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Ph.D. Program in Comparative Literature: Course of Study Plans
For every year that they are still taking courses toward the Ph.D., graduate students enrolled in the Program of Comparative Literature are required to submit a course of study plan. The Plan of Study is due in January. It should provide a narrative account of the student’s intellectual and professional rationales for courses taken up to that point in the program as well as for those courses proposed to be taken in the coming semesters, including independent studies and other projects (including summer language study).
The Plan of Study is not a contract; it is expected to change over time as students alter and refine their interests and goals. The document should, however, demonstrate that each student in the program is developing an increasingly focused and coherent course of study, one that can be justified both methodologically and practically (that is, in terms of professional expectations and demands on the academic job market). It is expected that the course of study will begin as a 3-to-4 page document in the first year; it may grow somewhat in subsequent years as students gain training, experience, and focus.
Although not a contract, the Plan of Study does need to be reviewed and approved each year by the program faculty, and no student will be permitted to register for the second or subsequent years of study without its written approval, signed by the Program Director. And while changes and growth in the student’s particular areas of interest are fully expected during the first years, if students wish to change the primary orientation of their Plan of Study, in regard to either their primary geo-cultural field or comparative focus, they must petition the program faculty and have their petition approved by the Program Director.
The document should address many, if not all, of the following questions:
Primary Geo-cultural Literary Tradition or Field: what is your primary intellectual interest, defined in terms of a language, a national literature, or another identifiable literary tradition? What do you see to be most compelling to you within that field, defined in terms of period, genre, method, or otherwise (perhaps a set of questions or lines of inquiry)? If you have two equally strong primary interests, explain how you might benefit from training in both areas as well as what training in both fields might bring to either or both of them.
Language Training: What coursework (as well as other forms of study) have you undertaken in the past year to improve your mastery in your primary foreign language, and what are your plans for the forthcoming year? Have you begun teaching in that language, or do you have plans to do so in the next year? What coursework have you undertaken to achieve proficiency in your second foreign language, or what plans do you have for next year? How are your languages integral to your primary intellectual interests?
If English is the language for your primary geo-cultural field, what teaching have you done in both composition and literature courses, and what are your plans for the forthcoming year?
Comparative Focus: have you identified a comparative focus to your graduate studies? If so, how would you define it? how is it related to your studies in your primary geo-cultural field, and how to a secondary literature? A comparative focus always entails crossing linguistic bounds and working in at least one other language tradition: discuss how the work you have done thus far has helped you train in that tradition. If your comparative focus is defined in interdisciplinary terms not limited to literature, explain those terms and how they contribute to your integration of your primary and secondary literatures.
If you haven’t yet settled on a particular comparative focus, discuss what some of your emerging interests are in your studies inside and outside of your primary geo-cultural literary tradition that might well develop into such a focus.
Interdisciplinary work: Do you have one or two strong interdisciplinary interests that involve work outside of literature departments? If so, discuss what coursework and other training you have undertaken (or plan to undertake) in those areas. Do you have a sense of the evolving demands of interdisciplinary study in that area or areas? Are there faculty members or departments at UNC which might offer you training that will help to distinguish you as an interdisciplinary scholar?
Methodological Training: different fields have widely divergent methodological expectations, ranging from extended language training and training in paleography to the knowledge of different kinds of theoretical discourses. What kind of methodological training do you think your chosen field or focus currently demands, and what progress are you making towards securing training in that methodology?
Examination Reading Lists: have you given thought thus far to the structure and content of your reading lists for the Ph.D. examinations? If so, give details on how you plan to structure the exams, possible examiners, and the kinds of topics on which you hope to be examined.
Specific Projects (including research essays and independent studies): is there one (or more) research project or independent study you have conducted in the past year that you found especially compelling given your current intellectual interests and goals? If so, describe it, and outline plans for pursuing similar work over the course of the next academic year.
Professional Goals: for what kind of academic job do you feel you are currently training? What kind of training might you pursue in the next one to two years that might help better prepare you in that discipline or field? Are there any particular strengths you might bring to that field in light of your training as a comparatist?