School of Arts and Humanities

Graduate Programs in the Humanities

The program leading to the MA in Humanities is designed both for individuals wishing to enhance their knowledge and skills and for students intending to pursue a doctorate in a humanistic field. Thus, students seeking an MA in Humanities have two options, a "research" or a "professional" option. Students with plans for doctoral study should choose the research option.

Students in the research option must complete thirty-three semester hours of coursework, demonstrate reading proficiency in an approved foreign language, and successfully complete a portfolio.

Master of Arts in Humanities

33 hours minimum

• Master of Arts in Humanities Major in Aesthetic Studies
• Master of Arts in Humanities Major in History of Ideas
• Master of Arts in Humanities Major in Studies in Literature

Major Core Course: 3 hours

HUMA 6300 Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Arts and Humanities

Students are expected to complete this course within their first two semesters of enrollment.

Elective Courses: 30 hours

Thirty semester hours, of which at least twenty-seven hours are normally in organized courses. Eighteen of these hours are divided among organized courses in Aesthetic Studies (6 hours), History of Ideas (6 hours), and Studies in Literature (6 hours). The remaining hours must be taken in the student's major area of concentration (Aesthetic Studies, History of Ideas, or Studies in Literature), the exception being students pursuing a general Humanities degree. Normally no more than three hours of independent study are applicable to the degree plan. Independent studies do not count toward the 18 hour minimum in the major required for certification to teach at either a two or four year college/university. MA students are restricted to courses numbered at the 5000- and 6000-level.

Foreign Language

The research MA degree requires demonstrated reading proficiency in an approved foreign language. Students can demonstrate proficiency by passing a translation examination in an approved language (e.g., Chinese, French, German, classical Greek, Italian, Latin, or Spanish). Intensive review courses (HUMA 6320 to HUMA 6323) and the advanced language workshops (HUMA 6330 to HUMA 6333), which students may take to prepare for the examination, do not count toward minimum course requirements for the degree. Any students wishing to satisfy the requirement with languages other than those listed above must secure the approval of the School's Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. Students must satisfy the MA language requirement before or as they submit their master's portfolio proposals to the Graduate Studies Committee.

Portfolio

Two substantial pieces of work (two research papers or a creative project plus a scholarly essay) originating in or completed for graduate courses are revised and presented in a portfolio for evaluation by a master's committee.

Students in the professional option in Humanities must complete thirty-three hours of coursework, all normally in organized courses and distributed as in the research option above. They are not required to complete a portfolio or meet a foreign language requirement, however, and they receive a terminal degree.

Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities

60 hours minimum beyond the master's degree

• Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities Major in Aesthetic Studies
• Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities Major in History of Ideas
• Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities Major in Studies in Literature

Students seeking a PhD in the Humanities will normally complete a minimum of sixty semester hours beyond a master's degree or its equivalent, demonstrate advanced proficiency in a foreign language, pass doctoral field examinations, and complete and defend a dissertation. In addition to meeting the general university criteria for admission to graduate study, students earning an MA degree in the Humanities from UT Dallas must obtain the formal endorsement of their portfolio committees to proceed into the doctoral program. Students who have completed pertinent graduate work at other institutions (thirty hours of humanities courses, language training, and written work roughly equivalent to the portfolio here) may qualify for a Master of Arts equivalency upon admission to the graduate program. Students admitted with an MA equivalent must take HUMA 6300 within their first two semesters of enrollment.

Courses: 42 hours

Forty-two semester hours of which at least thirty-three are normally in organized courses. Eighteen of these hours are divided among organized courses in Aesthetic Studies (6 hours), History of Ideas (6 hours), and Studies in Literature (6 hours). The remaining hours may be in one or more of the three areas, and normally no more than nine hours of independent study are applicable to the degree. At least fifteen hours of doctoral coursework must be taken in organized courses numbered at the 7000-level.

Foreign Language

Students admitted to the PhD program from universities other than UT Dallas must pass a translation examination in an approved foreign language (e.g., Chinese, French, German, classical Greek, Italian, Latin, or Spanish) during their first year in the PhD program. Part-time students admitted from other universities, however, may have two calendar years to meet this initial requirement. All PhD students must then demonstrate active use of the foreign language at an advanced level in two courses. For this purpose, they may undertake readings and research in regular organized courses, they may meet one half the requirement by taking the Art and Craft of Translation (HUSL 6380) once, or they may arrange to demonstrate active use of the language as part of an independent study. Students wishing to satisfy the requirement with languages other than those listed above must secure the approval of the school's Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.

Students must satisfy the PhD foreign-language requirement prior to taking doctoral field examinations.

Doctoral Field Examinations

After completing all the above requirements, students proceed to the doctoral field examinations, a sequence consisting of three written sections and one oral section. The examining committee, composed of three regular members of the faculty, oversees definition and preparation of the three examination fields within guidelines established by the program. At least seven days before the exams themselves, the faculty members submit examination questions to the Arts and Humanities office, which schedules and administers the examination. The maximum time allowed for a student's completion of the examination sequence is twenty business days.

Dissertation (18 hours minimum)

Students are formally advanced to PhD candidacy when they have successfully completed the qualifying examinations and received final approval for dissertation topics. A student may submit a preliminary dissertation proposal for consideration during the oral section of the qualifying examination. In any case, after that examination, a four-person supervising committee is formed, normally from the examining committee plus another regular faculty member proposed by the student, to oversee dissertation work. The supervising committee must then approve a formal dissertation proposal before the student submits it to the Graduate Studies Committee for final approval.

Each candidate then writes a doctoral dissertation, which is supervised and defended according to general university regulation. Every student must register for a minimum of nine hours of dissertation credit in two successive semesters and must maintain continuous enrollment thereafter for at least three semester hours during consecutive long semesters until the degree is completed. Any exception to this requirement is granted only by petition to the school's Associate Dean for Graduate Studies.

Certificate in Holocaust Studies

The Ackerman Center for Holocausts Studies

The Certificate in Holocaust Studies (Certificate) is offered to MA and PhD students in the School of Arts and Humanities (A&H) from The Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at UT Dallas.

Each student seeking a Certificate in Holocaust Studies must complete 15 graduate credit hours in organized classes chosen from the courses below.

Holocaust Certification Courses: 15 hours

I. Foundation Courses (6 hours)¹

HUHI 6338: The Holocaust

HUSL 6378: Literature and the Holocaust

II. German history, philosophy, and literature (3 hours)¹

HUSL 6375: German Literature and Ideas 1870-1960

or

HUSL 6376: Literature of Weimar Germany

III. Jewish Studies (6 hours)¹

HUSL 6374: Modern Jewish Literature across Cultures

HUHI 6336: Modernity, Culture, and the Jews

1. As new courses are developed, students may substitute a required course with the permission of the Center's Director.

Students with Existing Course Credit

Students who have completed a minimum of 9 credit hours as of the date of application for the Holocaust Certificate may apply their hours toward the above requirements as long as those classes have been taken within the last 24 credit hours or 12 months of prior coursework. Students must be current in their requirements for graduation, and should be prepared to furnish the Center Advisor a completed, up-to-date advising form from their A&H Academic Advisor.

Certificate Registration

Certificate registration forms are available online at www.utdallas.edu/ah/ackerman. Please contact the Center office at 972-883-2100, or by email: holocauststudies@utdallas.edu if you have any questions. Please submit Certification enrollment forms to the Arts and Humanities Office located at JO 4.510.