The PhD program in Comparative Literature is a four-year program requiring course-work, comprehensive examinations, and a dissertation.

Times for the completion of each part of the program are indicated in italics below. Please note that a student who fails to meet these milestones may be required to withdraw from the program.

Courses

Two to three full courses. The number of courses required will be determined by the Graduate Committee based on the student's previous graduate work.

It is expected that students complete their prescribed courses by the end of the third term (i.e., by the end of the first full year) of study in the PhD program.

Comprehensive examinations

Students are required to pass three examinations before proceeding to the doctoral dissertation. Two of these are written examinations ("area examinations") in areas of literary history or in literary theory to be selected in consultation with the Program Chair. The third examination ("area-of-concentration examination") is an oral examination, based on a written prospectus and bibliography assembled by the candidate, in the area of the candidate's proposed doctoral dissertation. It is expected that this prospectus and bibliography will be prepared in consultation with the proposed dissertation supervisor, who must be identified before work on the area of concentration can begin. The supervisor must be a member of the core faculty of the Comparative Literature program.

For more information, please see the guidelines and regulations pertaining to the comprehensive examinations.

It is expected that students complete their area examinations by the end of the fifth term and their area-of-concentration examination by the end of the sixth term (the second full year) of study in the PhD program.

Doctoral Dissertation

A pass in the area-of-concentration examination implies the program's approval for the student to proceed with the proposed dissertation. Each student will continue to work with the nominated dissertation supervisor, as well as with one or more additional faculty members with expertise in the area of the dissertation. Together, these faculty members form the student's Advisory Committee.

When the committee is satisfied that the thesis is ready for examination, it will be examined by an examining board, including an external examiner, according to the guidelines for examination of PhD theses set by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

It is strongly anticipated that each student will give a formal, public lecture, organized by the Comparative Literature program at UWO, in the area of his or her dissertation during this phase of the degree program.

Finally, it is expected that students complete their doctoral dissertation by the end of the twelfth term (the fourth full year) in the program.

Other Activities

In addition to the course work, comprehensives, and the dissertation, each PhD student is encouraged to participate both in the fall-term Comparative Literature Research Forum, in the winter-term graduate thesis seminars, in which MA students present and discuss their research projects, and in the annual Graduate Student Conference.