Ph.D. in American Studies

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:

Course Work

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.

The Guidance Committee

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.

Written & Oral Comprehensive Examinations

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.

Foreign Language Requirement

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).

Committee Approval of Dissertation Proposal

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.

Research Credits

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.

Oral Defense of the Dissertation

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.

GENERAL RULES FOR PH.D. CANDIDATES

Deferred Grades

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.

• 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.
• Deferred grades may work against favorable consideration in graduate assistantship competition.
• Students holding graduate assistantships may not incur more than 8 credits of deferred grades without losing the assistantship.
• 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.

A guidance committee report

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.

Comprehensive examinations

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.

doctoral dissertation research

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.

Final oral examination

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.

Enrollment

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.

English Language Proficiency for International Students

Please consult Academic Programs www.reg.msu.edu/read/UCC/Updated/intlstudentadmgr.pdf for university requirements for English Language Proficiency. The Program in American Studies accepts the University's minimum proficiency standards.

Residency Requirement

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

Graduation/Degree Certification

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.