Degree Title: Doctor of Philosophy

Program Name and Number: English - PH5231

Department/Unit: Department of English

Delivery Mode: Athens Campus

Terms of Entry: Fall

Program Mission The Ph.D. in English provides professional training for teachers, scholars, and literary artists. The program at Ohio University offers students the opportunity to concentrate in one of the three areas of English studies literary history, creative writing, or rhetoric and composition. While our program requires students to concentrate in an area, it also asks them to explore other areas and to seek the common concerns that unite them. Accordingly, the program includes general requirements, as well as specific requirements within each of the concentrations.

Program Learning Objectives: 

• Introduce students to the professional conversation in English studies in various fields and to texts from diverse eras and cultures, with the intention of provoking and supporting intellectual curiosity.
• Guide students in the development of an individual specialization within the broader field of English studies and require them to read widely within that specialization (genre, historical period, tradition, etc.), including both primary and secondary texts.
• Provide students opportunity for frequent and extensive writing and for the development of the skills to produce publishable work in various lengths and forms, including a book-length manuscript as their dissertation.
• Introduce students to the theory and practice of the teaching of writing, at various levels and in various contexts, and offer students practice at teaching within their specific concentration (creative writing, literature, or rhetoric/composition) and guidance in the development of their individual pedagogy.
• Prepare students to enter the academic job market and obtain faculty positions that require teaching, publication, and service or to pursue other professions that require knowledge of language and/or literature and skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing.

Program Overview: The Ph.D. in English is designated primarily as professional preparation for scholars and teachers of literature, creative writing, and rhetoric/composition. The program at Ohio University offers students the opportunity to concentrate in one of the three areas of English studies, literary history, creative writing, or rhetoric and composition. While our program requires students to concentrate in an area, it also asks them to explore other areas and to seek the common concerns that unite them.  Accordingly, the program includes general requirements, as well as specific requirements within each of the concentrations.  In all concentrations student work culminates with a dissertation.

Completion of the program generally requires five years, but full-time students who are not teaching assistants may complete the program in less time.

Concentrations: 

• Literature: Doctoral students in this concentration aspire to a comprehensive knowledge of literature through a systematic historical, theoretical, and critical course of study. They develop techniques and skills in scholarly research, theoretical reflection, and careful reading of texts. 
• Creative Writing:  Doctoral students in creative writing specialize in one genre (poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction), while also taking workshops in at least one other genre.  Students also study literature to discover and articulate connections between the achievements of particular authors and literary traditions and their own creative work. 
• Rhetoric and Composition: Doctoral students in rhetoric and composition study the history and tradition of the discipline from classical rhetoric through contemporary theories of writing. They examine the theoretical implications of composition pedagogies in the context of 21st century issues such as diversity and new media.

Opportunities for Graduates: The Ph.D. in English provides professional training for teachers, scholars, and creative writers. Most of our graduates pursue employment as faculty at universities and colleges.  The department offers counseling and practical support in important areas of job search, planning, preparation of application letters and other application materials, and interview techniques.

Link to Program: https://www.ohio.edu/cas/english/grad/english-phd/index.cfm

Link to Program Handbook: https://www.ohio.edu/cas/english/grad/courses-resources/handbook.cfm

Graduation Requirements:

Literary History Concentration

1. ENG 5950: Introduction to English Studies
2. ENG 5890: Teaching College English (required only for teaching assistants)
3. Critical Theory I or II
4. Two Literature Courses in Specialization
5. Two Literature Courses outside Specialization
6. One Additional Literature Course in any area
7. Two Courses in Creative Writing OR Two Courses in Rhetoric/Composition OR One Course in Each (Creative Writing and Rhetoric/Composition)
8. ENG 7910: Professional Issue in Teaching College English (1 hour per semester; required only for teaching assistants)
9. ENG 7770: Colloquium on the Profession (1 hour per semester)
10. Foreign Language Reading Proficiency
11. Comprehensive Examinations
12. Dissertation

Creative Writing Concentration

1. ENG 5950: Introduction to English Studies
2. ENG 5890: Teaching College English (required only for teaching assistants)
3. Three Creative Writing Workshops in Specialization
4. One Creative Writing Workshop outside Specialization
5. Two Literature Courses in Specialization
6. One Literature Course outside Specialization
7. One Elective Course (can be from outside the department)
8. ENG 7910: Professional Issue in Teaching College English (1 hour per semester; required only for teaching assistants)
9. ENG 7770: Colloquium on the Profession (1 hour per semester)
10. Foreign Language Reading Proficiency
11. Comprehensive Examinations
12. Dissertation

Rhetoric and Composition Concentration

1. ENG 5950: Introduction to English Studies
2. ENG 5890: Teaching College English (required only for teaching assistants)
3. Critical Theory I or II
4. Six Seminars in Rhetoric/Composition
5. One Literature course
6. ENG 7910: Professional Issue in Teaching College English (1 hour per semester; required only for teaching assistants)
7. ENG 7770: Colloquium on the Profession (1 hour per semester)
8. Foreign Language Reading Proficiency
9. Comprehensive Examinations
10. Dissertation

Minimum semester hours required: Students with teaching assistantships will complete the program with 120 hours, but the program could be completed by full-time students without teaching assistantships in 46 hours.

Dissertation requirement: Required

Qualifying exam: No

Comprehensive exam: Yes

Foreign Language Requirement: Reading Proficiency demonstrated by translation exam or completion of ML 5900.

Expected time to degree if studying fulltime: Students with teaching assistantships take 5 years to complete the program, but those who are not teaching assistants may complete the program in less time.

Culminating Experience: All students complete a dissertation, a book-length manuscript, typically at least 200 pages, and defend it to a committee of faculty members.

Admission Requirements: Applications for the Ph.D. program must be submitted electronically to the Graduate College, along with the general scores from the GRE, three letters of recommendation from professors familiar with the applicant’s academic work, a writing sample, and a one-page statement of purpose, indicating at the top the name of the concentration for which the prospective student is applying (literary history, rhetoric and composition, or creative writing), and in the case of creative writing, the genre (poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction). The application should also include transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate courses. Students applying to the doctoral program must have completed their M.A. or M.F.A. in English or a related field by the time of enrollment. Applicants in literature should submit a critical essay of ten to fifteen pages in length. Applicants in creative writing should submit as their writing sample a portfolio of poems, a manuscript of short fiction, or a ten- to fifteen-page selection of creative nonfiction. Applicants in rhetoric/composition should submit a piece of scholarly writing ten to fifteen pages in length. The deadline for submission of materials is January 15 for admission in the following Fall semester. This is the only annual admissions period. The English Department does not admit students for Spring semester. There are no additional application requirements for students transferring from another degree.