Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities

Course Requirements

60 semester credit hours minimum

Coursework: 42 semester credit hours

Forty-two semester credit hours of which twenty-seven are taken as organized graduate-level courses in History (HIST), Philosophy (PHIL), Literature (LIT), and Visual and Performing Arts (VPAS). At least fifteen semester credit hours of doctoral coursework must be taken in organized courses numbered at the 7000 Level.

Required Courses: 6 semester credit hours

• HUMA 6300 Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Arts and Humanities1
• ARHM 6310 Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Seminar

Distribution Requirements: 9 semester credit hours

• Students must take one course from each of three programs (i.e., one HIST or PHIL, one LIT, and one VPAS).

Electives: 18 semester credit hours

• 18 semester credit hours of organized graduate-level HIST, PHIL, LIT, and VPAS courses
• 9 semester credit hours of HUMA 8305 Independent Research in Arts and Humanities

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 fulfil 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 defence. The examining committee, composed of three members of the faculty, oversees the definition and preparation of the three examination fields.2 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 HUMA 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.

Graduates of the program seek positions such as teacher/educator, researcher, administrator, archivist, writer, museum curator, non-profit management, and other positions in research or professional practice. Career settings may include higher education, non-profits, cultural and historical organizations, government agencies, international development organizations, publishing houses, museums and archives, business/corporate entities, and independent consulting.