Ph.D. Degree
- Program Requirements for the Center
- Concentration Requirements
- Department of English Requirements
- Other Department Requirements
Program Requirements for the Center
Graduate students may elect to pursue a concentration in Writing Studies at the PhD level. In order to plan their graduate concentration, students should identify a faculty advisor in their own department and set up a meeting to discuss their program of concentration with the CWS Director. There is no formal admission into the concentration. In addition to fulfilling the degree requirements of their home department, students need to complete a minimum of 24 credits of graduate work in Writing Studies that include the following requirements:
Concentration Requirements
- Two foundational courses (8 credits) in Writing Studies as approved by the CWS Graduate Programs Committee. English 505/CI 563: Writing Studies I (4 credits) and English 506/CI 564: Writing Studies II (4 credits) currently fulfill this requirement.
- Two methodology courses (8 credits) in Writing Studies as approved by the CWS Graduate Programs Committee (see here for currently approved courses and how to request a course be reviewed for approval). English 582/CI 565: Seminar in Research and Inquiry in Writing Studies (two 4 credit courses for a total of 8 credits) currently fulfills this requirement.
- Two additional elective courses in Writing Studies (for a total of 8 credits) chosen from a list approved by the CWS Graduate Programs Committee or approved individually by the CWS Director.
In addition, students must
- prepare and deliver a lecture based on their research to faculty and students for the CWS Colloquium Series Graduate Research Forum, and
- complete a dissertation that demonstrably focuses on Writing Studies (with a topic approved by the CWS Director) and that is guided by CWS-affiliated faculty serving on the dissertation committee.
In addition to the current core courses (English 505-506/CI 563-564; English 582/CI 565), the following courses illustrate current offerings that the CWS Graduate Programs Committee would consider for approval.
English Department
ENGL 482 Writing and Technology
ENGL 583/C&I566 Topics in Writing Pedagogy and Program Design
ENGL 584/C&I569 Topics in Discourse and Writing Studies
Communication
CMN 529 Seminar in Speech Communication
CMN 538 Seminar in Rhetorical Theory
English as an International Language
EIL 587 Topics in Second Language Studies
Education
CI 507 Prob Trends in Spec Fields: Feminist & Critical Pedagogies
CI 560 Research and Trends of the Language Arts Curriculum
CI 561 Theory & Practice in Children’s Composition
CI 562 Linguistics and the School Curriculum
CI 590 Sem for Adv Stu of Education: Evaluation of Informal Technologies
Gender and Women’s Studies
GWS 501 Feminist Scholarship in the Humanities: Theory & Method
Department of English Requirements
Currently, the majority of Writing Studies’ graduate students enter the program through the Department of English. The requirements for the Ph.D. from the Department of English are:
- 32 credits of course work (400 or 500 level)
- Satisfactory completion of a Special Field Examination
- Dissertation and dissertation defense
- Demonstrated reading knowledge of a foreign language (if not already satisfied at the M.A. level)
- Satisfactory completion of the Ph.D. concentration requirements for Writing Studies (listed above)
For more information consult the Department of English website.
Other Department Requirements
Ph.D. requirements for other departments are available on their home websites: