School of Arts and Humanities
Literature
Overview
The Graduate Program in Literature brings together scholars, creative writers, and translators who share a commitment to transnational and interdisciplinary approaches to literary study and practice. The MA and Ph.D. programs provide students with a flexible context in which to pursue research across a wide range of literary traditions, critical approaches, and theoretical debates. In addition to coursework in literary studies, students have the opportunity to participate in creative writing and/or literary translation workshops as well as seminars in other disciplines, such as film studies, the history of ideas, philosophy, and the visual and performing arts.
Faculty
Professors: Milton A. Cohen, Sean J. Cotter, Pamela Gossin, Ming Dong Gu, Dennis M. Kratz, Manuel (Manny) Martinez, Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, Rene Prieto, Timothy (Tim) Redman, Rainer Schulte, Theresa M. Towner, Frederick Turner
Associate Professors: John C. Gooch, Charles Hatfield, Jessica C. Murphy
Assistant Professors: Ashley Barnes, Erin Greer, Nomi Stone
Professor Emeritus: Michael S. Simpson
Associate Professor Emerita: Patricia H. Michaelson
Clinical Professor: Dennis Walsh
Clinical Associate Professor: Kenneth Brewer
Associate Professors of Instruction: Zafar Anjum, Bei Chen, Thomas M. Lambert, Christopher (Chris) Ryan, Sabrina Starnaman
Doctor of Philosophy in Literature
60 semester credit hours minimum beyond the master's degree
Coursework: 42 semester credit hours
Forty-two semester credit hours of which at least twenty-one are taken as organized graduate-level courses in Literature (LIT). At least fifteen semester credit hours of doctoral coursework must be taken in organized courses numbered at the 7000 level.
Required Courses: 33 semester credit hours
LIT 6300 Proseminar in Literary Studies1
ARHM 6310 Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Seminar
15 semester credit hours of organized graduate-level LIT courses
9 semester credit hours of LIT 8305 Field Exam Preparation
Elective Courses: 9 semester credit hours
Nine semester credit hours of electives in any graduate-level courses.
Foreign Language
Students in all Ph.D. programs in the School of Arts and Humanities are expected to demonstrate intermediate-level reading proficiency in a foreign language (equivalent to two years of foreign-language study at the undergraduate level). Students must fulfill the language requirement before scheduling doctoral field examinations.
As part of its approval of a dissertation proposal, the Graduate Studies Committee will consider the appropriateness of a candidate's language preparation for the research or creative project. Faculty members chairing field examinations and dissertations should ensure that students possess the necessary language proficiency to carry out their proposed doctoral research.
The requirement can be satisfied upon enrollment in a Ph.D. program by demonstrating evidence of one or more of the following:
- Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher (e.g., an undergraduate literature course in a foreign language) with a grade of B or better.
- Completion of a graduate course taught in a foreign language or with more than 25% of its required readings in a foreign language.
- An undergraduate major, graduate degree, or certificate in a foreign language.
- Successful completion of graded coursework at a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English.
- A degree in any discipline from a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English.
The requirement can be satisfied during graduate study at UT Dallas in one of the following ways:
- Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher at UT Dallas or elsewhere with a grade of B or better.
- Successful completion of LIT 6380: Translation Workshop with a grade of B or better.
- Successful completion of one of the following: HUMA 6330: French Workshop; HUMA 6331: Spanish Workshop; HUMA 6333: German Workshop with a grade of B or better.
- Passing a written translation exam in an approved foreign language at UT Dallas.
Doctoral Field Examinations
The doctoral field examinations consist of three written sections and an oral defense. The examining committee, composed of three members of the faculty (at least two of whom are faculty in the Literature Program), oversees definition and preparation of the three examination fields. Initial committee formation must take place during the semester in which students complete thirty-six semester credit hours of coursework, which will typically be followed by nine semester credit hours of LIT 8305: Field Exam Preparation. Exams normally should be completed before the completion of 60 semester credit hours.
Dissertation
Students are formally advanced to Ph.D. candidacy when they have successfully completed the doctoral field examinations and received final approval for dissertation topics. Students should submit a preliminary dissertation proposal for consideration during the oral section of the doctoral field examination. After that examination, a four-person supervising committee is formed, normally from the examining committee plus an additional faculty member, 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 regulations.
Master of Arts in Literature
33 semester credit hours minimum
Coursework: 33 semester credit hours
Thirty-three semester credit hours of which at least eighteen semester credit hours are taken as organized graduate-level courses in Literature (LIT).
Required Courses: 21 semester credit hours
LIT 6300: Proseminar in Literary Studies1
ARHM 6310 Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Seminar
15 semester credit hours of organized graduate-level LIT courses
Free Electives: 12 semester credit hours
Twelve semester credit hours of electives in any graduate-level courses.
Professional Option
Students in the professional option must complete thirty-three semester credit hours of coursework. They are not required to complete a portfolio or meet the foreign language requirement.
Research Option
Research Oriented Coursework
Students in the research option must complete thirty-three semester credit hours of coursework, fulfill a foreign language requirement, and complete a portfolio.
Foreign Language
The research option MA degree requires demonstrated proficiency in an approved foreign language. The requirement can be satisfied upon enrollment in the MA program by demonstrating evidence of one or more of the following:
- Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher (e.g., an undergraduate literature course in a foreign language) with a grade of B or better.
- Completion of a graduate course taught in a foreign language or with more than 25% of its required readings in a foreign language.
- An undergraduate major, graduate degree, or certificate in a foreign language.
- Successful completion of graded coursework at a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English.
- A degree in any discipline from a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English.
The requirement can be satisfied during graduate study at UT Dallas in one of the following ways:
- Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher at UT Dallas or elsewhere with a grade of B or better.
- Successful completion of LIT 6380: Translation Workshop with a grade of B or better.
- Successful completion of one of the following: HUMA 6330: French Workshop; HUMA 6331: Spanish Workshop; HUMA 6333: German Workshop with a grade of B or better.
- Passing a written translation exam in an approved foreign language at UT Dallas.
Portfolio
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.
1. Must be taken during the first Fall semester of enrollment in the program.
2. Must be taken after the completion of at least 18 semester credit hours of coursework.