English and American Literature (PhD)

Department Website

Program Description

The Department of English warmly welcomes qualified applicants who wish to pursue advanced study towards a graduate degree. We are a large department and value historical coverage of the field that has traditionally been the study of English and American literature: we also encourage innovative approaches to that study, and have an expansive sense of the topics it might cover.  We teach in all areas and currently have particular research clusters among our faculty and graduate students in Medieval and Renaissance, modernist, post-colonial, Latino/Latina, American and African American literatures.  We maintain close ties with the Department of Comparative Literature, with which we jointly organize a certificate in Poetics and Theory and an Advanced Certificate in Comparative Approaches to the Literatures of Africa, the Middle East, and the Global South (CALAMEGS), and with the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, while we also participate in offering an Advanced Certificate in Digital Humanities.  In addition, our graduate students originate, organize and receive funding for their own working and reading groups, which currently include African American and African Diasporic Working Group; Critical Theory and Medievalisms; Cultures of War and the Post-War; Creative Writing; Digital Culture/s; the Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Literature Working Group; Politics of Empowerment; Postcolonial, Race and Diaspora Studies Colloquium; Nonhuman(isms) Working Group; University On the Edge/ (re)Thinking the University; and the Organism for Poetic Research.

Admissions

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

• Academic Transcripts
• Test Scores (if required)
• Applicant Statements
• Résumé or Curriculum Vitae
• Letters of Recommendation, and
• A non-refundable application fee.

See English for admission requirements and instructions specific to this program.

Dual Degree

The English Department offers a dual degree with the NYU School of Law: English PhD/Law JD.

See English for admission requirements and instructions specific to this program.

Program Requirements

This program requires the completion of 72 credits, and offers a concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. See concentration details below.

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Major Requirements
ENGL-GA 3006	PhD Proseminar: Studies in Advanced Literary Research	4
ENGL-GA 3002	Guided Research II (in preparation for Doctoral Examination)	4
ENGL-GA 3972	Dissertation Seminar I (in preparation for submission of the dissertation proposal)	4
ENGL-GA 3981	Dissertation Seminar II (consisting of oral defense of the Dissertation Proposal and beginning of writing and research of dissertation)	4
ENGL-GA 3985	Pedagogy Colloquim (taken during the first semester in which teaching is anticipated)	4
ENGL-GA 3980	Workshop on Professional Practices (must be taken in the student's third year of program)	4
Historical Period Course: Pre-1800		4
Historical Period Course: Post-1800		4
Electives
Other Elective Credits		40
Total Credits		72

Concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

The concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Studies is interdisciplinary in nature and creates a framework and community for diverse approaches to the study of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. It complements doctoral students’ work in their home departments with interdisciplinary study of the broad range of culture in the medieval and early modern periods, as well as of the theories and methods that attend them. The concentration is designed to train specialists who are firmly based in a traditional discipline but who can work across disciplinary boundaries, making use of varied theoretical approaches and methodological practices. The concentration consists of twenty credits distributed under the following courses: MEDI-GA 1100 Proseminar in Medieval & Renaissance Studies,  MEDI-GA 2100 Studies in Late Latin and Early Vernaculars: or other approved course, and  MEDI-GA 2000 Medieval & Renaissance Workshop, 2 points per semester taken twice in an academic year. Students must also take one approved course in the area of Medieval and Renaissance Media: Visual and Material Cultures, and one approved course in a medieval or early modern topic. At least one course, not counting either the Proseminar or Workshop, must be taken outside a student’s home department. In addition, students pursuing the concentration will present a paper at least once either in the Workshop or in a conference offered by the Medieval and Renaissance Center.

Additional Program Requirements

Language

Students must demonstrate language proficiency beyond the English language. This requirement may be satisfied either before or after matriculation at NYU by demonstrating either (a) advanced proficiency in one language by completing the sixth term of an acceptable college language course with a grade of B or better or by passing a language examination at a comparable level of proficiency or (b) proficiency in two languages by completing the equivalent of four semesters of acceptable college work. The final course or examination establishing proficiency must have been completed no more than two years prior to matriculation for the Ph.D. program. The language(s) offered must be relevant to the dissertation research and scholarly practice of the field in which the student intends to work, and the department reserves the right to require a particular language on these grounds. Any student whose first language is not English should see the director of graduate studies to discuss the use of that language to fulfill (or partially fulfill) the requirement.

Doctoral Examination

Students must pass the Doctoral Examination, based on two individualized reading lists covering two historical fields (one of which is designated the major field, and the other the minor field) and a third topics list. The examination fields are: medieval; Renaissance; 18th-century British; Romantic; 19th-century British; 20th-century British; American: beginning to 1865; American: 1865 to present; African American literature; colonial and postcolonial studies; literature of the Americas; transatlantic studies; and modern drama. The written examination is supervised by a committee of three faculty members chosen by the student.

Dissertation Defense, Submission and Approval

The final requirement is a completed dissertation and an oral defense of the dissertation. The dissertation must be approved for defense by the director and core committee before the examination is convened. Some revision, including the mandatory correction of any errors, may be required as a result of the defense. The examining board consists of five members of the graduate faculty, the core committee plus two additional committee members. In this final examination, the candidate is questioned for one hour on the dissertation. If the candidate fails the oral defense of the dissertation, a second examination is permitted, resulting either in a pass or in elimination from the Ph.D. program.

Departmental 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/Term		Credits
ENGL-GA 3006	PhD Proseminar: Studies in Advanced Literary Research	4
Historical Period Course: Pre-1800		4
General Elective		4
	Credits	12
2nd Semester/Term
Historical Period Course: Post-1800		4
General Elective		4
General Elective		4
	Credits	12
3rd Semester/Term
General Elective		4
General Elective		4
General Elective		4
	Credits	12
4th Semester/Term
General Elective		4
General Elective		4
General Elective		4
	Credits	12
5th Semester/Term
ENGL-GA 3002	Guided Research II	1-4
ENGL-GA 3985	Pedagogy Colloquim	4
ENGL-GA 3972	Dissertation Seminar I	4
	Credits	12
6th Semester/Term
ENGL-GA 3980	Workshop on Professional Practices	4
ENGL-GA 3981	Dissertation Seminar II	4
General Elective		4
	Credits	12
	Total Credits	72

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:

1. Attain a wide range of knowledge in history and criticism of literature in English, while being acquainted with different theories and modes of query. 
2. Develop expertise in chosen fields of specialization and to identify and pursue original research questions in these fields, locating them persuasively and comprehensively within and against relevant scholarly literature(s).
3. Conduct original research and produce substantial work as a contribution to the area(s) of chosen expertise and the discipline of English at large.    
4. Develop expertise and acquire experience to allow graduates access to careers for which doctoral training in English is essential or highly desirable.

Policies

NYU Policies

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

Graduate School of Arts and Science Policies

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