I. Overview of the Program

The Ph.D. program in French literature at the University of Colorado consists of a) course work, b) a comprehensive examination, c) a doctoral dissertation, and d) an oral defense of the doctoral dissertation.

II. Requirements for Admission

1. An M.A. or an equivalent degree in French or a related field with a GPA of at at least 3.0 in all French courses.
2. A combined score of 1200 on the Verbal Ability and Quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination (foreign students excluded).
3. Submission of the student's M.A. thesis or a major graduate seminar paper.
4. A one- to two-page statement of purpose.
5. Strong recommendations from three professors with whom the student has worked.
6. Good pronunciation in French as evidenced by a cassette recording submitted by the applicant. The applicant should read one or two very short selections of prose or poetry and a short autobiographical passage composed in French by the applicant her/himself.
7. To be considered for admission, all credentials must be received in the Department by February 1. (*NOTE:* Students who have earned their M.A. in French at the University of Colorado and who wish to work toward the Ph.D. here must apply for admission to the Ph.D. program; continuation after the MA is not guaranteed.)

III. Financial Aid

Financial aid for qualified Ph.D. students is available in the form of Teaching Assistantships, Graduate Part-Time Instructorships, and Graduate School Fellowships. Teaching Assistantships and Graduate Part-Time Instructorships normally include responsibility for lower-level language classes. The average stipend for these is approximately $12,000 and $16,000 respectively, and it carries with it a waiver of tuition costs. The exact stipend is based on the number of hours the student is teaching. Students with an excellent academic record and strong recommendations will be nominated by the department to the university-wide competition for Graduate School fellowships. If successful, such students may receive a stipend of up to $15,000 plus a waiver of tuition costs.

To be considered for these various forms of financial aid, the student must see to it that all credentials are received in the department by February 1. Credentials are considered complete when the student has submitted: the Graduate School application form, two official copies of transcripts from all post-secondary schools attended, three recommendations, a copy of the student's critical work, the cassette recording, and the application fee. All students receiving financial aid must register for a minimum of two graduate courses per semester in the program or their equivalent until they have completed course requirements and passed the doctoral comprehensive examination.

To qualify for continued aid, students must maintain their full-time status. This means that they must have completed at least 5 credit hours of graduate-level course work or 8 credit hours of combined graduate- and undergraduate-level course work at the end of each semester; or if they have completed course requirements and the comprehensive examination, they must be registered for a minimum of 5 dissertation hours. Ph.D. students continuing in the program usually receive a maximum of four years of financial support and are expected to complete the requirements for the degree during that time. PhD students entering from outside programs usually receive a maximum of five years of financial support.

IV. Language Requirement

Early in their first semester in the PhD program, each student should meet individually with the Director of Graduate Studies to discuss their overall plan of study, including the ways in which they will satisfy the language requirement. The PhD language requirement is the same as that at the MA level. See details in section VI of the MA requirements.

V. Course Requirements for the Ph.D. in French Literature

The following summary of minimum requirements is expressed in terms of courses. Additional course work may be required by the Director of Graduate Studies. *NOTE: Students and their administrators are equally responsible for making certain that their graduate curriculum satisfies all graduation requirements, both those of the department and those of the graduate school. Every student should accordingly become THOROUGHLY FAMILIAR with the section in the University of Colorado at Boulder Catalog entitled Requirements for Advanced Degrees and with the information on this page.*

1. A total of 15 courses at the 5000 level or above [includes courses taken at MA level], consisting of:
At least 12 courses (5000 level or above) in French literature and culture.
Up to 3 courses (5000 level or above) in a related field (e.g., Comparative Literature, English, Spanish, Classics, Linguistics, Romance Linguistics, Film Studies, History, Fine Arts, Education) to be determined in consultation with the Graduate Advisor.
2. 30 hours of Dissertation Guidance (Graduate School Requirement) with no more than 10 hours taken before the completion of the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination.

Ph.D. students are normally allowed to take two Independent Studies courses, subject to the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies. However, they may not take more than two (including any taken at the Master's level) except in exceptional circumstances and with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Students must also have taken at least one course in seven of the eight major periods of French literature (Middle Ages, 16th through 20th centuries, Francophone literature, and film.) Students continuing from the MA program at CU will normally have fulfilled this requirement as part of their MA degree.

Students entering the Ph.D. program with an M.A. in French or equivalent from another university can count 5 of their previous MA courses toward the requirement of 15 courses; they must take 10 courses during the first two years of candidacy, up to two of which may be in a related field. Such students must take courses covering four of the eight periods of French literature. Previous coursework will be evaluated, and if at least seven of the periods were not covered at the M.A. level, courses will be required to attain this coverage. In summary, for students entering from other MA programs, the requirements are: 1) at least four courses within the department to cover four time periods, with these at the candidate's discretion except for the requirement to cover gaps from the MA program; 2) up to two courses in related fields; 3) four additional courses within the department at the discretion of the student. Students entering the Ph.D. program without an M.A. in French must consult with the Director of Graduate Studies. Questions should be referred to the Director of Graduate Studies.

VI. Examination /The Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination:/

As students are finishing their required course work, they should have a good idea of the way their courses and ideas are coalescing around a given general field and a specific problem within that field. Courses taken outside the department, as well as work in the related field, should fit into this pattern. As this specification of interest toward the area of the dissertation takes place, the student should constitute a Doctoral Committee consisting of five graduate faculty members (one of whom must come from outside the student's department) who will guide the student's work. One of these faculty members will serve as the Director and take responsibility for co-coordinating the work of this ad hoc Doctoral Committee. Once the Doctoral Committee is formed and approved by the Graduate School, the student will begin to prepare for the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination. This examination will consist of three substantial essays (each the equivalent of a 25-30 page seminar paper) and an oral exam. The subjects of the three essays are expected to evolve from the choice of an area of concentration leading toward the dissertation topic. These subjects should situate and provide the background for the special problem which the student plans to treat in the dissertation. Their relationship to one another should be intersecting or interlocking in such a way as to represent three different modes of approach to the dissertation subject. They will thus form the basis for designing three different but related examinations or essays. A fairly common example of three such subjects is: a major author (Flaubert, for ex.); a major historical period (second half of 19th century, for ex.); and a theoretical or thematic question (the realist novel, for ex.). Normally, at least one of the three questions should have a theoretical or transhistorical orientation which extends beyond the immediate subject of the other two exams. Other arrangements of subjects is certainly possible, however. As another example, the three examination areas might be: 1) sixteenth-century prose, 2) psychoanalytic criticism, and 3) autobiography as a genre. For each of the subjects, the student will work with a member of the Doctoral Committee who will direct the development of a comprehensive reading list adequately preparing the student to undertake a significant original research project in the given dissertation area.

Once the student has completed the preparation for the examination by mastering the material contained in the three reading lists, the first part of the examination will consist of three extensive essays written in response to questions formulated by the Doctoral Committee on the three general areas. The student will have two weeks to write each of the essays. Once these essays have been written, the Doctoral Committee will conduct the oral part of the examination as an interrogation on the material covered in the essays, two weeks after the final essay is turned in. Normally the PhD exams should be taken at the end of the student's second year in the PhD program (for students continuing from CU's MA program) or at the end of the third year in the program (for students entering from other MA programs). In both cases, this allows the student a full year of independent study after the conclusion of course requirements.

Following successful completion of the Comprehensive Examination, the student will develop, working with the Doctoral Committee as a whole, a Dissertation Prospectus setting forth the research subject.Upon successful completion of the PhD exams, students normally spend the next two years writing a dissertation (their 3rd and 4th years in the PhD program, or 4th and 5th years for those entering with an external MA).

VII. The Ph.D. Dissertation

The Ph.D. dissertation must be based upon original investigation and demonstrate mature scholarship and critical judgment as well as familiarity with the tools and methods of research. It should be a worthwhile contribution to knowledge in the student's special field. Students are expected to have submitted an approved Thesis Prospectus by the end of the semester following their Ph.D. comprehensive exams. Students are advised to familiarize themselves thoroughly with the various Graduate School rules governing the format and deadlines for the dissertation. The dissertation is normally written in English, and all departures from this norm must be approved by the student's committee.

VIII. The Oral Defense of the Dissertation

After the dissertation has been accepted, a final oral examination on the dissertation and related topics will be held. The examination will be conducted by a five-member committee, appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School, which will consist of representatives of areas in which the student has worked. At least one member of the committee will be from outside the student's field of study (e.g., department). The committee should be approved by the Graduate School at least 2 weeks prior to the oral defense. More than one negative vote will disqualify the candidate in the oral defense.

IX. Typical Six-Year Graduate Program Structure, for entering MA Students

The Ph.D. degree is intended to be completed in six years. The M.A. would normally be awarded after two years in the program. The standard sequence of courses is as follows:

* First Year:
Semester 1: 2 seminars + Supervised Teaching
Semester 2: 3 seminars

* Second Year:
Semester 3: 3 seminars
Semester 4: 2 seminars; M.A. Comprehensive Examination

* Third Year:
Semester 5: 3 seminars
Semester 6: 2-3 seminars

* Fourth Year:
Semester 7: 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance
Semester 8: 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance; Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination

* Fifth Year:
Semester 9: at least 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance; Submission of Dissertation Prospectus
Semester 10: at least 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance

* Sixth Year:
Semester 11: at least 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance
Semester 12: at least 5 hours of Dissertation Guidance; Submission and Oral Defense of Dissertation