Advising; Director of Graduate Studies
The Director of Graduate Studies is Nan Goodman, who is the general advisor for all PhD students. She may be reached at Nan.Goodman@colorado.edu, or at (303) 492-8643. For the Fall 2006 semester, Professor Goodman will hold office hours beginning the week of August 21, 2006. Call the English Department Student Services Office at (303) 492-6434 to make an appointment.
Orientation
The English Department orientation for new PhD students will take place the week before classes. Time and place TBA, please check back for details. This orientation is required. An informal get-together for current and new PhD students will follow the orientation.
Choosing Courses for the Fall 2006 Semester
A list of 2006-2007 English graduate courses is available on the website. Please note that there are some changes in this list since the version that was sent to you with your offer packet. The schedule for Fall 2006 courses is online at www.colorado.edu/plus. Course descriptions for Fall 2006 courses are online at http://www.colorado.edu/English/courses/crssched.shtml.
A normal course load is two or three graduate courses per semester. The department strongly recommends that you not take a fourth graduate course. PhD students design their own program of coursework; no particular courses are required. However, students who have not done graduate-level coursework equivalent to our own MA requirements must use some of their PhD coursework to make up any deficiencies. These requirements include:
- Survey of contemporary literary theory
- British literature before 1660 (including exposure to both medieval and Renaissance literature)
- British literature 1660-1900
- U.S. literature before 1900
- 20th-century Anglophone literature (U.S., British, or other Anglophone)
- Multicultural literature
Contact the Director of Graduate Studies if you have questions about making up deficiencies in our MA requirements, or for advice about which courses to choose.
Language Requirement
The foreign language requirement for the PhD may be satisfied either before or after you enroll in the program. In addition to graduate courses in English, you may thus need to take undergraduate language courses to fulfill the language requirement for the PhD. While you do not have to begin language coursework your first semester, you must complete the language requirement before you take your comprehensive examination and are advanced to candidacy for the PhD. If you have questions about whether you have already fulfilled the language requirement, contact the Director of Graduate Studies. PhD students satisfy the language requirement in one of the following two ways:
1. Demonstrating moderate proficiency in TWO foreign languages by:
(a) Completion of a fourth-semester college language course with a grade of C or better. This means you must complete a course that is the second semester of a sophomore-level foreign language. Courses may be taken at CU or at another institution (including community colleges, etc.). If you have completed or will complete this course work at another institution, we will need a record of that fact in your file. The transcript(s) you submitted when you applied for admission are already in your file; you will need to supply further evidence of such course work only if we are missing a relevant transcript.
(b) A GSFLT score of 560 (580 for German). This is the "Graduate Student Foreign Language Test," administered by Career Services Testing Office, located in Willard Hall 84. The Test is given by appointment at various times. The test fee is $35. You may retake it up to three times. For more information, see www.Colorado.EDU/careerservices/tests/gsflt.html.
(c) Presentation to the Director of Graduate Studies of other evidence of competence in a second language. In most cases, this other evidence consists of native or near-native fluency in a language; a written examination may be administered to confirm such fluency.
2. Demonstrating advanced proficiency in ONE foreign language by:
(a) Completing with a grade of "B" or better a three-credit graduate course offered by one of the departments of foreign languages (these courses are always taught in the language, not in English);
(b) Scoring 660 (640 for Spanish) on the GSFLT (see above for details);
(c) Presentation to the Graduate Director of other evidence of advanced proficiency. Again, this generally means native or near-native fluency in a language.
Teacher Training
All new PhD students who hold a teaching appointment (Graduate Part-Time Instructorship) are required to attend the English Department’s pedagogy lab, which is a non-credit weekly seminar held throughout the Fall 2006 semester. This Fall’s workshop series will meet on Fridays from 2:00-4:00. The workshop is led by David Visser and Tom LeCarner, PhD students who are the department’s Lead Graduate Teacher for 2006-07. Please see the letter for more information. James Belflower is the lead teacher for Creative Writing MAs. You may be excused from the pedagogy workshop only if you have completed an equivalent training course either at CU-Boulder or elsewhere. Contact the Director of Graduate Studies if you have questions about previous teacher training.
First-time teachers are also strongly urged to attend the Graduate Teacher Fall Intensive Training Program on August 23-25, 2006. See www.colorado.edu/gtp for information and a schedule.