Literature Graduate Programs

Forty-five semester credit hours of which at least 24 are taken as organized graduate-level courses in Literature (LIT).

Required Courses: 36 semester credit hours 

LIT 6300 Proseminar in Literary Studies

ARHM 6310 Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Seminar

LIT 7300 Academic Writing Workshop

18 semester credit hours of organized graduate-level LIT courses

9 semester credit hours of LIT 8305 Field Exam Preparation

Elective Courses: 9 semester credit hours

Nine semester credit hours of electives in any graduate-level courses.

Students in all PhD programs in the Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology are expected to demonstrate intermediate-level reading proficiency in a foreign language (equivalent to two years of foreign-language study at the undergraduate level). Students must fulfill the language requirement before scheduling doctoral field examinations. 

As part of its approval of a dissertation proposal, the Graduate Studies Committee will consider the appropriateness of a candidate’s language preparation for the research or creative project. Faculty members chairing field examinations and dissertations should ensure that students possess the necessary language proficiency to carry out their proposed doctoral research. 

The requirement can be satisfied upon enrollment in a PhD program by demonstrating evidence of one or more of the following: 

• Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher (e.g., an undergraduate literature course in a foreign language) with a grade of B or better. 
• Completion of a graduate course taught in a foreign language or with more than 25% of its required readings in a foreign language. 
• An undergraduate major, graduate degree, or certificate in a foreign language. 
• Successful completion of graded coursework at a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English. 
• A degree in any discipline from a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English. 

The requirement can be satisfied during graduate study at UT Dallas in one of the following ways: 

• Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher at UT Dallas or elsewhere with a grade of B or better. 
• Successful completion of LIT 6326: Translation Workshop with a grade of B or better. 
• Successful completion of one of the following: HUMA 6330: French Workshop; HUMA 6331: Spanish Workshop; HUMA 6333: German Workshop with a grade of B or better.
• Passing a written translation exam in an approved foreign language at UT Dallas.

The doctoral field examination consists of two written sections and an oral defense. The examining committee, composed of three members of the faculty (at least two of whom are faculty in the Literature Program), oversees definition and preparation of the two broad examination fields. Initial committee formation must take place during the semester in which students complete thirty-six semester credit hours of coursework, which will typically be followed by nine semester credit hours of LIT 8305: Field Exam Preparation. Students complete their doctoral field examination ideally during the semester in which they complete 45 semester credit hours, but no later than the semester in which they complete 54 semester credit hours.

Students are formally advanced to PhD candidacy when they have successfully completed the doctoral field examinations and received final approval for dissertation topics. Students should submit a preliminary dissertation proposal for consideration during the oral section of the doctoral field examination. After that examination, a four-person supervising committee is formed, normally from the examining committee plus an additional faculty member, to oversee dissertation work. The supervising committee must then approve a formal dissertation proposal before the student submits it to the Graduate Studies Committee for final approval.

Each candidate then writes a doctoral dissertation, which is supervised and defended according to general University regulations.

Thirty-three semester credit hours of which at least 18 semester credit hours are taken as organized graduate-level courses in Literature (LIT).

Required Courses: 21 semester credit hours 

LIT 6300: Proseminar in Literary Studies

ARHM 6310 Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Seminar

15 semester credit hours of organized graduate-level LIT courses

Free Electives: 12 semester credit hours 

Twelve semester credit hours of electives in any graduate-level courses.

Students in the professional option must complete 33 semester credit hours of coursework. They are not required to complete a portfolio or meet the foreign language requirement.

Students in the research option must complete 33 semester credit hours of coursework, fulfill a foreign language requirement, and complete a portfolio.

The research option MA degree requires demonstrated proficiency in an approved foreign language. The requirement can be satisfied upon enrollment in the MA program by demonstrating evidence of one or more of the following: 

1. Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher (e.g., an undergraduate literature course in a foreign language) with a grade of B or better. 
2. Completion of a graduate course taught in a foreign language or with more than 25% of its required readings in a foreign language. 
3. An undergraduate major, graduate degree, or certificate in a foreign language. 
4. Successful completion of graded coursework at a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English. 
5. A degree in any discipline from a foreign university at which the primary language of instruction is not English. 

The requirement can be satisfied during graduate study at UT Dallas in one of the following ways: 

1. Completion of a second-semester, intermediate-level foreign language course or higher at UT Dallas or elsewhere with a grade of B or better. 
2. Successful completion of LIT 6326: Translation Workshop with a grade of B or better. 
3. Successful completion of one of the following: HUMA 6330: French Workshop; HUMA 6331: Spanish Workshop; HUMA 6333: German Workshop with a grade of B or better. 
4. Passing a written translation exam in an approved foreign language at UT Dallas. 

Two research papers or a creative project plus a scholarly essay originating in or completed for graduate courses are revised and presented in a portfolio for evaluation by a master’s committee.