertation committee.
• The Dissertation Prospectus defense takes place during the semester following the Qualifying Exam. The committee must receive the prospectus in final form two weeks prior to the defense. The defense is oral and typically lasts between two and three hours. The defense provides the student an opportunity for extended conversation with committee members to help clarify and develop ideas. If the prospectus is not approved, students may present a second defense by the end of the given semester. If the prospectus is not approved the second time, the student must withdraw from the program at the end of the academic year and may petition to receive an M.A. degree.
• Admission to Candidacy for the Ph.D. takes place after the prospectus is approved. Students have limited time to complete the dissertation before their credits expire: four years from passing the Qualifying Exam or eight years from entering the program, whichever is later.
• The Dissertation is a draft manuscript for a scholarly book comprising at least 200 pages of text. In this manuscript, students are expected to develop an original idea and demonstrate how their analysis adds to existing scholarship. Throughout the process ofresearch and writing, students should work closely with all committee members, especially the director. Ways ofworking together depend on the group: students and committee members should have clear mutual expectations. At the beginning ofthe process, students should consult Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting Dissertations Electronically from the Library (available on its website ) to familiarize themselves with filing procedures in advance of their completion date.
• Registration while writing the dissertation: To maintain eligibility to receive the degree, students must maintain continuous registration for at least one-credit per semester (i.e. Fall and Spring) until the semester of the dissertation defense. After the end of the guaranteed funding period (five years in the program) tuition fees are the student’s responsibility if a tuition waiver is not available.
• The dissertation defense takes place once the committee has approved a complete draft of the dissertation. The full committee must receive the approved draft one month before the defense . The defense is oral and lasts approximately three hours; it is open to the public (and to anyone you wish to invite). Committee members will ask questions first and then the chair of the dissertation committee may invite questions and comments from the audience. The dissertation will either be approved (with “pass” or “pass with distinction”) or not approved. If the work is not met with approval, a second defense may be held at a later date so long as the term of candidacy has not expired. Students are responsible for bringing required forms to the defense (e.g., departmental certificate of defense, university certificates of defense, signature pages). For further guidelines, consult with the Graduate Secretary and see the “Recommended Practices for Dissertation Committees” in the Appendix.
• Scheduling the defense . Defenses should be scheduled during the regular academic year, usually spring of the 5th year before the deadline issued by the Graduate School (unless the student has received a fellowship from CAS or another entity for a sixth year). Dissertation defenses demonstrate the culmination of the student’s scholarly research in a public forum. As such, summer defenses are highly discouraged, and should be scheduled only in the event of an emergency. Students wishing to defend in the summer must submit a formal petition to the Graduate Studies Committee requesting a summer defense with its rationale. Students are responsible for all associated matriculation fees ; however, students may petition the GSC to advocate for a tuition waiver from the Department.
• Filing the Dissertation . It is not uncommon for approved dissertations to require revision. There may therefore be a delay between the defense and the filing of the dissertation with the Graduate School. Students must file before candidacy expires (within eight years of entering the program or four years of passing the Qualifying Exam). There are four filing dates per year (Fall, Spring, and two in Summer), in advance of the last day of classes (see the current academic calendar). Unless a formal leave of absence is granted, students must be registered continuously prior to and during the semester in which they file. Students are responsible for complying with regulations and timetables set by the Graduate School , and must supply the following: 1) signatures of committee members on specified forms; 2) five copies of the dissertation in approved form on approved, acid-free paper; 3) nine copies of an abstract of not more than 350 words. Dissertations are typically published on the UM ETD and Proquest UMI databases.

Upon filing the dissertation, students must apply to graduate by filing a form with the Graduate School. There are four application deadlines per year (Fall, Spring, and two in Summer) available on the current academic calendar. Graduation ceremonies take place in Fall and Spring (the Spring one is substantially larger).  

Students graduating in Summer are eligible to participate in ceremonies the preceding Spring or following Fall or Spring. 

Advisors and advisees should meet throughout the semester (at least twice) to review progress, plan courses, configure exam committees, and review performance and accomplishments in general, and should use this form as a general guide.

This form should be updated, s igned by advisor and submitted at the end of every semester (no later than the first week of the following semester) along with the unofficial transcript through the duration of the student’s program.  Form should be submitted to both the DGS and Graduate Secretary   and it will be uploaded and archived in student’s file and reviewed by DGS and GSC. 

Graduate Student Course Tracking Sheet (as of Dec. 2020)

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Welcome to the Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies

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Gothic, Now! Dark Atmospherics in a Post-Truth Climate: Where can we look for truth and light in what seems to be an increasingly dark, post-truth world? Ironically, the Gothic and horror genres and their attendant tropes—the eerie, the weird, the supernatural, the strange and the grotesque—may be some of the best modes to help us navigate our current fraught reality. Though the Gothic tradition is centuries old, this symposium seeks to offer approaches that both fruitfully engage with the legacy of the past at the same time as they participate in the discourses of our urgent present and complex future. Save the Date: April 5, 2024

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International Programmes 2023/2024

International PhD Programme (IPP) Literary and Cultural Studies International PhD Programme Literary and Cultural Studies

Justus liebig university giessen • gießen.

• Course details
• Costs / Funding
• Requirements / Registration
• About the university

Courses are held in English (75%) and German (25%). Each participant can choose to write his or her dissertation in the language agreed upon with his or her supervisor.

The deadline for applications is 1 February every year. In some cases - for example, if the applicant will not finish her/his degree until after 1 February - it is possible to extend the deadline to 1 May after consulting the IPP.

The International PhD Programme (IPP) "Literary and Cultural Studies" at Justus Liebig University Giessen offers a clearly structured and research-oriented, three-year doctoral programme focusing on four research areas:

• Literary and Cultural Theory
• Genre Theory
• Literary and Cultural Historiography
• Comparative and Interdisciplinary Issues

Participating departments include English and American Studies, German Studies, Romance Studies, Slavic Studies, Comparative Literary Studies and Theatre Studies.

The IPP curriculum grants postgraduate students the opportunity to develop their academic profile in a wide range of courses designed specifically for (international) PhD students in the fields of literary and cultural studies. Core modules, seminars, workshops and Master's classes with renowned scholars from all over the world acquaint postgraduate students with state-of-the-art concepts, theories, methodologies and approaches. At the same time, IPP members are encouraged to pursue independent research from an early stage in their academic careers onwards. International Summer Schools and Conferences organised within the framework of an expansive international network with high-ranking universities from around the world integrate IPP members into national and international academic communities. The languages of instruction are German and English.

IPP members benefit from the programme's close integration into academic structures at Justus Liebig University (JLU). The IPP and the Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) jointly organise parts of their programmes. Additionally, IPP members are welcome to join junior research groups at the Giessen Graduate Centre for the Humanities (GGK) and to publish in the GGK/GCSC's online review journal KULT_online. IPP members not only find support in developing an international academic profile, but may acquire additional academic and practical qualifications that pave their way to academic as well as non-academic job markets. The GGK/GCSC Career Service offers chances to strategically plan life after the dissertation even while pursuing your degree and to facilitate the transition from postgraduate studies into the professional world. The GCSC Teaching Centre assists PhD students in acquiring valuable didactic skills, which are relevant in academic teaching as well as in many non-academic professions, and supports PhD candidates in elaborating their own teaching portfolios. Multi-track supervision and mentoring structures encompass professorial supervisors, postdoctoral mentors and peer-group coaching. Our international participants benefit from tutorials and language courses especially designed to pave their way to involvement in the German academic community. Social and cultural activities, such as excursions or theatre visits, complete our programme and facilitate strong bonds with peers.

Set in an intellectually stimulating and international context, the IPP provides extensive supervision and mentoring structures. The programme offers multi-track supervision and mentoring systems revolving around professorial supervisors, postdoctoral mentors, and peer-group coaching. The mentors provide advice not only on the dissertation, but also on scholarships, on applying for conferences, writing articles and similar activities.

The IPP offers a rich and promising environment for pursuing your PhD and guarantees support and guidance in all matters relating to your PhD throughout the three years of membership. Personal supervision is complemented by participation in our curriculum: regular colloquia with fellow PhD students, professors and post-docs allow an ongoing discussion of one's own project, as well as those of others, from an early state of inception to the submission of the PhD thesis.

Master's classes and workshops with high-ranking academics from around the world offer PhD students the chance to present their projects to specialists in the field, to benefit from their feedback, and to establish valuable international contacts. A broad spectrum of courses conveys essential skills e.g. in time management, in writing styles and techniques, in the handling of software tools for publishing, and managing bibliographies.

• International guest lecturers
• Study trips
• Projects with partners in Germany and abroad
• Language training provided

An internship is not part of the programme.

Approx. 795 EUR

Graduate scholarship of the Justus Liebig University / Graduiertenstipendien der Justus-Liebig-Universität

Students wishing to apply to the IPP "Literary and Cultural Studies" must hold a university degree in Literary Studies (e.g. German Studies, English/American Studies, Romance Studies, Slavic Studies, Comparative Literary Studies, Theatre Studies) with a GPA (average/final grade) well above average. Applicants should either hold a "Diplom", "Magister", "Erstes Staatsexamen" or Master's degree if obtained in Germany or a university degree equivalent to the German Master of Arts with thesis if obtained abroad. Furthermore, sound knowledge in either English or German is required.

For most disciplinary areas, the language of the dissertation and the dissertation defence is either German or English. The PhD Committee may accept the language of your respective discipline (i.e., French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese) as well.

Even if the language of the dissertation is other than German, basic skills in German need to be acquired in the course of your studies. The IPP offers courses and training in German, English, and French. We would warmly advise you, however, to acquire a basic knowledge of German before coming to Giessen.

Prof Dr Dr h c Ansgar Nünning International PhD Programme (IPP) "Literary and Cultural Studies" Giessen Graduate School for the Humanities (GGK) Justus Liebig University Giessen Otto-Behaghel-Str. 12 35394 Giessen Germany

Halls of residence and private accommodation: www.uni-giessen.de/acc

IPP members can make use of the Career Service at the Graduate Centre, e.g., workshops, preparatory courses, and consultations.

• Specialist counselling

Justus Liebig University Giessen

Founded in 1607, Justus Liebig University Giessen is one of Germany's top research universities. It is not only rich in tradition but also highly innovative. Another unique feature is JLU Giessen's extraordinarily broad range of subjects. Additionally, JLU Giessen's 26,500 students and its ever-growing student community substantially contribute to making Giessen the city with the highest student ratio of all university towns in Germany. This singles out JLU Giessen as a key player in the region. However, with 40% international doctoral students, an international student community of around 11%, high-profile international partnerships, and two top-class international research facilities funded by Germany's nationwide Excellence Strategy, JLU is also a very active and highly attractive networking partner worldwide. Internationalisation is at the heart of JLU's institutional self-concept, and its internationalisation strategy with the motto "future through internationalisation" is a critical success factor for research and teaching as well as the personal development of its members. Excellent basic research combined with socially relevant application, the exploitation of interdisciplinary synergies, support for outstanding next-generation scholars, first-class university teaching, and an explicit international orientation define JLU Giessen in the fifth century of its existence, making it fit for the future.

University location

With around 92,000 inhabitants, Giessen is Germany's most student-dominated city and its two universities with their "extra population" of 40,000 students provide a unique college-town atmosphere. The city centre offers plenty of diversion for students, including film theatres (with student concession tickets), the municipal theatre with its experimental studios, swimming pools and sports and workout facilities, and a wide variety of pubs, restaurants (continental and ethnic), and night life venues. Therefore, you can add lots of flavour to your studies. The great thing about Giessen is that it's an easy place to navigate and, when the mood takes you, to escape into the picturesque surrounding countryside or the metropolis of Frankfurt am Main, which is about 60 kilometres away.

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What are you looking for?

Suggested search, what is comparative studies in literature & culture.

Inaugurated by USC Dornsife in 2011, the Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture Doctoral Program is a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary program that cultivates the common ground tying Comparative Literature, Comparative Media and Culture, French and Francophone Studies, and Spanish and Latin American Studies, while carrying out path-breaking research in each of these disciplines.

By design, program remaps the boundaries of these fields while carrying on the very best of their traditions and enlarging what each can bring to the study of its discipline.  The invention of CSLC marks our commitment to shaping the future of doctoral education in the humanities.

There are several hallmarks of CSLC’s program:

Distinct Tracks

Track I : Comparative Media and Culture Track II: Comparative Literature Track III: National Literatures and Cultures

Several courses make up the core curriculum of the Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture Doctoral Program. All introductory sequence courses and courses Ph.D. students are required to take, are listed underneath “Courses”.

The Comparative Media and Culture track, allows you to study all kinds of media in a strongly grounded context of cultural and linguistic difference. The program also includes a workshop course to help prepare students for future teaching and research career.

In addition to these new features, CSLC combines the energies and expertise of nearly 30 full-time faculty and 50 current graduate students.

Questions about the CSLC doctoral program? Email [email protected].

Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture

housed in the Department of Comparative Literature

Staff Graduate Advisor

Katherine Chan Guevarra

Director of Graduate Studies

Olivia C Harrison

• PhD programmes
• Arts and Humanities

Doctoral Programme in Literature and Cultural Studies

The Doctoral Programme in Literature and Culture Studies is defined by the emphasis it places on literary studies from different methodological and linguistic perspectives, opening towards cultural analysis. From the previous programmes that fall within this new proposal is that of Theory of Literature and Comparative Literature, originally linked to a Mundus Master's, and that of Study and Annotation of Spanish Literary Texts. Other programmes that belong to Latin, Greek, Italian, French, Galician, Portuguese and German Philology are also included.

• Admission and enrolment
• Scholarships and grants
• Regulations
• Web propia (intranet)

Duration: 3 Tuition fees (aprox.): Cursos ou complementos ECTS: 32,00 €/crédito Cursos non ECTS: 3,30 €/hora Titoría anual doutoramento: 200,00 € Seats number: 20

Title coordinator: Maria Soledad Perez-Abadin Barro

Coordinator university: University of Santiago de Compostela

Partaker universities: University of Santiago de Compostela

Xunta de Galicia title implantation authorization date: 05/12/2013

BOE publication date: 11/03/2014

Last accreditation date: 03/06/2022

RUCT code: 5600497

ISCED codes: (0229) Humanidades (otros estudios) (210) Artes (220) Humanidades

The aim is to consolidate a competitive programme at a Spanish and international level, based on a long and successful background in the specific field of literary studies and cultural analysis. The Programme proposes, on the other hand, to becoming seriously committed to internationalization, seeking to benefit the training of the students and the USC's research competitiveness.

• Memoria do Programa
• Informe de Acreditación (2021)

Students who have completed any of the following official master's degrees will have direct access without the need for supplementary training:

• Master's in Study and Editing of Spanish and Latin American Literary Texts
• Master's in English Studies: Current Trends and Applications
• Master’s in Medieval European Studies: Images, Texts and Contexts
• Master's in Comparative and Theoretical Studies in Literature and Culture.
• Master’s in Cultural Services.
• Erasmus Mundus Master's Crossways in Cultural Narratives.
• Master's in Language and Culture Studies

Other Master's degrees of Diploma of Advanced Studies in the areas of Humanities and Social Sciences which, according to the academic committee, do not require supplementary.

Regarding the learning activities, once students have been admitted to the doctoral programme, accreditation may be required for certain language levels. B2 level certification is required in order to qualify for participating in the Hermes Seminar.

The academic committee shall decide, at the time of admission of new students, who will require supplementary training. This will probably be required from students from the area of social sciences and, in all probability, those who apply with training in other fields. Applicants from the field of the humanities and, of course, those who have completed the master's courses that provide direct access, will not require any supplementary training. The specific supplementary training subjects will be taken from the common subjects from the Master's Studies in Literature and Culture.

Merits are evaluated by the committee in the following way:

• Academic transcript: 55%
• Knowledge of languages (The Academic Committee will take into account the area in which the thesis will be carried out.). Candidates must provide proof (First Certificate, etc.): 15%
• Professional experience (candidates must provide documentary proof): 5%
• Research experience (candidates must provide documentary proof): 20%
• Other merits: 5%
• Academic Year 2024/2025
• Academic Year 2023/2024
• Academic Year 2022/2023
• Academic Year 2021/2022
• Academic Year 2020/2021

Annual seminar of the Hermes Consortium for literary and cultural studies

Research seminars, participation in conferences, transversal training seminars, publication, galabra network meetings, international conferences for initiation into research in literature studies, publication in the digital collection of literature and culture studies, publication of articles, chapters or books and coordination of collective volumes, teaching or conducting training and language courses, research methods in literary and culture studies, bibliography, codicology and history of the book, methodology for the history and edition of literary texts, literary criticism and cultural analysis, comparative literary studies.

Coordinator Maria Soledad Perez-Abadin Barro

Secretary Maria Jose Alonso Veloso

Vowels Angel Eugenio Abuin Gonzalez Rosa Marta Gomez Pato Laurence Malingret Arturo Casas Vales Ma Del Carmen Villarino Pardo

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Ph.D. Program in Culture, Literacy, and Language

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Welcome to the Ph.D. Program in Culture, Literacy, and Language at The University of Texas at San Antonio! Please review our site to learn more about our program, faculty, current students, and alumni. Thank you for visiting, and remember, we are only one click away. Should you have any questions, please contact us.

About the Program The Ph.D. program in Culture, Literacy, and Language (CLL) was established in 2001 and is housed in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies in the College of Education and Human Development. CLL focuses on the interrelatedness of culture, literacy, and language and is designed to provide a firm foundation in the fields of cultural studies, literacy development, and language learning and use. Doctoral students often pursue research topics within or across the applied linguistics biliteracy or bilingual education. Faculty and students work in a vibrant interdisciplinary atmosphere with applied linguists, anthropologists, educational researchers, psychologists, and sociologists on topics related to language and literacy socialization, the empowerment of marginalized communities, educational language policy and planning, language and identity, bilingual teacher preparation, TESOL and globalization, cultural validation and community change, second language acquisition, heritage language education, computer-assisted language learning, multiliteracies, immigration, and transnationalism, among others. The cross-disciplinary work within our academic community is somewhat limitless. We, therefore, provide the following list of topics as a helpful guide:

• The social, linguistic, and cultural factors affecting language and literacy development
• Language development in a bilingual and multicultural context and its consequences for literacy 
• The consequences of cultural and linguistic contact for literacy 
• Factors affecting academic language proficiency, language policies needed to promote the improvement of preparing teachers for linguistically and culturally diverse schools, and policies needed to address the systemic severe shortage of such teachers 
• The creation of educational environments that minimize the alienation of traditionally marginalized groups and enhance language and literacy development
• Ethnographic and qualitative research methods, including discourse and narrative analysis 
• The relationship of attitudinal factors to the development of language in support of the development of proficiency in language and literacy
• The impact of technological change on the development of language and literacy
• The shifting context of global migration and its impact on cultural change and maintenance 
• Language and literacy problems in the workforce, organizations, communities, and nations 
• Immigrant student adaptation and ways to bridge family-school relationships
• Afro-Mexicanidad and transculturation 
• Community political empowerment and its relationship to schooling and cultural production
• Cultural, literacy, and language practices among communities in diaspora and other transnational settings 
• The design and implementation of effective literacy programs for adult learners
• CLL graduates will be well-grounded in the theoretical, conceptual, and research methodology used to study many of the above-mentioned issues. Alumni often pursue work in academia, school districts, research organizations, or non-profits, both in the U.S. and overseas.
• Program of Study
• Admission Requirements
• Financial Assistance

The Ph.D. in CLL is a full-time doctoral program, with the expectation that students will complete 18 semester hours annually, work toward completing Qualifying Exams during their third year, and complete their dissertation within 6 years. Both full-time students and working professionals are encouraged to consider the Ph.D. in CLL. In order to accommodate working professionals who wish to pursue full-time work, the CLL program offers coursework in the evenings, on weekends, and during the summer. Unfortunately, working professionals are not eligible for fellowship funds because their full-time jobs prohibit them from working on the UTSA campus under an assistantship.

CLL Program Worksheet

CLL Ph.D. Handbook

How to Apply: The following guidelines should help you in submitting your application to the Ph.D. program in Culture, Literacy, and Language. We accept students once a year for a fall semester start date. Steps in the Application Process 1. Complete an online application form at:  https://future.utsa.edu/programs/doctoral/culture-literacy-language/

2. Submit the following application materials:

• GRE scores are no longer required as of Fall 2024.
• International students whose master's degree is from a university outside the US must have TOEFL scores of 563 if the test is paper-based or 85 or higher if internet-based. Or a 6.5 on the IELTS. Use UTSA's University Code: 6919. No departmental code is required.
• Proficiency or experience learning, using, studying, or speaking a language other than English.
• A master's degree official transcript, documenting a grade point average of 3.5 or higher.
• Official transcripts from every institution of higher education ever attended, foreign and domestic, including community colleges and colleges and universities where degrees were not granted. 
• A statement of purpose that describes research interests, reasons for seeking doctoral study, and connections between the applicant's interests/professional goals and the program in Culture, Literacy, and Language; please also discuss your proficiency or experience learning, using, studying, or speaking a language other than English.  (Limit the statement to five double-spaced pages).
• A sample of academic writing in the form of a paper or a thesis written as part of master's degree requirements or a scholarly publication.
• Two letters of recommendation attesting to the student's academic and personal attributes for success in the program and potential for contributing substantially to a field of study related to the degree.

When is the application deadline? Each year, students must apply by February 1st. When will I know if I have been admitted into the CLL Ph.D. program? It is our hope to notify students of admission by April 1st each year, and notification will be no later than May 1st each year. Can I start the program in the spring semester? No, all admitted students begin coursework during the fall semester. Do I have to submit GRE scores? Yes, this is a requirement by the UTSA Graduate School. I am an international applicant who completed an undergraduate (BA, BS) or a graduate (MA, MS, MEd, Ph.D.) degree in an English-speaking country. Do I have to submit TOEFL scores? International Students with degrees from approved English language MA programs are exempt from submitting TOEFL scores. Further information on approved programs can be requested from the UTSA Graduate School. Please email [email protected] or call (210) 458-4330. Will IELTS scores be accepted? IELTS (International English Language Testing System) scores are accepted in lieu of TOEFL scores. A score of 6.5 or higher on the IELTS is required for doctoral admission. Can I be admitted to the CLL program conditionally and then take the GRE and/or the TOEFL? No, your test scores must be a part of your complete application to be considered for admission. What are the minimum GRE scores required for admission? We consider all applicants holistically, carefully examining all application materials. A student's GRE score is interpreted in light of these other materials. There is no specific minimum score. What are the minimum TOEFL or IELTS scores required for admission? A 550 or higher on the paper TOEFL, a 79 on the Internet TOEFL, or a 6.5 on the IELTS. Can I apply directly to the Ph.D. program, if I do not have an MA? Unfortunately, no. An MA must be earned prior to starting coursework in the CLL Ph.D. program. Will I receive financial aid? All full-time students will be considered for teaching or research assistantships during the admission process. Awards will be contingent upon funding. However, you are also eligible to apply for financial assistance (in the form of subsidized and unsubsidized loans, grants, and other forms of aid) via the University's financial aid office. What does the admissions committee look for in a Ph.D. applicant? Faculty in our department review all applicants. In many cases, they are seeking to admit students who share similar research interests. In addition, faculty expect to read strong statements of purpose and pay close attention to professional experiences that enhance past (and future) coursework. How long does it take to complete the Ph.D. program? Most of our students are complete their Ph.D.s within 4-6 years. How many credits do students typically take each semester? Full-time students take 9 hours per semester (or 3 classes) during Fall and Spring and 3 hours during summer, while working professionals take 6 hours per semester (2 classes) during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Can I work full-time and complete the program in the evenings? Yes, many of our students are working professionals who seek advanced degrees. Because of this, all of our Ph.D. courses are offered in the evenings and occasionally on the weekends. What is San Antonio, Texas, like? The multilingual city of San Antonio, the seventh-largest city in the United States, provides an exciting backdrop for the study of issues related to linguistic and cultural diversity. San Antonio is located in central/south Texas, about 3 hours west of Houston and 4 hours south of Dallas and has a population of nearly 1.4 million people. The weather is often warm and humid, with mild winters and plenty of lush vegetation. Because this part of the U.S. once belonged to Mexico, there is a large Latina/o community. I would like to communicate with the Graduate Advisor in the CLL program before submitting my application. Who should I contact? Please contact the Graduate Advisor of Record for the program, through our Student Development Specialist, to set up an appointment. Email [email protected] .

While not exhaustive, the following is a list of alumni from our program who have pursued work in numerous settings.

David Martinez-Prieto, Ph.D. Assistant Professor University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley Lina Martin Corredor, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Metropolitan State University Denver, CO Francine Johnson, Ph.D. Language Instructor Defense Language Institute San Antonio, TX Haetham Abdul-Razaq, Ph.D. Sociology Faculty Northwest Vista College Mingxia Zhi, Ph.D. Program Evaluator Northside ISD Sandra Garza, Ph.D. Mexican American Studies Program Coordinator and Instructor Northwest Vista College Sovicheth Boun, Ph.D Assistant Professor Salem State University Shereen Bhalla, Ph.D Director of Education at the Hindu American Foundation Washington, DC Belinda Schouten, Ph.D. Associate Professor Our Lady of the Lake University San Antonio, TX Carol Brochin-Ceballos, Ph.D. Associate Professor in English University of Arizona Carmen Cáceda, Ph.D. Professor Western Oregon University Esther Garza, Ph.D. Associate Professor Texas A&M University - San Antonio Henrietta Lynn Muñoz, Ph.D. Executive Director Institute for School and Community Partnerships Texas A&M University - San Antonio Holly Hansen-Thomas, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Research and Innovation Dean of the Graduate School Texas Woman's University Ko-yin Sung, Ph.D. Professor & Associate Department Head Utah State University Laura Roy, Ph.D. Associate Professor & Department Chair LaSalle University Philadelphia, PA Li Jia, Ph.D. Dean and Professor School of International Education Sias International University Xinzheng, Henan, China Minda López, Ph.D. Professor Department of Curriculum and Instruction Texas State University Norma Guzman, Ph.D. Professor Texas A&M University, Kingsville Virginia Mika, Ph.D. Deputy Vice President of Analytics and Community Programs University Health San Antonio, TX Xiaoshi Li, Ph.D. Associate Professor Michigan State University

Dao, N. (2022). Sociocultural Competence, Translanguaging, and Language Ideologies: Language and Cultural Socialization in Two Vietnamese Language Programs in Texas Chair: Sidury Christiansen, Ph.D. Fallas-Escobar, C. (2022). Latina/o Bilingual Teacher Candidates’ Negotiation of Raciolinguistic Ideologies Co-Chairs: Lucila D. Ek, Ph.D. and Kathryn Henderson, Ph.D. Sarmiento Quezada, B. (2022). De Aquí, De Allá y De Acullá: Identity, Language, and Thirdspaces, A Multi-Sited Ethnographic Case Study of Syrian Displaced Students in México Co-Chairs: Sidury Christiansen, Ph.D. and Jorge Solís, Ph.D. Walton, A. (2022). The Affordances and Impact of Lesson Study on World Language Teachers’ TPACK Chair: Sidury Christiansen, Ph.D.

Groves, S. (2021). Mentorship Literacy: How an Alternative Literacy Is Developed and Used to Build the Mentor-Mentee Relationship between Teacher and Student in the Middle and High School Years Chair: Lucila Ek, Ph.D. Johnson, F. (2021). High School ESL and ELA Co-teachers as Participants in a Collaborative Reflective Learning Experience Chair: Jorge Solís, Ph.D. Lynton, V. (2021). Language and Literacy Work in a High Stakes College Mathematics Course Chair: Jorge Solís, Ph.D. Martin Corredor, L. (2021). Rethinking Dual Language Bilingual Education Pedagogies for Spanish Heritage Speakers Chair: Kathryn I. Henderson, Ph.D. and Belinda Bustos Flores, Ph.D. Pallares-Weissling, A. (2021). STEMs of Science: A Case Study of Young Mexican-American Bilingual Children’s Engagement and Perceptions about Science and Being a Scientist Chair: Howard L. Smith, Ph.D. Salinas-Hinojosa, M. (2021). The Unspoken Element of Cariño: Hearing the Voices of Teachers, Students and Parents about Cariño in the Dual Language Classroom Chair: Jorge Solís, Ph.D.

Martinez-Cortes, J. (2020). Second-Generation Immigrant Latinx/a/os and Their First-Generation College Experience: Counterstories of Success and Belonging Chair: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. Martinez-Prieto, D. (2020). The Ideological Impact of U.S. Curricula on Mexican Transnational Pre-service Language Teachers Chair: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. Rodriguez, H. (2020). Multicultural Texts in the 3rd Grade Dual Language Classroom: How Multicultural Texts Foster Biliteracy and Identity Creation of Bilingual Latina/o Students Chair: Lucila Ek, Ph.D. Chapa, H. (2019). Cultural Reproduction: English as a Second Langua GE in Rural Texas Schools Co-Chairs: Belinda Flores, Ph.D. and Jorge Solís, Ph.D. Saadi, H. (2019). The Transnational Experiences of Libyan Sojourner Women in the United States Chair: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. Saulsbury-Molina, A. (2019). A Case Study of the Language Policy of a Local Newcomer Program Co-Chairs: Kathryn Henderson, Ph.D. and Juliet Langman, Ph.D. Perfecto, I. (2019). The Misrepresentation of Mexican-American Holidays and Observations through Children’s Literature: A Critical Analysis of Children’s Books about Dia de los Muertos, Diez y Seis de Septiembre, the Commemoration of the Battle of the Alamo, Dia de los Reyes Magos, the 12th of December, and Cinco de Mayo Chair: Howard Smith, Ph.D. Conceicao da Silva, D. (2018). The Influence of Schooling and Life Experiences on Pre-Service Teachers' Cultural and Linguistic Self-Efficacy Beliefs Chair: Kristen Lindahl, Ph.D. Gonzales, N. (2017). An Ethnographic Case Study: The Co-Construction of Mathematical Knowledge in a 4th Grade Dual Language Classroom Chair: Jorge Solís, Ph.D. Li, S. (2017). Exploring the Influence of Video Feedback Upon Teacher Candidates' Evolution of Teaching Beliefs and Second Language Acquisition Specialized Knowledge of Comprehensible Input Co-Chairs: Belinda Flores, Ph.D. and Kristen Lindahl, Ph.D. Mari Acevedo, V. (2017). Motivation to Learn and Teach English in Puerto Rico's Public and Private Schools Co-Chairs: Peter Sayer, Ph.D. and Kristen Lindahl, Ph.D. Rivas, E. (2017). Latina Social Studies Teachers Negotiating Public Institutions Chair: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. Sanchez, S. (2017). Rooster Tails, Ranflas, and Rags: The Language and Literacy Practices of Latin@ Lowriders in San Antonio, TX Chair: Lucila Ek, Ph.D. Garcia, C. (2016). El renacer de maestras bilingües: Actualizing cultural efficaciousness Chair: Belinda Flores, Ph.D. Ibarra, S. (2016). Language ideologies of Spanish-dominant families as they seek spoken language for their children with hearing impairment: Ethnography of the journey across borders and cultures Chair: Armando Trujillo, Ph.D. Yang, Y. (2016). At the mainstream's margins: Re-examining Hmong students' schooling through the eyes of Hmong administrators, teachers, and parents Co-Chairs: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. and Wayne Wright, Ph.D. Villarreal, D. (2016). The voices of Latina high school students in south Texas: Reflections on their cultural identity, college aspirations, and social media use Chair: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. Salazar, M. (2015). Using technology to teach English language learners: Beliefs on digital access and efficacy Co-Chairs: Howard Smith, Ph.D. and Belinda Flores, Ph.D. Teniente Valderas, E. (2015). Latina immigrant mothers and daughters negotiating pathways to higher education Chair: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. Guerra, M. (2015). Usando nuestros recursos: Biliteracy practices of young Latino bilingual learners inside and outside school Chair: Lucila Ek, Ph.D. Fitzgerald, D. R. (2014). A Busker's World: Performance Space and Cinematic Representation. Chair: Howard Smith, Ph.D. Garcia, A. (2014). "La fotonovela digital": A sociocultural tool for biliteracy, digital literacy, and visual literacy learning of Latina/o bilingual children at an afterschool club Chair: Lucila Ek, Ph.D. Santillán, L. (2014). Un pie en dos lados: The life histories of Latina/o teachers fusing social and professional roles Chair: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. De La Miyar, D. (2013). A Descriptive Analysis of the Representation of Social Status through Spanish Print Media. Chair: Howard Smith, Ph.D. Escalante, L. B. (2012). “¡Luz, cámara, acción!”: A Classroom Teacher Research Analysis of Students Translanguaging through One-act Plays. Chair: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. Aburumuh, H. (2012). Enrolling Arabic Heritage Language Learners in Texas Community-Based Schools: Examining the Attitudinal and Motivational Factors Impacting Parental Choice. Co-Chairs: Howard Smith, Ph.D. and Amaury Nora, Ph.D. Chen, W. (2011). Taiwanese students’ beliefs about learning English and their relations to the students’ self-reported language learning behaviors. Co-Chairs: Belinda Flores, Ph.D. and Juliet Langman, Ph.D. Claeys, L. (2011). Teacher Motivation to Teach and to Remain Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Co-Chairs: Ellen Riojas Clark, Ph.D. and Belinda Flores, Ph.D. Guzman-Martinez, C. (2011). Chicana and Chicano “pedagogies of the home”: Learning from students' lived experiences Chair: Armando Trujillo, Ph.D. Alaniz, Mónica J. (2010). From Out of the Fields: Migrant Student Success in a Post-Secondary, Community College Setting. Chair: Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D. Lara, M. (2010). The structure of an early reading test in grade 1: In search of a relationship with reading in spanish Chair: Howard Smith, Ph.D. Muñoz, H. L. (2009). Being and becoming financially literate in a south Texas community: Valuing the funds to practice literacy. Chair: Armando Trujillo, Ph.D.

Research Honors

Hector Castrillón-Costa. 2022. Fulbright Scholarship. “Caribbean Creole languages in education:  An ethnography of educational language policy in St. Lucia.”

Elise Brittain. 2022. Boren Fellowship. Uzbekistan. “Language teacher identity impacts of English teaching and ideology in Uzbekistan: Teacher training as nexus of practice.”

Davy Tran. 2022. British Council Assessment Research Award. "Effects of self-efficacy, task value, test anxiety and learning strategies on test scores: A washback study."

Student Honors

Alpha Martínez-Suárez. 2022. UTSA President’s Distinguished Diversity Award (student individual).

Andrew Walton. 2021. UTSA University Life Award for Outstanding Graduate Student in the College of Education & Human Development.

A Selection of Student Publications

Garza, Karla, Janelle Beth Flores, and Belinda Bustos Flores. 2022. "A Preliminary Content Validity Analysis of the Receptive and Expressive Language Pre-Referral Protocol for Bilingual Learners (RELPP-BL)" Languages 7, no. 3: 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7030164

Dao, Nguyen (2021) Promoting biculturalism and biliteracy for Vietnamese American children through cultural performing arts, Bilingual Research Journal, 44:4, 466-484, DOI: 10.1080/15235882.2022.2050836

Sarmiento-Quezada, B. (2021). “Es porque tienen ganas de aprender”: How a Non-profit Teacher Creates a Learning Environment to Help College-Aged Syrian Displaced Students Adapt and Learn Spanish in México. In: Warriner, D.S. (eds) Refugee Education across the Lifespan. Educational Linguistics, vol 50. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79470-5_22

Christiansen, M.S., Albadawi, E. (2021). More than Maintaining Arabic: Language Ideologies of Syrian Refugees in a Bilingual City in Southern Texas. In: Warriner, D.S. (eds) Refugee Education across the Lifespan. Educational Linguistics, vol 50. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79470-5_12

Lindahl, K., Fallas‐Escobar, C., & Henderson, K. I. (2021). Linguistically Responsive Instruction for Latinx Teacher Candidates: Surfacing Language Ideological Dilemmas. TESOL Quarterly, 55(4), 1190–1220.  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tesq.3079

Ek, L.D., García, A. & Garza, A. (2019). Biliteracy as emotional practice: Latino/a children building relationship through digital literacy at an afterschool technology program. In M. Pacheco, P.Z. Morales, & C. Hamilton (Eds.). Transforming schooling for second language learners: Policies, pedagogies, and practices, pp. 217-235. Information Age Publishing.

Martínez Suarez, A. & Lindahl, K. M. (2019). Ready together: Professional development for educators working with students in immigration crisis. In S. Keengwe (Ed.), Handbook of research on assessment practices and pedagogical models for immigrant students. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Christiansen, M. S. & Da Silva, D. (2016) Culture in EFL classrooms in Mexico:  Contexts and pedagogical implications. MEXTESOL Journal, 4(2), 1-13.

Sánchez, P., & Landa, M. (2016).  Cruzando fronteras:   Negotiating the stories of Latina/o immigrant and transnational children.  In E.R. Clark, B.B. Flores, H.L. Smith, & D.A. González (Eds.), Multicultural literature for Latino bilingual children: Their words, their worlds, pp. 69-82.  Lanham, MD:  Rowman & Littlefield.

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College of Education and Human Development Main Building | One UTSA Circle | San Antonio, TX 78249 Phone: 210-458-4370 |  [email protected]

Department of English

Dietrich college of humanities and social sciences, masters of literary & cultural studies program, the literary & cultural studies (lcs) graduate faculty bring students into contact with current work in the fields of performance studies, the history of books and reading, shakespeare and early modern media, contemporary literatures both american and global, digital humanities, modern media studies, black studies, and gender studies..

The M.A. in Literary & Cultural Studies is designed to prepare students for the intellectual rigors of a Ph.D. program and sharpen key analytical and organizational skills that can be utilized in a number of non-academic careers. The program offers an intimate classroom and advising environment with small seminars and close mentoring relationships with faculty who will assist you in preparing for more advanced graduate work.

Along with intellectual mentorship, our program has a number of research assistantships available. These assistantship opportunities allow students to hone analytical, editorial and organizational skills by working alongside LCS faculty members on a variety of exciting projects. For those who decide to take a non-academic career trajectory, these assistantships can help strengthen skills that can be translated into a variety of non-academic career paths.  

Program Highlights

• Field and Course Concentrations : The M.A. LCS program offers scholarly concentrations in Early Modern British Studies (1500-1850), Twentieth and Twenty-First Century American Studies, Global and Transnational Studies . Our faculty offer seminars in topical subjects such as Race and Media, The Sociology of Culture, Data Stories, 18 th Century Media: Print and Theater, Transnational Feminisms, Contemporary American Literature.
• Financial Support and Research Assistantships: Full-time and part-time students receive partial tuition remission and have opportunities to act as paid research assistants to faculty members on a variety of projects. For example: creating digital and conventional archive; editing a range of documents, from textbooks to scholarly articles and assisting with documentation.
• Post-Graduation Placement: Graduates pursue a range of academic and professional careers after completing the M.A. in Literary and Cultural Studies. They teach in secondary institutions and colleges as well as pursue professional careers in marketing, business, nonprofit, and publishing. The program has placed students in non-academic positions at the Utah Symphony and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art as well as Ph.D. programs at the University of California at Irvine, University of Texas at Austin, Northwestern University, Brown University and Johns Hopkins University.
• The City:  The city of Pittsburgh, once the home of the nation's largest industrial production base, is also attractive to our students because of its remarkable working-class history and affordable cost of living. A number of cultural institutions within the city such as the Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, City of Asylum and The Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, along with strong university links to local community groups through the Center for University Outreach, collectively make Carnegie Mellon a productive place to explore the intersection of culture, politics, and society.

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Questions? Reach out to Jen Loughran , Assistant Director of Graduate Programs. 

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Faculty Spotlight

Mariam wassif, assistant professor of english.

Mariam teaches and writes about rhetoric, race, and material culture in the long eighteenth century and Romanticism. Her book-in-progress, “Poisoned Vestments”: Rhetoric and Material Culture in Britain and France, 1660-1820 , identifies an encounter between ancient rhetoric and commercial modernity across the canonical genres of the period, including poetry, drama, satire, and prose. In her public-facing work, Mariam is Communications Director for the Keats-Shelley Association of America.

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• University of Rochester Rare Books and Special Collections Our collections span a range of subjects and include printed, manuscript, audio, and visual material including books, letters, diaries, photographs, personal and business records, architectural drawings, maps, and more.
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