GRADUATE DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
We accept students for the doctoral program. The M.A., if
not already in hand, is earned en route to the Ph.D. Terminal
M.A. applications are excepted only in rare cases, and no
financial consideration is given to such applicants. Ph.D.
students must fulfill M.A. requirements before continuing
on to their doctorate.
M.A.
Of the 32 points required for the Master of Arts degree (including
at least 24 points in residence at NYU), 20 points must be
taken in the Department of Comparative Literature and 12 chosen
from other literature departments. The Masters degree also
requires certification in two languages in addition to English,
and an M.A. thesis that revises an approved term paper to
the equivalent of publication standards.
Ph.D.
The Ph.D. degree requires completion of 72 points of coursework
- 40 points in comparative literature and 32 in a national
literature or literatures and/or courses from affiliated departments.
These courses must include a full year of study in criticism
and theory, one course of which must be criticism before 1800.
Also required is certification in three languages in addition
to English - or, substituting for the third language -- three
courses in a non-literary discipline. The Ph.D. written examination
is a take-home examination on three topics, followed within
the next semester by the oral examination. The Ph.D. dissertation
must be approved by an adviser and two major readers; two
further readers are invited to join the oral defense jury.
