Program Requirements

I. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PH.D.

The Ph.D. program in Italian is planned as a five-year sequence, designed to streamline the candidate's progress through the degree program and allow stage-by-stage focus as follows:

1. Course work

Years 1-3 (first six semesters) are devoted to course work. Students will take 4 courses per semester the first year and 3 courses per semester in the second and third years, when they will also be developing their professional training as Teaching Fellows.

In selecting courses, students should aim for broad coverage of periods and genres, as well as a diversity of methodological approaches. Courses, designed to train students in scholarly skills both written and oral, normally include research papers and in-class reports, explications de texte, and book reviews to prepare for publishing, teaching, and conference presentations. All papers written for courses should follow MLA guidelines. Non-native speakers of English should write at least 50% of their course papers in English and are encouraged to visit the University's Writing Center, located in Bennett Hall 415, to improve their critical reading and writing skills in English.

A total of twenty (20) graduate courses are required for the Ph.D., to be distributed as follows:

1. Comparative Literature 501 (Basic Issues in Literary Theory): a required course to be taken preferably during the second year. Italian 601 (Italian Literary Theory) may be substituted as appropriate.

2. Romance Languages 690 (Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching): a required course normally taken during the spring semester of the student's second year.

3. Italian 800 (Exam Preparation), in which students will enroll during the spring semester of the third year for the purposes of beginning preparation for the Ph. D. exam.

4. A minimum of 13 electives in Italian literature is needed. Courses will be chosen in consultation with the Graduate Chair. Depending on their content, Comparative Literature courses may also count as Italian credits, with the approval of the Italian Graduate Chair.

5. Up to 4 courses outside Italian, in Italian Studies, in another Romance Language, or in another field pertinent to the student's area of specialization. For example, if a student specializes in the Middle Ages, appropriate related courses would be Medieval History, Virgil, or Ovid; if in Renaissance Literature, a course in Art History; if in Modern Literature, a course in Literary Theory or Film; if in Women's Studies, a cluster of courses that could lead to the Women's Studies Graduate Certificate.

2. Qualifying Evaluation

In order to be admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree, students must pass successfully a qualifying evaluation. At the beginning of a student's third semester the faculty will evaluate all aspects of the student's performance during his or her first year in the program, namely:

a) all written assignments completed for courses (exams and papers)
b) grades
c) contribution to class discussion

After all the evidence is considered by the graduate faculty, the student will be informed that he or she has:

-Passed the evaluation and is invited to continue studies toward the doctorate. If all Graduate School requirements have been met, the student will be awarded a Master's degree in December of his or her second year.

-Passed the evaluation and is eligible to vie for a terminal Master's degree. A student who is judged eligible to vie for a terminal Master's degree will have the option of leaving the program in December or May of the second year. If the student completes course work successfully, he or she will be recommended to receive a terminal Master's degree either in December or May, as the case may be.

-Failed the evaluation and is asked to withdraw from the program at the end of the fall semester.

3. Foreign Language Requirement

A translation exam in two foreign languages appropriate to the student's prospective field of specialization. This determination will be made upon consultation with the Graduate Chair. At least one language exam should be completed by the end of the first year, and both by the end of the third year. Students will not be allowed to sit for their Ph.D. examination until both language requirements have been met.

This requirement may be satisfied one of two ways:

a. A reading examination in a modern language, which will consist of a translation of two texts (about thirty to thirty-five lines each) drawn from literary/cultural/historical criticism (two hours with a dictionary). Reading exams are offered twice a year, once in October and once in March. The dates will be announced by the Graduate Coordinator.

b. Successful completion of a summer course for reading knowledge, offered tuition free by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences during the first summer session of each year. Reading courses are usually given in French, German, and Spanish. Students are expected to complete all course assignments and pass the final exam in order to fulfill the language requirement.

Students specializing in Medieval or Renaissance literature should choose Latin as one of their two languages. The Latin requirement may be fulfilled one of two ways:

a. Successful completion of a one-semester Latin course, in which the student has
fulfilled all course requirements such as tests, quizzes, and homework assignments. The student will need to produce a letter from his or her instructor that attests to satisfactory performance in the course.

b. A translation exam in Latin, which will consist of one poetry selection and one passage of prose.

4. Ph.D. Examination

The Ph.D. examination will take place in September of the fourth year (seventh semester) and will be based on the Ph.D. reading list in Italian.

a. Written Examination

A three-part exam to be administered on a take-home basis as follows:

Part I: Duecento/ Trecento/ Quattrocento
Part II: Cinquecento/ Seicento/ Settecento
Part III: Ottocento/ Novecento/ Cinema

Students will answer one question for each part of the exam (there will be two questions per part from which to choose). Two parts of the exam must be written in Italian, and the remaining part in English. Normally students will pick up the exam on Friday morning at 9:00 AM and will hand in the completed exam by 12:00 PM the following Monday. The exam must be composed on a word processor, and students will be allowed to consult whatever sources they may deem necessary.

b. Oral Examination

The oral examination, to take place no more than two weeks after the written, will be conducted by the standing faculty in Italian. The Graduate Chair will preside, unless that person is the Dissertation Director, in which case the Graduate Chair will appoint another faculty member to chair the Examination Committee. Committee members may review aspects of the written exam in their questioning, and they will test the student's general knowledge of Italian literature, across the historical spectrum from Duecento to Novecento (including Cinema), as represented by the Ph.D. Reading List. Half of the exam will be given in Italian and half in English. The exam will take up to two hours.

5. Dissertation Proposal

Following successful fulfillment of the Ph.D. Examination, the candidate will shape a dissertation project and writing schedule. A Dissertation Director and a Dissertation Committee will be chosen through a selection process involving the candidate, the Graduate Chair, and the Italian faculty. Normally, three faculty members will be chosen from the Italian Faculty. Students may choose a fourth member from outside the program or outside the department. Whatever the composition of their Committee, all students are encouraged to consult informally and widely with the faculty beyond the Committee, both inside and outside the department. In consultation with the Committee, the candidate will prepare a draft of the dissertation proposal, which will serve as the basis for an informal oral presentation of the dissertation topic to the Italian faculty at the end of the semester following the Ph.D. exam, normally in December of the student's fourth year. Within two weeks of this discussion, the candidate will submit a 20-page dissertation proposal, containing an outline of material to be covered with projected chapter divisions and a working timetable.

6. Dissertation

The presentation of a dissertation is the final requirement for the Ph.D. The dissertation must represent the organized result of an investigation into some area or aspect of literature or culture that was previously unknown or at least insufficiently explored. Candidates must be thoroughly acquainted with all University regulations governing the writing and presentation of a dissertation, and should refer to the Doctoral Dissertation Manual. (Copies are available at the Graduate Division, 3401 Walnut Street, Suite 322A, or from the Graduate Coordinator.)

7. Dissertation Defense

A public, oral presentation of the dissertation will take place during the semester in which the student will graduate. Present at the defense will be: the student, the Graduate Chair, the thesis adviser, and the dissertation committee members. The defense is open to all members of the University community; friends and family from outside the institution may not attend. The defense will include both a short presentation given by the student and an oral examination of the thesis material.

II. TRANSFER OF CREDIT

Credits approved for transfer range from one to eight. If a student has entered the program for the Ph.D. with an M.A. from another institution, a maximum of eight (8) course units may be approved for transfer credit, but only after the student has been enrolled for one academic year. Such transfer of credit is recommended by the Italian Graduate Chair on the basis of the student's performance and of the course contents. Credits from an Italian Laurea program may not be considered for transfer.

III. ADVISING AND EVALUATION

Upon entering the graduate program in Italian, each student will be advised by the Italian Graduate Chair, who will meet with students in an official capacity once during the fall semester and once during the spring semester to discuss course registration and general progress toward the degree. Students are from the beginning encouraged to consult other faculty members as well and take a maximum number of courses with fullest possible historical coverage of Italian literature and cultural traditions. When a general area of concentration is identified as a possible source of a dissertation topic, the appropriate professor will become the student's principal adviser and, normally, the dissertation supervisor.

Early in the fall semester of each year, the Italian faculty will meet to review students' overall performance in the program with respect to grades, class participation, quality of written material, and teaching. Because the faculty does not wish to encourage any student who may not be able to complete the degree with distinction, students who have not shown adequate command of oral and/or written Italian, have failed a course, have a grade point average lower than 3.5, or have generally performed below expectations may be: placed on departmental probation, asked to finish the requirements for a terminal M.A., or asked to leave the program. All students, new and continuing, are encouraged to discuss informally and at any time their progress with their teachers.