Faculty Spotlight
NEWS FLASH:
BEN. SIFUENTES-JÁUREGUI, Professor of American Studies and Comparative Literature has just received the Warren I. Susman award for Excellence in Teaching in 2013
Congratulations to the following faculty:
Core Faculty
KAREN BISHOP was appointed Assistant Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature
EDYTA BOJANOWSKA received the 2013-2014 ACLS Burkhardt Fellowship and will spend the year in residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton
ANDREW PARKER was appointed Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Rutgers
RICHARD SERRANO was promoted to Professor I in French
JANET WALKER received the SAS award for Distinction in Contributions to Undergraduate Education, Professor Category
Affiliate Faculty
PAOLA GAMBAROTA received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor of Italian
MARTHA HELFER was promoted to Professor I in German
Graduate Student Awards
Comparative Literature is proud ofTARA COLEMAN, winner of a 2012 Mellon Summer Research Grant;
BEN DE WITTE, winner of a Pre-Dissertation Travel Grant;
CAROLINE GODART, winner of a 2012-2013 Bevier Fellowship;
MARIA KAGER, winner of a 2012-2013 Mellon Dissertation Fellowship; also awarded the International James Joyce Foundation Fritz Senn Award to attend the XXIIIrd International James Joyce Symposium at Trininty University, Dublin
ALESSIO LERRO, winner of Bevier Fellowship for his dissertation "From baroque Chiaroscuro to Romantic Sublime: Images, Writing and Subjectivity in Tesauro, Vico, and Novalis"
MATTHEW MANGOLD, winner of of a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Advanced Russian at the KORA Center in Vladimir, Russia;
ENMANUEL MARTINEZ, winner of the 2012 Ford Foundation Fellowship, Predoctoral Competition;
JENNIFER RATERMAN, winner of 2012-2013 Mellon Dissertation Fellowship;
CAROLYN UREÑA, winner for Best Essay in a graduate seminar in the Department of German Studies;
| Ph.D. Program |
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The Ph.D. Program The Language Requirements The knowledge of more than one language other than English remains a fundamental tool of the comparatist. A profound knowledge of a language and its cultural context is as much an intellectual endeavor as the study of literary texts or acquisition of theoretical approaches. For this reason, the active mastery of one language other than English and an advanced reading knowledge of two additional languages other than English, whether classical or modern, are required. By a profound knowledge and active mastery we mean that a comparatist should be able to present a formal paper at an academic conference and engage in a discussion without difficulty in that language. This requirement may be met by filing the Comparative Literature Language Proficiency Form after an interview with a Rutgers professor with the appropriate qualifications. The other two languages are considered reading and research languages. Competency in these two languages may be demonstrated by passing a translation examination offered by the Graduate School or by taking an upper division undergraduate course or graduate course taught in the target language. In addition, primary texts on the PhD reading list must be read in the original language, unless this requirement is waived by the Adviser with the approval of the Graduate Director. Credit Requirements, Transfer of Credits, Incompletes, GPA Ph.D. students are required to complete 72 credits, of which 48 must be graduate course credits and 24 graduate research credits. No more than 12 credits may be taken in any one semester without permission from the graduate director. 9 credits per semester is considered a full course load. After completing two semesters of study at Rutgers with no incompletes, students may transfer up to a maximum of 9 graduate credits from another institution subject to the approval of the Adviser, Graduate Director and the Graduate School. The Graduate School allows one year to change an incomplete before it becomes permanent. If incomplete work is not finished by the end of the following semester, the incomplete may become permanent and no credit will be received for the course in question. A hold on registration will be placed on any student who exceeds more than 2 incompletes until all of the required work is completed. Failure to complete the required work by the stipulated deadlines will result in suspension from the program. Students must then reapply to the program to reactivate their status, and readmission will be subject to the approval of the Adviser, Graduate Director and the Graduate School. Students may take up to six credits of independent study. Only under exceptional circumstances, and with the permission of the graduate director, may this limitation be waived. Consideration for fellowships and teaching assistantships depends on maintaining a GPA of at least 3.5 and the timely elimination of incompletes. Course Requirements Course requirements are not obstacles but signposts along the path toward completion of the PhD (keeping in mind that comparatists often take detours and seldom take shortcuts). The student acquaints him/herself with major trends in literary theory and criticism, acquires a broad knowledge of a single national literature, and establishes profound knowledge of a particular research field. In addition to the fields represented by the departments listed below, graduate work may also be done in Asian Languages and Cultures, and Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures through the doctoral Program in Comparative Literature, although neither department currently has its own graduate program. • 01:195:501 Theory • 01:195:502 Comparative Literature: the Discipline and the Profession • 4 graduate courses in one of the following departments: Classics, English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish & Portuguese. • An intellectually coherent series of 9 graduate courses, at least 3 of which must be in Comparative Literature (in addition to 01:195:501 and 01:195:502), selected with the approval of the Adviser. These courses form the intellectual foundation of a research project culminating in the dissertation. Advising Students in their first semester are advised by the Graduate Director. In the second or third semester, the student chooses an Adviser, who must be a member of the Core or Affiliate faculty, in consultation with the Graduate Director. Each semester the Adviser sends a written report on the progress of the student to the Graduate Director. The student may, indeed, must, rely on the advice of other faculty as well. The Adviser's primary task is to see that the student progresses smoothly through the program, meeting all requirements, preparing for exams, and establishing contact with faculty appropriate to his/her interests. Once the student determines the topic of the dissertation s/he may choose a Dissertation Director other than the Adviser. Ph.D. Exam: rationale and description The Ph.D. qualifying exam is taken after the completion of course work and language requirements. The exam is conceived to test students broadly and in depth about the major texts (understanding that “text” may include film and works in other media), topics, theories, and critical histories of the student’s chosen field. Our understanding is that the exam is not a stand-alone event disengaged from dissertation research and writing; rather it exists to help prepare the student to write the dissertation. The reading list, composed by the student with strong input from the chair and other committee members, should include about 100 works that serve as the groundwork for dissertation research and writing. The examination has a written and an oral component. The written exam is distributed to the student on a Friday and returned on a Monday. The committee submits three questions, of which the student answers two. All members of the committee read and evaluate the answers. Within two weeks, the committee meets with the student for a one-hour oral exam, the purpose of which is to explore questions raised by the written exam, as well as other topics relevant to the reading list but not covered in the written exam. Examination Committee The examination committee consists of three faculty members, a chair and two others. The chair must be Core or Affiliate Faculty in Comparative Literature and is usually the professor who has agreed to direct the student’s dissertation. The other members of the committee should, if possible, be Core or Affiliate faculty in Comparative Literature. The Graduate Director may grant special permission to an exam committee member who is not on the Core/Affiliate roster. As soon as the reading list is in place, at least one semester before exams are scheduled, students should submit their list to their Graduate Director. Exam Timing and Preparation Graduate students in Comp Lit generally have 4-year funding packages. Because of the comparative nature of their course work, students entering with a B.A. are usually not ready to take exams before the end of their third year or beginning of their 4th year. However, students entering with an M.A. are encouraged to take exams in their 3rd year, leaving the 4th year free for research and writing. As part of exam preparation, students should meet regularly with their committee to discuss the reading list. Prospectus Within three weeks of the beginning of the following semester after which the exams were taken, the student submits to her/his Dissertation Director and committee a prospectus of 5 pages plus an extensive bibliography. A copy will be submitted to the Graduate office. Dissertation Committee The dissertation committee may include the members of the exam committee and one (or, under exceptional circumstances, two) additional members from outside the Core or Affiliate Faculty of Comparative Literature. The outside reader(s) may be from a university other than Rutgers. The dissertation director must be a member of the Core or Affiliate Faculty of Comparative Literature. Upon approval of the prospectus, the student provides his/her Dissertation Director with a writing schedule including an intended termination date. The dissertation defense is the final requirement to be fulfilled before awarding of the Ph.D. Below is the usual timetable toward completion of the degree for a student who enters with a B.A. Students who come having already completed coursework elsewhere or with outside funding or who spend a year abroad will have somewhat different trajectories.
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| Last Updated on Friday, 01 February 2013 06:16 |