Ph.D. Program
The Ph.D. program in Linguistics is for students interested in a career in research. Students receive a solid training in the fundamentals of phonetics and phonology (Davidson, Gafos, Gouskova), morphology (Marantz), syntax and semantics (Baltin, Collins, Barker, Kayne, Postal, Szabolcsi), sociolinguistics (Blake, Guy, Singler), neurolinguistics (Pylkkänen, Marantz), computational linguistics (Dougherty), and historical linguistics (Costello). Subsequently, students attend advanced courses and engage in creative research, presented in two qualifying papers and a dissertation. The program has a foreign language requirement.
Advising and Requirements
for prospective students in the Ph.D. program
for the official version, see Regulations
Advising: During the first year, your advisor is the DGS. Before the end of your first year, you select an advising team consisting of two faculty members. One should be a specialist in the field you plan to work in, the other from a very different field, so that you have advice from and access to the entirety of the department. This team will advise you up till the formation of your Ph.D. committee. They make sure that you fulfil your requirements in a timely fashion, and generally give you academic and personal support.
In consultation with your advising team, you will select the chairs of your two QP committees (in consultation with whom you will select the other members of those committees). Your two advisors may serve as chairs or members of your QP committees, but it is not automatically presumed that they do so.
Requirements: Courses, Qualifying papers, Language requirement, Dissertation work
For the Ph.D., the student is required to complete a total of 72 points. Coursework in related fields must be approved in advance by the Director of Graduate Studies.
| Required number of points for an Ph.D.: | 72 | |||
| Courses required of all Ph.D. students: | ||||
| G61.1210 | Phonology I | 4 points | ||
| G61.1310 | Syntax I | 4 points | ||
| G61.1340 | Semantics I | 4 points | ||
| G61.1510 | Sociolinguistics | 4 points | ||
plus breadth and area requirements, as below.
All students are required to take 3 of the following 4 courses: Syntax II (G61.2310) , Phonology II (G61.1220) , Historical Linguistics (G61.1410), and Field Methods (G61.0048).
For students wishing to specialize in syntax or semantics the area requirements are Syntax II (G61.2310) and Semantics II (G61.2370), for those wishing to specialize in phonetics or phonology, Phonology II (G61.1220) and a course in Phonetics, and for those wishing to specialize in sociolinguistics, Sociolinguistic Field Methods (G61.2540). Sociolinguists have a second required course, Linguistic Variation (G61.2530), as well as a recommended one, Linguistic Anthropology (G14.1040).
Anyone who takes G61.2370 must take it in the semester immediately following G61.1340.
Students are not required to choose a specialization when they enter the program. If they choose, or change, their specializations later, the DGS will advise them regarding how to comply with the area requirement.
A student enrolled in the Ph.D. program may be granted the M.A. degree any time after the completion of 5 courses (20 pts), the choice of which is detailed in the Regulations, and the successful defense of one Qualifying Paper. However, the "M.A. stage" plays no role whatsoever in the Ph.D. program and it is not expected for our Ph.D. students to request this degree on their way to the Ph.D.
See the list of graduate courses for your options for the remaining 40 points.
Credit for courses taken outside the department:
- You can take courses at NYU outside the department if they bear on linguistics and your advisor approves them.
- You can take courses at members of the Consortium of NYC Graduate Schools that are not available at NYU, after having completed 24 points already. See Affiliated Universities.
- You can take courses at a foreign university with which NYU has an exchange agreement. See Affiliated Universities.
Two papers of publishable quality (QPs), up to 50 pages double-spaced each. They must come from two distinct fields.
For each QP, field and committee chair are selected in consultation with the advising team; two further committee members are selected in consultation with QP chair. Have all three agree to work with you when you start working on the topic.
The first QP is due at the end of the 4th semester, the second at the end of the 5th semester. When one QP involves extensive empirical research (e.g. field work and transcription), it is allotted two semesters. Failure to follow this schedule results in probation.
Two foreign languages
(D) Dissertation proposal and dissertation
A student is expected to have his/her dissertation proposal accepted by the end of the 8th semester and must have it accepted by the end of the 10th or 11th, depending on whether one of the QPs was allotted two semesters. Failure to follow this schedule results in probation.
First years, you are advised by the DGS. Choose your own advising team of two by April 15. Waive or fulfil 1st foreign language requirement.
Last Modified: April 27, 2006