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Ph.D. in Literature

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Students in our Ph.D. program gain advanced knowledge of literature from the British Middle Ages and colonial America to global/postcolonial and U.S. contemporary, as well as knowledge of literary theory, literary analysis, and interdisciplinary methods. The course of study balances coverage of national literary traditions with innovative methods and topics such as literature and science; literature and environment; translation; gender and sexuality studies; and critical race studies.

Our Ph.D. students are involved in a range of interdisciplinary and public initiatives. For example, some affiliate with interdisciplinary  Designated Emphases ; others have received grants to create  podcasts , convene interdisciplinary  working groups , or organize annual graduate student conferences. Each year one student participates in a year-long exchange program with the  Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies  in Mainz, Germany; some have worked as Graduate Assistants and researchers for research centers such as the  Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program , the experimental media  Modlab , and the university’s  Datalab .

Students graduate with the qualitative and quantitative skills necessary for professional research and teaching in English, as well as extensive pedagogical training and a range of teaching experience that includes writing and composition, as well as designing and teaching Introduction to Literature courses. Our  Alumni Directory  includes titles of recent dissertations, as well as information about the diverse careers for which the Ph.D. has helped prepare our graduates. There is  an option to complete an MA in literature , but it is not a stand-alone program.

Questions? Contact:

Aaron Barstow Graduate Program Coordinator, Ph.D. Program in Literature [email protected]   (530) 752-2738 Pronouns: he/they

  • Ph.D. Program Requirements

Degree requirements for the Ph.D. program   (links to more details) include 50 units of coursework with at least 44 units taken for a letter grade, proficiency in one foreign language proficiency before degree conferral, preliminary and qualifying examinations, and a dissertation. In addition, there are also opportunities for students to pursue a  Designated Emphasis  and gain teaching experience.

Coursework Requirements

3 Core Courses (8 units) • English 200: Introduction to Graduate Studies (taken as Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) • One survey course in literary theory (Critical Theory 200A or 200C taken for a grade) 1 Workshop (2 units) English 288: Prospectus Workshop (taken as Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory); students may petition to complete this course independently with a Prospectus Adviser.

10 Graduate-level Seminars (40 units) • All courses must be taken for a grade • Five courses must satisfy the breadth requirement (see below) • Five courses will be comprised of electives (see below) • Students may count one undergraduate 100-level course as one of their ten required courses • Aside from ENL 200, no course graded Satisfactory-Unsatisfactory may count as one of the twelve required seminars • Independent and group studies may not be taken for a grade

13 Total Graduate Courses (50 units; 44 units taken for a grade)  Additionally, students who enter the Ph.D. program without a MA degree can earn one en route to the Ph.D. degree.

  • Foreign Language Requirement

The English Ph.D. requires a reading knowledge of  one  foreign language before completing the degree; it is not an admissions requirement. This could be satisfied through previous or current coursework or an exam. Any of the following demonstrates proficiency:

Completion within the past eight years of 3 semester-length, or 4 quarter-length courses in a foreign language at the undergraduate level. Students must earn a passing grade, but courses may be taken on a Pass/No Pass basis.

Students may take the Placement Test offered by the  UC Davis Language Center , testing out of the language at the intermediate level.

A Pass in the language exam offered in the English Department at the beginning of Fall or Spring quarter each year.

  • Breadth Requirement

The breadth requirements must be fulfilled by coursework in the Department of English or coursework taught by English Department faculty.  Five courses (of the total 40 units above) will satisfy this requirement. Students must complete two Earlier Period courses, and two Later Period courses, and one Focus course. 

Earlier Period Courses Pre-1800; or Pre-1865 if the course focus is on American literature

Later Period Courses Post-1800 or Post-1865 if the course focus is on American literature

Focus Course Interdisciplinary, Identity, Genre, Other National, Method, Theory

Faculty and/or the Graduate Advisor may choose to designate a course as fulfilling more than one category, but students may use the course to fulfill only one requirement. For instance, a student could use a course on women in Early Modern literature to satisfy the Earlier Period requirement, or the Focus (Identity) requirement, but not both. A student could use a course on Cold War Drama to satisfy the Later Period requirement or the Focus (Genre) requirement, but not both.

  • Electives Requirement
  • The electives requirement can be fulfilled by actual offered seminars inside or outside the English Department. Five elective courses will satisfy degree requirements. UWP 390 is acceptable as one of the electives. Also, be aware 299s are ungraded but still count towards overall units. With the approval of the Graduate Adviser, students may also enroll in a graduate class at another University of California campus through the  Intercampus Exchange Program .
  • Course Waiver and Course Relief

Students who enter the Ph.D. program with MA coursework from another institution may petition the Graduate Adviser for a Course Waiver up to three of the twelve required seminars; each approved petition will reduce the number of required courses by one. Students may not reduce their coursework to fewer than nine seminars.

Students holding an MA may also petition the Graduate Adviser for course relief for up to five of the breadth requirements; each approved petition allows the student to substitute elective courses. ENL 200 may not be waived or relieved.

For each waiver or relief request, students must submit to the English Graduate Office a Course Waiver or Relief Request form (available in the office) along with the syllabus from the course and the student's seminar paper.

  • Designated Emphasis
  • Graduate students may participate in a  Designated Emphasis (DE) , a specialization that might include a new method of inquiry or an important field of application which is related to two or more existing Ph.D. programs. The DE is awarded in conjunction with the Ph.D. degree and is signified by a transcript notation; for example, “Ph.D. in Literature with a Designated Emphasis in Native American Studies.”  More information
  • Preliminary Examination

In the Spring Quarter of the second year or Fall Quarter of the third year of graduate study, students take a Preliminary Examination in two historical fields and one focus field. Three faculty members conduct the oral examination, each representing one of the fields. Prior to taking the Preliminary Examination, students must have completed the following:

• Introduction to Graduate Studies (ENL200) • Survey of Literary Theory (CRI200A or CRI200C) • Four of five Breadth Requirements • Four of five Elective Requirements

Additionally, students select one focus field.  A student may devise her/his own focus list in collaboration with two faculty members or, as is more common, choose one from among the following:

• Black Studies • Critical Theory • Disability Studies • Ecocriticism and Environmental Humanities • Feminisms • Film Studies • Marxism • Media Technologies • Performance Studies • Poetics • Postcolonial Theory • Psychoanalysis • Queer Feminisms • Queer Theories • Race and Ethnicity Studies • Science and Literature • Science Fiction

English 299 (Independent Study) is ordinarily used the quarters before the Preliminary Examination to prepare for the oral  examination and is graded Satisfactory-Unsatisfactory. Students may register for ENL 299 under the Graduate Advisor or a faculty member in the field of their exam for the quarter(s) they intend to study.

In the event that the student does not pass the exam, the exam chair will report the decision to the Graduate Adviser, who will work with the committee to decide whether the student should be given a chance to retake the exam (no less than six months later) or whether the student should be dismissed from the program. The Graduate Adviser will report this final decision to the student within 72 hours of the exam’s conclusion.

Any remaining requirements after taking the Preliminary Examination must be completed before scheduling the Qualifying Examination.

Students will select two historical fields from among the following list.   Students who would like to do non-consecutive historical fields need to get prior approval from the Graduate Adviser.  These lists and additional helpful documents can be accessed via our box folder  "Preliminary Exam"  in the English Graduate Program file.

 
  • Qualifying Examination

The Qualifying Examination  happens as early as the spring of the third year and should be taken no later than the spring of the fourth year. The reading list for this exam, which is conducted orally, is constructed by the student in consultation with his or her three-person dissertation committee. When making their lists, students may consult the standard lists for preliminary exams available on the department's Box site. If the student has elected a designated emphasis (DE), materials from that field should also be incorporated into the Qualifying Exam reading list.

Graduate Studies requires the  Qualifying Examination Application (GS319)  to be submitted at least 30 days prior the the scheduled exam date.

Qualifying Examination Committee  The student, in consultation with their Prospectus Adviser and, if needed, the Graduate Adviser, nominates  four  faculty to serve on the Qualifying Examination Committee: 

- The three proposed Dissertation Committee members 

- One member must be from outside the English graduate program (this may be a member of the Dissertation Committee). 

The QE Committee is responsible for administering the exam. Neither the “Prospectus Adviser” nor the Dissertation Director (in many, though not all, cases these will be same) may be the chair of the QE Committee. Students with a designated emphasis (DE) must include one faculty member affiliated with the DE on both their qualifying and dissertation committee. DE paperwork must be approved before the QE application is submitted. The exam will focus on the Prospectus and the Qualifying Exam reading list. The bibliography of the prospectus will normally overlap substantially with the Qualifying Exam reading list.

The  Qualifying Exam Report (GS343)   must be submitted withing 72 hours of the exam. Upon successful completion, students receive the  Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Plan B (GS321) .

  • Exam Accommodations
  • If you are disabled, you are entitled to accommodations for all requirements of the program you’re enrolled in, a process formally handled by the  Student Disability Center . We recommend starting the process of coordinating with the SDC early in your graduate school journey, as it can take time for the Center to process information.  We must work with the SDC to implement your accommodations for your exams.  Please indicate your need for accommodations to us as soon as possible, so we can include the Center in our exam scheduling process.  Please notify us by the fourth week of the quarter in which you intend to sit the exam.
  • Dissertation
  • The dissertation must be an original work of scholarship and/or interpretation. It may be critical, bibliographical, historical, or biographical in its subject. Students work with a dissertation director and consult with two official readers as well as with other faculty knowledgeable about the project.  Additional details

Secondary Menu

  • Ph.D. Degree

The Graduate Program in Literature is a doctoral program, which means that all students enrolled prepare for the Ph.D. degree. The program does not grant M.A. degrees along the way. The typical time to completion for the doctoral program is 6 full years.

Requirements for the Ph.D.

  • 12 Seminars
  • 7 Literature Program courses
  • At least 5 courses in a teaching field of your choice
  • Foreign language proficiency in two languages
  • Preliminary Exam
  • Chapter Workshop
  • Dissertation Defense
  • Teaching Assistantship
  • Responsible Conduct of Research Training

Additional Course Guidelines

Undergraduate-level Courses - There are no restrictions on the number of undergraduate courses a student may take outside the Literature Program during their graduate career. The approval of the DGS must be sought in such cases, and in any case Graduate School Regulations do not allow courses below the 500 level to count toward the fulfillment of coursework requirements or to be included in a student's GPA calculation.  In general undergraduate courses tend to be limited to relevant language courses.

Independent Studies - Students can take up to three independent studies over the course of their careers. Students have to complete the “Independent Study Notification Form” every time they take an independent study and it must be signed by the DGS. Supplies of these forms are kept in the DGS Assistant’s office.

Inter-institutional Courses - The Registrar requires students to follow a special procedure when they register for courses at other Triangle universities (UNC, NCCU, NCSU). Forms and information are available at the Registrar's Office. You’ll need approval from Lit’s DGS & the professor of the course.

Typical Degree Timeline

What follows is a very general timeline that graduate students in the Program may use as a rough orientation for their six-year course of study. It is not meant to replace the guidance that you should actively seek , for your own specific circumstances and research field(s), from your mentors and advisors.

During the first year, you will familiarize yourself with the department, the university, and the profession at large. The many colloquia and conferences offered at Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, NC Central and NC State, present great opportunities for you to get to know your peers, professors, national and international scholars.

During the second year, you can start presenting your work at conferences in your field(s). You should by now identify your main advisor(s), and begin TAing so as to familiarize yourself with teaching duties. You may also begin to plan for a Certificate in College Teaching.

During the third year, you will complete your preliminary exams and start to work towards your dissertation. Make sure to complete, by the end of this academic year, all the required coursework, including any language requirement related to your specific field. To be competitive in a specific field, you may well need more than one language besides English: please consult with your advisors about this matter.

During the fourth year, your focus will be to complete, if not an entire first draft, at least a good part of your dissertation. This is also a good moment to make your work known in the profession by publishing a part of your dissertation and by presenting some of the other parts at professional conferences. Finally, you should attend the dissertation formatting training sessions offered by the Graduate School (either during the fall or the spring): this is very important, to avoid any last-minute surprises that could jeopardize your entire time-plan for the PhD.

If possible, you should try to finish your dissertation during your fifth year at Duke. You should also keep a presence at professional conferences, and you may also want to consider the possibility of public humanities publications. Finally, this is the year to start applying for jobs.

You should be ready to defend by the end of this year.

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  • English Language & Literature

Fields include English language and literature from Old English to the present, American literature, and Anglophone world literature.

  • Programs of Study
  • PhD - Doctor of Philosophy
  • Combined PhD
  • MA - Master of Arts

Jonathan Kramnick

Director of Graduate Studies

Erica Sayers

Departmental Registrar

Admission Requirements

Standardized testing requirements.

GRE is not accepted.

Program-Specific Application Requirements

A writing sample is required by this program. 

English Language Requirement

TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic is required of most applicants whose native language is not English.

You may be exempt from this requirement if you have received (or will receive) an undergraduate degree from a college or university where English is the primary language of instruction, and if you have studied in residence at that institution for at least three years.

Combined Degree Program Application Deadline

*The deadline to submit an application to a combined program is always the earlier deadline of the two individual programs, or December 15, whichever comes first.

Academic Information

Combined phd information.

English Language & Literature offers a combined PhD in conjunction with several other departments and programs including: African American Studies , Film and Media Studies , History of Art , and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies .

Program Advising Guidelines

GSAS Advising Guidelines

Academic Resources

Academic calendar.

The Graduate School's academic calendar lists important dates and deadlines related to coursework, registration, financial processes, and milestone events such as graduation.

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Registration Information and Dates

https://registration.yale.edu/

Students must register every term in which they are enrolled in the Graduate School. Registration for a given term takes place the semester prior, and so it's important to stay on top of your academic plan. The University Registrar's Office oversees the systems that students use to register. Instructions about how to use those systems and the dates during which registration occurs can be found on their registration website.

Financial Information

Phd stipend & funding.

PhD students at Yale are normally full-funded for a minimum of five years. During that time, our students receive a twelve-month stipend to cover living expenses and a fellowship that covers the full cost of tuition and student healthcare.

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Master's Funding

While Master's programs are not generally funded, there are resources available to students to help navigate financial responsibilities during graduate school.

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Alumni Insights

Below you will find alumni placement data for our departments and programs.

Ph.D. Program

Click  here for the Handbook for Graduate Study in English .  This document includes departmental policies and procedures concerned with graduate study.

The Berkeley English Department offers a wide-ranging Ph.D. program, engaging in all historical periods of British and American literature, Anglophone literature, and critical and cultural theory. The program aims to assure that students gain a broad knowledge of literature in English as well as the highly-developed skills in scholarship and criticism necessary to do solid and innovative work in their chosen specialized fields.

Please note that the department does not offer a Master’s Degree program or a degree program in Creative Writing. Students can, however, petition for an M.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing upon completion of the Ph.D. course requirements (one of which must be a graduate writing workshop) and submission of a body of creative work.

Students interested in combining a Ph.D. in English with studies in another discipline may pursue Designated Emphases or Concurrent Degrees in a number of different fields

Normative time to complete the program is six years. The first two years are devoted to fulfilling the course and language requirements. The third year is spent preparing for and taking the Ph.D. oral qualifying examination. The fourth through sixth years are devoted to researching and writing the prospectus and dissertation.

The general goal of the first two years is to assure that the students have a broad and varied knowledge of the fields of British and American literature in their historical dimensions, and are also familiar with a wide range of literary forms, critical approaches, and scholarly methods. Students will complete twelve courses distributed as follows:

(A thirteenth required course in pedagogy can be taken later.) Students who have done prior graduate course work may transfer up to three courses for credit toward the 12-course requirement. Up to five of the 12 courses may be taken in other departments.

Students must demonstrate either proficiency in two foreign languages or advanced knowledge in one foreign language before the qualifying examination. There are no "canonical languages" in the department. Rather, each specifies which languages are to count, how they relate to the student's intellectual interests, and on which level knowledge is to be demonstrated. "Proficiency" is understood as the ability to translate (with a dictionary) a passage of about 300 words into idiomatic English prose in ninety minutes. The proficiency requirement may also be satisfied by completing one upper-division or graduate literature course in a foreign language. The advanced knowledge requirement is satisfied by completing two or three literature courses in the language with a grade of "B" or better.

At the end of the second year each student’s record is reviewed in its entirety to determine whether or not he or she is able and ready to proceed to the qualifying exam and the more specialized phase of the program.

The Qualifying Examination

Students are expected to take the qualifying examination within one year after completing course and language requirements. The qualifying exam is oral and is conducted by a committee of five faculty members. The exam lasts approximately two hours and consists of three parts: two comprehensive historical fields and a third field which explores a topic in preparation for the dissertation. The exam is meant both as a culmination of course work and as a test of readiness for the dissertation.

The Prospectus and Dissertation

The prospectus consists of an essay and bibliography setting forth the nature of the research project, its relation to existing scholarship and criticism on the subject, and its anticipated value. Each candidate must have a prospectus conference with the members of their committee and the Graduate Chair to discuss the issues outlined in the proposal and to give final approval to the project. The prospectus should be approved within one or two semesters following the qualifying exam.

The dissertation is the culmination of the student's graduate career and is expected to be a substantial and original work of scholarship or criticism. Students within normative time complete the dissertation in their fourth through sixth years.

English (Literature), PHD

On this page:.

At a Glance: program details

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:

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:

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

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.

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

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:

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.

Home / Graduate / Prospective Student Information / Ph.D. Program

Prospective Student Information

The UC Santa Cruz doctoral program in literature offers an innovative multilingual and multidisciplinary approach to literary studies, involving the use of more than one language literature. The program is relatively small, and students work closely with faculty throughout their graduate careers. They are encouraged to take advantage of the rich array of intellectual and cultural events, research clusters, and lectures offered on campus.

The doctoral program combines critical and independent thought with global perspectives. Working across linguistic, national, and period boundaries, students blend critical approaches, literary traditions, and/or cultural archives in comparative and interdisciplinary projects.

A Creative/Critical Writing concentration within the Ph.D. program is available, for which prospective students apply during the admissions process. Creative/Critical applicants submit additional creative writing samples of poetry, prose fiction, creative nonfiction or hybrid/cross genre. Students in the Creative/Critical concentration complete all the requirements for the literature Ph.D. with the addition of a creative/critical degree component in the form of coursework, original creative work with a critical introduction and, if desired, work in poetics, translation, form and/or critical writing focused on creative practices.

Students may apply for a designated emphasis on the literature doctoral diploma in programs and departments such as Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Education, Feminist Studies, History of Consciousness, Latin American and Latino Studies, Philosophy, Politics, Sociology, and the History of Art and Visual Culture. Applications and requirements are available at the respective department offices.

Course Requirements

Second Language Requirements

The program requires significant literary work in two languages. All students are required to complete the Literature Department's intensive three-week Graduate Summer Language Program or its equivalent and a minimum of two graduate courses in a second-language literature in which 50 percent or more of the reading is done in the original language. The second-language literature must serve as a component of the qualifying examination.

Teaching Requirements

Students must complete at least three quarters of supervised teaching experience. 

Qualifying Examination

The qualifying examination must be taken by the first quarter of the fourth year. It consists of three components: 

Post-Qualifying Requirements

Students must submit a prospectus outlining and defining the dissertation project within a quarter following the qualifying examination, but no later than the end of the fourth year. The prospectus identifies the research problem, methodologies, and case studies, with chapter outlines, footnotes, and bibliography.

Non-Terminal Master’s Degree

A master of arts (M.A.) degree is conferred upon request to doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) candidates who have successfully completed the literature Ph.D. qualifying examination or who have completed the coursework required for the doctorate (Teaching Assistant training and supervised teaching experience exempted) and elect to write a master’s thesis under the supervision of a faculty advisor.

Dissertation

The dissertation is a substantial piece of original research in the field of literature.

A dissertation submitted for the Creative/Critical concentration may take alternative forms:

The dissertation committee is composed of three members, with the dissertation advisor acting as chair. The majority of the membership of a dissertation committee shall be members of the Santa Cruz Division of the Academic Senate. 

Detailed instructions for the preparation of the dissertation are available on the Graduate Division website .

Academic Progress

To maintain satisfactory academic progress and eligibility for fellowships and other benefits, students must:

Applying for Graduation

For information on how to apply for graduation, visit the Graduate Division website .

Further Information

Additional detailed information for prospective graduate students, including procedures for application and admission to graduate studies, examinations, and requirements for the doctor of philosophy degree, is available from the Division of Graduate Studies and on the department website .

Last modified: January 17, 2022 81.177.182.174

Department of English Language and Literature, The University of Chicago

Fields of Study

University of Chicago

Research in English used to be categorized by traditional field designations such as Renaissance or Victorian, but Chicago's English faculty have always been more interested in critical inquiry (the journal Critical Inquiry was founded and lives here) than in working within categorical boxes. That exploratory ethos continues to unify us as a department and animate our research interests, which are otherwise various, even heterogeneous, and which are constantly evolving.

Research interests, however, may be defined in a variety of ways and at various degrees of specification. For instance, a scholar such as Ken Warren , who has written a book on Ralph Ellison, could be said to be working within the American field, but also within the fields of African American literature and literary history. Visitors to this site may also have many interests, at many levels. They may want to identify the subset of faculty who are working in a specific  historical period  such as the Renaissance, on a particular  object of study  such as the novel, or on a specialized  theoretical or methodological problem  such as gender and sexuality . See the lists and categories below to help guide your search.

Research Clusters

Cultural studies and global literatures.

Critical Theory, Methodology, or Objects of Study

Common Areas of Academic Study

Doctor of Philosophy in Literature

Program description.

The graduate program in literature brings together scholars, creative writers and translators who share a commitment to transnational and interdisciplinary approaches to literary study and practice. The PhD in literature provides students with a flexible context in which to pursue research across a wide range of literary traditions, critical approaches and theoretical debates. In addition to coursework in literary studies, students have the opportunity to participate in creative writing and/or literary translation workshops as well as seminars in other disciplines, such as film studies, the history of ideas, philosophy and the visual and performing arts.

Students pursuing the PhD in literature may, if their coursework supports it, submit a translation or creative writing project as part of their dissertation.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of the program seek positions such as: teacher/educator, writer, editor, publisher, translator and critic. Career settings may include higher education, nonprofits, cultural and historical organizations, publishing houses, government agencies, international development organizations, museums and archives, business/corporate entities and independent consulting.

Marketable Skills

Review the marketable skills for this academic program.

Application Requirements

Visit the  Apply Now  webpage to begin the application process.  

Applicants to the Doctoral degree program should have:  

Deadline:  The application deadline is January 15. All applications completed by the deadline will be reviewed for admission. Applications submitted or completed after January 15 may be reviewed for admission only if spaces remain within the upcoming cohort and will be reviewed in order by the date the application file became complete.

Contact Information

Literature Graduate Programs Email: [email protected]

Dr. Charles Hatfield Associate Professor and Program Head Phone: 972-883-2780 Email: [email protected]

Graduate Advising Kelly Erb Phone: 972-883-6167 Email: [email protected]

Graduate Admissions Phone: 972-883-6176 Email: [email protected] Request Bass School Graduate Program Information

Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology The University of Texas at Dallas, JO31 800 W. Campbell Road Richardson, TX 75080-3021

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Comparative literature, field description.

The field of comparative literature at Cornell offers a Ph.D. degree in all major areas of literary study and literary and cultural theory. The field’s size (about 20 students) enables it to offer diverse, innovative, and interdisciplinary programs of study. Entering students design a program in consultation with the field committee, which is chaired by the director of graduate studies. Areas of concentration and principal advisors (the special committee) should be selected by the end of the first year of residence. Given that coursework is completed within three years, the student should have proficiency in two foreign languages. Those intending to specialize in international literatures are strongly encouraged to acquire fluency in the relevant language. Students should take 12 scholarly courses. As part of their training in the doctoral program, all candidates must fulfill at least one year of classroom teaching.

The first and second-year reviews take place at the end of the first year and in the third term, respectively. They aim to assist students in focusing on the topics and the fields of research that will form the basis of their A exams. The admission to candidacy (A) examination is usually taken in the third year of study and is both written and oral. The department does not offer a terminal M.A. program (and consequently does not admit students seeking only that degree), but an M.A. degree is granted after satisfactory completion of the A examination. The student then begins work on a dissertation, which, upon completion, is defended at the oral final (B) examination administered by the special committee.

Contact Information

240 Goldwin Smith Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-3201

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Comparative Literature (PhD)

Program description.

In the Department of Comparative Literature, we examine the range of literature, its transmission, and its dynamic traversal of linguistic, geographic, cultural, political, and disciplinary boundaries. Our students adopt a global perspective and interdisciplinary outlook as they pursue work in various languages, traditions and academic fields. Faculty members offer courses embracing the ancient and modern periods of world literature, exploring critical, theoretical, and historical issues, as well as problems of representation in the broadest sense. This type of analysis expands the field of literature to include a wide variety of cultural practices — from historical, philosophical, and legal texts to artifacts of visual and popular culture — revealing the roles literature plays as a form of material expression and symbolic exchange. Admitting an average of six fully-funded students a year into its doctoral program, the department provides an intimate intellectual setting in which students work closely with core faculty while exploring the considerable resources offered by other NYU departments and by universities participating in the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium (Columbia University, CUNY, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Stonybrook, Teachers' College - Columbia, Fordham University, and The New School for Social Research). 

Graduate students play a vital role in the life of the department, notably through the organization of the  Comparatorium , a regular colloquium featuring graduate student and faculty work in progress, and through organizing and participating in conferences which attract the participation of graduate students and faculty from across the nation and around the world. The Department is committed to hosting relevant, boundary-breaking, and thought-provoking events. Recent speakers hosted by the department include Elisabeth Anker, Daphne A. Brooks, Xu Bing, Tamara Chin, Michael Hardt, R.A. Judy, Anahid Nersessian, Mark Christian Thompson, Ming Xie, McKenzie Wark, and Slavoj Žižek, among others.

All applicants to the Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS) are required to submit the  general application requirements , which include:

See Comparative Literature for admission requirements and instructions specific to this program.

Program Requirements

Foreign language proficiency, qualifying paper, comprehensive exams (written and oral), master of philosophy (mphil), dissertation defense, submission and approval, departmental approval.

The PhD requires students successfully complete 72 credits of coursework of which 40 credits are in Comparative Literature, and 32 credits are outside of the department as electives relevant to the student’s research and teaching goals.

Course List
Course Title Credits
Major Requirements
Sem in Lit:Rsch Mthds Tchnqs:4
Advanced Writing Seminar 8
One course in literature and/or theory from a non-U.S./Western European context4
Once literary criticism/theory class before 18004
Once contemporary (20th century) literary criticism/theory course4
One pre-1800 literature course4
Electives
Other Elective Credits44
Total Credits72

This course is taken twice in two consecutive terms.

Additional Program Requirements

Students must prove proficiency in three non-English languages or two non-English languages and, substituting for the third language, three doctoral level courses in a nonliterary discipline. There are several ways to prove language proficiency, including passing a translation exam, which the department administers by appointment during the academic year.

Once a student has completed 32 credits of course work, a qualifying paper must be submitted to and approved by a committee of two faculty members. The paper is meant to be one which the student has already submitted for a seminar and would like to return to in order to polish the argument to a “publishable” standard.

Students are required to pass a comprehensive exam. This PhD examination consists of a comprehensive, written take-home examination on three topics chosen by the candidate, in consultation with a faculty committee: one topic is literary criticism and theory, a second topic includes the candidate’s major or teaching field, and the third is in a nodal field of critical, historical, generic, or period interest. The written examination is generally taken in January of the third year, after completion of the Fall semester COLIT-GA 2000: Advanced Writing Seminar, in which the topics for the exam are prepared. The written examination is followed within the next semester by an oral examination given by the same faculty committee of three, on the preliminary dissertation prospectus prepared by the candidate in the Spring semester COLIT-GA 2000: Advanced Writing Seminar. The revised prospectus is then submitted, usually within six weeks, for final approval by its three readers. Following the exams, doctoral candidates should be prepared to write a thesis which must be concerned with comparative issues of language, discipline, or culture. The PhD thesis must be approved by an adviser and two major readers; after completion and acceptance of the thesis, two further readers are invited to complete the oral defense jury.

Students are required to complete all coursework, language requirements, the qualifying paper, and the comprehensive exams before the end of their fourth summer in the program. Students are awarded a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) upon completion of all coursework and requirements (aside from dissertation and defense) and move to the dissertation writing stage of the program as doctoral candidates.

Students must successfully defend their dissertation, and submit for approval.

All Graduate School of Arts & Science doctoral candidates must be approved for graduation by their department for the degree to be awarded.

Sample Plan of Study

Plan of Study Grid
1st Semester/TermCredits
Sem in Lit:Rsch Mthds Tchnqs: 4
Other Elective Credits 4
Other Elective Credits 4
Foreign Language 4
 Credits16
2nd Semester/Term
Other Elective Credits 4
Other Elective Credits 4
Other Elective Credits 4
Foreign Language 4
 Credits16
3rd Semester/Term
Other Elective Credits 4
Other Elective Credits 4
Other Elective Credits 4
Foreign Language 4
 Credits16
4th Semester/Term
Other Elective Credits 4
Other Elective Credits 4
Other Elective Credits 4
Foreign Language 4
 Credits16
5th Semester/Term
Advanced Writing Seminar 4
 Credits4
6th Semester/Term
Advanced Writing Seminar 4
 Credits4
 Total Credits72

Following completion of the required coursework for the PhD, students are expected to maintain active status at New York University by enrolling in a research/writing course or a Maintain Matriculation ( MAINT-GA 4747 ) course.  All non-course requirements must be fulfilled prior to degree conferral, although the specific timing of completion may vary from student-to-student.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will have:

NYU Policies

Graduate school of arts and science policies.

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages .

Academic Policies for the Graduate School of Arts and Science can be found on the Academic Policies page . 

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2024-25 Bulletin

Comparative literature, phd, doctoral candidacy.

To earn a PhD at Washington University, a student must complete all courses required by their department; maintain satisfactory academic progress; pass certain examinations; fulfill residence and Mentored Experience Requirements; write, defend, and submit a dissertation; and file an Intent to Graduate. For a general layout of doctoral degree general requirements in Arts & Sciences, including an explanation of Satisfactory Academic Progress, students should review the Doctoral Degree Academic Information page of the Arts & Sciences Bulletin.

Program Requirements

PhD in Comparative Literature

Comparative Literature appeals to the desire to transcend cultural borders in the study of literature and related media, both contemporary and historical. It supports sustained engagement with great imaginative works from around the globe deemed world literature as well as examines and critiques the intellectual and scholarly traditions that have yielded these judgments. It lends particular attention to encounters between literary cultures as they borrow, adapt, exchange, and translate cultural materials and to the pathways and modes by which these transformations take place.  PhD students in Comparative Literature are expected to have deep knowledge of one language in addition to English and reading knowledge in yet another language, languages pertinent to their transcultural engagements.

Required Courses

The PhD in Comparative Literature program requires 60 units of course credit plus a dissertation. Course distribution normally entails the following: at least 12 credits in core comparative literature seminars, including  Comp Lit 502 Introduction to Comparative Literature  (3 units). PhD students put together a course of study with at least two areas of concentration, which include the remaining 48 units of elective course credit.

Minimum Grade Requirement: B-

Core Seminar Courses

Category I: Transcultural Studies

Transcultural Studies brings a cross-disciplinary and cross-regional perspective to the study of cultural artifacts and their mobility.  Courses in this category therefore study the circulation of subjects, ideas, and texts in specific historical and geographical contexts and provide students with the theoretical and conceptual tools to analyze depictions and narratives of cultural exchanges and conflicts.

Category II: Translation Studies

Translation as practice and as theory has become central to Comparative Literature. With its interest in crossing the borders between languages, cultures, and national literatures, Comparative Literature is implicitly committed to performing and also to assessing theoretically the function and value of “translation” in the widest sense of the term. Courses include review of translation theories, study of translation practices of various literary forms and media, and ideological underpinnings of translation, the political uses of languages in intercultural communication, and the multiple uses of translations of all kinds of literature in a multicultural world.

Category III: Literature, Politics, and Society

Raising basic questions about writing in, for, and about the world, studies in category III are based in the premise that literature has historically mattered and continues to matter to lived human experience and human communities and that it addresses, engages in, produces, and is produced by power relations and social formations worldwide across languages, cultures, and nations. Studies in this area also investigate literature itself as the product of social, economic, and political formations and their attendant pressures.

Category IV: Media Ecologies, Media Histories, Media Poetics

Courses in this category facilitate broad, theoretically informed, and historically grounded thinking about the effects of media transformation on both production and consumption, on the self-conceptions of authors (artists, composers), producers, and consumers (readers/viewers/listeners). Courses in this category address both moments in which transformations in media constitute a crisis, becoming the objects of reflection, and periods in which media do their work "quietly" and surreptitiously, evading reflection.  Courses explore how media not only “mediates” but structures knowledge, cultural exchange, artistic expression, perception, and indeed experience itself, asking timely questions about the aesthetics, ethics, and politics of media. 

With permission from the Office of Graduate Studies, students who pursue this area in depth might supplement their theoretical and historical study with praxis by taking select courses in the making of media objects.  

International Writer's Track

Students admitted in the International Writer's Track take 4 semesters of   Comp Lit 512 Literature in the Making (3 units), or the equivalent, as one area of concentration. 

Electives include areas of concentration and should show some evidence of clustering to prepare for comprehensive exams. 

Language Requirement and Details

At a minimum, students need to demonstrate — in addition to superior skills in English — superior ability in at least a second language and reading skills in a third language. Beyond the minimum, the choice and number of languages required correspond to each student's areas of concentration. Each language, including English, will be verified by an expert in that language.

Students participating in a Mentored Teaching Experience (MTE) may teach in Comparative Literature and/or in one of our allied programs, including language instruction. Those teaching for the first time at Washington University will be required to fulfill the pre-semester pedagogy requirement. To be qualified to serve as an assistant in instruction in a language department, students may be required to take the relevant course in language pedagogy. The program strives to give students a variety of teaching experiences that prepare them for the academic market in their areas of concentration.

Qualifying Examinations

Progress toward the PhD is contingent upon the student passing examinations that are variously called  preliminary, qualifying, general, comprehensive,  or  major field exams.  The qualifying process varies according to the program. In some programs, it consists of a series of incremental, sequential, and cumulative exams over a considerable time. In others, the exams are held during a relatively short period of time. Exams may be replaced by one or more papers. The program, which determines the structure and schedule of the required examinations, is responsible for notifying the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences, of the student’s outcome, whether successful or unsuccessful.

Mentored Experience Requirements

Doctoral students at Washington University must complete a department-defined Mentored Experience. The Mentored Experience Requirement is a doctoral degree milestone that is notated on the student’s transcript when complete. Each department has an established  Mentored Experience Implementation Plan  in which the number of units that a student must earn through Mentored Teaching Experience(s) and/or Mentored Professional Experience(s) is defined. The Mentored Experience Implementation Plans outline how doctoral students within the discipline will be mentored to achieve competencies in teaching at basic and advanced levels. Some departments may elect to include Mentored Professional Experiences as an avenue for completing some units of the Mentored Experience Requirement. Doctoral students will enroll in LGS 6XXX Mentored Teaching Experience or LGS 7020 Mentored Professional Experience to signify their progression toward completing the overall Mentored Experience Requirement for the degree.

The Doctoral Dissertation

A Research Advisory Committee (RAC) must be created no later than the end of the student’s third year; departments may set shorter timelines (e.g., by the end of the student's second year) for this requirement. As evidence of the mastery of a specific field of knowledge and of the capacity for original scholarly work, each candidate must complete a dissertation that is approved by their RAC.

A  Title, Scope & Procedure Form for the dissertation must be signed by the committee members and by the program chair. It must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences, at least 6 months before the degree is expected to be conferred or before beginning the fifth year of full-time enrollment, whichever is earlier.

A  Doctoral Dissertation Guide & Template  that give instructions regarding the format of the dissertation are available on the website of the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences. Both should be read carefully at every stage of dissertation preparation.

The Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences, requires each student to make the full text of the dissertation available to the committee members for their review at least 1 week before the defense. Most degree programs require 2 or more weeks for the review period; students should check with their faculty.

The Dissertation Defense

Approval of the written dissertation by the RAC is necessary before the student can orally defend their dissertation. The Dissertation Defense Committee that observes and examines the student’s defense consists of at least five members, who normally meet these criteria:

All committees must be approved by the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences, regardless of whether they meet the normal criteria.

The committee is appointed by the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences, upon the request of the degree program. The student is responsible for making the full text of the dissertation accessible to their committee members for their review in advance of the defense. Faculty and graduate students who are interested in the subject of the dissertation are normally welcome to attend all or part of the defense but may ask questions only at the discretion of the committee members. Although there is some variation among degree programs, the defense ordinarily focuses on the dissertation itself and its relation to the student’s field of expertise.

Submission of the Dissertation

After the defense, the student must submit an electronic copy of the dissertation online to the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences. The submission website requires students to choose among publishing and copyrighting services offered by ProQuest’s ETD Administrator.  The degree program is responsible for delivering the final approval form, signed by the committee members at the defense and then by the program chair or director, to the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences. Students who defend their dissertations successfully have not yet completed their PhD requirements; they finish earning their degree only when their dissertation submission has been accepted by the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences.

Master's Degree Along the Way/ In Lieu of a PhD

The AM in Comparative Literature may be earned along the way to the PhD ONLY; Comparative Literature normally does NOT admit students to a terminal AM program.

The AM in Comparative Literature requires 36 units of course credit, including  Comp Lit 502 Introduction to Comparative Literature  (3 units) and three additional courses (9 units) in Comparative Literature on the graduate (5000) level. The remaining 24 units may be pursued in Comparative Literature or in affiliated departments or programs. These 36 units count toward the PhD in Comparative Literature requirements. 

All students earning an AM in Comparative Literature must demonstrate superior skills in English and, at a minimum, reading ability in one additional language pertinent to their areas of interest. Students participating in a Mentored Teaching Experience (MTE) may teach in Comparative Literature and/or in one of our allied programs, including language instruction. To be qualified to serve as an assistant in instruction in a language department, students may be required to take the relevant course in language pedagogy. The program strives to give students a variety of teaching experiences that prepare them for the academic market in their areas of concentration.

Portfolio and Defense

Students present a portfolio of their work in their second year and participate in an oral defense. The submission of the portfolio will be followed by a one-hour conversation with the committee, at which time the student will receive feedback on the portfolio and advice about future steps. Once this defense and portfolio are approved by the Portfolio Committee, the Portfolio Advisor will email the Director of Graduate Studies for submission to the Office of Graduate Studies.

Contact Info

Contact:Graduate Program Administrator: Comparative Literature and Thought
Phone:314-935-5170
Email:

literature phd fields

Procedural Guide for Doctoral Students in the Department of Literatures in English

Phd procedural guide overview.

This guide has been prepared for the use of doctoral students, faculty advisors, and staff in the Department of Literatures in English and should be read in conjunction with the Cornell Graduate School’s Code of Legislation , which sets forth the policies governing advanced degree programs throughout the University. (This guide was last updated in Fall 2021.)

Program Overview

The Department of Literatures in English 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 alongside the student to design a course of study within the very broad framework established by the department. The program is extremely flexible in terms of course selection, the design of examinations, and the election of minor subjects of concentration outside the department.

Whatever their particular interests, students should pursue coursework comprehensive enough to ensure familiarity with many of the authors and works that have been influential in determining the course of literatures written in English; the theory and criticism of literature; the relations between literature and other disciplines; and 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.

Requirements for the receipt of the PhD in English Language and Literature include:

Please also reference the PhD Timeline for a view of requirements by year.

To earn the PhD in English Language and Literature, students are expected to achieve these learning outcomes:

The Special Committee

Graduate study at Cornell requires each student to work out a program of study in consultation with a special committee, selected by the student, from the membership of Cornell Graduate Faculty. This procedure, commonly referred to as “the committee system,” takes the place of uniform course requirements and uniform departmental examinations. 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 guides and supervises all academic work and assesses progress at a series of meetings with the student. Such a system places special demands on the energy and adaptability of both faculty and students, and it requires a high degree of initiative and responsibility from each student.

The PhD special committee is comprised of at least three members of the Cornell Graduate Faculty: 1 chairperson (representing the major subject) and 2 minor members (representing the minor subjects). The committee chair must be a general member of the Cornell Graduate Field Faculty in English Language and Literature . Minor members may be chosen from departmental graduate field faculty or graduate field faculty outside the department from interdisciplinary fields/fields of interest. Minor members must hold a PhD in their major field and be a member of a PhD Graduate Field.

The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) serves as the student’s main academic advisor and provisional chair during the first semester of residence. A student must select their committee chairperson by March of the first year. One minor committee member must be added by May of the first year, so at least two committee members participate in the 2nd Year Review. Per Graduate School requirements, the full special committee must be in place no later than the end of the third semester of study.

A student may change their special committee through the Graduate School with approval from all members of the newly constituted committee and the Director of Graduate Studies. If a faculty member is removed from the committee, the exiting faculty member does not need to approve the change. If a committee change occurs after a completed A Exam, a student must petition the Graduate School and A Exam results must be approved by any new faculty joining the committee. This petition must also be made at least 3 months in advance of the B Exam.

Fields of Concentration

Students are expected to gain mastery of three fields of study. Such mastery is obtained through individual study, coursework, and advising. Students should see such fields as complementary and supportive of their dissertation research, their areas of teaching interest, and their plans for future scholarship. Students will work closely with their committee members to determine what mastery entails for their specific field; it typically includes extensive knowledge of well-known, influential literary forms and other expressive practices which may include not only literature but also film, television, visual art, performance practices, as well as critical literary and cultural histories, and a working knowledge of relevant theoretical approaches.

Students may choose to change their concentrations at any point in their studies prior to their A exams. It is advised, however, that students take graduate courses with each member of the Special Committee before they ask the faculty member to serve on their committee.

Each field faculty member is approved by the Graduate School to advise on specific concentrations. When a student selects a committee member, they also are required to select a concentration for which the faculty member will serve as advisor. Approved concentrations corresponding to departmental graduate field faculty names, are listed here .

The Cornell Department of Literatures in English strives to be an inclusive and welcoming environment for a diverse community of students, staff, and faculty. It is our collective role to preserve that inclusivity. All of our departmental spaces are professional, and the values of respect, equity, and nondiscrimination should inform our conduct in those spaces. We should all treat each other as having equally valuable contributions to make. If, as a student, you experience any unwelcome behaviors, please tell someone—a departmental administrator, departmental staff member, or graduate school administrator or staff member. We take instances of disrespectful, demeaning, and harassing behavior very seriously.

In addition, faculty/student and advisor/advisee relationships, as you know, come in all shapes and sizes. Some are informal and egalitarian, while others are formal and hierarchical. Some are strictly intellectual, while others become quite personal. There are many different mentoring styles, and what works for one advising pair may not be productive for another. However, while we acknowledge and even honor the various textures and flavors of academic mentorship, the Department of Literatures in English does not condone the abuse of graduate students in any form. You are entitled to professional treatment that respects your autonomy and integrity as students, teachers, and intellectuals. If you have  any  concerns about your interactions with a faculty advisor, particularly if there is something that is preventing you from full and equal access to your graduate education, you are urged to share those concerns with the Director of Graduate Studies, Department Chair, Graduate Coordinator, Director of Administration, and/or the Senior Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Life in the Graduate School.

A student’s special committee is charged with the following formal responsibilities, guiding a student to meet the requirements and expectations of the PhD degree:

The Graduate School specifies the student/faculty advising relationship in more detail. Please review these guides for details and additional resources: Advising Guide for Research Students and Graduate School Faculty Guide to Advising Research Degree Students .

Courses and Grades

Since the areas of knowledge and competence that students emphasize will vary according to their programs of study, such areas can be described here only in broad outline. It is assumed that a student and their special committee will fashion a program broad enough to provide adequate and appropriate literary training while sufficiently focused to provide necessary specialization in particular fields of literary study.

Course Requirements

In consultation with their special committee, doctoral students are expected to successfully complete 12 graduate-level courses (designated as 5000+ and at least 6 must be completed for a letter grade), the First-Year Colloquium, the Teaching Internship (required in the first summer), Writing 7100, and non-credit Advanced Pedagogy Workshops (which are organized by the Director of Graduate Student Teaching and are required in year two).

In the first year of study, a PhD candidate is normally expected to complete six graduate-level courses for credit, in addition to the special First-Year Colloquium (organized for entering students in the fall). In the subsequent two years (years two and three), while teaching, students are expected to complete a total of six additional graduate-level courses (one or two per term). Students are generally advised to take no more than two courses for a letter grade each semester. Please reference the PhD Timeline , for complete details on degree program requirements.

All students must be enrolled for a minimum of 12 credits per semester. If credits fall short with required coursework in any given semester, the Graduate School will enroll students in the Graduate Student Research “course” for the remaining credits so full-time status is achieved.

Additional courses devoted to the study of foreign languages or the English language may also be required (in addition to the 12 required courses mentioned above). The number and choice of these languages depends on each student’s area(s) of specialization. A minimal expectation for a PhD program would be either a “translating” knowledge of two appropriate languages or a much fuller “literary” knowledge of one; some special committees, however, demand more than this minimum. The student should reach agreement with the special committee, as early as possible, on any course of formal or informal study that seems necessary, and the means of demonstrating competence in the appropriate languages. These requirements should be met by the time of the A-Exam.

Students matriculating with an MA degree may (at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies) receive credit for up to two courses, which would then slightly reduce their total course requirements.

Course Selection

Graduate students may enroll in and receive graduate credit for courses designated as level 5000 and up, depending on their relevance to the students’ needs and special interests. Courses at the 6000-level, designed primarily for graduate students, aim to provide advanced coverage of significant periods, figures, genres, and theoretical issues; 7000-level courses are intensive seminars intended to serve as paradigms of scholarly research or specialized study. ENGL 7940: Directed Study, and ENGL 7950: Group Study, give students the opportunity to enroll for more informal work in areas and on problems of special interest to them. If you are interested in arranging a Directed/Group Study, please discuss this with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). You will need DGS approval, if you wish for a course to count toward your degree. Prior to each semester, the department issues a revised semester-list of course offerings and descriptions .

Undergraduate (3000/4000 level) courses do not fulfill required PhD degree requirements. If there are no graduate-level courses available in the desired focus area and there are undergraduate course offerings, please consult the Director of Graduate Studies. The student may be allowed (with DGS and instructor permission) to enroll in a graduate-level group study and complete graduate-level work for credit. If permitted, the student should work with the home department to properly enroll and work with the faculty member to develop a revised syllabus. The graduate-level syllabus must include a separate section identifying additional graduate-level reading, assignments, and meetings with the faculty to transform the course into an adequate graduate-level designation. This is true for Directed Studies, Group Studies, as well as undergraduate courses with a supplemental 5000+ number. The new graduate-level syllabus should be provided to the Graduate Coordinator to keep on record.

In addition to required coursework and with faculty permission, students may take undergraduate-level courses or audit (non-graded) graduate-level courses. Neither of these course options count toward PhD course requirements, even though these courses will appear on transcripts. As a rule, graduate credit is also not awarded for courses devoted principally to the acquisition of a foreign language, unless that course is offered in the Department of Literatures in English at the 6000-level or above.

Most graduate courses may be taken either for a letter grade or S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory). Courses taken for a letter grade normally require extensive written work—e.g., a long-term paper, or a series of shorter papers. Courses taken for S/U may require oral presentations and/or written work.

With the consent of instructor(s) (and in consultation with the committee/DGS), the student may change their grading options at any time before the established University deadline. After this date, changes can only be made by special petition to the Graduate School and are discouraged/only considered in cases of extenuating circumstances. An instructor may permit a student to audit a course, but audited courses don’t count toward program requirements. Grades given to graduate students in the department will be interpreted as follows:

A+, A :  Distinguished A- :  Commendable B+ :  Satisfactory B, B- :  Borderline C+, C, and below :  Unsatisfactory

If a student is unable to complete all the work for a course before the end of the semester in which it is offered, they may request a grade of Incomplete (INC) from the instructor. Graduate School policy mandates that all incompletes be made up within one year of the end of the semester during which the course was taken, otherwise it will become a permanent part of the transcript and the course will need to be re-taken in order for it to count.

A student must satisfactorily complete coursework in a timely manner in order to remain in good academic standing (defined below), and be eligible for continued funding.

If a student fails to meet any of these requirements, the student will not be in good academic standing, and will be ineligible for Department and Graduate School funding the following year. Some deadlines may be slightly extended in the event of extenuating circumstances (such as student illness or family emergency). Even though there may be some flexibility, the Graduate School will not distribute fourth-year fellowship funding unless the A exam is successfully completed. 

Students receiving financial aid: please note that federal regulations require Cornell University to apply standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress for financial aid eligibility. Please review this policy for details on minimum GPA and other requirements.

Exams and Milestones

PhD students are encouraged to review the PhD Timeline , for additional details on PhD exams and milestones. Please note that it is the student’s responsibility to officially schedule their A and B Exams with the Graduate School at least 7 days prior to each exam date. Students are also responsible for initiating exam results forms within 3 days of their exam. Committee approvals for departmental requirements (2nd Year Review and Prospectus document) should be submitted to the Graduate Field Coordinator along with chairperson approval.

2nd Year Review

The Second-Year Review takes place prior to or early in the fall semester of the student’s second year of the PhD program. This review is intended to enable students to plan for their second-year of coursework and begin focusing on the topics, approaches, and areas of research that will eventually form the bases of their A exams. The review takes place in a meeting with the student and committee members, ideally, in the week prior to the start of classes in order to confer about fall courses, but within six weeks of the start of the semester, at the latest. The review takes place in the third term as a precondition for registering for the fourth term of classes/teaching.

Before the review: 

After the review:

A candidate who does not complete the 2nd Year Review procedure or who decides for other reasons to leave the graduate program after one or two years may be able to obtain an MA degree by writing a Master’s thesis and satisfactorily completing an appropriate program of study. Please consult the DGS/GFA, if needed.

Admission to Candidacy Examination (A Exam)

This examination has both oral and written components and serves the two functions of consolidating the student’s knowledge in major and minor fields and preparing them to write a dissertation. Graduate School regulations require that students complete the A Exam before the beginning of their seventh semester. Since the Graduate School will NOT award fourth-year fellowship funding if an A Exam is not successfully completed, the department highly encourages students to complete their A exam at the end of their third year.

Students should consult with their committee members and meet with the committee as a whole to discuss topics, bibliographies, and the format of the examination by the end of the fourth semester. All required coursework must be completed (and grades submitted by the instructor) before the A examination can take place.

The written portions consist of three separate responses to questions formulated by committee members in consultation with the student, at least two of which entail broad surveys of and engagements with issues in the major and minor fields. The written responses need be no more than 4,000 words each and need not be polished essays. The special committee members, in consultation with the student, agree beforehand on the form and length of each written response. The committee may specify a composition time of a few hours, a full day, or up to ten days of work on an individual response. The normal assumption is that shorter time limits are most appropriate for this examination.

The oral portion, which must take place no more than two weeks after all three written answers have been given to the committee, is normally about two hours in length, and must be formally scheduled at the Graduate School at least seven days in advance. In addition to discussing the written responses, the committee and the student use the oral exam to look towards the dissertation, exploring ways to proceed with research and writing, and establishing a framework for the writing and submission of a prospectus. Students should expect to receive oral feedback on their A Exam during this discussion portion of the exam. Although written feedback may be provided by some faculty members after the exam, written feedback is not required nor is it typical practice. Students are encouraged to take thorough notes at the exam as well as meet with the committee chair within a week of the oral exam to review suggestions raised during the exam.

For more information on the A Exam, including sample exam formats, the “Hey It’s Your A” document, and details about officially scheduling your exam with the Graduate School, visit A Exam: Overview and Required Forms on our Canvas site.

Upon passing the A Exam, a doctoral candidate will be awarded an MA degree. If a student fails the A Exam, three months must elapse before a second attempt is made. A student who does not pass the A Exam may be awarded the MA on completion of a thesis of 35 pages or more, and an oral examination by the student’s Special Committee. For more information, consult the Director of Graduate Studies.

After completing the A Exam, the student is required to prepare a dissertation prospectus of 10-15 pages in length. Within 4 months of completing the A Exam, and in no case later than the end of the seventh semester, candidates present a draft of their prospectus to their special committee. Candidates submit the draft at least two weeks before meeting with the committee to discuss it.

A form signed by all committee members indicating their approval of the final prospectus, along with a copy of the prospectus itself, should be submitted to the Graduate Field Coordinator by the end of the seventh semester. The plans set forth in the prospectus may be modified as the candidate's research and writing proceed; however, significant changes of focus and structure should be approved by the committee.

A Prospectus and Dissertation Strategies workshop course (ENGL 7920) is routinely offered each fall semester to assist students with the preparation of a prospectus. Students in the workshop will typically be in their seventh semester in the program, but students ready to begin writing at an earlier stage in the program also are encouraged to enroll.

Dissertation Research and Writing

A candidate who has passed the A Exam is expected to concentrate on a major piece of independent research. If a student’s interests have changed in such a way that to no longer coincide with those of the members of the special committee, they may add a member to the committee to direct the dissertation or else petition the General Committee of the Graduate School for permission to reconstitute the committee. The department also encourages dissertation students to participate in dissertation-writing groups and workshops.

It is ultimately the candidate’s responsibility to complete a dissertation satisfactory to all members of the committee; and to this end they should consult regularly with them – in particular the chair – to discuss progress. The candidate should plan to devote from one to two years to the dissertation, typically the fourth and fifth years.

Final Examination (B Exam)

The B Exam is an oral examination on the general subject that usually includes detailed discussion of the dissertation itself, together with suggestions for revision. Two terms of residence at Cornell are required after the A Exam before the candidate may sit for the final B Examination. A completed draft of the dissertation must be submitted to all members of the special committee sixty days in advance of the exam to allow adequate time for reading. The candidate also should allow adequate time for possible revision before the relevant Graduate School filing deadline. The B Exam must be formally scheduled with the Graduate School at least seven days in advance and is conducted by the candidate’s special committee. The committee may request changes in the draft before approving a final version to be filed with the Graduate School. Students have sixty days after the B Exam to file with the Graduate School the final approved draft of the dissertation. After that date, a late filing fee will be incurred.

Filing the Dissertation

When approved by the special committee, the dissertation must be formatted in accordance with Graduate School specifications. Full details concerning dissertation form and deadlines may be found in the Thesis and Dissertation section of the Graduate School’s website. The degree requirements are not complete until the dissertation has been filed with the Graduate School and approved by the student’s committee.

Evaluation of Student Progress

Graduate admissions and review committee (garc).

GARC consists of five or more members of the Graduate Field Faculty in English Language and Literature, including the Director of Graduate Studies. Its chief responsibilities include the admission of applicants to the PhD program, and the annual review and adjudication of cases in which students are failing to make satisfactory progress through the program. The Director of Graduate Studies, who chairs the committee and represents the long-range interests of the graduate programs, is responsible for the day-to- day operation of the Office of Graduate Studies in Literatures in English and acts as an advisor to students and is the provisional chair for entering students. Every fall, PhD students are provided with a status report from GARC detailing their progress in the program and suggestions for returning to good academic standing, if there are any concerns.

Student Progress Review (SPR)

Students are required to complete the Student Progress Review (SPR) process in March/April of each year. The SPR process supports regular communication including written feedback between a student and their committee, requiring research degree students and their special committee to have at least one formal conversation each year about academic progress, accomplishments and future plans. Students complete a form describing milestones completed, accomplishments, and challenges, as well as set goals. The special committee chair responds in writing and indicates whether the student’s progress is excellent, satisfactory, needs improvement, or is unsatisfactory. Feedback that is documented on the SPR will be made available to the student, the student’s special committee chair, and the DGS/GFA of the student’s field.

Upon admission, each PhD student is awarded a five-year financial support package (including a stipend , full tuition fellowship , and student health insurance ), which is guaranteed provided the student remains in good academic standing and performs satisfactorily in any assistantship capacity. Support is typically as follows:

Year One:   Sage Fellowship (or equivalent) to support coursework.

Summer, Year One:   Stipend for participation in the required Knight Institute teacher-training program. Residence in Ithaca is required.

Year Two: Teaching Assistantships

Year Three: Teaching Assistantships

Year Four: Sage Fellowship (or equivalent) after the student has completed the A-Exam, to support the writing of a dissertation prospectus and initial research/drafting of the dissertation.

Year Five: Teaching Assistantships

Summers, Years Two - Five: Sage Fellowship (or equivalent) for four summers. Students must submit an academic plan to the Graduate School and enroll for each summer term to qualify.

Notes: Some variations on this funding schedule are possible; however, it is a clear expectation of the program that the first year and the fourth years will be spent on fellowship.

All PhD students are eligible for six semesters of Teaching Assistantships during the five-year program, except for students who hold other external or internal fellowships. In such cases, the additional fellowship support replaces the Teaching Assistantship option for the semester in which the fellowship is awarded. For all PhD students, teaching assistantships beyond the fifth year may be available by application if opportunities are available, but are not guaranteed.

PhD students who secure other external or internal fellowships (e.g., Ford, Mellon, Provost's Diversity, etc.) may be required to defer the use of their Sage Fellowship (or equivalent) to later semesters. PhD students who receive three-year fellowships will have their support packages revised on a case-by-case basis. This may allow multi-year fellowship holders to gain the year of teaching experience required for the degree, as well as an additional year of teaching. External or internal fellowships of less than three years duration do not extend the guaranteed Sage Fellowship and TA-ship eligibility described here. See the Registration and Degree Requirements section for information regarding funding and leaves of absence.

External Fellowship Application Requirement

The Graduate School requires all PhD students to apply for external funding by the end of the 4th year. Students should be advised that many of the full-year doctoral fellowships that are available have application deadlines one year prior to the fellowship period, so students should be prepared to submit their fellowship applications at the beginning of year 4. In order to properly prepare, students should meet with their committee chair in advance, to discuss the application process and to identify appropriate fellowships. A list of fellowships and sample applications are available in canvas under the Funding Resources specific to PhD students section. Our PhD students have successfully secured multi-year and single-year Ford Fellowships and Mellon Fellowships.

Additional Funding Opportunities

The Graduate School is pleased to provide PhD students the opportunity to travel to enhance their scholarship. Eligible students are encouraged to apply for grant funding related to professional conferences, research travel, or summer foreign language education. Research and Travel Grants are also available through the Einaudi Center for International Research .

Department of Literatures in English students have successfully competed for these Cornell funding opportunities: Buttrick-Crippen Fellowship, Society for the Humanities Fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), Shin Yong-Jin Graduate Fellowships, Provost’s Diversity Fellowships, Digital Humanities fellowships, Einaudi Center funding, Rural Humanities Practicum, awards 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.

Employment Limit Policy

Because earning a graduate degree involves a significant time commitment, Cornell limits the amount of employment a student may hold while in a full-time registered status (during fall, spring, and summer). Students are considered full-time if they are registered, enrolled in courses, or are working on their thesis or dissertation.  Additional information can be found here . University-imposed employment limits are as follows: 

Teaching Assistantships, Readerships, and Lectureships

Teaching is considered an integral part of training for the profession. The Field requires a carefully supervised teaching assistantship (TA) experience (in the capacity of a graduate student instructor or graduate teaching assistant) of at least one year for every doctoral candidate as part of the training for the degree. PhD students typically serve as graduate student instructors for three years.

In addition to TA opportunities, supplementary readership opportunities may be available. Readers assist faculty members with grading papers and/or leading discussion sections for undergraduate lecture courses. These are part-time paid commitments and are not available as a primary means of graduate student support.

PhD students in their fifth or sixth year (at the time of application) may consider applying for the Martino Lectureship (if available). This is a paid teaching position that requires the student to complete their B exam and terminate their registered student status prior to the appointment date. Lecturers may not hold any student fellowships or any student employment positions simultaneously with the lectureship appointment. In all lectureship cases, dissertations must be filed by the end of the first term of lectureship or before.

Please consult the Teaching Handbook for Graduate Student Instructors, Lecturers, Teaching Assistants, and Readers in the Department of Literatures in English at Cornell University for complete details on applying for teaching, readerships, or the Martino Lectureship.

Registration and Degree Requirements

In addition to coursework, milestone, and teaching requirements outlined in the department’s PhD Timeline , degree candidates must satisfy all requirements specified by the Graduate School’s Code of Legislation . Relief from these requirements must be sought by petitioning the Graduate School. Petition requests require endorsement from special committee members and the DGS. Here are a few highlights to be aware of:

In practice, eight semesters and four summers are the minimum required for completion of the PhD degree. The PhD period of study is typically continuous, although it is possible to obtain a temporary leave of absence for non-academic or health related reasons (see below).  Students who need to pursue their studies away from Cornell (and have funding to support this) may apply for study in absentia (see below).

In Absentia Status (registered student status)

If a PhD student decides to study outside of Ithaca (at a location greater than 100 miles away), while remaining a full-time, registered student, they must apply for In Absentia status. For departmental funding purposes, one year registered In Absentia will count as a year in the student’s program and funding package. Students will be responsible for a tuition charge of $200/term while In Absentia. Students will not be eligible for Teaching Assistantships while holding this status, however 4th year Sage and Summer Fellowships would be available, if eligibility requirements are met. Students are limited to a total of 20 hours of combined assistantship, hourly student appointments, and/or outside employment per week while In Absentia.

Leaves of Absences (non-registered student status)

Personal Leave : A student who takes a Leave of Absence (LOA) for personal reasons relinquishes access to campus facilities and services that normally accompany student status. For the purposes of determining future department funding eligibility, the funding clock will pause for one year and start again the following year whether or not the student returns to registered status. Student health insurance is available, but students must pay their own premiums while on leave. When considering an LOA, students are strongly advised to speak with their committee chair, Director of Graduate Studies, and the Graduate Program Coordinator for funding determination and guidance.

Maternity and Paternity Options : Cornell University graduate and professional students are eligible for parental accommodation to help balance the competing demands of academic and family life. Accommodation options vary with the student’s funding and degree program.

Health Leave : A student who takes a Health Leave of Absence (HLOA) relinquishes access to campus facilities and services that normally accompany student status. Returning from HLOA within 4 years guarantees that a student will receive the remaining financial support from the original offer of admission. Student health insurance is available for purchase while on HLOA and students may petition the department for support with Student Health Insurance premiums. When considering an HLOA, students are required to speak with Gannett Health Services, but are also encouraged to speak with the Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Life at the Graduate School.

In all Leave of Absence situations, library privileges are possible with payment of fees by registering with the library directly and submitting the Library Privileges Application .

Students who are not American citizens or permanent residents and hold a nonimmigrant visa, must contact a representative in  International Services  before requesting a leave of absence. International students should contact the Graduate Student Services Office and International Services for information on maintaining visa eligibility for re-entry.

Graduate Student Committees and Organizations

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GPSA) : brings together Cornell’s community of graduate and professional students to address non-academic issues of common concern. Drawing upon the strengths of its diverse community, the GPSA is responsible for setting and distributing the graduate student activity fee and representatives to University committees. The GPSA is composed of delegates from each graduate field and the professional schools and nineteen voting members, elected from the larger body of field representatives.

Graduate Policy and Curriculum Committee (GPCC) : consists of four elected representatives (3 PhD students and 1 MFA student) who represent the interests of the student body regarding graduate policy and graduate curriculum in the Department of Literatures in English. Representatives are expected to meet at least twice per semester with the Director of Graduate Studies. This committee provides a formal mechanism for the exchange of ideas between faculty and students. The Committee’s principal responsibility is to transmit to the Literatures in English Graduate Faculty its advice on matters of policy affecting the graduate programs within the Field in order to improve the graduate student experience.

English Graduate Student Organization (EGSO) : fosters PhD and MFA student life and culture by striving to create community, to plan and implement programming for academic and professional development, and to establish unity and cohesion among the English Department’s graduate student body. Elections are held each spring. EGSO also offers a graduate mentoring program to foster connections between incoming and current graduate students. This helps first years navigate student and social life in department, the graduate school, and the larger Ithaca community. Mentors and mentees connect prior to orientation day and meet formally and informally over the course of their first year. The program organizes lunches and other social events to welcome new students to Cornell and cultivate relationships within the department.

Reading Groups and Extracurricular Activities : The concept of “residence” comprehends more than attending seminars and writing papers. An important part of one’s education comes from informal contacts and extracurricular discussions. Every year there are several social gatherings, formal and informal, sponsored by the department. The department also encourages attendance at public lectures, readings, and conferences, and participation in reading groups and independent study groups with or without a faculty advisor. Graduate students can organize lectures, conferences, readings, workshops and other events on their own. Funds for this purpose are typically available from a variety of sources.

Informal reading groups--some established gatherings and others that form from year to year--focus on such topics as Queer Theory, U.S. Latino Literature, Marxist criticism, and Victorian Literature. Conferences largely organized by graduate students also provide a chance for graduate work to reach a wide audience of the Cornell community. Organizations such as the Renaissance Colloquium, The Lounge Hour Reading Series, Literatures in English Department Roundtable, Quodlibet (a forum for work in Medieval Studies), and the Visiting Writers Series organized by the Creative Writing program bring scholars and writers to Cornell for readings, talks, and seminars. Find current offerings here .           

Departmental Resources

Graduate School Resources

The Office of Academic and Student Affairs works with graduate faculty and graduate students on academic policy and programs, academic integrity and misconduct, responsible conduct of research, petitions requesting exceptions to graduate school policy as outlines in the Graduate Faculty’s Code of Legislation, and academic progress and students status.

The Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement (OISE) supports an inclusive and welcoming environment for all graduate and postdoctoral scholars, but especially for those from marginalized communities and/or backgrounds historically excluded from and underrepresented in the academy. OISE supports systemic change and promotes a climate of diversity, belonging, equity, engagement, and achievement, which are integral components of graduate and postdoctoral education. OISE supports scholar success through recruitment, diversity fellowships, mentoring, professional, leadership, and community development programming, and ongoing support.

Recognizing that health and academic performance are intimately linked, the Office of Graduate Student Life is a source of information, support, and advocacy that creates a more student-centered graduate student life experience.  In addition to being a first-point of contact for students who are struggling or experiencing any form of distress, the Office of Graduate Student Life serves as a coordinating hub with campus-partners that focus on promoting a healthy and holistic student experience.  More information on available support is available here . 

Faculty Resources: Office of Faculty Development and Diversity and the Graduate School

General inquiries about registration, enrollment, leaves, exams or other student requirements can be directed to the Student Service Office ( [email protected] ).

Graduate School Staff Directory

University Resources

The university’s  Mental Health at Cornell  website offers information and resources to help students get support, practice self-care, help others, and get involved in campus health initiatives. Special tips are provided for graduate and professional students.

Cornell Health  supports the health and well-being of graduate students with medical and mental health care and workshops to help busy students thrive. They also offer non-clinical support services, including  Student Disability Services  and  Victim Advocacy .

Mental health care  at Cornell Health includes drop-in consultation, workshops, individual counseling, and group counseling (including several groups specifically for graduate students).

“ Notice & Respond: Friend 2 Friend for Graduate & Professional Students ,” helps graduate and professional students learn connect peers in distress with appropriate sources of support and care.

Guidance for faculty, staff, and TAs supporting student mental health can be found here .

Article: J. Posselt: Normalizing Struggle: Dimensions of Faculty Support for Doctoral Students and Implications for Persistence and Well-Being .

The University of Edinburgh home

Postgraduate study

English Literature PhD

Awards: PhD

Study modes: Full-time, Part-time

Funding opportunities

Programme website: English Literature

Discovery Day

Join us online on 21st August to learn more about postgraduate study at Edinburgh.

Find out more and register

Research profile

Doctorate-level study is an opportunity to expand upon your interests and expertise in a community that really values research; and to make an original, positive contribution to learning in literature and related fields.

As the oldest department of English Literature in the UK, based in one of the largest and most diverse Schools in the University of Edinburgh, we are the ideal place for PhD study.

Our interdisciplinary environment brings together specialists in all periods and genres of literature and literary analysis.

Research excellence

Based on our performance in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF), over 90 per cent of our research and impact is classed as world-leading and internationally excellent by Research Professional. 69 per cent is graded at the world-leading level – the highest of REF’s four categories.

In Times Higher Education's REF analysis, English at Edinburgh is ranked fifth in the UK (out of more than 90 institutions) for:

Given the breadth and depth of our expertise, we are able to support students wishing to develop research projects in any field of Anglophone literary studies. These include American studies, literary and critical theory, the history of the book, gender and sexuality studies, and global Anglophone literatures - where our specialisms include Pacific, African, South Asian, and African-American writing.

We have particular strengths in each of the main periods of English and Scottish Literature:

Emergent research themes in the department include the digital humanities, the economic humanities, the environmental humanities and literature and medicine.

Working with colleagues elsewhere in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, and across the wider University, we are able to support PhD theses crossing boundaries between disciplines and/or languages.

Over the course of your PhD, you’ll be expected to complete an original body of work under the expert guidance of your supervisors leading to a dissertation of usually between 80,000 and 100,000 words.

You will be awarded your doctorate if your thesis is judged to be of an appropriate standard, and your research makes a definite contribution to knowledge.

Go beyond the books

Beyond the Books is a podcast from the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at research and the people who make it happen.

Listen to a mix of PhD, early career and established researchers talk about their journey to and through academia and about their current and recent research.

Training and support

Between the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC), the Careers Service, and the Institute for Academic Development (IAD), you’ll find a range of programmes and resources to help you develop your postgraduate skills.

You will also have access to the University’s fantastic libraries, collections and worldwide strategic partnerships.

Part of a community

As part of our research community, you will be immersed in a world of knowledge exchange, with lots of opportunities to share ideas, learning and creative work.

Activities range from talks by visiting speakers and work-in-progress seminars, to reading groups, conferences, workshops, performances, online journals and forums, many of which are led by PhD candidates.

Highlights include student reading for the James Tait Black Prizes, Britain's oldest literary awards which typically involve reading submissions across fiction and biography and advising the judges on the shortlists.

Our graduates tell us that they value the friendliness of the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC), the connections they make here and the in-depth guidance they receive from our staff, who are published experts in their field.

A UNESCO World City of Literature, Edinburgh is a remarkable place to study, write, publish, discuss and perform prose, poetry and drama.

Take a PhD with us and you will be based in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) in the historic centre of this world-leading festival city.

You will have access to the University’s many literary treasures. These include the libraries of:

The Centre for Research Collections holds the W.H. Auden collection; the Corson Collection of works by and about Sir Walter Scott; and the Ramage collection of poetry pamphlets.

It also holds a truly exceptional collection of early Shakespeare quartos and other early modern printed plays put together by the 19th century Shakespearean James Halliwell-Phillipps, the correspondence of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle (the focus of one of the major editorial projects in Victorian studies of the last half-century), and the extensive Laing collection of medieval and early modern manuscripts, as well as letters and papers by - and relating to - authors including:

Many of the University's Special Collections are digitised and available online from our excellent Resource Centre, Computing Labs, and dedicated PhD study space in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC).

Look inside the PhD study space in LLC

In the city

Our buildings are close to the National Library of Scotland (where collections include the Bute Collection of early modern English drama and the John Murray Archive), Edinburgh Central Library, Scottish Poetry Library, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Writers’ Museum and a fantastic range of publishing houses, bookshops, and theatres.

We have strong links with the Edinburgh International Book Festival, which annually welcomes around 1,000 authors to our literary city.

Entry requirements

These entry requirements are for the 2024/25 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2025/26 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2024.

A UK masters, or its international equivalent, with a mark of at least 65% in your English literature dissertation of at least 10,000 words.

If your masters programme did not include a dissertation or included a dissertation that was unmarked or less than 10,000 words, you will be expected to produce an exceptional research proposal and personal statement to show your ability to undertake research at the level required by this programme.

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS , TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE , in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old* at the beginning of your programme of study. (*Revised 05 March 2024 to extend degree validity to five years.)

Find out more about our language requirements:

Read our general information on tuition fees and studying costs:

Scholarships and funding

Featured funding.

There are a number of scholarship schemes available to eligible candidates on this PhD programme, including awards from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Please be advised that many scholarships have more than one application stage, and early deadlines.

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

Further information

This programme is not currently accepting applications. Applications for the next intake usually open in October.

Start date: September 2024

Awards: PhD (36 mth FT, 72 mth PT)

Application deadlines

Due to high demand, the school operates a number of selection deadlines. We will make a small number of offers to the most outstanding candidates on an ongoing basis, but hold the majority of applications until the next published selection deadline when we will offer a proportion of the places available to applicants selected through a competitive process.

Deadlines for applicants applying to study in 2024/25:

Round Application deadline Places awarded by
1 24 November 2023 15 December 2023
2 30 April 2024 14 June 2024

The online application process involves the completion of a web form and the submission of supporting documents.

For a PhD programme, you should include:

Before you formally apply for this PhD, you should look at the pre-application information and guidance on the programme website.

This will help you decide if this programme is right for you, and help us gain a clearer picture of what you hope to achieve.

The guidance will also give you practical advice for writing your research proposal – one of the most important parts of your application.

Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes:

literature phd fields

Recent PhD Dissertations

Postdramatic African Theater and Critique of Representation Oluwakanyinsola Ajayi

Troubling Diaspora: Literature Across the Arabic Atlantic Phoebe Carter

The Contrafacta of Thomas Watson and Simon Goulart: Resignifying the Polyphonic Song in 16th-century England and France Joseph Gauvreau

Of Unsound Mind: Madness and Mental Health in Asian American Literature Carrie Geng

Cultural Capitals: Postwar Yiddish between Warsaw and Buenos Aires Rachelle Grossman

Blindness, Deafness, and Cripping the Grounds of Comparison in Comparative Literature Kathleen Ong

Counter-Republics of Letters: Politics, Publishing, and the Global Novel Elisa Sotgiu

Red Feminism: The Politics and Poetics of Liberation Botagoz Ussen Correlative Object Ontology: Pragmatism and Objects of Literary Interpretation Mehmet Yildiz

‘Through the Looking Glass’: The Narrative Performance of Anarkali Aisha Dad

Indeterminate “Greekness”: A Diasporic and Transnational Poetics Ilana Freedman

Imagined Mothers: The Construction of Italy, Ancient Greece, and Anglo-American Hegemony Francesca Bellei

The Untimely Avant-Garde: Literature, Politics, and Transculturation in the Sinosphere (1909-2020) Fangdai Chen

Recovering the Language of Lament: Modernism, Catastrophe, and Exile Sarah Corrigan

Beyond Diaspora:The Off Home in Jewish Literature from Latin America and Israel Lana Jaffe Neufeld

Artificial Humanities: A Literary Perspective on Creating and Enhancing Humans from Pygmalion to Cyborgs Nina Begus

Music and Exile in Twentieth-Century German, Italian, and Polish Literature Cecily Cai

We Speak Violence: How Narrative Denies the Everyday Rachael Duarte Riascos

Anticlimax: The Multilingual Novel at the Turn of the 21st Century Matylda Figlerowicz

Forgetting to Remember: An Approach to Proust’s Recherche Lara Roizen

The Event of Literature:An Interval in a World of Violence Petra Taylor

The English Baroque:The Logic of Excess in Early Modern Literature Hudson Vincent

Porte Planète; Ville Canale –parisian knobs /visually/ turned to \textual\ currents Emma Zofia Zachurski

‘…not a poet but a poem’: A Lacanian study of the subject of the poem Marina Connelly The Tune That Can No Longer Be Recognized: Late Medieval Chinese Poetry and Its Affective Others Jasmine Hu The Invention of the Art Film: Authorship and French Cultural Policy Joseph Pomp Apocalypticism in the Arabic Novel William Tamplin The Sound of Prose: Rhythm, Translation, Orality Thomas Wisniewski

The New Austerity in Syrian Poetry Daniel Behar

Mourning the Living: Africa and the Elegy on Screen Molly Klaisner

Art Beyond the Norms: Art of the Insane, Art Brut, and the Avant-Garde from Prinzhorn to Dubuffet (1922-1949) Raphael Koenig

Words, Images and the Self: Iconoclasm in Late Medieval English Literature Yun Ni

Europe and the Cultural Politics of Mediterranean Migrations Argyro Nicolaou

Voice of Power, Voice of Terror: Lyric, Violence, and the Greek Revolution Simos Zenios

Every Step a New Movement: Anarchism in the Stalin-Era Literature of the Absurd and its Post-Soviet Adaptations Ania Aizman

Kino-Eye, Kino-Bayonet: Avant-Garde Documentary in Japan, France, and the USSR Julia Alekseyeva

Ambient Meaning: Mood, Vibe, System Peli Grietzer

Year of the Titan: Percy Bysshe Shelley and Ancient Poetry Benjamin Sudarsky

Metropolitan Morning: Loss, Affect, and Metaphysics in Buenos Aires, 1920-1940 Juan Torbidoni

Sophisticated Players: Adults Writing as Children in the Stalin Era and Beyond Luisa Zaitseva

Collecting as Cultural Technique: Materialistic Interventions into History in 20th Century China Guangchen Chen

Pathways of Transculturation: Chinese Cultural Encounters with Russia and Japan (1880-1930) Xiaolu Ma

Beyond the Formal Law: Making Cases in Roman Controversiae and Tang Literary Judgments Tony Qian

Alternative Diplomacies: Writing in Early Twentieth-Century Shanghai, Istanbul, and Beyond? Alice Xiang

The Literary Territorialization of Manchuria: Rethinking National and Transnational Literature in East Asia from the Frontier Miya Qiong Xie World Literature and the Chinese Compass, 1942-2012 Yanping Zhang

Anatomy of ‘Decadence’ Henry Bowles

Medicine As Storytelling: Emplotment Strategies in Doctor-Patient Encounters and Beyond (1870-1830) Elena Fratto

Platonic Footnotes: Figures of Asymmetry in Ancient Greek Thought Katie Deutsch

Children’s Literature Grows Up Christina Phillips Mattson

Humor as Epiphanic Awareness and Attempted Self-Transcendence Curtis Shonkwiler

Ethnicity, Ethnogenesis and Ancestry in the Early Iron Age Aegean as Background to and through the Lens of the Iliad Guy Smoot

The Modern Stage of Capitalism: The Drama of Markets and Money (1870-1930) Alisa Sniderman

Repenting Roguery: Penance in the Spanish Picaresque Novel and the Arabic and Hebrew Maqāma Emmanuel Ramírez Nieves

The “Poetics of Diagram” John Kim

Dreaming Empire: European Writers in the Fascist Era Robert Kohen

The Poetics of Love in Prosimetra across the Medieval Mediterranean Isabelle Levy

Renaissance Error: Digression from Ariosto to Milton Luke Taylor

The New Voyager: Theory and Practice of South Asian Literary Modernisms Rita Banerjee

Be an Outlaw, Be a Hero: Cinematic Figures of Urban Banditry and Transgression in Brazil, France, and the Maghreb Maryam Monalisa Gharavi

Bāgh-e Bi-Bargi: Aspects of Time and Presence in the Poetry of Mehdi Akhavān Sāles Marie Huber

Freund-schaft: Capturing Aura in an Unframed Literary Exchange Clara Masnatta

Class, Gender and Indigeneity as Counter-discourses in the African Novel: Achebe, Ngugi, Emecheta, Sow Fall and Ali Fatin Abbas

The Empire of Chance: War, Literature, and the Epistemic Order of Modernity Anders Engberg-Pedersen

Poetics of the unfinished: illuminating Paul Celan’s “Eingedunkelt” Thomas Connolly

Towards a Media History of Writing in Ancient Italy Stephanie Frampton Character Before the Novel: Representing Moral Identity in the Age of Shakespeare Jamey Graham

Transforming Trauma: Memory and Slavery in Black Atlantic Literature since 1830 Raquel Kennon

Renaissance Romance: Rewarding the Boundaries of Fiction Christine S. Lee

Psychomotor Aesthetics: Conceptions of Gesture and Affect in Russian and American Modernity, 1910s-1920s Ana Olenina

Melancholy, Ambivalence, Exhaustion: Responses to National Trauma in the Literature and Film of France and China Erin Schlumpf

The Poetics of Human-Computer Interaction Dennis Tenen

Novelizing the Muslim Wars of Conquest: The Christian Pioneers of the Arabic Historical Novel Luke Leafgren

Secret Lives of the City: Reimagining the Urban Margins in 20th-Century Literature and Theory, from Surrealism to Iain Sinclair Jennifer Hui Bon Hoa

Archaic Greek Memory and Its Role in Homer Anita Nikkanen

Deception Narratives and the (Dis)Pleasure of Being Cheated: The Cases of Gogol, Nabokov, Mamet, and Flannery O’Connor Svetlana Rukhelman

Aesthetic Constructs and the Work of Play in 20th Century Latin American and Russian Literature Natalya Sukhonos

Stone, Steel, Glass: Constructions of Time in European Modernity Christina Svendsen

See here for a full list of dissertations since 1904 .

literature phd fields

Founded as a graduate program in 1904 and joining with the undergraduate Literature Concentration in 2007, Harvard’s Department of Comparative Literature operates at the crossroads of multilingualism, literary study, and media history.

© 2023 President and Fellows of Harvard College

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Congratulations to our 2023-2024 Ph.D. Graduates!

New faculty = new courses this fall.

literature phd fields

Literature (M.A., Ph.D.)

The Literature program offers a Master of Arts degree, and a Doctoral degree. 

Important: Transcripts and Letters of Recommendation are required of all applicants. 

Read the  application instructions ​ page for full details., see the test score requirements for this program., below are specific requirements also needed for this program:.

Curriculum Vitae

Writing Sample:

Please provide a writing sample between 10-20 pages in length. Though the sample need not be in Literature, it should demonstrate relevant skills in writing, critical thinking, and textual analysis. In addition, applicants whose proposed primary area of emphasis is in a language other than English should normally provide a sample that demonstrates an ability to work in that language.  Please include your name in the footer of each page of your writing sample.

Additional Writing Sample for Applicants to the Creative/Critical Writing Concentration: 20-25 pages of prose (at least one complete piece and an additional sample preferred), or 10-12 pages of poetry. The writing can be poetry, prose fiction, creative non-fiction or hybrid/cross genre.

A Statement of purpose is required: 

Please describe your plans for graduate study or research and for your future occupation or profession. Include any information that may aid the selection committee in evaluating your preparation and qualifications for graduate study at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Recommended length is a concise 2-4 pages.

A Personal History Statement is also required:

Required of all applicants. This statement will be used in conjunction with your application for graduate admission and financial support. Note that the Personal History Statement should not duplicate the Statement of Purpose. Recommended length is a concise 1-3 pages.

UC Santa Cruz is interested in a diverse and inclusive graduate student population. In an essay, discuss how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how you might contribute to social or cultural diversity within your chosen field; and/or how you might serve educationally underrepresented segments of society with your degree.

See the application deadline

Contact the program

Read more about this program:

https://literature.ucsc.edu/graduate/index.html

What are you looking for?

Suggested search, department of comparative literature, welcome to colt, explore usc’s comparative literature department, what is comparative literature.

The discipline of comparative literature was originally based in the study of literary works across linguistic, national, and historical boundaries with the goal of taking up a comparative perspective on different literary traditions. This makes it an excellent choice for students with proficiency in one or more languages who wish to expand and hone their knowledge of literature in culture context. Over time the field has broadened to encompass the study of literary theory and cultural criticism globally and to incorporate the comparison of literature with other arts and media, including film, visual art, digital and new media, and performance. Comparative literature is a great field for students with interdisciplinary interests and/or with a focus on innovative, experimental, and radical cultural critique. It is also an excellent choice for students who wish to supplement or enhance work in history, anthropology, media studies, and/or gender and race studies (among many other fields).

Students in comparative literature are trained to ask broader and better questions about the many forms of cultural production surrounding them. And they know they have to look at cultures comparatively because they’ve learned that no one language culture has all the answers. As a discipline, comparative literature seeks out and encourages multicultural and hybrid cultural experiences. As a result of their comparative study of literature and the other arts, as well as different cultures, graduates with this degree tend to see the world differently. It becomes a larger place than it was before, more varied, less uniform, with many histories rather than just one.

What Does USC COLT do?

We prioritize working with each student in our program to help craft a trajectory and experience that are most meaningful for them. Our courses are small, and our faculty are passionate about working closely with students to help them explore their own interests in comparative contexts. For students who want to pursue more advanced research, we encourage them to work with faculty in the Comparative Literature Honors Program on an extended research project of their choice and/or to take graduate seminars. We also invite our majors and minors to seek our research opportunities with our faculty.

Our graduates pursue vibrant careers in diverse fields, including law, education, journalism and communications, writing and editing, media and entertainment, the travel industry, translation, medicine, and post-graduate study in the humanities (among others). Our most recent alumni have gone on hold Fulbright Fellowships, to attend Stanford University (Law), Harvard University (Comparative Literature), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Cambridge University (Literature), and to work for DC Comics, Entertainment Weekly, Creative Artists Agency, and Teach for America. Our students get extensive training in writing effectively, thinking critically, reading thoughtfully, and deepening and enriching their understanding of cultures around the world.

literature phd fields

Comparative Literature is the home for everything you’re passionate about and more. It’s a rabbit hole of ideas that lead to endless doors holding the deeper meanings behind all of our favorite stories, and where they can go.

To get a better understanding of the Comparative Literature department, its best to look at events we present.

To view more click here .

literature phd fields

Queer labor history and the interrupting family

A talk with Sam Solomon, University of Susses, UK:

This talk brings together two different stories about late twentieth century typesetting and print labor between roughly 1965 and 1995, a period during which typesetting was first computerized and then all but abandoned as part of the pre-print process. The talk is an experiment in juxtaposing the different narrative, poetic, and personal forms through which these histories are conveyed, to see how their gaps and overlaps can further illuminate the sexual and class politics of literary labor.

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Taper Hall (THH) 309K

3501 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089

literature phd fields

Trans Photography and the Performance of AIDS in Michel Journiac

The USC Visual Studies Research Institute invites you to online event:  Trans Photography and the Performance of AIDS in Michel Journiac

Professor Sarah Wilson (Courtauld Institute of Art, London)

“ Pink Triangles: Michel Journiac with Guy Hocquenghem and Lionel Soukaz ”

Dr. Antoine Idier (Sciences Po, Saint-Germain-en-Laye)

“ Michel Journiac, AIDS, and the Politics of Art ”

literature phd fields

Film Screening of “Atlantics” (2019) by Mati Diop

2023 CSLC Symposium’s closing event, a special screening of Atlantics  (2019), French-Senegalese director Mati Diop’s ghost love story about djinns, labor migration and the ongoing effects of colonialism in Senegal.

literature phd fields

Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture (CSLC) Annual Symposium

A two-day Graduate Student Symposium, consisting of a Keynote by Dr. David Marriott, multiple student panels, Film Screening, and Q&A session(s).

literature phd fields

Literary Translation as Practice and Profession

Literary Translation as Practice and Profession: A Roundtable with Sarah Booker, Denise Kripper and Jeffrey Zuckerman, moderated by Katie Hammitt

What does literary translation look like from a professional perspective? How does one break into the field of literary translation? What considerations do translators of literature take when choosing texts, approaching editors and authors, and preparing for commercial audiences? This roundtable will engage with the practical side of literary translation, drawing on the experience of three translators.

literature phd fields

Autumn Beat Screening and Q&A

Autumn Beat , produced by Amazon Studios and co-produced by Indiana Productions is an exciting and unprecedented story about Black culture in Italy, and the role of music as a means of redemption and search for identity.

Running time: 103 minutes. In Italian with English subtitles.

literature phd fields

The Wretched of France book talk with Abdellali Hajjat (Exile and Resistance Lecture)

From October to December 1983, youths from the working-class suburbs of Lyon led the March for Equality and Against Racism, the first national demonstration of its type in France. As Abdellali Hajjat reveals, this historic protest symbolized for many the experience of the children of postcolonial immigrants, marching against racist crimes, for equality before the law and the police, and for basic rights such as the right to work and housing. Translated into English for the first time,  The Wretched of Franc e  contemplates the protest’s lasting significance in France as well as its impact within the context of larger and comparable movements for civil rights, particularly in the United States.

COLT Programs

Undergraduate studies.

Our undergraduate program is more broadly conceived than at many other universities. While we offer traditional comparative literature courses that cross the boundaries of national literatures and study literary periods, movements, and genres, our courses also allow students to explore literature in its interaction with philosophy, to discover the relation of literature to other arts and media, and to reflect on practices of translation as themselves modes of transcultural exchange and production.

Comparative Studies in Literature & Culture PhD Program

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.

Translation Studies Graduate Certificate

Translation Studies is a discipline that considers the production and analysis of translation and interpretation. Housed in the Department of Comparative Literature, this certificate offers graduate students the opportunity to supplement their graduate degree with specialized training in the theory and practice of translation.

Department Chair

Julian Gutierrez-Albilla

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Natania Meeker

Director of Graduate Studies (CSLC)

Olivia C Harrison

Mackenzie Holmes, Lauren Fields to serve as graduate managers for IU women’s basketball

literature phd fields

literature phd fields

Indiana announced Monday that Mackenzie Holmes and Lauren Fields, a former player at West Virginia, will be graduate managers for the program for the 2024-25 season.

Here’s the full release:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana women’s basketball has announced the addition of the program’s all-time leading scorer Mackenzie Holmes and Lauren Fields as graduate managers for the 2024-25 season.

Holmes recently wrapped up her decorated career at Indiana where she played in 147 games for the Hoosiers in five seasons. She finished her career ranking first in the program as the all-time leading scorer (2,530) and in field goals made (1,043), field goal percentage (63.9) and games won (123). Holmes led the team to four NCAA Tournament runs in her career, most recently to the Sweet Sixteen in 2024. She averaged a team-high of 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in her fifth year.

The Gorham, Maine native earned unanimous All-Big Ten First Team, All-Big Ten Defensive team, USWBA and AP All American selections in her last year. Over her five-year career, Holmes earned eight All-American selections, the program’s first First Team All-American.

Following her illustrious career, Holmes was selected 26th overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2024 WNBA Draft in April. She will join the Storm for Training Camp in 2025. Holmes graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human development & family studies in May 2023 and began her master’s degree work in 2023-24.

Fields wrapped up a five-year playing career in March as she spent her final year of eligibility at West Virginia in 2023-24, Fields started in all 33 games for the Mountaineers and 302 points, 99 rebounds and 77 steals in her lone season. She was a three-year letter winner from Oklahoma State where she played in 83 games for the Cowgirls, making 66 starts. As a junior OSU, she earned a Second Team All-Big 12 accolades, with a team-high 15.4 points per game. In the classroom, she is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 first team honoree. She also spent one year at Arizona, where she earned 30 starts and appeared in all 32 games (2022-23).

#IUWBB announces the addition of @laurendfields & @kenzieholmes_ as Graduate Managers! ?: https://t.co/6g5ZdqrJRQ pic.twitter.com/Aq9h9W2YEz — Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) July 1, 2024

Mackenzie Holmes to return to Indiana women’s basketball as graduate manager

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Indiana Athletics announced in a press release Monday the appointment of all-time Indiana women’s basketball leading scorer Mackenzie Holmes and Lauren Fields as graduate managers for head coach Teri Moren’s women’s squad.

The position will help the current roster with technical work and coaching positions , while also  adding veteran experience in practice —   Holmes with the bigs and Smith with the guards.

Holmes, the 26 th pick in April’s WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm, finished her career with 2,530 points and numerous accolades, including first team All-Big Ten and being the first All-American in Indiana women’s basketball history. Holmes, who underwent knee surgery in May and missed the entire 2024 WNBA season, will join the Storm for training camp in 2025.  

Fields was formerly a guard for Oklahoma State University, the University of Arizona and West Virginia University. She finished her career in 2023-24 at West Virginia after one season at Arizona and three at Oklahoma State before that. Fields appeared in 148 games total in her career and started 129 of those.  

Holmes and Fields join a staff headlined by Moren and assistants Rhet Wierzba, Linda Sayavongchanh and former Hoosier great Ali Patberg. The staff had some other movement with the departure of assitant coach Amber Smith after one season. Smith and Patberg worked with the guards.  

Indiana women’s basketball hasn’t announced an official date for its season opener, though the Hoosiers will likely return to the floor at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in late October to early November.  

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2024 Penn graduate Isabella Whittaker qualifies for the Paris Olympics

Whittaker joins 2020 penn graduate nia akins in paris after qualifying in the 400-meter relay pool.

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2024 graduate Bella Whittaker qualified for the Paris Olympics on Sunday. 

Penn women’s track and field’s Isabella Whittaker is Paris-bound following the conclusion of the 2024 United States Track and Field Olympic Trials. 

Going into the competition, the recent graduate led the Red and Blue into a picturesque ending to a flourishing collegiate season — with a backdrop that would see the scoreboard light up with five shiny Olympic rings.  

In the past week, Penn track and field hit the big stage competing at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. Whittaker finished sixth in the 400-meter final, finding herself just barely breaking into a star-studded cast of athletes set to represent the United States in the 400m relay pool. 

Like the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the event was hosted at University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. Bringing in a plethora of former and current Penn athletes in a multitude of events, the Red and Blue looked to conquer the field as a team in the toughest competition on American soil. 

Penn alumna Nia Akins qualifies for Paris Olympics in 800m 

Rising senior Matt Fallon qualifies for Paris Olympics in 200-meter breaststroke

“It’s the best of the best, and everyone is trying to make the Olympics. It’s an amazing level of competition that we are watching every single event,” Steve Dolan, director of track and field and cross country, said.

Other athletes performed admirably as well, including performances that left 2024 graduate Scott Toney and rising senior James Rhoads just short of advancing to the men’s pole vault finals. Further, 2022 graduate Marc Minichello finished eighth in the men’s javelin final, ending with a best throw distance of 73.07 meters.  

Additionally, 2020 graduate Nia Akins made the Olympic team after finishing first in the 800m final. After defending Olympic champion Athing Mu got tangled up and fell during the race, Akins seized the moment and triumphed to her first Olympic Games. 

While all eyes were on 2024 graduate Isabella Whittaker heading into the Trials, Whittaker set her own sights solely on one thing — a one-way trip to Paris. On the track on Friday, Whittaker competed in the 400m prelims to begin her quest to Olympic glory. Having run a personal best and Ivy League record time of 50.17 seconds in the final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Whittaker looked to maintain her consistency in her signature event. With a time of 51.18 seconds, Whittaker finished second in her heat only behind the University of Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler.

Following the prelims, Whittaker had a quick turnaround on Saturday where she raced in the 400m semifinal. To make the final, Whittaker had to finish either within the top two of her heat or have one of the next three fastest times. Slated to run in the third of three semifinal races, Whittaker remained steadfast and determined amidst a crowded field of talented competitors. Running her own race was paramount with a finals spot on the line.

Heading towards the finish line with 100 meters to go, Whittaker found a second gear to push past her competitors and finish with a time of 50.48 seconds, behind only Lynna Irby-Jackson. As a result, Whittaker snuck into the nine-person final on Sunday.

With the top three athletes automatically qualifying for Paris, Whittaker was one lap around the track away from Olympic glory. Traditionally, athletes who placed in the top six of the 400m would make the Olympic relay pool due to relay considerations in the 4x400m mixed relay and 4x400m women’s relay that would take place in Paris. 

In a callback to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Whittaker was once again on the outside, running out of lane nine. After an impressive start, Whittaker’s competitors slowly creeped up on her from the inside lanes. It was then that Whittaker found that special something that had gotten her to this point in her impressive athletic career. After almost falling to the back of the pack, Whittaker surged in the final 50 meters to finish in sixth place, with a time of 50.68 seconds — gaining a spot in the Olympic relay pool. 

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“Almost every time, [Whittaker] will wind up in a race where someone might’ve run a faster time in the past or the day previous, but she finds a way to beat athletes and to compete her best,” Dolan said on Whittaker’s attributes. “When the lights go on, she seems to really do her best. It’s something we are super impressed with, as well as her character.”

It wasn’t just one Whittaker that stole the show, but two. Isabella Whittaker’s sister, Stanford rising sophomore Juliette Whittaker, finished third in the 800m final with a personal-best time of 1:58.45 seconds, qualifying her to compete in the City of Light. Making history is only just the beginning for this dynamic duo. 

Looking ahead to an eventful Paris Olympic Games, the Red and Blue will now don the Red, White, and Blue in the Stade de France. The Olympic team will be well represented by both Whittaker and Akins, underscoring that Penn track and field success is built for the past, present, and future. 

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Women’s Athlete of the Year: Isabella Whittaker

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U.S. needs Chinese students in humanities, Indian students for sciences, U.S. diplomat says

US needs Chinese students in humanities, Indian students for sciences, US diplomat says

The U.S. should welcome more students from China, but to study the humanities rather than sciences, the second-ranked U.S. diplomat said on Monday, noting that U.S. universities are limiting Chinese students’ access to sensitive technology given security concerns.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said not enough Americans were studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics. He said the U.S. needed to recruit more international students for those fields, but from India — an increasingly important U.S. security partner — not China.

For years, Chinese students have made up the largest foreign student body in the U.S. and totaled nearly 290,000 in the 2022/23 academic year. But some in academia and civil society argue that deteriorating U.S.-China relations and concerns about theft of U.S. expertise, have derailed scientific cooperation and subjected Chinese students to unwarranted suspicion.

“I would like to see more Chinese students coming to the United States to study humanities and social sciences, not particle physics,” Campbell told the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.

Campbell was asked about the China Initiative introduced by the Trump administration, intended to combat Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft, which  ended under the Biden administration  after critics said it spurred racial profiling of Asian Americans.

Campbell said U.S. universities had made “careful attempts” to support continuing higher education for Chinese students, but had also been “careful about the labs, some of the activities of Chinese students.”

“I do think it is possible to curtail and to limit certain kinds of access, and we have seen that generally, particularly in technological programs across the United States,” he said.

Campbell said some had suggested that China was the only source to make up the shortage of science students.

“I believe that the largest increase that we need to see going forward would be much larger numbers of Indian students that come to study in American universities on a range of technology and other fields.”

Campbell said the U.S. had to be careful to not eliminate links between China and the U.S., but officials in Beijing were largely to blame for any withering in academic, business or non-profit sector ties.

“It really has been China that has made it difficult for the kinds of activities that we would like to see sustaining,” Campbell said, adding that foreign executives and philanthropists were wary about long-term stays in China due to concerns about personal security.

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PhD student Jasmine Cashbaugh tests a drone's ability to track a UAV

PhD student Jasmine Cashbaugh tests a drone's ability to track a UAV

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree is conferred by the School of Engineering primarily in recognition of competence in the subject field and the ability to investigate engineering problems independently, resulting in a new contribution to knowledge in the field. The work for the degree consists of engineering research, the preparation of a thesis based on that research, and a program of advanced study in engineering, mathematics, and related physical sciences. The student’s work is directed by the department, subject to the general supervision of the School of Engineering. See Engineering Graduate Bulletin  Chapter 2, Academic Programs and Requirements , and  Chapter 3, Admissions , for details on admission and general degree requirements. The following departmental information augments the general requirements.

Preliminary Exam

A preliminary written exam is offered at least once per year by the School of Engineering as needed. The purpose is to ascertain the depth and breadth of the student’s preparation and suitability for Ph.D. work.

Department Policy on PhD Prelim Exam

The computer science and engineering PhD prelim exam is a written exam and students will be tested on the three core subjects, computer architecture, algorithms, and operating systems. In order to pass the prelim exam, students should pass all three subjects. 

If the student fails a subject, he/she is allowed one additional attempt of the failed exams within one year. The student should consult with his/her advisor regarding the future course of action that is most appropriate for his/her particular situation.  Note:

The PhD prelim exam may be repeated only once.

Faculty Advisor

The student and his or her advisor jointly develop a complete program of study for research in a particular area. The complete program of study (and any subsequent changes) must be filed with the Engineering Graduate Programs Office and approved by the student’s doctoral committee. Until this approval is obtained, there is no guarantee that courses taken will be acceptable toward the Ph.D. course requirements.

Doctoral Committee

After passing the Ph.D. preliminary exam, a student requests his or her thesis advisor to form a doctoral committee. The committee consists of at least five members, each of which must have earned a doctoral degree in a field of engineering or a related discipline. This includes the student’s thesis advisor, at least two other current faculty members of the student’s major department at Santa Clara University, and at least one current faculty member from another appropriate academic department at Santa Clara University.

The committee reviews the student’s program of study, conducts an oral comprehensive exam, conducts the dissertation defense, and reviews the thesis. Successful completion of the doctoral program requires that the student’s program of study, performance on the oral comprehensive examination, dissertation defense, and thesis itself meet with the approval of all committee members. In addition, acceptance of publications with the student as the primary (first) author is required. More details are described in Engineering Graduate Bulletin  Chapter 2, Academic Programs and Requirements.

Time Limit for Completing Degree

All requirements for the doctoral degree must be completed within eight years following initial enrollment in the Ph.D. program. Extensions will be allowed only in unusual circumstances and must be recommended in writing by the student’s doctoral committee and approved by the dean of engineering in consultation with the Research Program Leadership Council (RPLC).

Preliminary Exam Preparation

Textbook: 

Introduction to algorithms 3rd edition, 2009 by Cormen et al, ISBN: 978-0-262-53305-8, MIT Press

Sample Schedule:

Week 1: Introduction, analysis of algorithm, asymptotic nations, chapters 2, 3. Week 2: Recursive algorithm, solving recurrences, divide and conquer, chapter 4. Week 3: Lower bound of comparison based sorting, chapter 8. quiz (Th) Week 4: Wed. Dynamic technique, rod cutting, chapter 15. Week 5: Dynamic technique, binary search tree, chapter 15 Week 6: Greedy method, activity selection, ch. 16. Test (Th) Week 7: Linear programming, chapter 29. Week 8: Wed. NP-completeness, chapter 34. Week 9: NP-completeness, chapter 34. Week 10: NP-completeness, chapter 34, presentation (Th) Week 11: Final exam

Chapters covered partially: 2-4, 8, 15-16, 29, 34

Architecture

Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware Software Interface: ARM Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Architecture and Design), by Patterson and Hennessy.

Instructor assigned readings.

Sample Schedule

Week 1: Introduction, computer performance, representing numbers and instructions (chapters 1 & 2). Week 2: ARM (LEGv8) addressing modes, translating and starting a program, (chapter 2) Week 3: Pipelining data path & control (chapter 4) Week 4: Data and control hazards (chapter 4) Week 5: Data and control hazards (chapter 4) Week 6: Memory hierarchy, caches (chapter 5)- Midterm Exam Week 7: Memory hierarchy, caches (chapter 5) Week 8: Memory hierarchy (chapter 5), Arithmetic for computers (chapter3) Week 9: Arithmetic for computers (chapter 3) Week 10: Final preparation- Project presentations.

Operating Systems

Recommended Textbooks:

Note: Any of the above textbooks and any edition will be sufficient to prepare for the preliminary exam. 

Description:

The purpose is to understand and use the basic concepts of operating systems, common to most computer systems, which interface the machine with the programmer. In particular, this introduces concepts such as process management, synchronization, memory management, and I/O management. The successful student will be able to understand the basic components of a computer operating system and the interactions among the various components. It covers an introduction to the policies for scheduling, deadlocks, memory management, synchronization, and file systems. 

Chair: Prof. Silvia Figueira

Department Manager (contact for Graduate Matters):  Pam Lin  408-554-6805

Department Manager (contact for Undergraduate Matters):  Valerie Woitte 408-554-5281

Computer Science and Engineering Santa Clara University 500 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95053

SCDI Bergin, Bldg. 203

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Infleqtion fellowships inspire physics graduate students

Infleqtion logo

The third cohort of Infleqtion Graduate Fellowship recipients has been named, recognizing four outstanding first-year physics graduate students. This year’s Infleqtion fellows Natalie Bruhwiler, Yun Ma, Joseph McCarty, and Kai Zhou, join a growing list of students receiving the prestigious industry-sponsored fellowship.

Connections to CU Boulder  

In 2007, Dana Anderson, professor of physics and JILA fellow, founded Infleqtion (formerly ColdQuanta) based on quantum innovations originating from his lab on campus. Drawing on cutting-edge quantum research, the startup largely focused on utilizing the Bose-Einstein Condensate for quantum computing.

ColdQuanta was rebranded as Infleqtion in 2022, signifying the organization’s turning point to commercializing quantum technologies. From its humble beginnings in Anderson’s lab, Infleqtion has grown to employ over 200 people in six locations worldwide.

Today, Infleqtion focuses on making quantum available everywhere, through scalable devices that allow their technology to expand its reach.

Infleqtion is also a core member of the Elevate Quantum consortium along with CU Boulder. The consortium includes about 120 organizations – from industry to national labs, to educational institutions – working together to make the Mountain West the global center for quantum development.  

Industry sponsored fellowships draw top students  

As a company that grew out of a research lab at CU Boulder, Infleqtion has long been a part of quantum education and development at the university. The establishment of Infleqtion Graduate Fellowships has deepened their commitment to the recruitment and success of physics graduate students.

"We are incredibly proud to partner with CU Boulder, one of the world’s top Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Programs, to support the development of the next generation of quantum scientists. Our Graduate Fellowships program is a testament to our commitment to fostering talent and innovation in the quantum field," said Infleqtion CEO Matthew Kinsella.

The fellowships are among the highest awards given to entering physics students and help encourage top students to attend CU Boulder.

“Our graduate students are in many ways the engine of our research efforts, so bringing in the best graduate students is an important part of maintaining our top-quality research program,” said Tobin Munsat, professor and chair of physics.

Several Infleqtion fellowship recipients highlighted what it meant to receive the award, and that it ultimately helped them choose CU Boulder.

“Receiving this fellowship was a great honor for me,” said physics graduate student and 2023 Infleqtion fellowship recipient, Patricia Hector Hernandez. “It’s incredibly rewarding when your hard work is acknowledged by others.”

Sarah Dickson was among the first class of Infleqtion fellowship recipients in 2022. She was drawn to the range of hands-on research happening in Boulder. “Coming to Boulder for graduate school was a dream of mine,” she said. “The fellowship allowed me to choose Boulder for graduate school, and for that I am extremely grateful.”

Benjamin Shearer, now a second-year physics graduate student, originally applied to the program because of its top rankings in atomic, molecular, and optical physics. After being awarded the Infleqtion fellowship, Shearer said “it was the deciding factor that led me to choose CU Boulder.”

The fellowship support also helped recipients ease the financial burden of moving to Colorado for graduate school.

“The fellowship provided substantial support, which was especially helpful for my relocation as I was an out-of-state student,” said Hector.

Shearer was also an out-of-state student and said the fellowship supported him in making the move from his home in Pennsylvania to Colorado.

Industry panel highlights opportunities 

Part of Infleqtion’s support includes funding for an industry panel and recruitment dinner for prospective physics graduate students. Providing visiting students with an industry panel highlights potential career opportunities and emphasizes the vast range of local connections.

In the past few years, representatives from Infleqtion and other organizations have served on the graduate recruitment industry panel, sharing their stories and tips for pursuing careers in industry.

“The industry panel is something special that we do at CU, and it opens students’ eyes to the world outside of academia,” said Munsat. “The fact is that a large number of physics PhDs end up in the tech industry, sometimes starting their own companies, and we want to give students a window into that world and those opportunities.”

Shearer noted the excellent connections in the area as another reason he chose to attend CU Boulder. After he completes his PhD, Shearer plans to pursue a career in industry or at a national laboratory.

Hector’s main career focus is further pursuing her passion for physics and science. She is leaning towards a career in the private sector, with a particular focus on quantum computing. 

Developing future leaders 

The need for leading scientists in the quantum industry is growing, particularly as the industry evolves and expands. Colorado’s designation as a Quantum Tech Hub means more students will be needed to lead the industry.

Infleqtion’s support is key in helping to attract and retain top students from around the country and internationally. “These prestigious fellowships help enormously in bringing the best students to CU Boulder,” said Munsat. 

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Time of sample collection is critical for the replicability of microbiome analyses

Nature Metabolism ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

As the microbiome field moves from descriptive and associative research to mechanistic and interventional studies, being able to account for all confounding variables in the experimental design, which includes the maternal effect 1 , cage effect 2 , facility differences 3 , as well as laboratory and sample handling protocols 4 , is critical for interpretability of results. Despite significant procedural and bioinformatic improvements, unexplained variability and lack of replicability still occur. One underexplored factor is that the microbiome is dynamic and exhibits diurnal oscillations that can change microbiome composition 5 , 6 , 7 . In this retrospective analysis of 16S amplicon sequencing studies in male mice, we show that sample collection time affects the conclusions drawn from microbiome studies and its effect size is larger than those of a daily experimental intervention or dietary changes. The timing of divergence of the microbiome composition between experimental and control groups is unique to each experiment. Sample collection times as short as only 4 hours apart can lead to vastly different conclusions. Lack of consistency in the time of sample collection may explain poor cross-study replicability in microbiome research. The impact of diurnal rhythms on the outcomes and study design of other fields is unknown but likely significant.

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literature phd fields

Data availability

Literature review data are at https://github.com/knightlab-analyses/dynamics/data/ . Figure 1 , mock data are at https://github.com/knightlab-analyses/dynamics/data/MockData . Figure 2 (Allaband/Zarrinpar 2021) data are under EBI accession ERP110592 . Figure 3 data (longitudinal IHC) are under EBI accession ERP110592 and (longitudinal circadian TRF) EBI accession ERP123226 . Figure 4 data (Zarrinpar/Panda 2014) are in the Supplementary Excel file attached to the source paper 13 ; (Leone/Chang 2015) figshare for the 16S amplicon sequence data are at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.882928 (ref. 63 ). Extended Data Fig. 2 data (Caporaso/Knight 2011) are at MG-RAST project mgp93 (IDs mgm4457768.3 and mgm4459735.3). Extended Data Fig. 3 data (Wu/Chen 2018) are under ENA accession PRJEB22049 . Extended Data Fig. 4 data (Tuganbaev/Elinav 2021) are under ENA accession PRJEB38869 .

Code availability

All relevant code notebooks are on GitHub at https://github.com/knightlab-analyses/dynamics/notebooks .

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Acknowledgements

C.A. was supported by NIH T32 OD017863. S.F.R. is supported by the Soros Foundation. A.L. is supported by the AHA Postdoctoral Fellowship grant. T.K. is supported by NIH T32 GM719876. A.C.D.M. is supported by R01 HL148801-02S1. G.G.H. and A.Z. are supported by NIH R01 HL157445. A.Z. is further supported by the VA Merit BLR&D Award I01 BX005707 and NIH grants R01 AI163483, R01 HL148801, R01 EB030134 and U01 CA265719. All authors receive institutional support from NIH P30 DK120515, P30 DK063491, P30 CA014195, P50 AA011999 and UL1 TR001442.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

Celeste Allaband & Stephany Flores Ramos

Division of Gastroenterology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

Celeste Allaband, Amulya Lingaraju, Stephany Flores Ramos, Haniyeh Javaheri, Maria D. Tiu, Ana Carolina Dantas Machado, R. Alexander Richter & Amir Zarrinpar

Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

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Contributions

C.A. and A.Z. conceptualized the work. C.A., E.E., P.C.D., R.K. and A.Z. determined the methodology. C.A., A.L., S.F.R., T.K., H.J., M.D.T., A.C.D.M. and R.A.R. were involved in data investigation. C.A., S.F.R., T.K., H.J., M.D.T., A.C.D.M. and R.A.R. created visualizations. A.Z. acquired funding and was the project administrator. R.K. and A.Z. supervised the work. G.G.H. and V.A.L. provided resources. C.A., A.L., S.F.R., T.K., H.J., M.D.T. and A.Z. wrote the first draft. All authors contributed to the review and editing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amir Zarrinpar .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

A.Z. is a co-founder and a chief medical officer, and holds equity in Endure Biotherapeutics. P.C.D. is an advisor to Cybele and co-founder and advisor to Ometa and Enveda with previous approval from the University of California, San Diego. All other authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information.

Nature Metabolism thanks Robin Voigt-Zuwala, Jacqueline M. Kimmey, John R. Kirby and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary Handling Editor: Yanina-Yasmin Pesch, in collaboration with the Nature Metabolism team.

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Extended data

Extended data fig. 1 microbiome literature review..

A ) 2019 Literature Review Summary. Of the 586 articles containing microbiome (16 S or metagenomic) data, found as described in the methods section, the percentage of microbiome articles from each of the publication groups. B ) The percentage of microbiome articles belonging to each individual journal in 2019. Because the numerous individual journals from Science represented low percentages individually, they were grouped together. C ) The percentage articles where collection time was explicitly stated (yes: 8 AM, ZT4, etc.), implicitly stated (relative: ‘before surgery’, ‘in the morning’, etc.), or unstated (not provided: ‘daily’, ‘once a week’, etc.). D ) Meta-Analysis Inclusion Criteria Flow Chart. Literature review resulting in the five previously published datasets for meta-analysis 11 , 13 , 28 , 29 , 30 .

Extended Data Fig. 2 Single Time Point (Non-Circadian) Example.

A ) Weighted UniFrac PCoA Plot - modified example from Moving Pictures Qiime2 tutorial data [ https://docs.qiime2.org/2022.11/tutorials/moving-pictures/ ]. Each point is a sample. Points were coloured by body site of origin. There are 8 gut, 8 left palm, 9 right palm, and 9 tongue samples. B ) Within-Condition Distances (WCD) boxplot/stripplot for each body site (n = 8–9 mouse per group per time point). C ) Between Condition Distances (BCD) boxplot/stripplot for each unique body site comparison (n = 8–9 mouse per group per time point). D ) All pairwise grouping comparisons, both WCD and BCD, are shown in the boxplots/stripplots (n = 8–9 mouse per group per time point). Only WCD to BCD statistical differences are shown. Boxplot centre line indicates median, edges of boxes are quartiles, error bars are min and max values. Significance was determined using a paired Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test two-sided with Bonferroni correction. Notation: ns (not significant) = p > 0.05, * = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001, **** = p < 0.00001.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Additional Analysis of Apoe-/- Mice Exposed to IHC Conditions.

A ) Weighted UniFrac PCoA stacked view (same as Fig. 2b but different orientation). Good for assessing overall similarity not broken down by time point. Significance determined by PERMANOVA (p = 0.005). B ) Weighted UniFrac PCoA of only axis 1 over time. C ) Boxplot/scatterplot of within-group weighted UniFrac distance values for the control group (Air, n = 3–4 samples per time point). Unique non-zero values in the matrix were kept. Dotted line indicates the mean of all values presented. No significant differences (p > 0.05) found. D ) Boxplot/scatterplot of within-group weighted UniFrac distance values for the experimental group (IHC, n = 3–4 samples per time point)). Unique non-zero values in the matrix were kept. Dotted line indicates the mean of all values presented. No significant differences (p > 0.05) found. E ) Boxplot/scatterplot of within-group weighted UniFrac distance values for both control (Air) and experimental (IHC) groups [n = 3–4 samples per group per time point]. Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test with Bonferroni correction used to determine significant differences between groups. Boxplot centre line indicates median, edges of boxes are quartiles, error bars are min and max values. Notation: ns = not significant, p > 0.05; * = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001.

Extended Data Fig. 4 Irregular differences in diurnal rhythm patterns leads to generally minor shifts in BCD when comparing LD vs DD mice.

A ) Experimental design. Balb/c mice were fed NCD ad libitum under 0:24 L:D (24 hr darkness, DD) experimental conditions and compared to 12:12 L:D (LD) control conditions. After 2 weeks, mice from each group were euthanized every 4 hours for 24 hours (N = 4–5 mice/condition) and samples were collected from the proximal small intestine (‘jejunum’) and distal small intestine (‘ileum’) contents. B ) BCD for luminal contents of proximal small intestine samples comparing LD to DD mice (N = 4–5 mice/condition). Dotted line is the average of all shown weighted UniFrac distances. Significance was determined using a paired Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test two-sided with Bonferroni correction; notation: **** = p < 0.00001. C ) BCD for luminal contents of distal small intestine samples comparing LD to DD mice (N = 4–5 mice/condition). Dotted line is the average of all shown weighted UniFrac distances. Boxplot centre line indicates median, edges of boxes are quartiles, error bars are min and max values.

Extended Data Fig. 5 Localized changes in BCD between luminal and mucosal contents.

A ) Experimental design and sample collection for a local site study. Small intestinal samples were collected every 4 hours for 24 hours (N = 4–5 mice/condition, skipping ZT8). Mice were fed ad libitum on the same diet (NCD) for 4 weeks before samples were taken. B ) BCD for luminal vs mucosal conditions (N = 4–5 mice/condition). The dotted line is the average of all shown weighted UniFrac distances. Significance is determined using the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test two-sided with Bonferroni correction. C ) Heatmap of mean BCD distances comparing luminal and mucosal by time point (N = 4–5 mice/condition). Highest value highlighted in navy, lowest value highlighted in gold. Boxplot centre line indicates median, edges of boxes are quartiles, error bars are min and max values. Significance was determined using a paired Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test two-sided with Bonferroni correction. Notation: * = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001, **** = p < 0.00001. D ) Experimentally relevant log ratio, highlighting the changes seen at ZT20 (N = 4–5 mice/condition). Boxplot center line indicates median, edges of boxes are quartiles, error bars are min and max values. Significance was determined using a paired Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test two-sided with Bonferroni correction. Notation: * = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001, **** = p < 0.00001.

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Allaband, C., Lingaraju, A., Flores Ramos, S. et al. Time of sample collection is critical for the replicability of microbiome analyses. Nat Metab (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01064-1

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01064-1

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