Literature Department and PhD Program Overview

The Department Chair appoints the faculty member who serves as the Director of Doctoral Studies (DDS), the faculty members who serve as Faculty Advisors for each section (Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, Literatures in English, and Literatures in Spanish) and the faculty member who serves as the Careers Advisor.

For the first phase of their study (until they constitute their committee), students are advised by the DDS. In addition, incoming students are also paired with a First-Year Faculty Mentor, who serves as an additional resource for acclimating to the program and exploring their intellectual interests.  Students may also seek guidance from the Graduate Advisor for their given section. 

Students can view the current faculty appointments to these advisory roles here: Appointments.

Once students constitute their Doctoral Committee (see “Program: Year 2” for more information), their primary advisor(s) become the Chair or Co-Chairs of their Doctoral Committee. The Doctoral Committee Chair or Co-Chairs serve as the primary reader(s) of the dissertation manuscript. They also supervise the overall progress to degree, oversee the qualifying exam process, arrange and conduct the dissertation defense, and offer advice about the job search.  Students may also seek guidances from the Careers Advisor for advice about the job search.

The Literature Graduate Student Committee (LGSC) is a student committee that represents all Literature graduate students. The LGSC consists of six members, including one Chair, one Co-Chair, and five representatives—one from each section of the PhD program in Literature (Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, English, and Spanish), and one from the MFA program.

All members have a vote in the LGSC business. In the event of a tie, the LGSC Chair will cast the deciding vote. The LGSC meets at least once each quarter during the academic year and can be called into special session by the LGSC Chair or by petition of any three graduate students in Literature. All graduate students in the Department are allowed to attend LGSC meetings.

The LGSC represents student interests concerning all Departmental policy decisions that affect PhD students It also makes suggestions on graduate seminar offerings. It takes the responsibility, when necessary, of asking the Department Chair to modify section offerings to accommodate student needs (based on a survey of student opinions).

The LGSC Chair and Co-Chair serve as non-voting representatives on the faculty Doctoral Affairs Committee (DAC) and convey LGSC concerns to the Director of Doctoral Studies (DDS) and to the DAC in its quarterly meetings. However, they will be recused from participation when the DAC meetings discuss doctoral student awards, grants, fellowships, and other financial support and employment issues.

The LGSC Chair and Co-Chair may be invited to attend the Executive Committee (EC) meetings when discussions concern matters affecting doctoral students. However, the LGSC Chair and Co-Chair have no voting privileges in such meetings and will not be invited when the EC meetings discuss doctoral student awards, grants, fellowships, and other financial support and employment issues.

The Department of Literature PhD Program is interdisciplinary in focus, although students may write dissertations on any topic or in any field in which members of the faculty do research. The program allows students a large measure of independence; at the same time, it encourages a community of scholar-critics whose concerns are not restricted to any single literature or critical tradition.

The years in the Literature PhD Program are approached with the following three distinct purposes:

Year 1:  Acquire the breadth of knowledge foundational to PhD-level work. In this timeframe, students come to know the faculty, their research areas and methods. During this first year, students take six seminars. In the course of these seminars, they complete the required theory sequence and they make progress on the historical breadth and language requirements.

Year 2:  Begin to define their own specialized research interests. During the second year, students take six seminars. In the course of these seminars, they should aim to complete the historical breadth and language requirements. During this time, they also begin to identify their own specialized interests to prepare for the more focused study of Year 3. This includes forming their Doctoral Committee, creating their reading lists and research paper abstract, and holding their Pre-Qualifying Meeting.

Year 3:  Further define the focus of their research and prepare for the qualifying examinations. For most of the third year, students will be completing required courses, taking additional seminars, writing their qualifying paper, and preparing for the qualifying examinations.  At the end of the third year, students should complete their qualifying exams.

Years 4, 5, & 6:  Research and write the dissertation.  The dissertation defense is held at the end of Year 6.

Each student in a graduate seminar will participate by doing at least one project, such as an oral presentation, bibliographical work, seminar paper, or other similar project. The specific nature of the project(s) is set by the instructor and announced in advance.

Students in graduate seminars are entitled to substantive, pedagogically generative feedback on their writing and other coursework within a reasonable time frame—no more than 4 weeks after the assignment’s due date.

If extenuating circumstances mean that a faculty member will need more time to complete this feedback, it is the faculty member’s responsibility to inform their students of this and let them know when they can expect this feedback. It is also their responsibility to provide feedback within the revised timeline they indicate.

If students in a graduate seminar do not receive timely feedback or an updated timeline for feedback, they should contact the DDS for support.

Students are admitted to the doctoral program in a particular specialization (also referred to as their “section”): Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, Literatures in English, or Literatures in Spanish.  There are corresponding “PhD Requirements Worksheets” for use in tracking progress towards the specific section's course requirements. They can be found on the “Forms” page of the website. Students should maintain an accurate record of their course completion. It is expected that students consult with the Graduate Coordinator each quarter to review their up-to-date PhD Worksheet and plan their next quarter’s courses. The Graduate Coordinator will confirm that all courses have been added to the requirements accurately and alert the student to any need for course petitions. Students who do not keep an up-to-date PhD Worksheet (and receive the Graduate Coordinator’s confirmation of accuracy) risk failing to qualify on time. The completed PhD Worksheet must be attached to the schedule request for the qualifying exams, and the qualifying exams will only move forward if the PhD Worksheet is confirmed as fully complete (with all necessary petitions approved and on file).

Many seminars can be petitioned to count for specific requirements; see the yearlong listing of graduate seminars on the department’s “Course Offerings” page for more information, as well as the "Forms" page for the petition form.

• COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
  18 seminars
  • 3 seminars: Introductory theory sequence (LTTH 210ABC)
  • 4 seminars in primary literature
  • 2 seminars in literature in secondary language
  • 1 seminar in literature in tertiary language
  • 4 seminars in theory (LTTH), cultural studies (LTCS), literature in the secondary or tertiary language, comparative literature (LTCO), or composition studies (LTWR)
  • 2 independent study courses (LTCO 298) in preparations for the qualifying examinations
  • 2 seminars open to choice
    
    • All students are encouraged to take up to two seminars outside of the Literature Department and are required to include one external faculty member on their committee.
  • Two of the eighteen seminars above must also fulfill the Historical Breadth requirement (texts or cultural practices prior to 1800)
  • At least four of the eighteen seminars above must specifically be Comparative Literature seminars (LTCO course number). The two LTCO 298 courses taken in preparation for the qualifying exam do not count towards this total.  LTCO seminars used to fulfill primary literature, literature in secondary language and/or literature in tertiary language must be substantially focused upon the relevant language and deal with materials in the original language. 

• CULTURAL STUDIES
  18 seminars
  • 3 seminars: Introductory theory sequence (LTTH 210ABC)
  • 5 seminars in cultural studies or theory (LTCS)
  • 4 seminars in primary literature
  • 2 seminars in literature in secondary language
  • 2 independent study courses (LTCS 298) in preparation for the qualifying examinations
  • 2 seminars open to choice
    • All students are encouraged to take up to two seminars outside of the Literature Department and are required to include one external faculty member on their committee.
  • Two of the eighteen seminars above must also fulfill the Historical Breadth requirement (texts or cultural practices prior to 1800)

• LITERATURES IN ENGLISH
  18 seminars
  • 3 seminars: Introductory theory sequence (LTTH 210ABC)
  • 4 seminars in primary literature (LTEN)
  • 2 seminars in literature in secondary language
  • 4 seminars in theory (LTTH), cultural studies (LTCS), literature in the secondary language, comparative literature (LTCO), or composition studies (LTWR)
  • 2 independent study courses (LTEN 298) in preparation for the qualifying examinations
  • 3 seminars open to choice
    • All students are encouraged to take up to two seminars outside of the Literature Department and are required to include one external faculty member on their committee.
  • Two of the eighteen seminars above must also fulfill the Historical Breadth requirement (texts or cultural practices prior to 1800)

• LITERATURES IN SPANISH
  18 seminars
  • 3 seminars: Introductory theory sequence (LTTH 210ABC)
  • 4 seminars in primary literature (LTSP)
  • 2 seminars in literature in secondary language
  • 4 seminars in theory (LTTH), cultural studies (LTCS), literature in the secondary language, comparative literature (LTCO), or composition studies (LTWR)
  • 2 independent study courses (LTSP 298) in preparation for the qualifying examinations
  • 3 seminars open to choice
    • All students are encouraged to take up to two seminars outside of the Literature Department and are required to include one external faculty member on their committee.
  • Two of the eighteen seminars above must also fulfill the Historical Breadth requirement (texts or cultural practices prior to 1800)

If a student finds compelling reasons why they want to request a change to a different specialization, they must successfully complete one year of graduate study before petitioning to change. They would need to write a detailed statement of purpose which explains their reasons for requesting the change. They will also need to collect written statements from three faculty from the new section: one stating their commitment to work with the student as the Doctoral Committee Chair and two stating their commitment to work with the student as members of the Doctoral Committee. These written statements must accompany a Transfer Section Petition and be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator. See the “Forms” page of the website.

The Department also has a partnership with the Critical Gender Studies (CGS) program on campus.  Students whose research focus overlaps with the research within the CGS program may add a CGS specialization to their PhD degree. The degree would be named “Literature with a Specialization in Critical Gender Studies.”  Students who would like to pursue this option will still need to choose a Literature PhD specialization (Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, Literatures in English, or Literatures in Spanish) and complete all the requirements for that specialization (as outlined above). In addition, they would need to complete a supplementary set of requirements for the CGS specialization, with a maximum of two course overlapping with their Literature PhD requirements.  Already-admitted Literature PhD students will apply to the CGS specialization through the CGS program’s website (http://cgs.ucsd.edu/graduate-specialization/admission.html). If admitted, they will work with the CGS Program Coordinator to complete those requirements. The CGS Program Coordinator will work with the Literature Graduate Coordinator to process the addition of the specialization, confirm that no more than two courses are applying to each set of requirements, and validate the completion of the requirements for the purposes of graduation.

The Department requires that each PhD student acquire apprentice teaching experience before completing the degree. The minimum amount required is three academic quarters of 50% teaching assistantships. This teaching, with the guidance and support of a supervising professor, includes conducting discussion sections and related activities in a variety of undergraduate courses. Academic credit is granted for the training given under the apprentice teaching program (4 units of credit towards the 12 unit minimum for each quarter). Most Literature PhD students will serve as TAs for the majority of their time in the program, and they will most often TA in the Literature Department, in one of the college writing programs, or in a language program. However, there are a variety of other departments on campus that may also be good fits for specific students. See the “Financial Support” portion of the handbook for more information about TA positions.

NOTE: If you are teaching in the Revelle College Humanities Program, HUM 200 may be required; however, HUM 200 does not count towards the Literature PhD seminar requirements. If you are teaching in the Eleanor Roosevelt College Making of the Modern World Program, MMW 200 may be required; however, MMW 200 does not count towards the Literature PhD seminar requirements.

In a narrow sense, the exam determines whether or not the student is qualified to produce the sort of original research required for the doctoral dissertation  From a broader perspective, the qualifying exam marks a turning point in a graduate career, as students complete their coursework and move closer toward becoming members of the profession.

The qualifying exams are designed to enable students to demonstrate substantial knowledge in fields that they may draw on for future teaching, and to demonstrate their ability to conduct independent research and to write a paper of publishable length with a sustained argument.

The DDS sponsors an annual colloquium, usually held in the winter or spring quarter, devoted to answering student questions about the qualifying examination  At this event, advanced graduate students answer questions about the exam process.

The last written requirement before receiving the PhD degree is the presentation of a suitable dissertation. This may be a critical and scholarly study of a single subject or it may consist of two or more integrally related essays. While there is no prescribed (or proscribed) length, the usual length is 40,000 to 50,000 words.

For examples and as guides to conceiving a dissertation, students may consult dissertations previously completed in the department. These can be found on the UCSD Library website and in the Special Collections of the UCSD Library.