Ph.D. Degree Requirements | Modern Languages & Literatures | University of Miami

• When you enter the program you will be assigned a faculty advisor whose research interests align with yours. Your advisor’s role is to assist you in choosing courses, meeting faculty relevant to your interests, deciding how to fulfill the language requirement, requesting course waivers and transfer credits, deciding whether to petition for a 4-year plan, and choosing the Breadth Exam areas and committee.
• While you’re taking courses you will meet with your advisor at least once per semester to discuss your plan of study; selections should be communicated to the DGS and the Graduate Program Administrative Assistant. First-year advisors typically chair the Breadth Exam and facilitate your exam organization.
• After passing the Breadth Exam you will select a Qualifying Exam chair and committee in consultation with your advisor. Your Qualifying Exam chair then becomes your advisor. It is fine to change advisors and committees as you move from one stage to another, as the Breadth Exam committee, Qualifying Exam committee, and Dissertation committee all serve different functions. It is also fine to work with the same professors throughout the process. Should you wish to change advisors in the middle of a stage, you must obtain approval from the DGS and your new advisor.
• Each Spring the DGS and your advisor will review your progress and help you plan for the following year. The review concerns the quality of academic and teaching performance and extra-curricular professional development, based on: 1) grades and written reports from the professor of each course taken in the previous two semesters; 2) a report from your current exam or dissertation committee; and 3) your teaching, lab, and/or tutoring supervisors. Lack of acceptable progress will be documented and communicated to student when necessary.
• Throughout the program, you should consult with your advisors and the DGS about degree requirements, progress toward the degree, and any other general program questions. You hold the ultimate responsibility for understanding and fulfilling all program requirements.

• In your first and second years, you should work towards fulfilling requirements, which are designed to provide a solid grounding in critical theory and breadth of knowledge in your field. It is expected that students will take the courses offered in their major research languages (FRE/SPA/POR/MLL), which will change every semester depending on the rotation among faculty.
• In your second and third years, you should continue to develop your knowledge in literary, cultural, and linguistic studies while exploring topics of particular interest. You should identify a relevant cognate field (e.g. History, Philosophy, Communications, Digital Humanities, Linguistics, etc.) and complete optional coursework, if needed, to fulfill your Cognate requirement and prepare for the Qualifying
  Exam.
• “Independent Studies”: Students must submit a petition to take a Directed Reading (Independent Study) for approval by the DGS and the GSC. A syllabus must be submitted with the petition. In general, a student may take one or two Independent Studies at most throughout their career.
• Your course grades must reflect an overall grade point average of at least 3.3. Grades of B are cause for concern. If you receive such a grade, you should consult with your professor, faculty advisor, and/or the DGS. B- is the lowest passing grade.
• Incompletes. Courses should be completed before the end of the semester in which they are taken. Incompletes are discouraged, as no student is eligible to sit for any graduate exam or defense with an unresolved incomplete. On the rare occasion that a faculty member accords a student an Incomplete, the completed work should be submitted for grading no later than January 15th for Fall courses, or June 1st for Spring courses. The GSC generally considers work not completed within one semester as evidence of unsatisfactory progress, which may jeopardize future appointments to a teaching assistantship.
• The language requirement may be completed during the semester of the Qualifying Exam. All other requirements, including coursework (with the exception of MLL 799) must be completed before the semester in which you take your Qualifying Exam. No student will take the Breadth or Qualifying Exam if he or she carries incompletes .
• Students entering the program with previous graduate course work (M.A. degree or otherwise) can petition for two course requirements to be waived. Requests must be made during the first semester of study and accompanied by documentation that demonstrates that the coursework is equivalent to that offered in the program. In consultation with an MLL faculty expert in the relevant area of study, the GSC evaluates all waiver requests.
• Students with graduate credits that have not been applied toward an M.A. degree can request to have up to 6 credits transferred. Credits that have counted toward another degree cannot be transferred; credits more than 6 years old cannot be transferred. Requests must be made no later than the second semester of study. The GSC evaluates all transfer requests.

• The Latin requirement can be fulfilled by satisfactory work in LAT 725 or by following the LAT 101-102 sequence. Students who have taken university-level Latin within the last four years can request to have the requirement filled by equivalency. Requests must be made during the first semester. The GSC evaluates all equivalency requests.
• The language requirement can be met by demonstrating reading knowledge of two languages other than English and the language of study. Reading competency exams are given each Spring. No student will be permitted to take more than one reading competency exam in a single semester. Students can prepare for reading exams on their own or by enrolling in graduate-level sections of basic language courses for zero credits. 
  a)
  • Colonial, 19th-, and 20th/21st-Century Spanish America or Caribbean
  • Golden Age Spain and 19th-, 20th/21st-Century Spanish America or Caribbean
  • Renaissance, 19th, 20th/21st-Century France
  
  b)
  • 19th-, 20th/21st -Century Spanish America and Brazil/Lusophone
  • 20th/21st-Century Spain, 19th-21st-Century Global Hispanophone, 20th/21st-Century Spanish America
  • Maghrebi Literature; 19th Century France; 20th /21st Century Francophone
  c)
  • 20th/21st-Century France and 20th/21st-Century Francophone; Bilingualism
  • 20th/21st-Century France; 20th/21st-Century Spanish America; Critical Sociolinguistics
  
  d)
  • Critical Sociolinguistics; Bilingualism; and 20th/21st-Century Spanish America or Caribbean

The purpose of the Breadth Exam is to assess students’ mastery of fundamental issues in literary, cultural, and/or linguistic studies. The Breadth Exam demonstrates sufficient knowledge of works and problems of fundamental importance to students’ selected fields of study across a broad range of materials, time periods, and cultural forms. It also demonstrates that they master the major debates and theoretical approaches of their selected research fields. It establishes that students have the basic knowledge necessary to identify specialized topics for dissertation research and will be qualified to teach those fields when they graduate.

The Breadth Exam consists of two parts, described in greater detail below:

1. A research paper revised for publication; , chosen from a course taken in MLL during your first year.
2. Design two syllabi, each in a distinct research area.

There are four possible configurations of research areas for the exam:

1. three periods of literature/culture in one region ; OR
2. three periods of literature/culture in two regions; OR
3. two periods of literature/culture in one region AND one area of critical language studies; OR
4. two areas of critical language studies and one period of literature/culture in one region.

 

Students are free to propose diverse configurations meeting the above definitions, or that incorporate a field represented by expertise from the research assignment that will be transformed into a publishable scholarly essay (course offerings will vary from year to year, changing possible research areas for the publishable article). Thus, diverse configurations may be proposed for consideration by student’s examination committee and the GSC. Examples include:
a)

• Colonial, 19th-, and 20th/21st-Century Spanish America or Caribbean
• Golden Age Spain and 19th-, 20th/21st-Century Spanish America or Caribbean
• Renaissance, 19th, 20th/21st-Century France

b)
• 19th-, 20th/21st -Century Spanish America and Brazil/Lusophone
• 20th/21st-Century Spain, 19th-21st-Century Global Hispanophone, 20th/21st-Century Spanish America
• Maghrebi Literature; 19th Century France; 20th /21st Century Francophone
c)
• 20th/21st-Century France and 20th/21st-Century Francophone; Bilingualism
• 20th/21st-Century France; 20th/21st-Century Spanish America; Critical Sociolinguistics

d)
• Critical Sociolinguistics; Bilingualism; and 20th/21st-Century Spanish America or Caribbean

 

Breadth Exam reading lists include key genres and canonical texts of the period, and should be reflected in the syllabi crafted for undergraduate (and graduate) courses. Reading lists for critical language analysis include fundamental texts in the fields of critical discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, sociocultural theory, socio-cognitive approaches to second language acquisition, and ideologies of language.

Students whose focus in the program is literary and cultural studies should also have knowledge of the Core Reading Lists, intended to ensure basic knowledge of canonical texts beyond the students’ areas of specialization. Students may be queried on the reading lists during the oral portion of the Breadth Exam.

The student will assemble a three-member faculty committee and designate one as the Chair. The student will work with this committee throughout the year and submit the required materials before the spring deadline. The Breadth Exam committee includes one faculty member from each exam area (this may include the faculty member with whom they have authored the original research paper selected for expansion but does *not* have to be the same person). Students are responsible for asking professors to serve on their committees and should seek advice from the advisor they were assigned during the first two years. The advisor does not necessarily need to be on the committee, but should serve as a resource for the student and facilitate the work between the respective committee members. Students take the Breadth Exam in their 3rd semester of 4 year program or 4th semester of 5 year program.

Breadth Exam Format: Students will defend each of the following three artifacts (one essay and two syllabi) in a scheduled 3-hour oral examination within two weeks of submission of the written documents. 

1. SELECT a research paper completed during the first year of MLL Grad courses. The required paper to be revised for publication must originate from a course taken in MLL. Papers written for courses in other departments cannot be used for this exercise. Transform the paper with significant revision into a scholarly article by March of year two (5000-7000 words: appropriate length to be decided in consultation with committee members based on the required length of two or three potential publication venues in the student’s areas of interest). While it is recommended, it is not required for the student to retain the same faculty member with whom they developed the original project.
2. Design TWO Syllabi. One of them should be a major area survey demonstrating breadth and knowledge of the canon (for example, Nineteenth-Century Latin American Literature, Medieval Literature, Survey of Francophone Literatures, Introduction to Sociolinguistics, etc.). The other syllabus, for an advanced undergraduate course developed with a specific theme, should
demonstrate depth and be based on the student’s research fields (for example: Gender and sexuality in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Latin American literature, the recovery of historical memory in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Peninsular culture, Decolonizing contemporary Francophone literature, Early Modern French Theater). See a list of approved courses from MLL that can be used to design each syllabus in the Graduate Student Handbook.

The syllabi should be designed for undergraduate courses, and students must use the Breadth exam reading lists provided by the department to choose the texts to be included in the exam. Students will be allowed to add up to five primary or critical readings of their choosing in consultation with their committee members. Students must meet often with the exam committees to show members several drafts of the syllabi for their comments and guidance.

A. Accompany each syllabus with an 8-10-page paper explaining literary/cultural, pedagogical, and bibliographic choices.

B. Accompany each syllabus with a critical annotated bibliography (approximately 5-8 books and 5-8 articles in each bibliography). These bibliographies do not necessarily include the texts that the student will incorporate into the syllabi. They represent the knowledge that the student, as an instructor of these courses, ought to have to teach them competently. These bibliographies may include both primary, secondary (including literary history manuals), and theoretical sources, to be decided in consultation with the committee members. Each entry in the bibliography should include the following two components:

1. A detailed description or summary of each source (in the case of critical and theoretical
sources, summarize the author’s thesis).
2. Explain how each source relates to the specific purpose or theme of the course and how it helps the instructor to prepare the course.

3. Students will defend their choice of primary (or foundational in the case of critical studies of language) and critical texts in their essays and in the oral defense, demonstrating deep familiarity with the canon and its criticism

4. If a student does not pass *any* part of the exam the student will have until May 31-to June 15 (date to be decided by their Breadth exam committee) to revise the written components. It is up to the committee’s discretion (in consultation with the DGS) to request a second oral examination.

Oral defense 

Students will be asked to make an opening statement in which they supplement their written documents – the research article and two syllabi. The committee will then ask questions about the research essay and syllabi, interrogating theoretical as well as bibliographic choices, as well as scholarly debates chosen for the focus of the respective courses. The student may be examined about *one* work included in the research paper, the reading lists, and/or their annotated bibliographies.

Grading Scales

1. Pass
2. Pass with remediation (no more than one section)
3. Fail

Students can remediate no more than one failed area of the exam. Remediation should be approved by the committee within one month of the oral exam. Hence, students should submit their revised failed area sometime between May 31 and June 15 (date to be decided by committee members) to give sufficient time to the committee to approve the remediation. Students who fail more than one area of the exam must withdraw from the Program. Students who fail a second time must withdraw from the program by the end of the academic year. Students who pass the Breadth Exam but who do not complete the Ph.D. may request a terminal M.A. degree. Students who do not pass the Breadth Exam will not receive a terminal M.A. degree.

Reading Lists 

Reading lists are available on-line. The Core reading lists include additional, fundamental works from all periods and all genres. Once the exam committee is established, students should consult with the members responsible for each area regarding their exam preparation. These reading lists should serve as a guide for the design and crafting of the two syllabi that will demonstrate mastery and command of major research areas.

• Reading List Breadth Exam - 2024
• Reading List Breadth Exam - 2014
• Reading List Breadth Exam - 2013
• Reading List Breadth Exam - 2010
• Reading List Breadth Exam - 2009
• Reading List Breadth Exam - 2008
• Reading List Breadth Exam - 2007
• Reading List Breadth Exam - 2006

 

Studying for the exam

Each student brings a different set of prior readings to the Breadth Exam and will devise a personalized method of study. Committee members can provide general guidance and should be consulted regularly to verify understanding of terms and classifications (i.e. movements, genres, critical debates, etc.). Students should submit drafts of their publishable essay and syllabi and complete all readings before the semester of the exam to allow at least one month for additional consultation with committee members prior to the due date. The student may not consult with the committee members after turning in the written materials, and before the oral exam, however, can seek guidance from the advisor (if not on the committee or the DGS).

Language of the exam

Students must answer one question in English and another in the primary language of study. The third area may be answered in either language. Students should make these decisions in advance of the exam and in consultation with faculty in order to prepare accordingly.

Protocol for Breadth Exam preparation 

• Faculty should meet with students during the late spring semester prior to the academic year of the Breadth Exam to discuss research areas, possible research essay, as well as potential courses that reflect these research areas, so that students can begin preparation over the summer.
• Faculty should discuss the scope and genre of questions they will ask on the oral exam and their suggested guidelines for preparation of the publishable essay, and the two courses the student will design that reflect major research areas and relevant scholarly debates in those areas. Faculty and students should refer to the core reading lists for guidance when crafting the syllabi.
• Students should schedule regular meetings with their examining faculty to discuss readings and any doubts or concerns they might have about their exams. Students who fail to meet with one or more of the committee members prior to the exam may have their examination postponed or suspended depending on committee’s assessment of the student’s preparation of the examination materials. The student will not be allowed extra time to complete the program.
• Faculty should not meet with students after exam materials have been submitted.
• The Oral Defense is designed as an exercise where the student should be able to engage in the major scholarly debates relevant to their selected fields with the faculty examiners.

• Students receive three possible questions per field (theoretical, primary, cognate) three weeks prior to the exam.
• Students receive (on exam distribution day) one or two of the three questions per area (to be determined in advance by each committee member).
• Students have one week to complete their exams and should turn in answers of 15-20 double-spaced, typed pages per field.
• At least one area of the exam must be written in English and one in the primary language of study. While students may consult their texts and notes, time is best spent reflecting on the questions and synthesizing ideas. Citations may be helpful in composing answers, but are not required.

An oral defense lasting 2-3 hours will take place within two weeks after the written exam. The discussion may be in English, the language of concentration, or both (students should consult with committee members regarding language of the exam ahead of time). In addition to discussing the written exam, students will consider relationships among the different approaches represented by the list areas and projected dissertation interests. One express purpose of the oral exam is to help students transition to the dissertation proposal.

Committee members will communicate exam results (pass or fail) to students at the conclusion of the oral exam. In order to pass, examinees must pass each area. Students failing one or more areas must retake the exam by no later than the beginning of the following semester in a format to be determined by the committee. Students who fail the exam a second time will withdraw from the program by the end of the academic year and may petition to receive an M.A. degree.

The Graduate School tracks all students’ progress towards candidacy. This tracking means being enrolled in the sequence 830-840-850, which indicate progress towards the degree as follows: 

• 830 (“Pre-Candidacy Dissertation”) for students who have not yet passed the Qualifying Exam.
• 840 (“Post-Candidacy Doctoral Dissertation”) for students who have passed the Qualifying Exam.
• 850 (“Research in Residence”), for one credit, for students who are writing their dissertations. 

Note: Enrollment in these courses, even if for one credit, indicates full-time student status. 

• Choosing a dissertation director. After the Qualifying Exam, students begin work on the dissertation. The dissertation’s primary texts or cultural products of study must include a substantial number of works in one of the three target languages of the doctoral program: French, Portuguese or Spanish. Comparative work with other languages represented by at least one faculty member in the department (such as Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, or Italian) is nevertheless encouraged. The first step is to choose a director with expertise in the areas of interest. The dissertation director may or may not be the chair of the Qualifying Exam committee. Students are responsible for asking faculty members to serve as their dissertation directors and committee members. Consult with the DGS if you encounter difficulties making arrangements.
• Develop your topic in consultation with your director before the end of the semester in which you take your Qualifying Exam. Consult, read, and write as much as possible, keeping in mind that you will defend your Dissertation Prospectus at the beginning of your fourth year in the program.
• The dissertation committee comprises at least four members, typically, three from MLL and one from outside the department. The chair and at least two of the other committee members must be members of the Graduate Faculty. A well-balanced committee should have a range of expertise and experience. Students are responsible for requesting the participation of all members. Faculty have the right to decline a request to participate or to impose specific conditions on their participation.
• The duties of the committee are: to advise you on your research; to meet on a regular basis to review progress and expected results; to read, critique, and approve the dissertation prospectus; to read and comment on drafts of the dissertation; to meet, when the dissertation is completed, to conduct the dissertation defense; to ensure that the dissertation is a contribution to knowledge written in lucid, correct language, and submitted in approved form; to help prepare you for the job market.

Pre-Prospectus

• The Dissertation Pre-Prospectus consists of: a description of the proposed research (3-5 page description of the research question and the corpus to be explored in the dissertation. Pre-prospectus is submitted by June 10-15 (date to be announced each year by the DGS) after the completion of the Qualifying exam), including an overview of the subject; rationale for the project; proposed contribution to the field; outline of projected chapters; and preliminary bibliography. The prospectus should be developed in consultation with all members of the dissertation committee.

Prospectus

• The Dissertation Prospectus defense takes place during the semester following the Qualifying Exam (usually mid October). The committee must receive the prospectus in final form two weeks prior to the defense. The defense is oral and typically lasts between two and three hours. The defense provides the student an opportunity for extended conversation with committee members to help clarify and develop ideas. If the prospectus is not approved, students may present a second defense by the end of the given semester. If the prospectus is not approved the second time, the student must withdraw from the program at the end of the academic year and may petition to receive an M.A. degree.
• Admission to Candidacy for the Ph.D. takes place after the prospectus is approved. Students have limited time to complete the dissertation before their credits expire: four years from passing the Qualifying Exam or eight years from entering the program, whichever is later.
• The Dissertation is a draft manuscript for a scholarly book comprising at least 200 pages of text. In this manuscript, students are expected to develop an original idea and demonstrate how their analysis adds to existing scholarship. Throughout the process of research and writing, students should work closely with all committee members, especially the director. Ways of working together depend on the group: students and committee members should have clear mutual expectations. At the beginning of the process, students should consult Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting Dissertations Electronically from the Library (available on its website) to familiarize themselves with filing procedures in advance of their completion date.
• Registration while writing the dissertation: To maintain eligibility to receive the degree, students must maintain continuous registration for at least one-credit per semester (i.e. Fall and Spring) until the semester of the dissertation defense. After the end of the guaranteed funding period (five years in the program) tuition fees are the student’s responsibility if a tuition waiver is not available.
• The dissertation defense takes place once the committee has approved a complete draft of the dissertation. The full committee must receive the approved draft one month before the defense. The defense is oral and lasts approximately three hours; it is open to the public (and to anyone you wish to invite). Committee members will ask questions first and then the chair of the dissertation committee may invite questions and comments from the audience. The dissertation will either be approved (with “pass” or “pass with distinction”) or not approved. If the work is not met with approval, a second defense may be held at a later date so long as the term of candidacy has not expired. Students are responsible for filling all the required forms right after the defense (e.g., departmental certificate of defense, university certificates of defense, signature pages). For further guidelines, consult with the Graduate Administrative Assistant and see the "Recommended Practices for Dissertation Committees" in the Appendix. 
• Scheduling the defense. Defenses should be scheduled during the regular academic year, usually spring of the 5th year before the deadline issued by the Graduate School (unless the student has received a fellowship from CAS or another entity for a sixth year). Dissertation defenses demonstrate the culmination of the student’s scholarly research in a public forum. As such, summer defenses are highly discouraged, and should be scheduled only in the event of an emergency. Students wishing to defend in the summer must submit a formal petition to the Graduate Studies Committee requesting a summer defense with its rationale. Students are responsible for all associated matriculation fees; however, students may petition the GSC to advocate for a tuition waiver from the Department.
• Filing the Dissertation. It is not uncommon for approved dissertations to require revision. There may therefore be a delay between the defense and the filing of the dissertation with the Graduate School. Students must file before candidacy expires (within eight years of entering the program or four years of passing the Qualifying Exam). There are four filing dates per year (Fall, Spring, and two in Summer), in advance of the last day of classes (see the current academic calendar). Unless a formal leave of absence is granted, students must be registered continuously prior to and during the semester in which they file. Students are responsible for complying with regulations and timetables set by the Graduate School. Dissertations are typically published on the UM ETD and Proquest UMI databases. For more information, please visit: https://www.grad.miami.edu/electronic-thesis-and-dissertation/index.html

Upon filing the dissertation, students must apply to graduate by filing a form with the Graduate School. There are four application deadlines per year (Fall, Spring, and two in Summer) available on the current academic calendar. Graduation ceremonies take place in Fall and Spring (the Spring one is substantially larger).  

Students graduating in Summer are eligible to participate in ceremonies the preceding Spring or following Fall or Spring. 

Advisors and advisees should meet throughout the semester (at least twice) to review progress, plan courses, configure exam committees, and review performance and accomplishments in general, and should use this form as a general guide.

This form should be updated, signed by advisor and submitted at the end of every semester (no later than the first week of the following semester) along with the unofficial transcript through the duration of the student’s program.  The Student progress Tracking Form should be submitted to both the DGS and Graduate Secretary and it will be uploaded and archived in student’s file and reviewed by DGS and GSC. 

Graduate Student Course Tracking Sheet (as of Dec. 2020)