| This is the online version of the English Department
Graduate Handbook. Every effort has been made to make
the online version accurate. The official version of the
Handbook, however, is the printed copy available
in the English Dept. office. |
|
1. Purpose
of the Graduate Handbook
| This handbook is written to
explain the requirements, policies, and procedures of the English
Department graduate program. If you require this material in
another format or need special accommodations due to a disability,
please contact the English Department office at (805) 893-2639.
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2. Graduate
Study in English at UCSB
The Department of English offers
two closely related graduate programs: an MA/PhD
program for students who have completed the BA and a PhD
program for those who come to UCSB with an MA. Both programs
include extensive coursework in English, American, and Anglophone
literature, a language examination, two
qualifying examinations, and a doctoral dissertation.
The MA/PhD is designed as a five-year program. The PhD for
students who enter with an MA should take no more than four
years. Fellowship support is available for
particularly strong candidates in their first and/or last
years of graduate study. Additional support comes from teaching
assistantships. Most students become teaching assistants,
whether as section leaders in advanced literature courses
or as instructors in the Writing
Program, by their second year in the program, if not earlier.
Students entering either the
MA/PhD or the PhD program should be aware that they are undertaking
not only to deepen their enjoyment and understanding of literary
texts, modes, and movements but also to explore their potential
as interpreters, scholars, and, in most cases, teachers of
literature and language. They are embarking on a systematic
course of study designed to ensure an understanding of literary
history in both its canonical and non-canonical aspects and
to make them fully participating members of a community of
scholars and critics. |
3. The
M.A./Ph.D. Program
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3.1 Course
Requirements
The MA/PhD program requires
48 units of graduate coursework (4 units per course), all
of which must be taken for a letter grade. Thirty-six units,
including 20 chosen to fulfill the distribution requirement,
must be completed in the student's first two years before
taking the first qualifying exam, which also serves as the
Master's examination for students in this program. The remaining
12 units must be completed before submission of the dissertation
prospectus. It is university policy that graduate students
enroll for at least 12 units per quarter. Since students in
the MA/PhD program normally take only two courses per quarter
to fulfill program requirements, additional units of Engl.
597, or 599, which require no formal
work, must be added to bring units to 12 (see Sections. 5.5,
5.6). Students should enroll in Engl. 597
until they have passed the second qualifying
exam. Once advanced to candidacy, students
should enroll in Engl. 599. Students are, of course, welcome to take more than the required twelve courses, whether for a letter grade or pass/no pass.
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3.2 Distribution
Requirement
Students in the MA/PhD program
are required to take one course in each of Areas I through
V in their first two years (courses must be taken for a letter
grade and may be chosen from either of the two fields in each
Area). It is advisable to elect an Area V course as early
as possible.
| Areas |
Fields |
|
| Area I |
1. Medieval Literature
2. Renaissance Literature |
| Area II |
3. Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature
4. Romantic and Victorian Literature |
| Area III |
5. American Literature to 1865
6. American Literature from 1865 |
| Area IV |
7. Twentieth-Century Anglophone (including British)
8. American Race & Ethnic Studies |
| Area V |
9. General Theory
10. Theories of Genders and Sexualities
11. Literature & Theory of Technology/Media/Information |
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3.3 Normal
Progress for the M.A./Ph.D. Program
The MA/PhD normally takes
five years. Students in this program must take the first
qualifying examination no later than their sixth quarter
of residence and the second qualifying examination
no later than their tenth quarter (University policy mandates
that all graduate students advance to candidacy
by the close of their fourth year. However, normal progress
in the English program requires advancement at the beginning
of the fourth year). In addition, students must satisfy
theforeign language requirement as set
forth in Section 7. It is the responsibility of students to
ensure that they continue making normal progress in the program—i.e.,
to complete courses, satisfy language requirements, and pass
the first and second qualifying exams in timely fashion. There
is enough leeway in the program to allow for some flexibility
when there is evidence of promise in a student's record and
when the department has sufficient funding, but students should
realize that satisfactory progress toward the degree is usually
a precondition of assignment to teaching assistantships. The
following scheme shows how the requirements of the MA/PhD
program might be arranged in the five-year schedule:
| Year |
Fall |
Winter |
Spring |
| 1 |
2 Graduate Seminars |
2 Graduate Seminars |
2 Graduate Seminars
Language Exam |
| 2 |
2 Graduate Seminars
Language Exam |
1 Graduate Seminar |
First Qualifying (MA) Exam
Writing Program Training Course (501A) |
| 3 |
1 Graduate Seminar
Doctoral Colloquium
Writing Program Training Course (501B) |
1 Graduate Seminar
Doctoral Colloquium |
1 Graduate Seminar
Doctoral Colloquium |
| 4 |
Submit Dissertation Prospectus
Second Qualifying Exam |
Dissertation Begun |
Dissertation Work |
| 5 |
Dissertation Work |
Dissertation Work |
Dissertation Filed |
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3.4 Incomplete
Courses
Filing for an incomplete requires
the signature of the course instructor on an Incomplete petition,
the return of the petition to the Registrar, and the deposit
of a copy of the form with the Staff
Graduate Adviser. Students can carry no more than eight
units of "Incomplete" courses at a time. In keeping with the
policy of Graduate Division to block further
TA assignments when this number is exceeded, students carrying
more than eight units of incompletes will lose their TAship
until the quarter after they catch up. For reasons of fairness,
students with more than eight units of incompletes who are
on fellowship rather than TAship should expect to lose a commensurate
amount of TAship in the future. In order to disallow "informal"
or de facto incompletes, faculty are discouraged from giving
blank grades or "no grades" (every student must thus receive
a letter grade, an "F," or an Incomplete). In addition, Incompletes
taken prior to the first qualifying exam must be completed
by the end of the quarter following passing the first qualifying
examination. Failure to meet this condition will incur the
same loss of TA assignment noted above. Beyond these absolute
rules governing incompletes, it should be pointed out that
students who technically stay within the bounds of the eight-unit-incomplete
rule but let their incompletes lag on more than a year or
who regularly carry the maximum number of incompletes will
in times of funding exigency—as an unavoidable circumstance
of practice rather than of policy—have a lower priority
for uninterrupted TAship support than students making normal
progress (see statement on "normal progress in the program"
in Section 3.3 above). Students in such
straits may thus want to avail themselves of the strategy
of asking their instructor to change the grade-status of an
incomplete course from letter-grade to "S/U" (assuming that
work performed in the course prior to the final paper was
"satisfactory"). The advantage of such a strategy is that
courses could be "completed" based on work already done; the
disadvantage is that such courses would not count for credit
toward the degree (see Section 3.1). In
addition, of course, students with legitimate academic, personal,
or medical reasons may petition the Graduate
Committee for an exception to the rules.
Note: in general, the program has two reasons for linking
incompletes to funding—neither of which is punitive.
First, the program's primary responsibility is to students
as students rather than as teaching assistants; where it is
evident that a student is unable to complete a significant
number of courses, the program is compelled to relieve the
student of extra teaching work until coursework is back on
track. Second, while the program tries to make its funding
go as far as possible to as many students as possible, in
a scarce-resources universe there must be some criteria for
prioritizing funding; and the most ethical and rational criterion—as
well as the one that gives students the most self-determination—is
"normal progress." The timely completion
of coursework is a crucial factor in making normal progress
in the program.
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3.5 Normative Time
Normative time is the number of quarters considered to be reasonable by the faculty of an individual department for completion of a doctorate by a full-time student in that program. Normative time (set by Graduate Division) should not be confused with Normal Progress (set by the English Department). The Graduate Division has set our normative time to degree as 21 quarters for the MA/PhD program, 18 quarters for the PhD program. Further, students are required to advance to candidacy within 12 quarters (MA/Phd students) or 9 quarters (PhD students) of entering the program. Only Fall, Winter & Spring count toward your quarter total, Summer does not. Students beyond normative time lose priority for central and departmental funding, and can be denied funding and/or student employment (TAships) at the university.
When students must deal with emergencies that prevent them from pursuing their graduate studies for an extended period of time, their normative time is usually extended by petitioning for a leave of absence.When students take an approved leave of absence for medical, family emergency, military service, or pregnancy/parenting reasons, Graduate Division will extend the student's normative period by one quarter at a time up to a maximum of three quarters of leave. More leaves or periods of withdrawal from classes will not stop the normative time clock; the deadline stands. Quarters of Research Leave and the Filing Fee Quarter of Leave count toward expiration of a student's normative time clock. |
3.6 PhD Classification
Graduate students are classified by the registrar’s office in three categories based on their level of advancement and/or time in the program. This classification is independent of departmental or university normative time. Most students are either P1- graduate student (not ABD) or P2- graduate student advanced to candidacy. Once you advance to candidacy, you have three years (9 quarters) to complete your degree. If you do not file your dissertation at the end of the 9 th quarter, you are converted to P3 status. Students in P3 status are not eligible to apply for central funding.
| PhD Classification: |
- P1 Status (Not advanced):
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- Eligible to apply for central funding
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- Eligible to apply for extramural funding
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- Eligible to apply for employment (e.g., TAship)
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- Begins the quarter after advancement to candidacy
- Eligible to apply for central funding
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- Eligible to apply for extramural funding
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- Eligible to apply for employment (e.g., TAship)
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- Begins 10 registered quarters after advancement to candidacy
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- Not eligible to apply for central funding
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- Eligible to apply for extramural funding
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- Eligible to apply for employment (e.g., TAship)
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4. The
Ph.D. Program
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4.1 Course
Requirements
The PhD program, which is
only for students who enter UCSB with an MA in English or
a closely related field from another institution, requires
24 units of graduate coursework (4 units per course), all
of which must be taken for a letter grade. No credit for graduate
courses can be transferred from other institutions (though
courses taken elsewhere may count toward the distribution
requirement [see below]). Students in the PhD program have
the option of taking their first qualifying exam
either at the end of their third or fourth quarter in the
program. In the former instance, at least 12 units must be
completed before the exam; in the latter instance, at least
sixteen units must be completed before the exam. It is university
policy that graduate students enroll for at least twelve units
per quarter. Since students in the PhD program normally take
only one or two courses per quarter to fulfill program requirements,
additional units of Engl. 597 or 599,
which require no formal work, must be added to bring total
units up to 12 (see Sections 5.5, 5.6). Students are, of course, welcome to take more than the required six courses, whether for a letter grade or pass/no pass. Indeed, in the PhD program, which requires relatively few courses, it may well be in the interest of most students to go beyond that minimal requirement as a way both of profiting more fully from the resources of UCSB and of better preparing for dissertation work, the job market, and a career in literary study.
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4.2 Distribution
Requirement
Students in the PhD program
have two years to fulfill an individually tailored version
of the MA/PhD distribution requirement described in Section
3.2. Courses taken for a grade at the student's MA institution
count toward the requirement (but not toward the 24 units
needed to complete the program) if the following arrangement
is made: in an individual meeting with the Graduate
Adviser during orientation week, students in the PhD program
use their MA transcript to negotiate a "contract" for fulfilling
the distribution requirement. For example, a student who earned
grades in graduate-level "Shakespeare" and "Wordsworth" courses
at their MA institution could be excused from having to take
courses in Areas I and II.
Such a student would then need to elect only three courses
to complete the distribution requirement, one each in Areas
III, IV, and V.
(However, all students must take a course from our faculty
in Area V even if they have taken theory previously. It is
advisable to elect at least one such course as early as possible.)
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4.3 Normal
Progress for the Ph.D. Program
The PhD program normally takes
four years. Students in this program have the option of taking
the first qualifying examination at the end
of either their third or fourth quarter of residence. The
second qualifying examination must then
be taken no later than the seventh quarter. (University
policy mandates that all graduate students advance
to candidacy by the close of their fourth year. However,
normal progress in the English program requires advancement
at the beginning of the third year for students entering with
the MA). In addition, students must satisfy the foreign
language requirement as set forth in Section 7. It is the responsibility of students to ensure that
they continue making normal progress in the program—i.e.,
to complete courses, fulfill language requirements, and pass
the first and second qualifying exams in timely fashion. There
is enough leeway in the program to allow for some flexibility
when there is evidence of promise in a student's record and
when the department has sufficient funding, but students should
realize that satisfactory progress toward the degree is usually
a precondition of assignment to teaching assistantships.
The following two schemes show how the requirements of the
PhD program might be arranged in the four-year schedule (other
schemes are possible; many PhD students take more than the
minimum requirement of courses as dictated by their interests):
| Normal Progress for the PhD Program, Two Possible
Schemes: |
| Year |
Fall |
Winter |
Spring |
| 1 |
2 Graduate Seminars |
1 Graduate Seminar |
First Qualifying Exam
Language Exam |
| 2 |
2 Graduate Seminars
Doctoral Colloquium
Language Exam |
1 Graduate Seminar
Doctoral Colloquium |
Writing Program Training Course (501A)
Doctoral Colloquium |
| 3 |
Submit Dissertation Prospectus
Second Qualifying Exam
Writing Program Training Course (501B) |
Dissertation Begun |
Dissertation Work |
| 4 |
Dissertation Work |
Dissertation Work |
Dissertation Filed |
|
| Year |
Fall |
Winter |
Spring |
| 1 |
2 Graduate Seminars |
1 Graduate Seminar |
1 Graduate Seminar
Language Exam |
| 2 |
First Qualifying Exam
Doctoral Colloquium
Language Exam |
2 Graduate Seminars
Doctoral Colloquium |
Writing Program Training Course (501A)
Doctoral Colloquium |
| 3 |
Submit Dissertation Prospectus
Second Qualifying Exam
Writing Program Training Course (501B) |
Dissertation Begun |
Dissertation Work |
| 4 |
Dissertation Work |
Dissertation Work |
Dissertation Filed |
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5. Independent
Studies, Colloquia, Special Courses
| Independent studies courses
are designed to give students greater flexibility in planning
their programs of study. At the beginning of each quarter, petitions
for these courses may be obtained from the Staff
Graduate Adviser. After the instructor's approval has been
obtained for the proposed course and a written description of
the project has been approved by the student's
adviser, students may enroll in the class by following the
prescribed registration procedures. |
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5.1 English
297—Graduate Tutorial with Required Attendance at an
Undergraduate Course (4 units)
Undergraduate courses taken
for degree credit by graduate students must be taken under
the number 297 and will include such modifications as thought
suitable by the instructor to satisfy graduate requirements.
Students in the MA/PhD program may take no more than 4 units
of English 297, usually before the first qualifying examination.
English 297 is not available to students in the PhD program.
All students may audit undergraduate courses with the instructor's
permission.
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5.2 English
500—Directed Teaching (4 units)
Continuing instruction in
the teaching of literature courses. Teaching Assistants must
register for this course and will receive a S/U grade. The
instructor is the TA Supervisor. Units earned in English 500
do not count toward degree requirements.
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5.3 English
591—Doctoral Colloquium (1 unit)
Generally to be taken by students
following the first qualifying exam; any student may attend.
Provides support for graduate students in the period when
they are developing their dissertation idea. The focus is
on research in the humanities at a very practical level. Units
earned do not count toward degree requirements.
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5.3.1 English 592—Transcriptions Colloquium (1 unit)
G ives students 1) an introduction to the hardware and software used in advanced web-page design; 2) an overview of the intellectual issues of "digital culture;" 3) a context for developing a web-authoring project. Units earned do not count toward degree requirements. |
5.3.2 English 593—Graduate Technology Colloquium (1 unit)
Course provides guidance, training, a forum, and a common center for the various technical research endeavors engaged in by student assistants. |
5.3.3 English 594—ACGC Colloquium (1 unit)
C ourse explores connections between theorizations of the nature and history of globalization and recent reconceptualizations of American literary and cultural studies with an eye to exploring issues for future research into potentially productive intersections. |
5.3.4 English 595—EMC Colloquium (1 unit)
C ourse trains students in the use of EMC databases and courses; web page design; colloquia and conference organization. Includes an exploration of research facilities both on and off campus. |
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5.4 English
596—Directed Reading and Research (4 units)
Students wishing to work on
an independent studies project under the supervision of a
faculty member should meet with the instructor and work out
a reading list for the quarter. A written proposal must be
approved by the Graduate Adviser
prior to enrollment. Courses must be taken for a letter grade
and are usually restricted to the interval between the first
and second qualifying exams. 596 courses should be directed
toward helping to define the dissertation area. Students may
take no more than 8 units of 596.
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5.5 English
597—Individual Study for Examination (1-12 units)
Students may take up to 12
units per quarter of 597. A 597 course must be taken S/U and
does not count toward a degree. The instructor should be the
student's adviser.
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5.6 English
599—Dissertation Research and Preparation (1-12 units)
Only students who have passed
the second qualifying examination and been advanced to candidacy
can register for a 599 course. During the time students are
in the Doctoral Candidacy Fee Offset Program (see 11.1
below) they must continue to remain registered for 12 units—those
who are TAs in 500 and 599; students who
are not teaching in 12 units of 599. The grading option is
S/U and the instructor is the dissertation chair.
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6. Coursework
in Other Departments
With the approval of their faculty advisor and the Graduate Committee, students may count some graduate work done in other departments toward their degrees in English. However, at least 40 units out of the required 48 units for the MA/PhD program (that is, 10 out of the required 12 courses) and at least 20 units out of the required 24 units for the PhD program (5 out of the required 6 courses) must be taken in the English Department.
This work should have a significant relation to the student’s major interests in English. A student of English Renaissance literature might, for example, take a graduate course in sixteenth-century English history or in sixteenth-century French literature or in Renaissance art history. Such interdisciplinary work may be done at any time in a student’s graduate career. In connection with coursework in other departments, note that, by petition to the Graduate Committee/Graduate Division and after consultation with the committee chair, a faculty member from another department may serve as the third member on the examining committee for the second qualifying exam and/or the dissertation committee. |
7. Foreign
Language Requirement
Sometime during their first two years in the program, all students must demonstrate their working competence in one of the following foreign languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish, or Latin. Students are advised to select from this list a language having particular relevance to their individual areas of concentration. Other languages than these five may be substituted by petition in cases where the language has a clear relevance to the student’s intended program of study and where we can find an appropriate examiner.
The department urges students to give early consideration to the language requirement and to confer with their advisor about the appropriateness of particular languages to their research and teaching interests. Depending on their particular field of study, students are advised that additional language training may be helpful to their scholarly work and may even be expected by colleagues in their field. The language requirement for the PhD in English at UCSB should thus be considered rather as a bare minimum than as an indication of all the foreign language training that any particular student may need.
The requirement may be fulfilled in one of two ways:
1) by passing a written translation exam or
2) by passing with a grade of B+ or better either one graduate literature course or one upper-division literature course taught in the foreign language.
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7.1 Method 1 —Translation Examination
Language examinations are held twice per year, early in the fall and spring quarters. Students will translate from the foreign language into English passages from the kind of material they will encounter in their professional lives. This will mean the translation of two passages: one of non-fictional prose dealing with a literary topic, the other drawn directly from a literary work (or in the case of Latin, two passages from different authors). The two texts together will normally have a combined total of about 600-700 words. Both passages must be translated in full within the two-hour exam time. A high degree of accuracy will be required. The use of one dictionary is allowed. Candidates wishing to take the examination must notify the Staff Graduate Advisor at least three weeks in advance of the posted date (since arrangements must often be made with faculty in other departments to create and grade exams in particular languages).
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7.2 Method 2 —Coursework
Candidates must pass, with a grade of B+ or better, either one graduate literature course or one upper-division literature course taught in the foreign language. Students choosing this option are required to submit a course syllabus, in advance of taking the course, to the graduate committee. Foreign literature courses taught at another university and/or taken prior to entry into our program may be accepted at the graduate committee’s discretion, with the reservation that no course taken more than two years prior to entry will be accepted.
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7.3 Preparing
for the Language Exam
For students who wish to begin
a language or review former language skills, the university
sometimes offers introductory courses as well as accelerated
sequences designed for graduate students. French 11A and B
and German 1G and 2G are directed toward the acquisition of
reading knowledge, and enrollment is restricted to graduate
students. No graduate credit is given for these courses. The
following texts have proved useful to students reviewing for
examinations on their own:
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French for Reading (Sandberg and Tatham)
German for Reading Knowledge (Jannach)
Italian for You (Lennie and Grego) |
The Staff Graduate Adviser
keeps sample language exams. |
8. The
First Qualifying Examination
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8.1 Concept
of Exam
The first qualifying exam
is designed to test the student's familiarity with a range
of literature at once various enough to encourage breadth
of learning and focused enough to allow for the demonstration
of intellectual grasp. Students are expected to complement
their knowledge of individual works with a sense of broader
historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts as well as
with the ability to apply the kinds of critical tools used
by professional scholars today. For the purposes of the exam,
the spectrum of literature written in English is broken up
into ten fields as specified in Section 3.2.
Each field has its own reading
list, and is supervised by its own faculty group in consultation
with student representatives (chosen from veterans of the
exam). Students choose three of these ten fields to be tested
in, and prepare for the exam by studying the appropriate reading
lists along with supplementary historical, critical, or theoretical
materials. It should be emphasized that students will be expected
not only to be familiar with the significant details of the
works but also to be able to think critically and coherently
about them. The presumption of the department is that any
student accepted into its graduate program should be able
with necessary preparation to pass the first qualifying exam
satisfactorily and move ahead to advanced stages of graduate
study.
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8.2 Scheduling
of Exam
The first qualifying exam
is administered twice yearly during the exam period in fall
and spring quarters. Students in the MA/PhD program
must take the exam no later than the end of their sixth quarter
after fulfilling course, distribution, and language requirements
as specified in Sections 3.1 to 3.3.
By the end of the quarter before the exam (winter quarter
for a spring exam, summer for a fall exam), MA/PhD students
must register with the Staff
Graduate Adviser the three fields they wish to be examined
in. Students in the PhD program have the
option of taking the first qualifying exam at the end of their
third or fourth quarters after fulfulling course and language
requirements as set forth in Sections 4.1
and 4.3. As in the case of MA/PhD students,
PhD students must register their choice of exam fields with
the Staff Graduate Adviser no later than the end of the quarter
before the exam; no switches in fields will then be allowed.
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8.3 Format
of Exam
The first qualifying Examination
is an oral exam, 2 hours in length (with post-exam consultation
for faculty of 20-30 minutes). Students will be examined in
three fields of their choice. Each field will be represented
by one faculty member affiliated with that field. Each field
is addressed for 40 minutes during the exam. The type of questioning
will vary between questions designed to elicit a brief response
and those inviting a longer discussion; the proportion is
to be left to each committee's discretion, on the understanding
that departmental policy mandates a combination of both. Fields
will usually be examined sequentially.
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8.4 Preparing
for the Exam
Candidates should be advised
that the first qualifying examination is not simply the culmination
of coursework but a separate challenge. Graduate seminars
will help to prepare students for the exam by developing their
literary sophistication and their detailed knowledge of particular
subjects, but seminars alone are unlikely to provide the necessary
amplitude of coverage; nor should the student choose seminars
simply with coverage in mind. The process of independent reading
for the first qualifying exam should be started as early as
possible in a candidate's career.
Exam preparation should include:
- Study of the works on the appropriate reading lists.
- A systematic survey of literary history and relevant aspects
of intellectual, cultural, and social history with focus
on the student's intended exam fields but also with some
attention to periods before, between, and after those fields
(e.g., a review of the introductory sections of the Norton
Anthology of English Literature and the Norton Anthology
of American Literature).
- Considerable exposure to critical theory and practice
of the last decades (e.g., perusal of 20th Century Literary
Criticism, ed. David Lodge; Contemporary Literary
Criticism: Literary and Cultural Studies, 2nd edition,
ed. Robert Con Davis and Ronald Schleifer) as well as to
major critical developments within the student's intended
fields (e.g., perusal of Redrawing the Boundaries: The
Transformation of English and American Literary Studies,
ed. Stephen Greenblatt and Giles Gunn).
- Frequent consultation of reference works (e.g., the latest
editions of A Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H.
Abrams, the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics,
and A Handbook of Literature by Holman, Thrall, and
Hibbard).
- Students electing one or more of the non- or trans-period
fields (8, 9,
and 10) should
be sure to pay some attention to the historical development(s)
of the field as a whole in relation to other literary, intellectual,
and cultural developments.
- Questions about particular field-exams or field reading
lists may be directed to the chair of the relevant field
group. Appropriate questions, for example, might have to
do with finding texts, clarifying ambiguities in the assigned
readings, seeking advice on supplementary readings, etc.
(Of course, students are always free to consult individual
faculty members about more substantive, intellectual matters.)
Inappropriate questions would be those that place faculty
members in the position of predicting what materials or
kinds of questions will be emphasized in that year's exam.
- In addition to the above steps, many students in the past
have found it useful to form reading groups among themselves.
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8.5 Evaluation
of the Exam
Immediately following the
two hours of examination, the examiners will confer together
(without the student) and assign a grade for the examination
as a whole: either Pass or Fail. The student will then return
and the exam committee will inform the student of the outcome.
A paragraph of evaluation commenting on performance in individual
fields, including comments on specific strengths and weakness
of the exam, will be composed by the Examination Chair and
forwarded to the Graduate Committee. This
paragraph will be made available to the student (usually within
a week or two) as part of a letter from the Graduate
Adviser.
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8.6 Invitation
to Continue to the Ph.D.
The Graduate
Committee will consider the seminar record together with
the oral examination evaluation and decide whether the student
will continue to the PhD, re-prepare one or more fields for
re-examination, or be asked to leave the program (with or
without the MA).
If a student is deemed to have failed the exam, he or she will have the opportunity to be re-examined on all or part of the material. This may, but need not, be delayed until the next exam period. The full examining committee will be convened for the retake.
R esults of the exam and, where appropriate, an invitation to move on to the doctorate are reported to the student in a confidential letter from the Graduate Advisor. Students who have questions about the results of their exam are welcome to consult the examining committee members and/or the Graduate Advisor.
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9. The
Second Qualifying Examination and Dissertation Prospectus
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9.1
The Examination, Prospectus, Reading List, And First-Chapter Conference
At the appropriate time in their careers here -- that is, no later than the tenth quarter for students who have entered the program with a B.A. or the seventh quarter for students who have entered with an M.A.-- students will sit down with their dissertation committee for a ninety-minute conference on the dissertation project based on a four-to-five-page prospectus and a bibliography of at least fifty works (and up to as many as you wish) to be constructed by the candidate in consultation with her/his committee and pre-approved by the Graduate Committee (see 9.2). The prospectus should define the dissertation topic, its initial critical questions, and its relationship to existing scholarship and may also describe likely chapter divisions. The readings lists will include works most immediately germane to the dissertation but will also represent the wider professional area within which the dissertation is likely to be received or in which it seeks to make an intervention. Depending on the nature of the project, this wider area may take the form of a literary period or genre (including, in both cases, secondary criticism), theoretical field, or other construct that reflects an existing or emergent professional field. Whatever field the student chooses for the wider area, it should not simply be a list of works she or he would be reading anyway for the dissertation. Rather, it should be a list of works that constitute a larger and distinct field within which the dissertation might be placed and interpreted. (To facilitate review by both the examination committee and the Graduate Committee, students should identify with separate section headings the various parts of the bibliography – e.g., "primary works related directly to the dissertation," "secondary works related directly to the dissertation," "the wider area") The bulk of the dissertation conference will consist of a conversation about the dissertation in which faculty help the student to think through the concept of the project, probe problems with its structure or materials, and understand its relation to other issues and methods of current professional interest. The reading lists will be designed to help with this conversation. Rather than pose questions designed to test "coverage" of the bibliography, faculty will use a portion of the conference to ask students to think about their dissertation topic or approach in relation to adjacent or contrasting works in their field.
The dissertation conference will not be primarily an event that a student "passes" or "fails," though its completion will mark official advancement to candidacy. Instead, it will figure most importantly as the beginning of an ongoing process of supervising the development of the dissertation. In some cases, the conversation at the conference will lead to suggestions for a revised prospectus or additional readings that are significant enough to warrant a second dissertation conference sometime later. Whether there is a follow-up conference or not, all students will be expected to meet for a "first-chapter" conference with their dissertation committee. This is a conference that will occur after a first chapter (any chapter) in the dissertation is written. The purpose of the "first-chapter" conference is to provide a means for the faculty and student to focus on how the project is actually taking shape and any difficulties that have emerged.
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9.2 Steps Leading Up to the Exam
- After the first qualifying exam, students should enroll in Engl. 591, the Doctoral Colloquium (see 5.3), and begin thinking about their dissertation topic and the areas of specialization appropriate to it. Early in the quarter after passing the first qualifying exam the student should meet with his or her advisor to discuss these plans, what courses would facilitate defining more precisely the dissertation topic, and what professors might offer most helpful guidance as chair and committee members of the student’s second qualifying examination. Students might look over the department’s library of representative, past prospectuses and bibliographies before preparing their own materials. In consultation with the Graduate Advisor, the student chooses the three members (including chair) of the examining committee, who are selected on the basis of the student’s areas of specialization. (A fourth member may be added when beneficial). At the student’s request, the committee may include one faculty member from another UCSB department or from another UC campus, though not as chair. [If the third committee member is from outside the UC system, attach a short request memo to the PhD Form I. The memo should be addressed to the Chair of the Graduate Council and include the Graduate Advisor’s endorsement. Affiliated faculty are considered to be in the department.] The orals committee will usually serve as the subsequent dissertation committee, which requires at least three faculty members, though changes can be made as the dissertation evolves. A faculty person from outside the UC system may be included without petition on the dissertation committee as an extra, fourth member. Arrangements for a non-UCSB faculty member’s attendance at the oral exam are the student’s responsibility.
- The dissertation prospectus and reading list must first be approved by the examining committee, and then be submitted to the Graduate Committee for approval. Under normal circumstances, prospectuses will not be read during very late spring or summer. The prospectus and bibliography must be accompanied by an approval form bearing the signatures of the examining committee. These materials should be transmitted to the Graduate Committee via the Staff Graduate Advisor.
- Consideration of the prospectus and bibliography by the Graduate Committee usually takes one to two weeks. The primary function of the Graduate Committee in this circumstance is to ensure that a student’s prospectus and list fall within certain, flexible norms making them at once intellectually sound and generally comparable to those of other students. Besides asking for any required revisions, the Committee may also suggest other elaborations in a non-binding way. The Graduate Advisor will communicate the Committee’s decision and suggestions to the student as soon as possible and the student may request a meeting with the Advisor for further discussion.
- Exam times are made public. (According to University policies, interested faculty not on the examining committee may attend but normally will not question.) Students are advised to consult in advance with the members of their examining committee to gain a feel for the nature and structure of a PhD oral exam.
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10. Advancement
to Candidacy
| After the student has passed
the second qualifying examination, an advancement
to candidacy fee must be paid to the cashier. The receipt entitles
the student to faculty privileges at the library and, when recorded
at the Graduate Division, makes the student
eligible for the Doctoral Candidacy Fee Offset for the following
quarter. |
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10.1 Doctoral
Candidacy Fee Offset (DCFO)
The status of the Doctoral Candidacy Fee Offset is at present uncertain. In the past, Graduate Division offset the quarterly educational fee for students who had advanced to candidacy and who had been in the program no more than six years. After normative time expired, fees reverted to the full amount. The Doctoral Candidacy Fee Offset is no longer an entitlement, though the Graduate Division has to date partially funded the program on a year-to-year basis. Students must apply for the DCFO.
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11. The
Dissertation
| The dissertation should be an
original contribution to criticism or scholarship. Dissertations
in English are usually between 200 to 300 pages long. Copies
of all dissertations written at UCSB may be seen in The Special
Collections Department of the library. Students may also wish
to check Dissertation Abstracts in the Reference Department. |
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11.1 Filing
the Dissertation
Tor information on filing
and the precise format for the dissertation (paper, margins,
pagination, footnotes, etc.) consult the booklet "Guide to
Filing Theses and Dissertations at UCSB" available from the
English Department Staff
Graduate Adviser or from the Graduate
Division.
Congratulations!
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12. Registration
| Every graduate student must
enroll each quarter in a minimum of 12.0 units, according to
deadlines published in the Schedule of Classes. The enrollment
process includes telephone registration (RBT) for courses and
payment of fees and all other outstanding financial obligations.
Each step must be completed at a specific time or a $50 to $100
late fee will be assessed. Complete details of the registration
procedures are included in the registration packet. Before registering,
students should fill out progress reports, including their schedules
for the next quarter, and meet with their advisers
to discuss progress to date and future plans, and to obtain
their adviser's approval. These reports go to the Staff
Graduate Adviser. |
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12.1 Schedule
Adjustment
After enrollment, students
may adjust class schedules, up to certain deadlines, by adding
and/or dropping classes and changing grading options. Changes
are made through RBT (Registraton By Telephone). During the
first week of classes, students are allowed to adjust their
schedule without paying a fee. After this week, three dollars
is charged for each change.
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13. Leaves
of Absence
| Continuous registration is expected
of all graduate students admitted to UCSB in Winter 1990 or
later. Under special circumstances, leaves of absence may be
requested from the Dean of the Graduate Division.
Petitions for leaves of absence may be obtained from the Graduate
Division or the Staff Graduate
Adviser and must be signed by the Faculty Graduate
Adviser and the Graduate Division. A fee is charged for
leave petitions. |
14. Deadlines
The Schedule of Classes includes
the official
calendar for each quarter. Consult it for the exact dates
of all quarterly deadlines. Consult the Calendar of Graduate
Program Events prepared by the Staff
Graduate Adviser for other departmental events and important
deadlines such as exam sign-up dates.
- Changing grading option: Last day of instruction
- Dropping a course: Last day of instruction
- Fee payment: $50 fee assessed if fees are not paid on
time.
- Incomplete petitions (or extensions of incompletes): Last
day of exams
- Leaves of Absence: Petition must be filed before the quarter
begins.
- Registration: Must be completed during RBT appointment
times on or before the deadline published in the Schedule
of Classes or a $50 late fee will be assessed. At the end
of the first week of classes, a student who hasn't registered
lapses status.
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15. The
Job Search and Job Placement Committee
Each year, an appointed faculty
member serves as the Job Placement Officer, with a committee
of several other faculty, to assist students with the current
academic job search. Each student seeking a job is assigned
to an individual placement supervisor who will oversee the
student's search.
Early in the fall quarter of
each year, before the Modern Language Association job
list is published with its announcement of academic openings
for the following year, and again in the spring quarter, the
Placement Committee will call a meeting of all interested
students, those completing the PhD as well as those looking
ahead to the time when they will be entering the scholarly
marketplace. Subjects for discussion will include the drafting
of a curriculum vitae and cover letter (what to include? what
to stress?), the preparation of a dossier (when to begin?
from whom to seek letters of recommendation?), strategies
for job interviews (what questions to expect? common pitfalls?),
how to determine what samples of work to send upon request
(dissertation chapter? published offprint?), and how to make
use of possible faculty contacts at other universities. Advice
about the preparation and circulation of manuscripts will
be shared at these meetings as well as advice about the submission
of papers to be read at scholarly conferences.
In the spring quarter, students
expecting to be on the job market in the following year should
begin soliciting letters of recommendation from faculty in
the English Department and the Writing
Program. Also, a class visit by the student's thesis supervisor
(or another person in their field) should be arranged, so
that the supervisor can write a detailed account about the
student's ability to teach material as close to his/her area
of specialization as possible. The dossier should include
three letters from specialists in their academic discipline;
one letter from such a specialist discussing pedagogy; and
a letter from someone in the Writing Program.
Several meetings are held in
Fall quarter to cover application materials and interview
techniques; students also have the opportunity for a mock
interview with faculty prior to the MLA
convention.
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15.1 Counseling
and Career Services
Enrolled graduate students
at UCSB are eligible for a wide variety of personal and career-related
services at the Counseling
and Career Services Center (Bldg. 599). Personal appointments
may be scheduled with counsellors at the Center to discuss
topics like vita writing, interviewing, job search strategies,
and alternative careers for PhD's. Graduate students may also
establish an "educational reference file" or placement file
at the Center or stop by to review the job vacancy listings,
employer directories and career literature available in the
Resources Room.
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16. Financial
Support
As suggested below, financial
support comes in many forms. In whatever form, support is
linked to a student's progress toward the completion of the
program in which he or she is enrolled. Normally, departmental
support will not be continued beyond the fifth year for students
in the MA/PhD program or the fourth year for students in the
PhD program.
For up-to-date, extra-departmental financial support information,
consult the Graduate Division's Web site
for financial support, The Source. The address is:
http://www.graddiv.ucsb.edu/Source/
The Source includes national fellowship competition
announcements, campus competitions and deadlines, hot links
to funding sources and databases, access to the IRIS database,
including search capability.
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16.1 Out of
State Tuition
Some campus fellowships pay
out-of-state tuition during a student's entering year, and
the English department can also occasionally fund a very limited
number of partial tuition fellowships for first-year students.
Incoming students are expected to take immediate steps to
establish residency so that they will not be required to pay
tuition after the first year. New residency laws stipulate
not only continuous residence in California for a period of
one year, but also financial independence from parents. Students
wishing to establish residency are urged to see the Campus
Residency Deputy in the Registrar's Office as soon as possible.
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16.2 Departmental
Fellowships
Because departmental funds
for fellowships are extremely limited, awards tend to be offered
to incoming students of unusual promise. Applications for
fellowships are reviewed by the Graduate Committee,
whose recommendations are then sent to the Department Chair
for final acceptance. Fellowship applications are evaluated
on the basis of the student's past academic record, Graduate
Record Examination results, the writing sample, letters of
support, and professional promise. In addition to fellowships
awarded by the department, a number of other fellowships administered
centrally by Graduate Division are available
to incoming students on a competitive basis and on the nomination
of the department. These include the Chancellor's Fellowship;
Humanities Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, the Regents Special Fellowship,
Doctoral Scholars Fellowship, Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship,
and Graduate Opportunity Fellowships. The last three named
are diversity fellowships. All applicants for admission are
automatically reviewed as possible candidates for these awards.
No special application is required.
- Graduate Student Fee Fellowship
Awarded to continuing students based on both merit and financial need, the Graduate Student Fee Fellowship provides up to three quarters of fee payment in an academic year for eligible students. International students may also apply for this fellowship (for in-state fees only). A special financial need determination form is required of international students who apply for this fellowship. Apply in spring of the previous year for a three-quarter fellowship. The English Department administers these fellowships.
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16.3
UCSB Graduate Division Fellowships for Continuing Students
(Graduate
Division fellowships are available only to those within
normative time—6 years for those who entered the English
Department with the MA; 7 years for those who entered with
the BA.)
F or more details and application forms for the following fellowships, please regularly monitor the Graduate Division web site for funding, www.graddiv.ucsb.edu/financial
-
Graduate Opportunity Fellowships
Awarded to new and continuing underrepresented doctoral students following departmental nomination of candidates to Graduate Division. Students may receive this award twice during their graduate career. Annual stipend of $14,000 plus payment of fees and health insurance.
- Dean’s Fellowship
Awarded to continuing doctoral students following department nomination of candidates to Graduate Division. Students may receive this award twice during their graduate career. Annual stipend of $14,000, plus payment of fees and health insurance for all awardees. The call for application is issued in winter of the previous year.
The following one-year or one-quarter fellowships all typically have application deadlines in mid to late March of the prior year. Check the Graduate Division web site for current applications and deadlines. www.graddiv.ucsb.edu/financial
- President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship
A one-year diversity fellowship. $14,000 fellowship with payment of in-state fees and health insurance for students in their dissertation year. Also provides research support funds and travel funds in the amount of $500 to present research at another campus of the University of California or other California research institutions. The call for applications is usually winter of the previous year.
- Humanities Research Assistantship
Provides one-year research grants for domestic doctoral students in the humanities. Students may receive this award twice during their graduate career. The award provides a $14,000 stipend plus in-state fees and health insurance for one year. The call for applications is issued in winter of the previous year.
- Graduate Research Mentorship Program (GRMP)
A diversity fellowship. Provides one-year research grants of $14,000 plus in-state fees and health insurance for doctoral candidates for one year. Students may receive this award twice during their graduate career. The call for applications is issued in winter of the previous year.
- Graduate Division Dissertation Fellowship
Awarded to advanced graduate students in final stages of writing the dissertation. Payment of in-state fees plus $5,000 for one quarter. The call for applications comes once, in Winter quarter, for any quarter of the following year.
- Humanities/Social Science Research Grant Program
Provides grants of up to $2,000 for research-related expenses. May be used in conjunction with other graduate student support. MA and PhD students in the humanities and social sciences are eligible. International students may apply for this grant. To apply, students propose an original research project and list direct expenses that will require funding. A subcommittee of the Graduate Council awards grants on the basis of the feasibility and validity of the student’s proposed project, the student’s academic qualifications, and the significance and originality of the project. The call for applications comes in Winter quarter of the previous year.
- General Affiliates Dissertation Fellowships
These $3,000 awards are given to doctoral candidates to support final stages of dissertation preparation, and defray travel, printing, photocopying or living expenses. Merit will be assessed in terms of quality of the proposed topic and the candidate’s academic credentials. The call for applications comes in Winter quarter of the previous year.
- Kline Fund for International Studies Award
Award given for a project or program of studies which promotes international understanding and world peace. This UC-wide competition provides an award of between $500 and $3,000. Matching funds are provided by Graduate Division if a UCSB student is awarded.
- Graduate Council Travel Grants
Provide travel funds for doctoral graduate students (advanced to candidacy) who have been invited to present papers at a prestigious national meeting or to give performances. International students may apply for this grant. Only registered graduate students who have advanced to candidacy or are about to advance to candidacy (or candidates on approved leave of absence) are eligible to apply. Money is available for transportation only (no lodging or per diem). Maximum funding is as follows: $350 California; $685 All other U.S. locations, Mexico, and Canada; $1,030 Puerto Rico and Europe; $1,200 Central or South America; $1,400 Asia, Africa, Middle East, and South Pacific.
The only allowable expenses are the actual cost of the airline ticket or ground transportation, and shared use of transportation (original receipts are required) to connect airport and hotel up to the total amount granted. A small number of international travel awards are provided. An abstract of the paper, a copy of the formal invitation to participate (or other verification of participation), and a letter of support or endorsement from the thesis advisor must accompany the application. The application, which is submitted to the Graduate Division, must be signed by the applicant, the Graduate Advisor, and the Department Chair. See http://graddiv.ucsb.edu/pubs/#fn for applications.
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16.4 Other UCSB Fellowships
- College of Letters and Science Pre-ABD Research Grant
Provides support for travel, archival work and other research needs that lead to the formulation of a dissertation topic. Students must be at the prospectus stage and have excellent records. Applications will consist of a three-page research plan and separate budget, with letter from the academic advisor attesting to the applicant’s general academic potential, the appropriateness of the specific research proposed, the quality of the proposed dissertation topic. Dates of application will be announced each year.
- The Consortium in Literature, Theory and Culture Dissertation Stipends
These awards between $5,000 and $15,000 are intended to help doctoral students in the humanities make substantial progress toward completing their dissertations. Nominees for the Dissertation Stipend should be advanced to candidacy, and working on a dissertation topic compatible with the Consortium's goal of advancing collaborative research in literary studies and encouraging interdisciplinary and theoretical reflections on literature and culture. The stipends are intended to provide support for advanced graduate students working on their dissertations, and may also be used for purposes such as travel and research expenses
- Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
One-quarter, $4000 award plus payment of fees and health insurance, to promote research projects with an interdisciplinary focus. For students advanced to candidacy for the doctorate in an arts or humanities field or advanced MFA students. The call for applications comes in early fall for winter, spring or fall support, and again in spring for the subsequent fall, winter or spring support.
- Pacific Rim Research Program
Pacific Rim Research Program promotes the study of the Pacific Rim as a distinctive region. For the purposes of this Program, the term: “Pacific Rim" encompasses all states and nations that border the Pacific Ocean, including all of Southeast Asia. Recognizing that the interaction of peoples and states in the region has generated new issues of common concern, the Program places priority on research that is new, specific to the region, and collaborative-reaching across national boundaries and bridging academic disciplines. Web: http://www.ucop.edu/research/pacrim/ Applications may be obtained on campus from Carla Whitacre, Research Development, Office of Research, 805/893-3925, and the annual deadline is usually early in January of the previous year. |
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16.5 Tutorships
The Campus
Learning Assistance Services (CLAS) offers positions as
tutors of writing and other skills whenever possible. The
position of tutor requires a commitment of 4 to 10 hours per
week to assist composition instructors in writing workshops
and in providing one-to-one tutorial assistance for students
needing supplementary instruction. Unless stated otherwise,
tutorships are awarded with the expectation that the appointment
will continue for the entire academic year, but appointees
may be dismissed with appropriate notice at any time for poor
tutorial performance or unsatisfactory academic progress.
Students wishing to apply for a tutorship should submit an
application to CLAS.
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16.6 Teaching
Assistantships
A Teaching Assistantship is the most common form of financial aid for graduate students. TA appointments may involve teaching literature courses or courses in the Writing Program and include a required program of training in the teaching of composition and literature. The position of Teaching Assistant is crucial to the English Department, representing as it does that place where graduate training, the undergraduate curriculum, and faculty teaching responsibilities intersect. |
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16.6.1 Teaching
Assistant Duties and Workload
A TAship at the University
of California is usually a half-time position. The University's
contract with the ASE/UAW defines this as meaning a workload
of up to 220 hours per quarter. The contract further specifies,
"Workload is not measured strictly by actual hours worked.
Rather, it is measured by how many hours the University could
reasonably expect it to take a TA to satisfactorily complete
the work assigned." Actual tasks may vary among courses, depending
on whether they are upper- or lower-division and on the pedagogical
decisions of the individual supervising faculty, but in no
case may the number of hours and the distribution of those
hours exceed the limits laid out in the contract.
TAs in the English Department
are assigned to large lecture courses. Duties include preparing
for and attending all lectures for the course, leading two
discussion sections per week of twenty-five students each,
doing the required grading for the students in those sections,
holding weekly office hours, and meeting regularly with the
faculty instructor and other TAs. TAs may also be asked to
participate in formulating exam and paper topics; give plenary
lectures or contribute in other ways to lectures; conduct
review sections; or support the course in other ways.
If questions arise that can't
be resolved by consultation with the supervising faculty member,
TAs should consult the departmental TA Adviser.
Specific duties of TAs appointed
by the Writing Program are determined by that program.
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16.6.2 Terms
of Employment and Length of Service
Teaching Assistantships may
be made for one, two, or three quarters per academic year.
The total length of service will usually not exceed four years
for entering BAs, three years for entering MAs. In order to
hold a TAship, a student must be regularly enrolled and maintain
a 3.0 GPA, and have no more than 8 units of Incomplete coursework.
The University of California
sets a limit of 50% time on graduate student employment. TAs
will not ordinarily be exempted from this limit. In some cases,
however, it may be acceptable for a TA, in addition to the
teaching assignment, to take on a relatively minor secondary
assignment as a research assistant or grader or to perform
some other limited function. In such cases, the Graduate
Adviser may, in consultation with members of the Graduate
Committee, recommend to the Department Chair that an exception
to the 50% rule be granted. Such exceptions will only be recommended
when it is evident that the additional work will not jeopardize
the student's timely progress toward the degree. Exemptions
will not be granted for students to undertake teaching duties
in addition to their English Department TAships. A student
who wishes to accept such an additional teaching assignment
will have to resign the English Department TAship in order
to do so.
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16.6.3 Selection
of Teaching Assistantships
Application Deadline: Potential
openings for Teaching Assistant positions for the subsequent
academic year will be posted in late winter or spring.
Initial TA appointments are
based on the applicant's academic record and letters of recommendation.
Added consideration is given to students with previous teaching
and graduate school experience. Reappointment depends on satisfactory
progress toward the degree (see Sections 3
and 4) and evaluations by the graduate
faculty, teaching supervisors, and students. Graduate students
with incomplete grades may be disadvantaged in the competition
for TAships (see 3.4). Students interested
in a TAship should file an application with the Staff
Graduate Adviser. In all cases, after considering applications,
the Graduate Committee sends recommendations
to the Department Chair, who makes the appointments. If a
vacancy occurs during the academic year, the files of all
eligible students will be considered in filling the position.
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16.6.4 Teaching Assistantships in other Departments on Campus
There are teaching assistant opportunities in other departments on campus. They can be found in departments or programs that don’t have a graduate program or graduate students such as Asian-American Studies, Black Studies, Chicano Studies, the Law and Society Program, Women’s Studies Program and Global Studies Program. These departments and programs usually put out a call each quarter for teaching assistants to teach in their large lecture courses and more information can be found on the departmental websites or through a call to the departmental Business Officer.
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16.7 Summer
Associateships
Deadline: Applications
are filed during fall quarter of the previous year; deadlines
will be posted each year.
For students who have received
the MA, a limited number of summer Associateships are sometimes
available. Appointments are recommended to the Summer Sessions
administration by the Department Chair, in consultation wi | |
