Ph.D. Program in English at Princeton

The aim of the Princeton graduate program in English is to produce well-trained and productive scholars, sympathetic and intelligent critics, and effective and imaginative teachers. The five year Ph.D. program is intense but also supportive. Princeton maintains a feeling of intimacy despite being a high-powered research university; it is large enough to sustain an extremely diverse, cosmopolitan, and lively intellectual community, but small enough so that no one need feel lost in it. Because this is a residential university, whose traditions emphasize teaching as well as research, the faculty is easily accessible to students and concerned about their progress.

Located between New York and Philadelphia, Princeton combines the cohesive identity of a university town, with easy access to the cultural and professional resources of major urban centers.

The faculty of the Department of English is notable for its scholarly reputation, commitment to teaching, and accessibility. We are committed as a department to a diverse range of critical approaches to the discipline.  In addition to offering seminars in every major historical field of concentration, from Medieval to contemporary literatures, we offer a wide range of theoretical specializations in fields such as feminist theory, gender studies, psychoanalysis, Marxism, New Historicism, environmental studies, political and social theory, and cultural studies. Students may take courses as well in cognate departments such as comparative literature, classics, philosophy, linguistics, history and art history.

The university offers programs in creative writing, visual arts, and theater and dance. Although these programs do not have graduate courses, graduate students are welcome to participate when space permits. The faculty in creative writing is one of the most outstanding in the country, and includes Yusef Komunyakaa, Chang-rae Lee, John McPhee, Toni Morrison, Paul Muldoon, Joyce Carol Oates, James Richardson, Edmund White, and C.K. Williams.

Course of Study

The graduate program in English is a five-year program leading to the Ph.D. Students may not enroll for the Master of Arts degree. During the first two years, students prepare for the General Examination through work in seminars, and directed or independent reading. The third, fourth, and fifth years are devoted to teaching in undergraduate courses, and to the writing of a dissertation.

While programs are flexible, during the first two years graduate students normally take an average of three courses per semester, to complete the required 12 courses by the end of the second year. The comprehensive General Examination is then taken at the beginning of the third year of study.

Students must also demonstrate a reading knowledge of two foreign languages before the completion of the General Examination. The languages normally recommended are Latin, Greek, French, German, Spanish and/or Italian, but other languages relevant to the student's program of study may be substituted with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies .

Advising

Each entering student is assigned a faculty advisor who works with the director of graduate studies in planning course selection in the first and second years. By the third year, each student chooses two faculty members who will serve as their dissertation advisors.

Graduate Action Committee (GAC)

The Graduate Action Committee (GAC) is a representative group of graduate students in the English Department that works to advocate graduate student concerns to the faculty and administration of the department. Among its primary goals are representing the concerns of the entire graduate student body, promoting intellectual and social interaction between faculty and graduate students, organizing an annual speaker series of distinguished academics, and improving the quality of graduate student life at Princeton. Every graduate student in the department is welcome and encouraged to participate in the GAC at all levels of involvement or to bring their concerns to the attention of WGGI.

Working Group on Graduate Issues (WGGI)

The Working Group on Graduate Issues (WGGI) is a four- or five-person elected group of students who meet at several points during the academic year with the chair, director of graduate studies, and one additional faculty member to represent graduate student concerns.

Colloquia

Graduate students are welcome to participate in a variety of seminars and colloquia organized by the English Department and other departments and programs. These may involve the discussion of an article or problem, the presentation of a paper, or a forum for debate. Colloquia also include one-day conferences on a number of topics. Students may also participate in the meetings of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies; attend the Christian Gauss Seminars in Criticism; and involve themselves in any of the many colloquia under the aegis of the Council of the Humanities.  The department sponsors graduate-student organized colloquia that are based around fields of interest. Currently there are five major colloquia that include American, Renaissance, 18^th Century & Romantic Studies, Victorian, and 20^th Century.  In addition, there is a thriving graduate student Works in Progress lunch time talk series.

Teaching

All graduate students who have passed the General Examination are required to teach in undergraduate courses as part of their preparation. While the minimum requirement is six hours, most students teach more than this. The department offers many opportunities for teaching experience in conjunction with its large and popular undergraduate program. Students may teach in the writing program, conduct sections of large lecture courses, or direct precepts in upper-division courses. This teaching is supervised by experienced members of the faculty. The department also offers, on an annual basis, a teacher training seminar.

Library Collections

In addition to the general collection of the Firestone Library, students in the Department of English have access to a number of special collections which are particularly rich in materials for study: one of the most important collections of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States; works of the Restoration Period, with emphasis on the drama; the theater collection, which contains materials for the study of theatrical history; extensive collections concerning the history and literature of the middle Atlantic and southern states; the Sinclair Hamilton Collection of American Illustrated books, 1670-1870; the Morris L. Parrish Collection of Victorian Novelists; the J. Harlin O'Connell Collection of the 1890's and the Gallatin Collection of Aubrey Beardsley; and the archives of major American publishing houses. The extensive Miriam Y. Holden Collection of Books on the History of Women is located adjacent to the department's basic literature collection in the Scribner Room. The Robert H. Taylor Collection, which is strong throughout the range of English literature, is now housed in the library and is available for students' use.

Job Placement

The department has a strong record of job placement, and works closely with students to help them prepare for the application and interview process. In the past few years, for example, Princeton Ph.D.s have taken tenure track positions at major colleges and universities in the United States and Britain, including Brown, East Anglia, Harvard, Stanford, Wesleyan, and Yale.

Admission and Financial Aid

Competition for admission to the program is keen. About ten new students from a wide range of backgrounds are enrolled each year. The department looks for candidates of outstanding ability and intellectual promise who have the potential to be lively, effective and sympathetic scholars and teachers. Its judgements are based on letters of recommendation, transcripts, a personal statement, a sample of the candidate's academic writing, and performance on the GRE verbal aptitude and subject tests. Facility in foreign languages is also taken into account. To obtain an application, please visit the Graduate Admission Office website .  The Graduate School strongly encourages online submission of applications and supporting materials.

Fellowships are awarded by the Graduate School at large, on the department's recommendation. Awards are made on the combined bases of financial need, as demonstrated on the GAPSFAS (financial statement) form, and academic merit. Financial aid cannot be guaranteed and students are encouraged to seek outside sources of support. Fellowship awards are usually continued at their original levels while the student is in good standing in the program. In the third, fourth, and fifth years, students have the opportunity to teach in undergraduate courses as Assistants in Instruction. Assistants in Instruction are paid at a rate somewhat higher than most fellowships.  Dissertation students are also eligible to apply for competitive internal fellowships, such as those offered by the Graduate School, the Center for Human Values and the Center for the Study of Religion.

English Department

The department offices, lecture halls, and seminar rooms are located in McCosh Hall. Graduate seminars meet here, in classrooms and faculty offices, as well as in the English Graduate Seminar Room in Firestone Library. There are two libraries n the McCosh Hall, the Thorp Library, which is adjacent to the main office and offers a casual meeting-place over coffee for students and faculty during the day, and the Hinds Library, the department’s reading room and lounge. There is also a separate English Graduate Reading Room in Firestone Library, where reserve books for graduate seminars are kept on the shelves. It is adjacent to the Scribner Room, the department's large non-circulating collection of books and journals.

Housing

The Graduate School provides University housing for about 65 percent of the graduate student body. New students have first priority. Many students without dependants choose to live in the Graduate College, a handsome Gothic dormitory complex located about one-half mile from the center of campus. Unfurnished apartments for married students are also available. While housing in the Princeton area is expensive, many graduate students find convenient and attractive private housing, sharing accommodations or investigating neighboring towns. There are also opportunities for graduate students to apply for resident positions in the undergraduate colleges.

Visiting Princeton

Applicants for admission are welcome to visit the campus at any time, and tours of the campus are available. Interviews are not required, but if you want an appointment to meet with the Director of Graduate Studies or a faculty member, contact the department, and we will try to arrange one. Since admissions is handled by the faculty of the department, rather than by staff, we cannot always schedule interviews for those who would like them, and from January 1 to March 15, we are unable to offer interviews since selection work makes it impossible to handle appointments. Admitted students are invited to the campus in March and April, and have the opportunity to visit seminars, stay with graduate students, and meet with faculty.