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Update: February 7, 2006
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Degree
Requirements
General
Rules for Ph.D. Candidates
DEGREE
REQUIREMENTS:
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Course
Work
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 A
minimum of 18 credits distributed between at least two
disciplines or areas, e.g. English, history, art history,
religious studies, women's studies, ethnic studies,
museum studies, philosophy, anthropology, sociology,
political science, and education. Courses are normally
at the 800 level, though six credits may be taken at
the 400 level. All students must take AMS 881, a course
on American Studies theory, methods, and bibliography.
Graduate students are required to register for their
own courses; however, course selection should always
take place in close consultation with the advisor.
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| The
Guidance Committee |
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Each
doctoral candidate must form a Guidance Committee that
consists of four regular MSU faculty members: one from
each area covered on the comprehensive examinations,
and a fourth of the student's choosing. It is the responsibility
of this committee to work with the student in developing
the exact course requirements of his/her program. See
Section V for a complete description of the guidance
committee process.
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| Written
& Oral Comprehensive Examinations |
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Written
exams are taken in three fields, normally in the third
year of doctoral study. The exam fields are worked out
in consultation with the student's guidance committee.
Students have the option of taking a four-hour written
exam on campus, or 72-hour take-home exam. Usually students
are given two or three questions per field to answer
by the faculty examiner. Each exam is graded on a pass-fail
basis by the member of the committee responsible for
the field, although other members of the guidance committee
are welcome to look at the finished exams. Students
must be enrolled during the semester exams are taken.
If failed, the exam (or unsatisfactory sections) may
be retaken once within one week of the original exam
deadline. Students who fail a second time will be dismissed
from the Program.
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| Foreign
Language Requirement |
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Doctoral
candidates will be required to pass a reading proficiency
examination in one foreign language. Students who do
not wish to take the examination may meet the requirement
by satisfactory completion of several foreign language
course options. The Program asks that American Studies
students taking language courses register
for them C-NC(Credit/No-Credit.) If the focus
of the student's study is cross-cultural research (involving
countries or groups of people in which a language other
than English is essential for research), this requirement
cannot be waived. If not, the language requirement can
be substituted with an additional area of study that
is relevant to the student's focus, with the approval
of the student's guidance committee. For more information
on the Foreign Language Requirement, see "Guidelines
for Certification of Foreign Language Proficiency for
Graduate Students in the College of Arts and Letters."
For more information, please see:http://www.cal.msu.edu/grad/FLGuidelines2.html(open
in new window).
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| Committee
Approval of Dissertation Proposal |
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The
approval of the dissertation proposal administered by
the Guidance Committee covers the subject of the dissertation
and is based on a finished essay. The essay may be a
draft of a relevant chapter of the dissertation or a
substantial prospectus of the dissertation as a whole.
It should be submitted in the semester after the final
comprehensive exam is taken. Copies of the essay will
be circulated to members of the Guidance Committee who
will meet with the student to conduct an oral defense
of the proposal.
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| Research
Credits |
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The
student must successfully complete at least 24 dissertation
research credits. Students must complete their 18 credits
of course work before enrolling in dissertation credits.
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| Oral
Defense of the Dissertation |
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The
examination is administered by the Guidance Committee
and open to the public. The student is responsible for
working with the Program office to find a convenient
time and location for the defense that is acceptable
for all committee members at least two weeks prior to
the final deadline for submission of the dissertation
to the Graduate School.
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GENERAL
RULES FOR PH.D. CANDIDATES
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Deferred
Grades
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Except
in multi-term courses, the department discourages
graduate students from incurring deferred grades in
their courses. The presence of deferred grades on
a student's transcript can have adverse effects on
his or her career in the following ways.
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With respect to continuation in the program, deferred
grades that are not removed within a year of their
being incurred can cause a student to forfeit the
right to continue enrollment until those courses
have been completed.
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Deferred
grades may work against favorable consideration
in graduate assistantship competition.
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Students
holding graduate assistantships may not incur more
than 8 credits of deferred grades without losing
the assistantship.
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No
student may take his or her comprehensive examination
for the Ph.D. degree until all deferred grades in
the field to be examined have been removed.
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A
guidance committee report
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A
guidance committee report, including a statement of
the student's proposed program with a timetable and
tentative dissertation topic, is filed in the office
of the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, no
later than the end of the third semester of doctoral
study. The guidance committee is responsible for insuring
the adequacy of the overall program, in keeping with
the general policy that four or more academic years
of study and research beyond the bachelor's degree
are required.
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Comprehensive
examinations
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Comprehensive
examinations must be taken within five years and all
requirements must be completed within eight years
from the time of a student's first enrollment for
doctoral degree credits. Extensions can be granted
only by the College Associate Dean on recommendation
of the committee and the department Chair. Comprehensive
exams must be passed again if total time for completion
of the doctoral program exceeds eight years.
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doctoral
dissertation research
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Each student working toward a Ph.D. degree must conduct
original research to be used in a dissertation which
makes a significant contribution to knowledge. The
research is to be under the guidance of and acceptable
to the major professor and the guidance committee.
All doctoral students must register for and successfully
complete a minimum of 24 credits of doctoral dissertation
research (AMS 999). The dissertation must be organized,
typed, duplicated and bound according to regulations
prescribed in "The Graduate School Guide to the Preparation
of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations," available
from the Office of the Graduate School. An abstract
of the dissertation not exceeding 350 words must also
be prepared.
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Final
oral examination
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A final oral examination is conducted and evaluated
by the guidance committee. The student must be registered
during the term in which the final oral examination
is taken. A copy of the dissertation must be made
available to the Associate Dean for this purpose at
least four weeks prior to the oral examination. The
oral examination will be scheduled for a date not
earlier than two weeks after the dissertation and
abstract have been submitted to the major professor
and guidance committee. This should allow time for
the members of the committee to review and evaluate
the dissertation before the examination, and also
allow sufficient time after the examination for the
student to submit the unbound dissertation to the
Office of The Graduate School before the specified
deadline date. Interested faculty and students may
attend. The dissertation and the performance on the
oral examination must be approved by the members of
the examining committee, with not more than one dissenting
vote. A committee report is signed by the members,
the program Director, and the College Graduate Dean.
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Enrollment
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Any student who has not enrolled in any of the three
preceding semesters must apply for re-admission. The
Application for Re-admission form is available in
the Office of the Registrar and must be filed at least
one month prior to the first day of classes for the
semester in which the student expects to resume graduate
studies. If exceptional circumstances make it impossible
for a student to comply with the aforementioned program
time limits, she may petition for an extension by
writing the Director and (if one has been selected)
major advisor explaining her reasons for requesting
the extension.
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English
Language Proficiency for International Students
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Residency
Requirement
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In accordance with Academic Programs, residency shall
be defined as follows:
One
year of residence on the campus after first enrollment
for doctoral degree credit is required to permit the
student to work with and under the direction of the
faculty, and to engage in independent and cooperative
research utilizing University facilities. A year of
residence will be made up of two consecutive semesters,
involving the completion of at least six credits of
graduate work each semester
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Graduation/Degree
Certification
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The semester the student plans to graduate, whether
or not she plans to attend the ceremony, she need
to apply for graduation. The Graduate School has an
on-line link: http://www.msu.edu/user/gradschl/graduation.htm.
This site has a list of important dates, dissertation/thesis
deadlines, commencement information, etc.
When
the student applies for graduation, the Registrar's
Office will generate a form called the Final Certification
for Degree form. The department will file this with
the College office. If it has taken you more than
8 years to complete your program, the Graduate Secretary
will contact you about taking steps to file for an
extension to complete your degree. The department
will contact you should there be any questions concerning
your final certification form, such as when language
requirements have been fulfilled, etc.
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18A
Morrill Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824
TEL: (517) 432-7145
FAX: (517) 432-7179 |
All rights reserved by American Studies Program (2005) |
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