Doctoral Program Requirements
Note: University regulations apply to all students at Laurier. If there is any discrepancy between the program or progression requirements outlined on this page and those in the university's academic calendars, the academic calendars are the official sources of information. The information below is from the latest calendar, and you may be following progression requirements from an earlier calendar. Students are responsible for checking the appropriate calendar. Contact your program coordinator should you notice any discrepancies.
Courses
In their first year of study, PhD students are required to take four 0.5 credit courses, typically two in each term.
Exams
There are two PhD Candidacy exams: the Comprehensive Area Exam and the Specialization Area Exam. Both exams are designed to prepare students in areas of specialization for teaching and research. The Comprehensive Area Exam is comprised primarily of canonical texts for a teachable area, while the Specialization Area Exam is orientated towards the dissertation and may cover, in-depth, both the canonical and the non-canonical texts necessary for the dissertation research. The two exams complement and reinforce each other, but occur at separate stages of the program and are graded separately.
PhD Schedule
- In December, the student consults the graduate coordinator to determine the constitution of the overall Area Exam Committee based upon the plan of research and study for the dissertation.
- The committee, which includes the dissertation supervisor plus two other members with expertise in one or more of the areas the student wishes to pursue, is selected by January.
- One overarching area of study — genre, period, movement, nation, theory — is chosen by the student for the purpose of developing a recognized teachable strength and of forming a general background for the Specialization Area.
- The study selection outlined above will constitute the Comprehensive Area Exam.
- The student writes a take-home exam (of a one week maximum duration). The exam comprises a choice of three out of five essays questions, each of which requires approximately eight to 10 pages of double-spaced typed writing. If a student fails the Comprehensive Area Exam, the student is allowed one further opportunity to rewrite the exam within two months of receiving the failed grade.
The student submits a reading list for the Specialization Area Exam to the committee for approval. This list is self-directed in consultation with the examining committee; it comprises 70-80 works (90-100 text units).
- The student submits a draft dissertation proposal of approximately six-eight pages, and a works cited to the student’s SAE committee.
- In drafting this proposal, and the subsequent reading list, students are strongly encouraged to consult and use the Dissertation Proposal Template.
- The student begins studying for the Specialization Area Exam, directly pertinent to the dissertation.
- The student completes the written exam (one essay out of three questions), on campus.
- Within one week of the written exam, the student takes the oral exam (two hours), which is devoted to questions pertaining both to the written exam and to the reading list as a whole.
- If a student fails either portion of the Specialization Area Examination, the student is allowed one opportunity to rewrite it within four months of receiving the failed grade.
The student begins work on the dissertation.
Within eight weeks of the oral exam, the student submits to the committee a final version of the dissertation proposal (six-eight pages) that addresses any feedback offered by the committee arising from the SAE.
By the end of the winter term of the student’s third year, the student must have submitted a working chapter of the dissertation to the committee (minimum 25 pages) that demonstrates the feasibility of the project, as well as the student’s ability to realize it. Failure to achieve this milestone will result in a rating of unsatisfactory on the annual progress report; two such consecutive ratings will result in a recommendation to withdraw from the program.
Doctoral students are required to meet the language requirement by demonstrating reading proficiency in at least one language other than modern English. (French is the recommended language though students may propose a language other than French if it has direct relevance to the student’s program of study.) The language exam must be completed in Year 3 of the student’s program.
If the student proposes a language other than French, the selection of the language will be determined by the student in consultation with the dissertation advisor.
A student may also submit for approval by the Graduate Studies Committee a written request to have the language requirement waived where evidence of demonstrated proficiency in a relevant second language can be provided. (Any such request must be submitted to the graduate program coordinator no later than the Winter term of the student’s second year in the program.) Credit will not normally be given for the completion of an undergraduate-level language course.
Schedule Overview
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Program Standing
A minimum standing of B+ in all prescribed graduate courses and seminars is required. Students are normally expected to maintain an A- average in the program. A student who twice fails the Comprehensive Area Exam, the Specialization Area Exam, or the language exam will normally be required to withdraw from the program.
Research Progress Report
On April 15 of each year of registration, students are required to complete an annual research progress report detailing the achievements of the previous year and the objectives for the next year. The report must demonstrate satisfactory progress, and must be signed with comments by the advisor and graduate coordinator, and filed with the graduate coordinator and the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies office. Failure to submit a satisfactory report may result in a suspension of the student's funding or the student being required to withdraw from the program.