Comparative Literature Department
Ph.D. Qualifying Examination
Students are eligible to take the qualifying examinations when they have established evidence of:
- Being officially admitted to the Ph.D. Program in Comparative Literature;
- Reading proficiency in three foreign languages (this proficiency must be certified before students begin their examinations);
- Completion of both minors: all minors must be completed and certified in writing by the appropriate departments no later than the conclusion of the semester in which the examination is taken;
- Completion of all required courses and other course work: all required courses (specifically C501, C502 ) must be satisfactorily completed before students will be permitted to begin their exam sequences; all other course work must be completed and all incompletes in courses counting toward the major or minors must be removed before the conclusion of the semester in which the exam is taken.
Examination Guidelines
The following guidelines are step by step procedures to follow:
- Notify the Director of Graduate Studies of your intent to take the Preliminary Doctoral Examinations. No student will be permitted to initiate the examination process unless the language and course requirements have been fulfilled as stipulated in the Comparative Literature Handbook.
- Obtain from the Comparative Literature Office the guidelines for the exams and sign the "CMLT Ph.D. Qualifying Exam Checklist".
- Identify examiners for the three examination areas. Each section of the examinations requires two examiners (one person may serve on two sections.)
- Obtain written approval of the slate of examiners from the Director of Graduate Studies (see below).
Whenever possible, the examination committee should be arranged so that the student's faculty mentor be included among the examiners; in that event, the faculty mentor should serve as the chair of the student's examination committee.
The three sections of the examinations are:
- "Synchronic" emphasizing formal comparisons between texts deriving from different cultures, or contrasts between historically unrelated phenomena.
- "Diachronic" emphasizing development sequence, where historical factors and chronological order figure prominently.
- "Special Topic" emphasizing a topic of student's choosin
All six examiners must be able to accommodate the projected exam dates, both written and oral.
The proposed slate of examiners must be approved in writing by the Director of Graduate Studies, who will also certify that the student has met all minor, language, and course requirements. Upon approval, the Director of Graduate Studies will designate one of the examiners as Chair of the committee (the student's faculty mentor, if possible). The Chair will coordinate the choice of topics and reading lists so that they form a reasonable and coherent set, without too much overlap and duplication.
Reading Lists
- Ample and repeated consultation with the examiners is needed to develop the reading list.
- Approval signatures of all examiners must be on the reading list submitted to the CMLT Office at least six weeks prior to the examination date.
- Previous approved lists are made available for reference in the CMLT Office.
- A listing of the student's minors and languages must also be on the reading list.
The Written And Oral Examinations
The examiners for each section will provide three questions that the student must be prepared to answer in the two weeks prior to the written exam date. During this two-week period, the examinee may consult with the examiner(s) to clarify any aspect of the examination that may be unclear.
The written examination will consist of three questions out of the questions previously distributed (one question in each of the three sections.) The choice of questions will be made known to the student at the examination. Candidates are permitted to bring their reading lists with them to the examination. Foreign students are also permitted to bring a dictionary of their native language and English to the examination. Candidates are not permitted to bring any other written materials, whether on paper or on disk, to the examination, nor are they allowed to make notes on their reading lists. The examination will normally be scheduled for a Friday and consist of two sessions, one in the morning of up to four hours, and one in the afternoon of up to two hours, with a one hour break between the two sessions. Two questions, to be designated by the examiners, will be assigned during the first session; the candidate will receive the third question at the start of the afternoon session.
One week after the written examination, the student will sit for an oral examination of one to one and a half hours or more, as the examiners see fit (but the oral examination should not last for more than two and a half hours). Copies of the answers to each of the three questions on the written examination will be distributed to all examiners as soon as possible. All examiners are expected to attend the oral examination, which will be presided over by the exam committee chair.
The examiners are at liberty to ask questions not only about the answers that were formulated on the written examination, but also questions that were not addressed on the written examination, indeed, on any part of the reading list.
Examiners will not assign a grade nor divulge their opinion of the written examination to the student during the week preceding the oral examination. It will also be important to avoid contact with the examiners before the oral examination takes place.
The results of the examinations will include an evaluation of the written and oral sections. Immediately upon conclusion of the oral examination, the examiners will make a formal evaluation of the overall performance, both written and oral, for each section of the examinations. Each section of the examinations should be assessed a grade of "fail", "pass", or "pass with distinction". Ideally, the two examiners for each section should try to determine a single overall assessment of the student's performance (even if they inevitably differ in their personal assessments of the examination). In those cases where the two examiners are unable, even after consultation, to arrive at an overall assessment, both evaluations (of both the oral and the written examinations, if necessary) will be recorded for the student's file. Students will be designated as having achieved a "pass with distinction" only if both examiners for each section so recommend.
While students may arrange for examinations any time that the 3-6 examiners can be convened, the week following the fall and spring semesters may be targeted, as faculty are usually available during these periods.
A student need stand again for only the section(s) of the examinations which she/he has failed. (In other words, she/he does not have to retake the section(s) of the examinations which she/he has passed.)
The student will take both the written and oral examinations which she/he has failed. However, in the written examination, instead of writing on the same question she/he has written on before, the student will be asked to write on one of three questions submitted by the examiners two weeks before the new examination. These questions may or may not include the two on the earlier examination which the student was not asked to write on. The student will be, however, responsible in the oral examination also for the question for which she/he provided an inadequate answer, indeed, for any question relating to the reading list which had been previously agreed upon for that area.
If the student has failed all three sections of the examinations, the examining committee for the retake of the oral examination will consist of all examiners; if one or two sections were failed, the committee will consist of at least three examiners in the failed section(s), the original examiners plus at least one additional member of the original committee, to be designated by the Director of Graduate Studies, if there were only two original examiners in the failed section(s).
At least a month, but not more than six months, should transpire before a student is to be examined again. Whenever possible, the same examiners should be involved when the student is examined again; in those (presumably rare) instances when this is not possible, an alternative examiner should be identified by the chair of the program in concert with the student and the examiner who is not being replaced. Under no circumstances should both examiners be replaced.
A student may stand for the qualifying examinations a total of three times. In other words, she/he is limited to two additional opportunities to pass any part of the examinations if she/he should fail the first time.
In the event of an unresolvable disagreement between the two examiners for a section as to whether the candidate should pass or fail, the chair of the Program should identify a third reader from the examination committee to adjudicate.
In the event that an emergency prevents an examiner from attending the oral examination, it will be postponed until a later date, unless the Chair of the committee and the student agree to hold it at the scheduled time.
While taking the Qualifying Examinations, having completed all necessary course work, students are not required to enroll for any graduate credit. Enrollment may still be advisable in order to obtain certain rights and privileges, or to satisfy visa requirements. (See IUB ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS.) However, once a student achieves candidacy, enrollment for at least one hour per semester is required.
Return to Ph.D. Coursework Requirements
