- Languages

Normally, MA candidates are expected to use two foreign languages in the course of their studies, as well as to show an adequate command of English. By the time the student takes the MA examination, he or she must have met the language requirement in at least one idiom.

- Teaching Requirement

Graduate students in comparative literature, including MA students, are expected, in accordance with state regulations, to acquire competence as teachers. This requirement is normally fulfilled by teaching a course in Comparative Literature, or a series of such courses.

- Examinations

The take-home written examination for the MA consists of four sections (literature I and II, theory, and literary specialization) and is taken by all candidates following Plan A, or B. Students following Plan C, translation studies, take one of the following sections from the Plan A M.A. exam:Literature I, Literature II, or theory.  Students wishing to qualify for study toward the doctorate must achieve a grade of B+ or better on all sections of the examination. A grade of B or better on each section constitutes a passing grade. These examinations are given in November, and, when necessary, also in April; they may be repeated once. Students may petition to take the MA examination in April of the academic year in which they have entered the program.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAMS

Doctoral studies in comparative literature assume a foundation in the study of literature approximately equivalent to the one described under the MA programs. The doctoral program provides opportunities for the study of literature from a comparative point of view, extending the reach of inquiry into fields such as philosophy, history and art. Basic to the program is a solid foundation in critical methodology and in the history of criticism.

Doctoral Program in Literary Studies

Each student’s program is expected to achieve the following objectives: an in-depth knowledge of one literature, including the main critical sources for its study; a knowledge of a substantial number of works in a second literature; a knowledge of a large number of master works of world literature (such as those represented in the MA reading list); a concentration in a period, a genre or other area of study encompassing at least two literatures; a good knowledge of the history of criticism and of contemporary literary theory. Highly unusual majors or minors require the approval of the departmental faculty.

- Admission to the Program

Formal admission to the program entails one of the following procedures:
 
•  Students who have passed the MA examination (see above) with a grade of B+ or better may be recommended to the program at the discretion of the departmental examination committee.
•  Students presenting an MA degree in a national literature from another department or university, or an MA in comparative literature from another university, are normally not required to take the master’s examination (doctoral qualifying examination).
•  Students presenting an MA degree in a field outside literature are required to take an examination based on a few major literary works.
•  Students with an unusually strong background in more than one literature may request admission directly into the doctoral program. If the request is granted, they take at the end of their first semester a qualifying examination consisting of an oral presentation of a text (chosen in consultation with the departmental graduate director) and a three-hour written examination based on selections from the MA reading list. A student whose performance in both examinations is judged by the department not to be satisfactory is considered a regular MA candidate.

Applicants to the doctoral program should include in their application some samples of their writing (e.g. one or more term papers).

- Requirements

Students are expected to design their own curricula expressing their scholarly interests and their professional goals, and to prepare their own reading lists in consultation with members of the faculty. All PhD students are encouraged to seek the guidance of an adviser at the beginning of their studies to assist them in designing their programs and choosing dissertation topics. Ideally, a student should prepare an initial draft of a dissertation prospectus by the end of the first year of study beyond the MA, and should have a provisional idea for a dissertation topic before taking the comprehensive exams.

Submission of a formal dissertation prospectus for the approval of the department is expected within a few weeks after the student has passed the exams. The minimal course requirement for the PhD is 16 semester courses. Ordinarily, at least eight courses are taken in the major, and approximately the same number of courses is distributed among the minor, literary theory, electives, etc. Graduate courses taken at Binghamton University or elsewhere may be allowed to satisfy these requirements. The minimum residence  requirement for the doctorate is two semesters.

Comparative literature courses at Binghamton are, basically, of two kinds: broadly based seminars covering the evolution of a genre, the history of criticism, etc., or monographic-type courses concentrating on one or more authors, a development in literature or in literary theory, a particular interdisciplinary approach, etc. A student’s program should aim at achieving the objectives of the program through a balance among the studies of literary history and theory and the comparative study of specific works and authors. In addition to the courses and seminars offered by the Comparative Literature Department, students are encouraged to take courses offered by other departments in their fields of specialization. It is highly advisable for students to take courses in other disciplines (art history, history, women’s studies, philosophy, etc.) when these contribute to broadening the scope of their programs.

PhD candidates must show native or near-native fluency in one foreign language, to be demonstrated through an extensive translation (more than 25 pages). They must
also demonstrate a solid reading knowledge in a second idiom. Both languages must directly relate to the student’s areas of research, and must be approved by the director of graduate studies. Philosophy, literature and the theory of criticism (PLC) students are required to demonstrate proficiency in French and German. They are expected to satisfy the language requirements by the fifth semester of study (or if entering with an MA degree, by the end of the third semester). Students with a native language other than English will be considered to have met one foreign language requirement.

- Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive examination consists of five parts:
•  Field Paper: This is a 40- to 50-page paper, devoted to any area, that will frequently be used to define the field to which the student anticipates devoting the dissertation. It should review the significant primary and secondary sources relevant to this area of work, and should articulate a problem that the student will take as a special focus.
•  Area of Expertise: The student should define an area that reflects his or her special interest and desired professional profile. Suitable areas might be, for example, Romanticism, 20th-century poetry, post-colonial literatures, feminist theory, etc. The student should show breadth of expertise, but also coherence of approach. This is a 72-hour take-home exam.
•  Historical Construction of a Topic: This section of the exam is devoted to a theme that the student treats in its historical dimensions. It should normally be a theme pertinent to the student’s area of major expertise. This is a 72-hour take-home exam.
•  Minor Field: This is a second area of specialization that may be conceived in such a way as to complement the first or to represent an altogether different focus. This examination may be taken in class or as a take-home.
•  Oral Examination: This segment is based on the preceding portions of the exam and involves all of the examiners.

Students choose an examination committee (subject to the approval of the graduate director) with a minimum of three examiners. The field paper is evaluated by a principal examiner and a second reader, and the complete written examination is available to all examiners. Reading lists for parts two, three, and four of the examination should be developed through close collaboration with the examination committee and must be handed in to the graduate director no later than the first week of the semester in which the examination will be taken. After the lists have been approved by the department faculty, the examination is scheduled. The field paper must be submitted no later than March 15 for an examination in the spring semester and October 15 for an examination in the fall semester. The oral examination should take place no later than in the last two weeks of classes.

- Dissertation

This dissertation should be comparative in its scope and implications, and demonstrate the student’s ability to deal with theoretical problems and to organize and present the research methodically. In general, a dissertation should not be fewer than 200 pages in its final form. At the discretion of the comparative literature faculty, a student may do an extended critical translation as a dissertation. This includes an introductory study equivalent in substance to what is required of the other type of dissertation. The Graduate School requires that the candidate, while working on the dissertation, register for one credit hour of COLI 699.

On the initial approval of the dissertation by its readers, the candidate is expected to defend it at an oral examination lasting from one to two hours.

Doctoral Program in Philosophy, Literature and the Theory of Criticism (PLC)

This program offers students a course of study responsive to the interdisciplinary nature of recent work in literary theory, literature and philosophy. It provides an extensive background in literary history and methods of reading, as well as significant preparation in philosophy and modern theories of language and interpretation informed by research from such fields as anthropology, the humanities, linguistics, psychoanalysis and semiotics. As a site for joint research and inquiry, the philosophy, literature and criticism group seeks to bring into focus such topics as the disciplinary articulation of knowledge and truth, the nature of epistemological and metaphysical foundations, the possibilities and limits of theory, and the politics of understanding and signification. It draws on exceptional campus resources in the areas of philosophy and modern theory of criticism, and seeks to bring these into vital interplay with literary research and work in the visual arts.

Students who enter with a BA earn a PhD in comparative literature with a specialization in the theory of criticism, as well as an MA in philosophy. Students, who are admitted to the program with a master’s degree have a choice between two tracks: the option to pursue a master’s degree in philosophy and a PhD in comparative literature or to earn a PhD in comparative literature with a PLC specialization (without the master’s degree in philosophy). Graduates are qualified for joint appointments in philosophy and literary programs and single appointments in Comparative Literature and national literature departments. Administered by the Comparative Literature Department, the program is supervised directly by the co-directors Gisela Brinker-Gabler (Comparative Literature) and Melissa Zinkin (Philosophy), and a PLC program committee.

Admission to the Program

Qualified students holding a bachelor’s or master’s degree are eligible for admission (check web site of Binghamton Graduate School). An undergraduate specialization in philosophy or literature is desirable but not essential for admission. Students considered insufficiently prepared for work in the program may be required to do additional work to make up deficiencies.

During the first year of study, students entering with a BA are considered to be enrolled in a master’s-level program. At the end of the third semester, students take a four-hour qualifying examination covering some of the core material of the program and approximately one-third of the comprehensive examination reading list. Students entering wih a master’s degree will take a qualifying exam after the second semester of study.

Students who fail the examination may take it once again. Students not admitted to the doctoral level may be permitted to continue work toward a master’s degree in philosophy, comparative literature or a national literature, according to the requirements of the appropriate department.

Course Requirements

For students entering with a BA the minimum course requirements for the PhD are 16 courses distributed as follows:

Some of the specific requirements may be modified on the basis of the student’s prior experiences. Students may be asked to take additional courses in philosophy or literature, depending on career goals and specializations. The program normally requires six semesters of full-time coursework beyond the BA.

For students entering with a master’s degree, who pursue the option of a master’s degree in philosophy and a PhD in comparative literature the minimum requirement are 12 courses, and for students, who earn a PhD in comparative literature with a PLC specialization the minimum requirement is 8 courses. The course of study and the courses required will be determined upon the students’ entering the program. In general, half of the required courses will have philosophical content (e.g. primary texts and major figures), and the other half of courses will focus on literature and theory.

Students should realize that the program may require more time for completion than more traditional programs of study. In order to receive a master’s degree in philosophy, students must take six courses with some philosophical content; i.e., the courses that include primary texts in the history of philosophy, contemporary philosophy or an explicit philosophical approach to literary texts. Three of the six courses (and two courses only by students entering with a master’s degree) must be taken in the Philosophy Department.

Students are required to demonstrate proficiency in French and German. The standard proficiency-level evaluations accepted by the Comparative Literature Department are used. These, however, represent minimal requirements, and students are advised to develop stronger proficiency in languages essential to their dissertations. Students are expected to have satisfied the language requirements by the end of their fifth semester of study.

Examinations

PLC students take two examinations. The first is a three-hour qualifying examination taken by students entering with a bachelor’s degree in the fourth semester and by students entering with a relevant master’s degree in the second semester. The examination is based on the PLC background core reading list (comprising philosophical and literary texts respresenting the core of the PLC program) and on the student’s coursework. The comprehensive examination is taken after the completion of course requirements and after all proficiencies have been met. This examination consists of three segments: a two part examination of the core of the PLC program (philsoophical and literary texts), based on a reading list provided by the student, a field of specialization examination, and an oral examination. After passing the comprehensive examination, a student is admitted to candidacy and is ready to submit a dissertation prospectus and begin work on the dissertation.

Program Committee

Gisela Brinker-Gabler, Comparative Literature,
Program Co-Director

Melissa Zinkin, Philosophy Department,
Program Co-Director

Brett Levinson, Comparative Literature

William Haver, Comparative Literature

The PLC program draws on a rich resource faculty that includes:

Comparative Literature

Gaddis Rose, Marilyn
Pavlovskis-Pettit, Zoja

German

Pages, Neil Christian
English
Spanos, William V.

Philosophy

Allen, Jeffner M.
Bar On, Bat-Ami
Guay, Robert (Acting Co-Director, Spring 2008)
Pensky, Max A.
Ross, Stephen

Art History

McDonough, Thomas
Tagg, John

Admission to Candidacy

The dissertation prospectus (see “PhD Requirements”) is normally prepared in close consultation with the faculty member chosen by the student to direct the dissertation; once it is approved a dissertation committee is named and submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School for final approval. The committee consists, normally, of three members, including the director, to which an outside reader, from a department other than comparative literature, is added when the dissertation is in the final stages of preparation. Once formally admitted to candidacy, after having passed the comprehensive examination, the student has five years in which to complete and defend the dissertation.

Dissertation

The dissertation is similar in nature and scope to that required of students in the program in literary studies.