TIME-LINE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PH.D. PROGRAM

    1. Course work and language requirements must be completed by the end of the second year of the Doctoral Program (Ph.D.2).
    2. Students must enrol in COL 4000Y at the beginning of the second term of the second year of the Doctoral Program (Ph.D.2).
    3. It is the responsibility of the student to approach faculty members and invite them to serve as his/her supervisor, co-supervisors or advisory committee members, and to serve on his/her Field Examination. Students should begin by informally consulting potential members whose area(s) of specialization and interest seem closest to the proposed thesis subject, during the first year of the Doctoral Program, or in the Fall term of Ph.D.2 at the latest. However, it is the Director who officially appoints the supervisor (or co-supervisors) and the members of the Field Examination -Advisory Committees, once thesis proposals have been submitted and approved. There must be at least one faculty of member from Comparative Literature on the committee, but the supervisor may be from another department.
    4. Thesis proposal I. One or two paragraphs describing in general terms the project a student wants to write on. It should be signed by three faculty members who thereby agree to act as the committee. It is submitted to the Centre.  One of the members would be the supervisor.  The committee composition may change after the special fields exam, once the thesis takes a firmer shape.  The proposal is due at the end of Reading Week of the second year of the PhD.
    5. Fields proposal. This is an 8-10 page document outlining the field into which the thesis falls and the nature of the thesis. It would define the subject area for the special fields exam.  It should therefore include a reading list. It should be drawn up primarily in conjunction with the supervisor but include input from the other committee members. At a meeting, called the preliminary meeting because it may be the first time the committee meets as a committee, the document would be approved (with potential still for modification).  Six weeks or more later, the student would sit the written and oral parts of the special fields exam.  Ideally this should be done by the Fall of the third year. A copy should be submitted to the Centre to be kept on file.
    6. In the case of a failure, the advisory committee may recommend that the examination be retaken within a specific period of time; it may also recommend termination of the student’s program.
    7. Thesis Proposal II. After passing the field exam, the committee may ask the student to consolidate the reading and responses received at the oral exam into a more focused and detailed thesis proposal. This document should be between 8 and 10 pages and should be submitted 6 weeks following the field exam. The thesis proposal should outline the main questions and issues with which the thesis will be concerned, and briefly explain the methodology. The bulk of the proposal should be focused on setting out in detail the structure of the thesis. A rationale should be provided for the structure of the thesis, and each chapter should be outlined in enough detail to make clear the trajectory of the argument, the primary materials to be used in each chapter, which questions animate the chapter, and the kinds of conclusions or answers that may arise.  Again a copy should be submitted to the Centre.
    8. The spring term of Ph.D.3 and the subsequent years of the Ph.D. program should be devoted to the writing of the dissertation. Students who need more time to finish may continue in the program through a maximum of six years (beyond which a formal extension is needed).
    9. Once constituted, the advisory committee is to meet with the student at least once a year, and more frequently if required, with all members physically present.
    10. Failure to satisfy and complete the various requirements for the Ph.D. (including completion of courses with an average grade of at least an A-, completion of language requirements, registering a thesis topic, completion of Field Examination, yearly meetings with the advisory committee) in a manner consistent with the above time-line will result in loss of good academic standing and guaranteed funding.
    11. A student enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the Centre for Comparative Literature will be denied further registration in the program and will have his or her candidacy terminated at the end of the third year of registration if, by that time, either a. the student has not completed all requirements for the degree exclusive of thesis research – including course requirements, language requirements, Field Examination – or b. the student does not have an approved thesis topic, supervisor(s), or advisory committee.

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