Requirements

Length of Study

The Comparative Literature PhD is a four-year program.  Students should complete their course work by the end of their third semester at Maryland; they should prepare for and take the comprehensive exam and be admitted to doctoral candidacy by the beginning of the third year (the fifth semester) in the program.  Students should write and defend their dissertations by the end of their fourth year in the program.

Languages

Students are expected to enter the program with advanced proficiency in English and at least one other language.  Advanced language proficiency is defined as the ability to do graduate level work in the chosen language.  Applicants demonstrate their proficiency by holding an M.A. in the language, by documented experience of the use of the language, or by examination.

Course Requirements

 For the Comparative Literature PhD, students take six courses (18 credits) beyond their MA:

                        ♦ Methodology (3 credits)

                        ♦ Theory (3 credits)

                        ♦ Early Modern Literature (6 credits)

                        ♦ Modern Literature (6 credits)

The designations "early modern" and "modern" remain flexible to accommodate different literary histories.  In each of the two general periods, at least one course must be taken in the English Department in Anglophone or Comparative Literature and at least one course outside of the English Department in another language/literature. Students can use six credits of MA work to satisfy distribution requirements (though not total credit number requirements).  Advising will address the depth, breadth, and coherence of each students' course plan and, if necessary, coordination among different histories of the "early modern" and "modern."

Comprehensive Exam

The comprehensive exam is a two-part exam designed to be similar in structure and in administration to the current English comprehensive exam, but longer in duration and more extensive in coverage. The exam has two parts:

Part I (one hour): The student will make a presentation on a special topic that must be comparative in nature, and will be examined orally on the presentation.

Part II (two hours):  The student will be examined on two reading lists, each providing historical coverage of one of two national literatures in which the student is working; each list is to include primary and critical texts.

CMLT Graduate Handbook 2011-2012