English, Ph.D.

Admission Requirements

Admissions decisions are based on the department’s judgment of the applicant’s capacity, suitability, and preparation for graduate study.  Admission to graduate study is not automatically guaranteed by meeting minimum admission requirements.

Candidates will be expected to have completed at least 30 semester hours of English at the undergraduate level. Applicants with an M.A. will be expected to have completed at least 20 hours of graduate coursework in English.

Application Procedures

All application materials are to be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies.

Application for Summer/Fall admission must be complete by March 1. Application for Spring admission must be complete by October 1. Those seeking teaching assistantships must apply by February 1 for the following Fall semester. All application materials, including the assistantship application, should be sent directly to the College of Graduate Studies.

Applicant must

1. submit an application with the appropriate application fee (online at www.mtsu.edu/graduate/apply.php); 
2. submit three letters of recommendation from professors or professionals that address the applicant’s potential to successfully complete a Ph.D. program in English;
3. submit official scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) (English subject test optional);
4. submit official transcripts of all previous college work;
5. submit a 500-word statement of purpose outlining academic interests and professional goals.

Degree Requirements

The Doctor of Philosophy in English requires 60 hours.

Candidate must

1. demonstrate a reading knowledge of one foreign language. (Committees may require more than one language.) The language requirement must be fulfilled in one of the following ways:
   1. completing two 3-hour foreign language courses of 3000- or 4000-level work emphasizing reading, translation, or composition;
   2. earning a final grade of A or B in a foreign language course numbered 5990 or in SPAN 5920 ;
   3. passing a reading examination administered by the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department;
   4. earning a final grade of B or better in both ENGL 7010 - Old English Language and Literature  and ENGL 7020 - Beowulf , which must be taken sequentially; or
   5. meeting this requirement at the M.A. level.
2. successfully complete a qualifying exam, comprehensive in scope, before the completion of two semesters of coursework above the M.A. level (12 hours of 7000-level work). Ph.D. students must pass this exam in order to proceed in their program. (The examination may be taken no more than twice).
3. upon the completion of coursework, successfully complete two written Ph.D. exams in chosen concentrations from among the following areas: Old and Middle English; Renaissance: 1500–1660, including Milton; Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature; Nineteenth-Century British Literature (a. Romantic, b. Victorian); Twentieth-Century British Literature; American Literature to 1830; American Literature: 1830–1910; American Literature: 1910–present; Criticism and Critical Theory; Composition, Language, and Rhetoric; Children’s and Young Adult Literature; Popular Culture and Film (a. Popular Culture and b. Film); Linguistics; Anglophone Literature; and Folklore. An oral exam will be given upon the successful completion of each written exam.
4. complete a dissertation (12 hours minimum) and oral dissertation defense.

Curriculum: English

All Ph.D. candidates must complete the following course of study:

Program Notes

Candidate must

1. file a degree plan in the College of Graduate Studies prior to the completion of 30 credit hours;
2. file an approved Advancement to Candidacy form listing the members of the candidate’s doctoral committee with the Graduate Office upon successful completion of the written and oral preliminary examination;
3. file a Notice of Intent to Graduate form in the College of Graduate Studies within the first two weeks of the term in which the student intends to graduate.