dissertation comprehensive exam

Student Guide: Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive examination is a critical part of the GPIS PhD program. You should not view it simply as a bureaucratic hurdle to pass over on your way to the dissertation. Instead, before embarking on narrowly focused dissertation work, the comprehensive examination establishes that you have the broad familiarity and expertise with the field that is the mark of a doctoral education. It is the checkpoint that confirms that you are ready to pass from being a student to a scholar. The process of preparing for the comprehensive exam should help you organize and reflect on the variety of things you have learned over the past few years. While to this point, each of your seminars has been a distinct learning experience, you now can think about how your interdisciplinary work in international studies fits together. Preparation for the comprehensive exam should help you become better able to integrate and utilize the knowledge you have gained in your graduate study. It is also critically important for embarking on the dissertation. The best dissertations are effectively connected to the central questions and literature of the field. Unless you have developed an integrated overview of the field you will not have the necessary foundation for dissertation work.

The Comprehensive Character of the PhD Examination

It is important to note that the comprehensive PhD examination is not simply a test of your cumulative knowledge of seminar materials. It is, rather, a test of your preparation to work as an independent scholar at the highest level. By now you should be functioning like a scholar, and not just like a student. You should be aware of the major journals in your field and should be paying attention to them. You should know what the most important books, articles, and debates are regardless of whether they were used in your classes. It may have been a few years since you took IR theory, but it is unlikely that the scholars who work in that area have stopped pushing the field forward to wait for you to get through the comprehensive exams.

The Written Comprehensive Examination Process

The written comprehensive exams are usually scheduled for a Friday and Monday the weekend before the start of the new semester. You will do your major field on one day and your minor field on the other. We will try to schedule your major field for Friday and your minor field for Monday, but the order will be determined by the scheduling needs of the full set of students taking the written comprehensives on a given day. You will have eight hours to complete each part of the exam. The exam is closed book and no notes or other aids of any kind are allowed. For each of your fields you will be given five questions from which you will choose two to answer.

The Written Exam Grading

The exam will be graded by the appointed Doctoral Candidacy Examination Committee. The committee will usually, but not always, include the Committee Chair, and directors of the relevant tracks. It will usually take about two weeks to get the written exams graded.

Passing the Written Comprehensive Exam

Different examiners may read the exams in different ways, and it is the student's responsibility to write answers that are generally accessible and appealing across the variety of GPIS faculty. Most readers will be looking for a clear and direct answer to the question, evidence of familiarity and facility with the important literature, and an ability to integrate theory and empirical cases.

To pass the comprehensive exam, students must not receive more than one failing evaluation from a committee member.

Failing the Written Comprehensive Exam

Our goal and expectations are that every student will pass the comprehensive examination. The exam is not designed to be a barrier. It is meant to be a straightforward assessment of the student's command of their declared fields and their preparation to move on to the challenges of writing the dissertation. Nonetheless, and precisely because the exam is conceptualized as an assessment of this preparedness to move on, it plays a very important role in your doctoral education. Students who do not demonstrate an effective grasp of the relevant literature and empirics or who do not effectively and explicitly answer the questions as asked will not pass.

Students who do not pass the written portion of the exam on the first attempt will have to retake the exam in a subsequent semester. Failure on the second attempt will prevent the student from going on to write a dissertation. At the discretion of the examination committee, the failing student may be awarded the MA degree if the performance and coursework so merit, and if they do not already have a GPIS MA.

The Oral Comprehensive Examination process

Doctoral candidates are expected to be able to communicate effectively and knowledgeably both in writing and orally. Thus, the comprehensive examinations have both a written and an oral component.

The oral portion of the comprehensive examination will take place about three weeks after the written. Three to five faculty members will administer the examination. The examiners will usually, but not necessarily, include the Director or Associate Director of GPIS and the track coordinators from the student's major and minor fields. The examination will last about one hour. Each examiner will have a chance to ask questions, but the format will often shift between relatively structured questioning and a more free-flowing discussion.

The discussion will center on the student's answers for the written exam (students may use their written exam). The scope of the exam is not, however, limited to that material. The examiners will be looking to fill in any perceived gaps in the written work, and to assess the student's facility more generally with the literature and empirical material.

Passing the Oral Comprehensive Exam

Passing the oral comprehensive exam is a matter of convincing the committee members that you have an appropriate mastery of the central material of the field and are prepared to go on to focused and independent work on a dissertation. To pass, you must not receive more than one negative vote from a member of the examining committee.

Failing the Oral Comprehensive Exam

Students who do not pass the oral exam will be asked to return in one month for a second oral exam. Students who do not pass on the second attempt will not be allowed to continue for the PhD.

Tips for Preparing for the PhD Comprehensive Exam

The most important preparation for the PhD comprehensive examination is the GPIS coursework you have completed. Reviewing the notes and materials from your seminars and trying to organize it around some integrative themes is essential preparation. The following pages offer some further suggestions for effective preparation for the comprehensive examination, and for ensuring a strong examination performance.

1. Take appropriate classes

In consultation with your adviser and other faculty, be sure to select a variety of classes that will give you the broad background you need for the comprehensive exam. It is particularly important that you choose classes that will help you gain both a breadth of field knowledge, and a depth of knowledge in a few critical areas. The seminar papers you write should particularly help you develop depth in a few critical areas.

2. Keep effective class notes and reading notes

You should be thinking about preparation for the comprehensive exams from the beginning of your program. Keeping your seminar and reading notes in an organized manner will allow for more effective comprehensive exam review. You will particularly want to be careful about the material in the core classes.

You may find it useful to develop reading notes at different levels of depth. There may be a set of books and articles for which you will have 2-3 page summaries. There may be a second, larger, group for which you have paragraph length descriptions. Finally you should have a third very large group for which you have a sentence for each reading that gives you the central thrust of the argument.

3. Work on exam preparation in groups

Working with others can help you share the labor of summarizing and reviewing material. You can work with others on identifying the critical literature and on developing answers to hypothetical test questions.

4. Pay particular attention to the broad literature of international relations theory that will help you in answering a wide variety of questions

Many of the questions across the different tracks will benefit from an effective understanding of the broad currents and debates of international relations theory. One of the things a graduate education should help you do is to apply general theory to a variety of specific situations. Displaying that ability on the comprehensive exam is a good idea.

5. Identify some historical periods and important episodes and issues around which you will develop a particular expertise

Alas, no one can know everything about everything. You will see in this collection of sample questions that it is relatively rare for a question to demand knowledge of a particular event or historical period. Nonetheless, you will also see that you are often called upon to identify a critical historical period or event. You will be expected to evince in-depth knowledge of some issues or areas. Effective in-depth knowledge of a few critical issue areas or historical episodes can help you generate appropriate material for a wide variety of questions.

6. Identify some important literature with which you will be particularly familiar

You need to have a good feel for a very broad range of literature. For a lot of books and articles, remembering the author and the central thrust of their argument and evidence will serve you adequately for the comprehensives. But, just as it is essential that you have a greater depth of knowledge about a few historical episodes are critical issues, you will want to have a set of books and articles that you know extremely well. You should have an identified set of readings that you are confident you can apply to a reasonable range of questions and that you know very well and can talk about with some depth and sophistication.

7. Practice for the exam

Using the material in this booklet, you should write some practice exams. At the beginning you may want to take several hours and write an answer with open book resources. By the end you should be practicing with closed notes and a two-hour clock to simulate exam conditions. Such practice will not only help you think about how you will engage in the actual task of taking the exam, but will give you collection of sample answers that may be easily adapted to the real test questions. Just be careful that you don't mistakenly provide the answer to a similar old question and miss the slightly changed terms or requirements that are likely to show up in the real test.

The process of preparing practice exams is another area where working in groups can be extremely helpful. Having a study group can give you a larger stock of practice answers and will allow you to get feedback and to discuss the appropriate sources and arguments for a given question.

Tips for Writing an Effective Comprehensive Exam

1. Make sure you answer the questions explicitly and clearly.

The most common comprehensive exam mistake is to not explicitly and clearly answer the question. Read the question very carefully and make sure that you offer an explicit answer to the question. Do not rely on the readers to draw out implicit answers.

2. Make appropriate reference to the literature and relevant scholarly debates.

You will not, of course, be expected to provide detailed citations. But, you should demonstrate familiarity and facility with a range of the literature. You should be able to appropriately reference the scholars whose arguments are relevant to a particular issue. You may occasionally include the name of a book or article and the date of its publication.

3. Make appropriate use of theory and of empirical and historical knowledge.

If appropriately done, it is particularly effective to use theory to inform answers on history questions and history to inform answers on theory questions.

4. Write full answers that are structured with an introduction and conclusion.

As in all writing, structure and organization are important to effective communication. Just because it is a time-limited exam is no excuse for jumbled, incoherent writing. Take the time to think through and outline your argument and its structure before you write. As in all writing, signposting, headings, and clear explicit language can help communicate your ideas. Provide a clear introduction and conclusion that can help you summarize your central point and will reassure the readers that you have, in fact, explicitly answered the question.

5. Make an argument

As a scholar prepared to embark on independent thesis work, it is important that you demonstrate an ability to effectively articulate your own views. The comprehensive exam is not just about knowing the literature. It is also about demonstrating that you can think about international issues critically and come to your own conclusions. Avoid wishy-washy answers that simply describe some of the ideas extant in the field and then conclude that they are all correct. Take a stand and defend it with appropriate theoretical, analytical, and empirical material.

6. Make choices

You will notice that most of the questions are a lot bigger than can be fully answered in the two-hours you will have on average during the written exam. You have to make choices on how you will answer so that you can display your breadth and depth of knowledge while satisfying the committee that you have effectively addressed the question. It usually helps if you can be explicit about how you are managing the question ("While there are, of course, idiosyncratic elements in the complex relationship of each President to his national security team, I will focus in this short essay on the difficult relationship between Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Cyrus Vance because it effectively illuminates the problems every foreign policy team must face"). It is rarely a good strategy to try to present a broad and superficial survey of too many things ("In this essay I will discuss the relationship of each Post-WWII American president with his respective Secretaries of State and Defense").

7. Don't make big mistakes

This, of course, is common sense, but I can't overemphasize how difficult it is to certify someone as ready to move onto writing a dissertation who fundamentally misunderstands some essential literature, or who demonstrates a wanton disregard for historical accuracy.

Tips for the Oral Examination

1. Attitude matters

Attitude is important in the oral examination, just as it will be for the remainder of your career as a scholar. As a doctoral candidate, you should be able to present your views with confidence, but without becoming defensive. The examiners are likely to push against your views and expect to see you defend them effectively, but not irrationally.

The best way to figure out the right attitude is to attend the presentations of others at research workshops, dissertation defenses, and conferences. Start paying attention to the style as well as the substance. Take note of how other scholars deal with difficult questions and criticisms. What works and what doesn't work? What makes them sound defensive? What makes them sound arrogant? What makes them sound indecisive?

2. Being nervous is inevitable

It is likely that you will be nervous. How you perform when nervous is not irrelevant to your career as a scholar. You need to demonstrate that despite being nervous you can engage in appropriate scholarly discussion.

3. We probably know more than you, but knowing everything isn't required

It is likely that all together, the three to five professors conducting the examination know some things that you don't. With some pushing, they will probably be able to find out what some of those things are. We don't expect you to know everything. We do expect you to communicate effective knowledge of a broad range of subjects, and explicit and deep knowledge of a few selected areas.

4. Practice

The best way to practice for the oral exam is to speak up and engage in discussion in your seminars, in research workshops, and at conferences. If you aren't prepared to express and defend your views in the seminar setting, it is unlikely that you will be prepared to do so in the oral exam.

5. Work with other students

Again, preparing for the comprehensive examinations with other students will help you both with the substance and with the process. Scholarly discussions of exam questions with other students will give you the chance to practice articulating and defending your views with appropriate references to the literature and empirical facts.

The ODU Honor Pledge will be strictly enforced, and you will be asked to sign off on this pledge on the date of the exam:

I pledge to support the Honor System of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a member of the academic community it is my responsibility to turn in all suspected violations of the Honor Code. I will report to a hearing if summoned.

Technical Instructions

Guidelines to answering questions.

This examination will be conducted in a BAL Computer lab. In an emergency, you must inform the proctor immediately.

• You may take short breaks (5-10 minutes) as needed
• You are not permitted to leave the building under any circumstance
• Food and beverages should be consumed during the exam
• Save your work often on the flash drive provided
• If any problems occur, notify the proctor immediately
• The examination is closed book and no notes or other aids including cell phone are allowed
• You will be given a blue book, pen, and pencil for writing notes
• Once the exam begins the computer browsers will be locked down
• You must sign and return the honor pledge provided

On the day of the exam arrive 5-10 minutes early to log into the computer and be ready to start promptly at 8:30 a.m. when the exam questions are distributed.

You will receive the exam questions, a flash drive, a blue book for notes and the honor pledge to sign and return to the proctor. Use the flash drive to save your work and give to the proctor at the end of the exam.

The examination consists of two parts.

Part 1 - questions will be on your MAJOR concentration.  Part 2 - questions will be on your MINOR concentration

On both days you must answer TWO out of five questions. The questions are written broadly, but your essays must remain explicitly responsive to what is asked; simply referencing texts is not sufficient. Time is ample and running out of time is not an option. Ending early is also not advised. The examination will conclude at 4:30 p.m. and all answers must be saved on the flash drive and turned in.

1. There will be five questions. You must answer two.  

2. The exam lasts a total of eight hours. Allocate your time accordingly and make sure that each question has a concluding section.  

3. Also make sure that you:

• answer the questions as they are raised and not as you wish they had been raised
• illustrate your answer with appropriate empirical examples
• cite relevant sources
• make proper references to important interpretative debates, when appropriate  

4. Your answers will be reviewed in terms of:

• how effectively you address each of the questions
• how well you know and manage your facts
• how soundly you handle and cite the literature
• how well you have developed and organized your argument
• the quality of your writing

5. Failure to pass the exam may include, but is not limited to, the following shortcomings:

• errors of fact
• misattribution of arguments in text and/or citation
• spurious citation of literature
• presentation of answer in bullet point format
• failure to develop coherent argument

Past Field Questions

American foreign policy.

• According to Henry Kissinger, "It is an illusion to believe that leaders gain in profundity while they gain experience.... The connections that leaders have formed before reaching high office are the intellectual capital they will consume" during their time in office. Explain and discuss this assessment, which Kissinger made after he had served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, with explicit references to two high level foreign policy practitioners during the two decades that followed the US intervention in World War II (1941-1961).
• "Our security, our vitality, and our ability to lead," recently observed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "must be based on a marriage of principle and pragmatism, not rigid ideology, on facts and evidence, not conviction or prejudice." Explain and discuss in the context of two high level foreign policy practitioners during the immediate postwar decade (1945-1965).
• Identify TWO crises, events, or issues that best characterize the latter part of the Cold War and its immediate aftermath (from January 1981 to January 2001). Do NOT describe any of these crises, events or issues at length but single out the features and patterns that best explain why these are so closely identified, in your judgment, with this initial post-Cold War period.
• Describe and discuss the evolution of U.S. policies toward any country (except the USSR/Russia) or region of your choice during a 6-year period of your choice, extended from January 1981 to January 2001. To introduce your answer, explain your choice of the period you wish to discuss. To conclude, explain the relevance of that region or country to current U.S. interests and policies.
• Whatever might be said about the events of September 11, 2001 and the wars that followed, their consequences have been epochal - meaning, system changing. After a quick review of these events, examine the conditions of what has been called a new "post-American world." What do you think of this emerging world: first, from the narrow perspective of U.S. interests, capabilities and purpose; but also, next, from the broader perspective of power and order during the coming decade? 2. "The United States," it has been noted, "never experienced what other nations experienced in achieving a position of world power. It moved within a very brief period from a position of isolation to one of global leadership, it has never been a mere nation among other nations." Explain and discuss the influence of the nation's distinctive past on the US role in the world in the twentieth century.

TRANSNATIONALISM AND INTERDEPENDENCE

• Great speculation exists on the extent to which the United States is in decline. Drawing on the central concepts and knowledge of the track, and on your broader study in the program, to what extent do you believe America is in decline? What factors could hasten or reverse this decline at the global level, insofar as you see it in play?
• To what extent, if any, is the world safer in the post-Cold War era? In what measure have transnational threats (terrorism, migration, energy interdependence, etc) replaced the threats inherent in the Cold War?
• Drawing on your coursework in this program, and especially on your courses in this track, to what extent do you think that the effects of anarchy can be tempered or lessened in world politics?
• Realists tend to assume that world politics is cyclical; and that the basic elements of world politics do not change much over time (such as power, balance of power politics, the centrality of states, and conflict). To what extent do you agree with this key realist assumption?
• To what extent, if at all, does interdependence decrease inter-state conflict in world politics?

INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY

• From World War II to the present, states have constructed regimes to manage some-but not all-aspects of the international economy. A once-strong regime to manage trade has weakened since the 1990s. Likewise, with the abandonment of dollar-gold convertibility in 1973, a robust regime to manage monetary relations collapsed. Conversely, states originally left finance unregulated but in 1988 created and progressively have strengthened rules to manage international banking. And in production, the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment collapsed in 1998 without ever securing necessary multilateral support. What explains these variations in institutions, both across issue areas and over the course of the last 65 years?
• The integration of gendered analyses of globalization has led to a substantive body of literature within the field of international studies. Imagine that an international studies department hires you to design and teach a graduate seminar on gender and globalization. What theoretical and empirical movements within the field would your seminar emphasize? How would you elucidate the central connections between gender and globalization? In your essay response, please explain how your choice of authors, themes and content provides an innovative approach to teaching graduate students about the complex interconnections between gender and global restructuring.
• After the May 2010 parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom, one observer wrote: The outcome in Britain underscores a problem roiling so many democracies. The economic change brought about by globalization and technological advances is not creating the happy, unified world of progress its promoters keep promising. Instead, it is splitting regions within nations that are fully part of the global market from those left behind. Does globalization foster or undermine democracy? Your answer should address at least one of the following dimensions of democracy: political behavior, democratic institutions, responsiveness, equality, and legitimacy. Please illustrate your argument using one democratic state of your choice.
• Numerous scholars argue that historical experiences condition a nation-state's contemporary political economy. That is, a state's past policies for economic development may profoundly affect its contemporary prospects for industrialization, the reduction of poverty, and the development of political institutions. To what degree are development and democratization path-dependent processes? Can states in the contemporary political economy escape the tyranny of their history? If so, how? If not, why not?
• Developing states face different economic, political and social challenges than do the wealthiest and most powerful states. Can international political economy offer us a coherent set of theoretical tools to explain such diverse problems in the global economy? Or must it rely upon ad-hoc, degenerative hypothesizing to accommodate such empirical challenges? To illustrate your theoretical argument, please compare at least one developing and one developed state.

CONFLICT AND COOPERATION

• For a region of your choice identify two instances of cooperation between states that advanced/improved the regional security environment. Explain your selections in detail. Choose your examples from the last decade.
• The spread of nuclear weapons is often cited as a major challenge to the international community. How might this threat best be countered? Your answer should critically review state policies and institutional responses.
• In an increasingly global security environment it is far from obvious how security should be organized. Reflecting on what you have learned, how would you conceptualize a 21st century security order? Why would you conceptualize it this way?
• To what extent does the transatlantic security community exist? Is it strong and if so, why? Is it weak and if so, why? What factors/developments are likely to determine its future?
• For a region of your choice, discuss two events or developments over the past decade that have significantly affected regional expectations about conflict and cooperation. In your answer, make sure to demonstrate familiarity with the scholarly literature and debates at the policy levels.
• Virtually absent from national policy agendas since the end of the Cold War, arms control is back. From a scholarly perspective and against the background of Cold War arms control, how do you evaluate the return of arms control, the emerging arms control agenda, and arms control's contribution to international peace and stability?
• How useful are policies of deterrence in a global security environment?
• From your understanding of the scholarly literature, single out two contributors whose work(s) you think have been critical in advancing the field of Security Studies. Carefully explain your choices.
• Critical theorists have issued a number of challenges to traditional understandings of peace and security. Identify three such challenges and discuss. Ultimately, do these challenges represent anomalies, in the Kuhnian sense, or are they the products of normal science?

COMPARATIVE AND REGIONAL STUDIES

• Both Rational-Choice and Political-Culture theories are prominent approaches in the field of comparative sociopolitical studies. What are the similarities and differences between these two approaches in terms of their intellectual geneses, theoretical assumptions, and major arguments (or hypotheses)? Discuss the major strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
• New Institutionalism is believed to have succeeded the so-called "Old" Institutionalism in comparative sociopolitical studies. Explain the intellectual genesis, theoretical assumptions and major arguments (or hypotheses) of the New Institutionalism. In what respects is the New Institutionalism similar to and different from the Old Institutionalism? Do you think that the New Institutionalism has helped advance comparative sociopolitical studies? Why or why not?
• Some analysts of comparative studies have advocated Statism, emphasizing the profound role of the state in shaping socioeconomic and sociopolitical developments in various countries. Explain theoretical assumptions and major arguments (or hypotheses) of Statism. Do you agree with Statism's arguments for the importance of the state (vs. society)? Why or why not?
• Social movement and revolution
• Democratization
• Social capital
• To study socioeconomic development in different regions or countries, scholars have developed two distinct approaches: Modernization Theory and Dependency Theory. Briefly explain these two approaches in terms of their fundamental assumptions and theoretical arguments. Which theory do you prefer when studying socioeconomic development in developing countries? Use evidence from any region(s) or country (countries) with which you are familiar to support your reference.

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL STUDIES

• Explain the social construction of culture(s) and its significance to current political economic realities.
• Cite a case study of a post-colonial critique of nationalism. Explain the role of the imperial power and how that is legitimized or not.
• How is the concept of "nation" constructed in Modernity? How is this construction relevant to issues in international studies? Cite case studies where appropriate.
• Explain how cultural studies theories are important to the study and practice of international relations.
• Explain the importance of the media in the construction or reflection of the identity of immigrant, multicultural or diaspora communities.

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Preparing for the Comprehensive Examination and the Dissertation

The comprehensive examination and the dissertation are the final projects in your doctoral journey.  These projects allow learners to demonstrate their skills as independent scholars and researchers.  In a real sense, the entire range of academic preparation up to this point has been preparation for this.  Between the conclusion of Track 3 of the Colloquia and the start of the comprehensive examination, there is time for continuing development and strengthening of one’s scholarly and research knowledge and skills.

Preparing for the Comprehensive Examination

As you know, in the comprehensive examination (hereafter called “comps”) you will be asked to answer sophisticated questions in your specialization or field of study.  Although you have a generous time period in which to answer the questions, you should have brought your skills to their highest level for the greatest chance of success.  These are skills in (a) using the library to discover relevant research and theory on the questions, (b) critically thinking about and analyzing that research, (c) formulating a focused and thorough answer to the question, and (d) writing in a professional or scholarly voice.

Scholarly Skills Needed in the Comps

There is a set of interrelated skills needed to pass the comps.  They derive from the four competencies of the Colloquia (scholar-practitioner, critical thinker, researcher, and professional writer): 

• Can you deconstruct complex questions to identify what is actually being asked?  (The “Comprehensive Manual” in the “Learning Resources/Comprehensive and Dissertation Resources” section of iGuide has a chapter on how to deconstruct questions.)
• Can you appropriately identify the levels of critical analysis needed? (Remember Bloom’s famous taxonomy of critical thinking?)
• Can you organize a sophisticated literature search for existing work on the various elements of the question?
• Can you thoroughly analyze and critique that existing work in order to build a framework for your own answer to the question?
• Can you write your answer using all the elements of APA formatting, proper citation, good grammar, word usage, and mechanics (punctuation, spelling, formatting, etc.)?
• Can you present your answer using the correct paper and paragraph formatting—the introduction, main body, and conclusion model for the paper and the M.E.A.L. plan for paragraphs?
• Can you answer the question thoroughly—answering all elements that are asked—and concisely—answering no elements that are not asked?
• Can you use the analytic service provided by Capella (e.g., Turnitin.com, SafeAssign.com) to check your writing for originality and make all necessary corrections?
• Can you work in an organized and focused way within a carefully constructed timeline, ensuring timely delivery of the answers?

If you are weak or unready in any of these skills, develop a plan (which you will present to the Courseroom instructor) for improving your skills between now and the quarter when you will take comps.  This plan can be proactive—that is, a positive approach to developing or strengthening a particular skill.  It can also include reactive elements, such as deciding to take a quarter off to concentrate heavily on developing or improving your skills.  The comps and the dissertation are crucial to your success:  Only successfully completing both will achieve your dream of becoming doctoral.  Don’t mistake that: Careful and thorough preparation is the key.  The more ready you are going in, the greater your chances of success.

Some Ideas for Your Readiness-for-Comps Plan

• Identify the courses that you still need to complete.  How can each of them be used to enhance your skill set for independent scholarship?
• Make a list of the various skills you’ll need in the comps.  Make a plan to practice them intentionally in your remaining courses.
• Set goals for that practice and assess your progress weekly.
• Inform your instructors about your plans and ask them to help you with feedback focused on your needs.
• Figure out how you can use remaining courses to deepen your literature review for your dissertation.  For instance, if a course is a methodology course, use it to deepen your literature on your own methodology and design.  If it is a content course, figure out how that content relates to your dissertation topic and try to focus your course paper or product that way.  In whatever way, build your lit review.
• Decide if you want or need to take an additional residency.  Capella offers “Track 4,” a colloquia refresher.  The tuition is much less than that of the required tracks, and many learners find Track 4 to be helpful in solidifying their skills.
• Capella also offers the “Dissertation Writers’ Retreat,” concurrent with the PhD Colloquia, in which faculty from the Writing Program and methodologists from the schools are on site to assist learners who are working on a part of their dissertation.  Although this is not likely to be as productive prior to comps, you might consider using it after the comps to prepare more fully for starting the dissertation.
• Review your Research Plan carefully as you continue to discover existing research.  Do not let it go fallow, but add in new work, revise your plans, and continue to develop it as you approach the comps.  Some courseroom mentors (the leaders of the comps courseroom) allow a question or two based on the learners’ own dissertation topic.  Some do not.  But if your mentor does, then the depth of your lit review will be extremely important and useful.
• Review the “Comprehensive Examination Manual” thoroughly before starting the exam.  Learn the process, the timelines, the requirements, and how to handle (understand and deconstruct) the questions.  You cannot ask for help once the examination starts—it is an examination, after all—and you may not use an editor or librarian at any point.  Consequently, come as prepared as you can so that you don’t waste time trying to understand the “rules and regulations.”

Preparing for the Dissertation

When you meet your dissertation mentor, one of the first things you and the mentor will discuss is your research plan, developed through the Colloquia.  So it is important that it be as well-prepared as you can make it before you have that discussion.  You should have been updating your literature review in the research plan through all the quarters you’ve been taking courses and attending Colloquia.  Between now and the comps, continue that.  Once you have passed the comps and are on track to start dissertation, continue building that lit review and revising your research plan according to your latest findings.

Before you start the dissertation, become very familiar with the resources available to you in your school.  Go to Research at Capella , and then click on the link to "Research in [your school's name]" at the bottom of the page.  Open every document and discover what is there for you.  Prepare yourself for talking with a mentor so that you sound knowledgeable about the processes and the various elements of the dissertation—do not wait for a mentor to tell you what is needed or how to find something.  The dissertation is a demonstration of independent research.

Before you pass the comps, do not spend a lot of time preparing for dissertation (except to keep working on your research plan and building that lit review).  Instead, devote the time to preparing for the comps—when you pass the exam, there will be plenty of time for gearing up for the dissertation.

Keep one thing in the forefront of your vision:  The comps and the dissertation demonstrate your independence , as a scholar (comps) and as a researcher (dissertation).  You will be asked to demonstrate not only that you have knowledge, not only that you can present that knowledge in a manner appropriate to a PhD, but that you can use that knowledge to generate new knowledge on your own initiative, independently.  Consequently, evaluate honestly the level of your scholarship skills, the breadth of your knowledge, and the degree of true independence in your work.

Independence does not mean isolation, though.  Scholars form a community, and they talk together, recognizing their limitations and asking for help when they need it.

Knowing when one needs help is a genuine dimension of independent scholarship.  Can you ask for help when you need it?  Can you tell when you need it?

Another thing to look at as you prepare for the dissertation (and the comps, for that matter), is to assess your comfort with difficult feedback.  Particularly in the dissertation, you will receive a lot of difficult feedback—about your ideas, about your writing, about details of your research design, about any and every aspect of the project.  You may even get differing feedback from different evaluators, and you’ll have to negotiate with them if the differences are extreme.  Are you ready to not take tough feedback personally, but to use it to strengthen your work?  Don’t pass over that point lightly—self-assess carefully on this point.

Finally, evaluate your time management skills.  Perhaps the hardest problem to solve with the dissertation is how to ensure that you get done in a reasonable period of time.  There are no real deadlines—although there are milestones—like there are in courses.  The work is relentless, but there is no one expecting a document on a certain day.  It is far too easy to get lost.  This is another aspect of the independence you must demonstrate: the ability to get the job done on your own.  If procrastination and time management have been problems during your coursework, they will be magnified enormously during the dissertation.  If you have all the other necessary skills but allow yourself to procrastinate, your chances of success drop.  So if that has been a problem, take time to investigate it and develop a plan to overcome it.  You can do it, with a plan.

Doc. reference: phd_t3_u06s1_h01_prepcomp.html

A Note About Masters and Doctoral Comprehensive Exams

Passing Comps Is a Major Milestone

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Graduate students take two sets of comprehensive exams, both master's and doctoral. Yes, it sounds scary. Comprehensive examinations, known as comps, are a source of anxiety for most graduate students.

What Is a Comprehensive Examination?

A comprehensive examination is just what it sounds like. It is a test that covers a broad base of material. It assesses the student's knowledge and capacities to earn a given graduate degree. The exact content varies by graduate program and by degree: master's and doctoral comprehensive exams have similarities but differ in detail, depth, and expectations. Depending on the graduate program and degree, comps could test course knowledge, knowledge of your proposed research area, and general knowledge in the field. This is especially true of doctoral students, who must be prepared to discuss the field at a professional level, citing material from coursework but also classic and current references.

When Do You Take Comps?

Comps are generally given toward the end of coursework or afterward as a way to determine how well a student is able to synthesize the material, solve problems, and think like a professional. Passing a comprehensive exam lets you move to the next level of study.

What Is the Format?

Master's and doctoral exams often are written exams, sometimes oral, and sometimes both written and oral. Exams are usually administered in one or more long test periods. For example, in one program written doctoral comprehensive exams are given in two blocks that are each eight hours long on consecutive days. Another program administers a written comp exam to master's students in one period that lasts five hours. Oral exams are more common in doctoral comps, but there are no hard and fast rules.

What Is the Master's Comp Exam?

Not all master's programs offer or require that students complete comprehensive exams. Some programs require a passing score on a comprehensive exam for entry to the thesis. Other programs use comprehensive exams in place of a thesis. Some programs give students a choice of completing either a comprehensive exam or a thesis. In most cases, master's students are given guidance on what to study. It might be specific lists of readings or sample questions from previous exams. Master's comprehensive exams are generally given to an entire class at once.

What Is the Doctoral Comp Exam?

Virtually all doctoral programs require that students complete doctoral comps. The exam is the gateway to the dissertation . After passing the comprehensive exam a student can use the title " doctoral candidate ," which is a label for students who have entered the dissertation phase of doctoral work, the final hurdle to the doctoral degree. Doctoral students often receive much less guidance on how to prepare for comps as compared with master's students. They might get long reading lists, some sample questions from previous exams, and instructions to be familiar with articles published over the past few years in the prominent journals in their field.

What If You Don't Pass Your Comps?

Graduate students who are unable to pass a program's comprehensive exam are weeded from the graduate program and cannot complete the degree. Graduate programs often allow a student who fails the comprehensive exam another chance to pass. However, most programs send students packing after two failing grades.

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Best Practices for the Comprehensive Examination

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Penn State’s Graduate School requires that each Ph.D. student “pass a comprehensive examination to become a Ph.D. candidate” ( GCAC-606 ). The comprehensive examination is administered by the Philosophy Department.

The purpose of the comprehensive exam is to help students develop breadth and depth in areas relevant to their chosen areas of research. The historical and systematic reading lists contain resources that can aid students in developing a dissertation prospectus.

The comprehensive examination process is one that necessitates flexibility because every student is different, students work on a wide variety of topics, and students enter the comprehensive exam process with different levels of knowledge. The specifics of how the comprehensive examination preparation process takes place are, therefore, determined by the student and the dissertation advisor/committee in conversation with one another.

While holding a general principle of flexibility in mind, there are several areas where best practices regarding the comprehensive examination can be recommended:

Number of Questions

Faculty should consider providing students with five questions per exam session, one of which students will answer.

Length of Reading Lists

Because our program provides five years of funding, students are encouraged to defend their dissertation prospectuses by the end of their third year in the program, leaving two years in which they can write their dissertations. This means that students will have roughly half a year (the first half of their third year) in which to prepare to take their comprehensive examination. Accordingly, the preparation of each reading list should take no longer than three months. Lists that include a combination of texts students already have familiarity with and those that are new to them are more likely to be able to be completed within three months.

Thematic Identification

Students are encouraged to identify broad themes across readings that relate to their proposed areas of research and should share those with their dissertation advisor and committee in advance of the generation of questions for the comprehensive examination. In writing questions for the exam, committee members are encouraged to be sensitive to the philosophical themes the student intends to develop in their research.

Dates of Exam

The dates of the exam should be set by the supervisor and student in consultation with each other.

Length of Answers

Answers to each comprehensive exam question should fall in the range of 4000–6000 words.

Oral Examination

In posing questions during the oral portion of the examination, faculty are encouraged to focus exclusively on the written portion of the exam.

In beginning to draft their comprehensive examination reading lists and rationale, students should consult the comprehensive examination template available on the department website.

Policies and Procedures

Criteria of evaluation for the written and oral portions of the exam, as well as additional details regarding the comprehensive examination process, can be found in Graduate Program Policies and Procedures .

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Comprehensive Examinations Guidelines

Guide to Comparative Literature Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination Milestone

Comprehensive Examinations (also known as "Comps" or "Comp Exams") serve three purposes: 1) to solidify your education as a comparatist, 2) to help you get a handle on a field of expertise generally pertinent to comparatist inquiry and to your work specifically, and 3) to help you lay the groundwork for your dissertation. All three comprehensives are designed with these goals in mind, and all three examinations will be tailored accordingly under the supervision of the examination committee chair and with the input of committee members.

We also want you to think about how these three examinations are related as you fashion them. The first exam explores the works, contexts, critical traditions, methodologies and theories that define the primary field in which you will position yourself as a comparatist and more specifically as related to your dissertation. The second exam defines, constructs, and develops your expertise in theories and methods, within which you will write, research, and likely also teach as a comparatist. The third comprehensive examination, i.e., the dissertation prospectus, proposes a project in the primary field, conceived of in comparatist terms and addressing certain comparatist debates. 

The examination committee must make a determination as to whether the performance is a pass or a fail.  In the case of a borderline performance, the committee may, at its discretion, give the student an opportunity to improve the performance, e.g. by rewriting the response to a question, before making the determination pass/fail.  A student who outright fails a portion of any of the comprehensives may retake the exam in question once within two to ten weeks after receiving the failing results.  The requirements for and timing of the retake depend on the student's particular performance, as evaluated in writing by the examination committee, and will be determined in consultation by the chair of the exam committee, the graduate advisor (DGS), and the program director.

The Student  is responsible for attending all meetings, responding to correspondences, and punctually completing all of the comprehensive examination directions, including answering and submitting responses in a timely manner to The Research Advisory Committee (RAC) and The Coordinator, as well as being in contact with The Primary Research Advisor for progressing through the Comprehensive Examination Milestone.

The Primary Research Advisor  is responsible for assisting the Student in assembling the three member Comprehensive Committee for the defense, for compiling and delivering written comprehensive examination questions to The Coordinator  in accordance to the Comparative Literature program Comprehensive Exam template, and for communicating pass/fail of all parts of each comprehensive examination to The Coordinator . 

The Research Advisory Committee (RAC)  should consist of at least three full-time Washington University faculty members who are authorized to supervise PhD students and who have appropriate expertise in the proposed field of study. The RAC is responsible for attending all meetings and examinations regarding the comprehensive examination process for The Student and communicating with The Coordinator regarding scheduling of all meetings involved in the comprehensive examination process.

The Coordinator ( Academic and Administrative Coordinator ) is responsible for coordinating dates, times, and locations of examinations with the Student and Comprehensive Committee, for emailing written examinations to the Student and RAC Committee, for recording pass/file according to The Primary Research Advisor on student milestone tracking, and for submitting appropriate Milestone Forms to the OGS via Portal including the Unsuccessful Qualifying Exam Form and the Successful Qualifying Exam Form.

The OGS provides information on the  Comprehensive Examination  (called the Qualifying Examination on OGS website).

Preliminaries

Before any Comprehensive Examinations can be scheduled, The Student will need to obtain a faculty member to lead their Research Advisory Committee: this member is The Primary Research Advisor. The Student, along with The Primary Research Advisor, will need to identify and secure two additional faculty members to add to their RAC.

Once this three member RAC is established, The Student will contact The Coordinator to arrange a date, time, and place to meet for a preliminary bibliography meeting. This meeting should be approximately 4 months before the first written exam is scheduled. See below for specific elements of the bibliography meeting and the comprehensives themselves. A timeline will be created at this meeting, which The Student and The Primary Research Advisor should share with The Coordinator for ease of scheduling. 

Comprehensive Exams 1 and 2

Comprehensive Exams 1 and 2 consist of both a written and oral portion, both of which are required to be passed before proceeding to the next exam. It is highly recommended to schedule both the written and oral portions of each exam together, in order to avoid both a long delay between written remarks and oral defense, and to avoid unnecessary extension of the overall scheduled time line. It is helpful to have an idea for when you would like your oral portion to occur, and work backwards to schedule the written portion to ensure your and your committee members’ schedules are open (for example, avoiding major holidays, major university and department events, and planned travel). 

The written portion of the first and second comprehensive exams will consist of three questions provided by the RAC, two of which you must answer within a one week period. These questions will be broad in nature and related to the general goals described above as well as to the goals specified below under each comprehensive.

The 1 hour oral examination will follow the written examination in approximately two weeks. Please note: proceeding to the oral does not in and of itself indicate a passing performance on the written. The oral examination may include follow-up questions having to do with your performance on the written examination and could include the question that you did not answer. Most importantly, the oral will include questions on works on your reading list that were not treated in your written answers.  

Upon completion of both parts of the examination, you will receive both an oral and brief written evaluation of your examination, including a passing or failing mark as well as next steps in the Comprehensive Examination process.

Comprehensive Exam 3

Unlike Comprehensive Exams 1 and 2, Comprehensive Exam 3's written portion is not in response to provided questions. Comprehensive Exam 3 explicitly prepares The Student to write a dissertation. It consists of a 20-25-page dissertation proposal, including detailed prospectus, primary texts, and critical sources, followed by an oral defense of the proposal. The Student will work with The Primary Research Adivsor to prepare the proposal. Once The Student and The Primary Research Advisor are satisfied with a draft, The Student will circulate it to the RAC. The 1 hour oral defense will follow approximately two weeks later.

In most cases, The Primary Research Advisor and RAC will continue and become three members of the five or six member Dissertation Defense Committee (including The Dissertation Director). Please see  Ph.D. Dissertation Guidelines  for further information. 

(After coursework is completed/4th year in program)

Approximately four months before you write your first comprehensive, with the help of The Coordinator and The Primary Research Advisor, you will arrange an hour-long meeting including The Student, all faculty members likely to serve on your RAC (3), the  Director of Comparative Literature , and the  DGS of Comparative Literature . During this meeting, faculty will review the expectations, goals and procedures of the examinations, discuss a time line for achieving these goals, and review your bibliography. The bibliography contains the content that The RAC will base their questions on for in the examinations.  This preliminary step is REQUIRED before the comprehensive examinations can commence. 

All those present will receive a brief summary of this meeting in writing, and the summary will be kept on file should you for any reason have to find different examiners over the course of the comprehensives.  

Comprehensive Examination #1

(Approximately 4 months after Preliminaries)

The first comprehensive is an examination in your primary comparatist field. It has four purposes: 1) to enable you to think about and become familiar with how a “field” of comparatist inquiry is defined and shaped; 2) to enable you to identify and familiarize yourself with the historical debates and recent criticism that has shaped comparatist inquiry in this field; 3) to provide you with the occasion to work closely on some of the most important works of criticism pertinent to this field; and 4) to re/familiarize yourself with some exemplary primary works in this field.

The definition of the “field” is flexible, but should have identifiable historical limits and specificity. Additional attributes of a field might include some of the following: important phases or modes of cultural contact; identifiable literary movements such as naturalism, realism, or modernism; transcultural, transnational, and/or translinguistic reach (drawing on your language training); technological developments (the invention of photography, cinema, digital technologies, etc); a set of questions, issues or concerns, etc. A field should be conceived broadly enough to be well populated with primary work and secondary literature. Your dissertation project should fall within the field broadly conceived. Examples of a field include, but are not limited to, comparative modernism, twentieth-century transnational poetics, early modern comparative theater and performance studies, medieval media theory (orality, manuscript culture, etc.), transnational feminist or queer literary studies, postcolonial literature, Sinophone literature, comparative ethnic literatures, etc. Such comparative fields might well be anchored in expertise in one or two areas (transnational poetics with an emphasis on Latin American poetry, comparative modernism with an emphasis in Chinese modernism, etc). You might also work in a “traditional field” such as Victorian British literature or German Romanticism, in which case we encourage you to think creatively about this field as a comparatist. 

Written Examination #1

Student Name: Comprehensive Examination No. 1   (Field) Committee Members:

This written examination consists of three questions that address the annotated bibliography that you submitted to your RAC for this examination. These questions will be made available to you at a specific  TIME  on  DATE . You will have exactly one week to complete your responses and return your completed work to all the members of your committee, as well as The Coordinator at the exact TIME one week from the DATE . Make sure that you answer all the parts of a given question unless the question gives you license to do otherwise. 

Oral Examination #1

The 1-hour oral examination #1 will follow the written examination #1 in approximately two weeks. Proceeding to the oral examination does NOT indicate a passing performance on the written.

Comprehensive Examination #2

(Approximately 2 months after Exam 1)

Your second comprehensive tests your familiarity with and ability to talk about methodologies and theories critical to comparatist analysis and asks you to position yourself within the broad discipline of Comparative Literature by specifying particularly methodologies/theories that will likely inform your future teaching and scholarship. For this examination, in consultation with your advisors, you will create a bibliography of key works from three methodologies/theories in which you wish to prove competence. These should pertain to at least two of the four areas of the core requirements and, where possible, be pertinent to your projected dissertation topic. You should be able to demonstrate knowledge of the origins of these methodologies and theories and key debates and practices and you should also be prepared to give examples of applications. Methodologies/theories might include postcolonial theory, performance theory, queer theory, affect theory, comparative performance study, cultural geography, theories of sound, media theory, philology, translation theory, etc. 

Written Examination #2

Student Name: Comprehensive Examination No. 2   (Theory/Methods) Committee Members:

This written examination consists of three questions that address the annotated bibliography that you submitted to your committee for this examination. These questions will be made available to you at a specific  TIME  on  DATE . You will have exactly one week to complete your responses and return your completed work to all the members of your RAC, as well as The Coordinator at the exact TIME one week from the DATE . Make sure that you answer all the parts of a given question unless the question gives you license to do otherwise. 

Oral Examination #2

The oral examination #2 will follow the written examination #2 in approximately two weeks. Proceeding to the oral does not indicate a passing performance on the written.

Comprehensive Examination #3 (aka "Proposal")

(Approximately 2 months after Exam 2)

Your third comprehensive explicitly prepares you to write your dissertation. It consists of a 20-25 page dissertation proposal, including detailed prospectus, primary texts, and critical sources, followed by a defense of the proposal. You will work with your Primary Research Advisor to prepare the proposal. Once you and your Primary Research Advisor are satisfied with your draft, you will circulate it to your RAC. The 1-hour oral defense will follow approximately two weeks later.

Written Examination #3/Proposal

A 20-25 page dissertation proposal challenges you to generate a blueprint of your project. It is usually composed of the following or most of the following elements:

• Abstract: a two to three sentence summary.
• Introduction: The introduction paints the "scholarly landscape." It addresses the following such questions: what is the issue or problem you mean to address, how does your inquiry relate to the (sub)field, and how does it fit into the current scholarly conversation?
• Review of scholarship (literature review): A review of scholarship addresses the following such questions: what have been the major developments relating to your topic, what are some questions that have been left open, and how do these lacunae bring you to your topic?
• The question: What is the problem or issue your dissertation will address, and what do you foresee as its contribution to the field?
• Methodology: This section outlines the conceptual/theoretical framework. Which theorists or school/s of thought do you expect to be using and why?  What is comparatist about your study?
• Research to date: Summarize what you have already done.
• Preliminary Outline: This section should include preliminary chapter divisions with brief explanations of what is in each (and even how one leads to the next).
• Timeline for Completion
• Selected Preliminary Bibliography

Oral Examination #3/Proposal Defense

In the 1-hour oral defense, your examiners will be trying to make the following judgments about your proposal: Is the topic viable? Is it original? Is the central question significant? Do you have the knowledge and skills needed to address the problem? Are the methods sound? Will the theory and methods enable you to make an argument? Are you likely to finish in a timely manner? The proposal generally serves as the basis for your introductory chapter and serves to guide you through the process of researching and writing your dissertation.

Title, Scope, and Procedure (TSP)

(Before starting 5th year of graduate study)

Although usually linked with the Dissertation Phase, the Student may want to bring work on their Title, Scope and Procedure (TSP) form as part of their prospectus. You must file your TSP form before starting your fifth year of graduate study.

Your project's "scope" defines its limits—what you intend to cover and what you intend not to cover. Your "procedure" describes the manner in which you intend to conduct your research. By defining the scope and procedure of your dissertation, you provide an initial outline or model for yourself as you research your topic.

You may file your  Title, Scope, and Procedure Form  as soon as your Research Advisory Committee (RAC) has signed it. The form also serves as a contract between you and your RAC. RACs normally consist of three tenured or tenure-track Washington University faculty members from within your degree program. These three members normally continue to become the core of the larger five-member Dissertation Defense Committee. 

Your dissertation's title, scope, and procedure may change in the course of your research. You are not required to file an amended form with the Graduate School, although getting your committee’s written approval of the changes may be advisable.

More information on the TSP can be found at  Dissertation Guidelines

Questions from students may be addressed to The Coordinator or [email protected] , including for a copy of the explicit examination procedures and regulations including time frame and approximate numbers of works included on each examination. The Coordinator will work with you and your committee to schedule all of the steps in the examination process.

Problems arising during the process that for whatever reason require intervention or mediation should be directed to the Director of Comparative Literature.

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Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Portfolio

Portfolio components:.

The required components below must be submitted in every portfolio, while each of the four fields can be satisfied by one of the three options below, at the approval of the faculty examiner. As long as all required components are submitted, a component can be repeated between the fields.

• Article manuscript submitted for peer review
• Dissertation prospectus
• External grant submitted (or ready for submission)
• Statement of Teaching Philosophy
• Each of the four fields satisfied by one of the following:
• Minimum 5,000-word state of the field essay based on a reading list of at least 30 books and articles.
• Course portfolio for a 15-week course in the field including annotated syllabus, sample lecture outlines, and sample assessments.
• Alternative assessment component proposed by faculty member subject to grad committee approval.
• Students must meet with all committee members to answer questions about their work in the portfolio, their progress, and their trajectory. The structure of the Oral Exam remains the same, discussing the written components first, and then focusing on the dissertation prospectus with the fifth committee member.

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Comprehensive Examination, Prospectus, & Dissertation

Comprehensive PhD Examination

1. General information:   Your comprehensive exam will test your knowledge in areas of specialization appropriate for your anticipated dissertation topic.  The exam will take place in the second or third year, depending on whether you are entering with a BA or MA and, if the latter, how many coursework credits have been applied from the MA. (See "Timelines" section of handbook.)  You will take your exam in the spring semester. The exam is based on a reading list that you assemble in close consultation with the members of your committee.  It consists of a take-home written exam followed by a two-hour-long oral examination that concentrates on the written exam, but may also address texts and topics on your reading list that are not covered in the written exam.  (Note:  your committee chair and two additional committee members will submit questions for your written comprehensive review.  All of your committee members will participate in your comprehensive exam defense.)  The composition of the comprehensive exam committee follows the guidelines of the prospectus & dissertation committee composition below.  Once you pass the comprehensive exam, you will need to submit the candidacy application for an advanced degree.  See #4. Graduation Requirements below.

2 . Reading list : You will design your reading list for the comprehensive exam in close consultation with your advisor and your dissertation committee.  Your committee must approve the list.  The reading list should include a body of work roughly equivalent to at least thirty book-length works, and it should include a significant amount of material related to your secondary concentration. You will also write a 3-4-page abstract describing the coherence of the list and articulating a research goal related to the list. 

3. Exam format: You will be given three groups of two or three questions each, and you will choose one question from each group. Your responses should be about 10 double-spaced pages each.  The exam will be e-mailed to you by the Graduate Program Assistant or your committee chair by 2:00 pm on Friday.  You should return your responses to the Graduate Program Assistant by 2:00 PM the following Friday. You may also start your exam on another day of the week, as long as the Graduate Program Assistant or your committee chair is available to send the exam to you.  You will then be responsible for submitting your responses one week later.  You can consult any materials you wish while writing your exam.

Prospectus & Dissertation Committee

After successful completion of the comprehensive examinations, you will form a dissertation committee and prepare a dissertation prospectus, which you will submit no later than the end of the fifth week of the semester following the successful completion of the comprehensive examination, to be followed by its defense a week later.

• Dissertation advisor: It is permissible for the dissertation advisor to be different from the comprehensive examination advisor and different from the MA thesis advisor. 
• Committee composition: The committee is formed in consultation with the Graduate Associate Chair and the dissertation advisor.  The committee is comprised of the committee chair and four other graduate faculty members. The chair must have a regular Graduate Faculty appointment in the German Program.  One committee member must come from outside your home department (GSLL). A member of GSLL’s REEES Program may count as the outside committee member with the approval of the Graduate Associate Chair and the Graduate School.  The other committee members must have regular or special Graduate Faculty appointments.  (In general, all CU tenure-track faculty have regular appointments, and some instructors and affiliated faculty members have special appointments.  See the Graduate Program Assistant for more information.)   The majority of the committee must be members of the German Program faculty.  With permission of the Graduate Associate Chair, a faculty member from another university who has special expertise in the student’s dissertation topic may also be a member of the committee.  Permission to include such a member must also be obtained by petitioning the Graduate School. (See the Graduate Program Assistant for assistance.)  Once finalized, the names of the dissertation committee’s members are submitted for approval to the Graduate Associate Chair.   After the Graduate Associate Chair approves the committee, the student should submit the names of committee members to the Graduate Program Assistant.  The dissertation committee should be finalized no later than the end of the fifth week of the semester following the successful completion of the comprehensive examination.

The prospectus should be approximately 2500 words long (no longer than 3000 words) and provide an outline of the dissertation argument, your rationale for choosing the topic, an overview of relevant secondary literature, a timeline for its completion, and a bibliography. The prospectus defense will take place with the members of the dissertation committee. The prospectus should be submitted no later than the end of the fifth week of the semester following the successful completion of the comprehensive examination, to be followed by its defense a week later.  The prospectus defense lasts approximately an hour. If the prospectus is approved, the student begins to write the dissertation; if the prospectus is not approved, the student may be put on probation.

Dissertation

1. General information: You will formally begin to write your dissertation after you have successfully completed your comprehensive exam and defended your dissertation prospectus. You should work closely with your dissertation advisor and committee members as you are writing your dissertation. In particular, you are advised to submit draft copies of each chapter to all members of your committee. Any subsequent changes to your "timeline for completion" will need to be circulated to the committee for approval. 

You will submit a final draft of your dissertation to your committee members at least three weeks before your defense. See the Graduate School website for dissertation specifications .

2. Dissertation hours: You must register for a total of 30 dissertation hours.  You may not register for more than 10 dissertation credit hours in any one semester.  No more than 10 credit hours taken prior to the semester in which the comprehensive exam is passed may be counted toward the 30 dissertation hours required for the degree.  You must be enrolled in a minimum of 5 dissertation hours during the semester in which you defend your dissertation (including summer session, if the defense is held over the summer).  To register for dissertation hours, e-mail the Graduate Program Assistant the number of hours you would like to register for, and the name of your dissertation advisor.

3. Continuous registration requirement:  You are required to register continuously for a minimum of five dissertation hours in the fall and spring semesters of each year, beginning with the semester following the passing of the comprehensive exam and extending through the semester in which you successfully defend your dissertation.

A student not required to maintain full-time status and not using campus facilities may claim off-campus status.  In such cases, registration for three rather than the minimum of five dissertation credit hours is allowed. Off-campus status (3 credits of dissertation hours) is considered part-time.  All University considerations for part-time status apply.

A student who fails to register continuously for dissertation credit hours after passing the comprehensive exam must retake and pass the exam, and validate any coursework more than five years old, to regain status as a student in good standing with the graduate school.  At its discretion, the department may petition the Dean of the Graduate School for a time limit for completion of all degree requirements of up to one year after retaking of the comprehensive exam.  The department must petition the Dean of the Graduate School to waive the requirement to retake the comprehensive exam.

4. Graduation deadlines: Students will begin to submit paperwork for graduation the semester they pass their comprehensive exam. See the Graduate School Deadlines for PhD students.

• The online Candidacy Application for an Advanced Degree must be submitted no later than two weeks after passing the comprehensive exam (form should not be submitteed before passing comps).  Students should list no more than 30 hours of courework required for the PhD (any courses not listed on the candidacy applicaiton could potentially be used toward another degree).
• To graduate, you must apply online through MyCUinfo. (Click on student tab, Academic Resources, “apply for graduation”).  
• The Graduate Program Assistant will submit the PhD Exam Report form to the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to your PhD dissertation defense to receive approval of your committee. At least two weeks before your defense, email the Graduate Program Assistant date, time and location of your defense.
• Check the “ Deadlines for Doctoral Degree Candidates” on the Graduate School website for dissertation defense deadlines.
• Students should submit the online Thesis Approval Form (TAF) once their committee has approved the dissertation for submission. The committee chair and one commiittee member will need to sign the TAF.  Student will need to upload a copy of their dissertation when submimtting the TAF.

If you are unable to meet the spring graduation deadlines, you have the option of summer graduation.  If you successfully defend your dissertation before summer session A begins (typically at the beginning of June), you will not have to register for summer courses and should submit graduation paperwork and your dissertation using the summer graduation deadlines.  (Note: You should expect to defend your dissertation before the spring semester ends, as many faculty are not available for a dissertation defense once classes have ended.)  Summer graduates are invited to walk in the spring commencement ceremonies, because CU does not hold a summer commencement ceremony.

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Successful defense of the dissertation proposal is also counted as successful completion/passing of the comprehensive exam for the program. A student must complete all coursework (including electives) and defend their dissertation proposal (and pass comprehensive exam in this process) to advance to candidacy. Once the student has advanced to candidacy, the student must also complete a minimum of 12 hours of doctoral dissertation credit. To graduate, the student must also complete and defend the Ph.D. dissertation.

The Comprehensive Examination

Candidates for the Ph.D. take the Comprehensive Examination at the end of their third year of study and no later than October 15 of the fourth year of graduate study. Students who enter the Program with a related M.A. degree are expected to take the Comprehensive Examination no later than the end of the third year.

Purpose of the Comprehensive Examination

The Comprehensive Examination, based on three topics (see the definition of a topic below), serves to determine the candidate's competence in a primary concentration and one or more secondary concentrations, as well as in critical, theoretical, or philosophical methods relevant to and bibliographic skills in Comparative Literature and the candidate's areas of specialization.

Comprehensive Examination Topics

The student develops topics in close consultation with the chair and members of the Comprehensive Examination Committee. A topic is a conceptual issue of considerable breadth that touches on or has implications for study in more than one linguistic and cultural tradition. The purpose of the individual topic is to permit the exploration of a critical problem within a broad spectrum of literary, disciplinary and historical expressions. More than one critical approach to individual literary texts should be reflected among the three topics; the three topics can also be interdisciplinary and should include among them at least three literary, cultural, or linguistic traditions as well as at least two distinct historical periods. Students intending to teach in national literature departments should ensure that among them the topics cover that national literature.

The purpose of each individual topic is to permit the exploration of a critical problem with a literary-historical, interdisciplinary, and/or theoretical focus, using appropriate primary and secondary sources from more than one linguistic or cultural tradition. Critical problems might include translation and interpreting, gender, film and media, word and image, music or other arts, postcolonialism, migration, folklore, and transnational and world literature. Candidates are encouraged to relate theoretical issues to close textual analysis, but the overall examination should not be devoted to developing a single critical approach. Candidates should formulate topics that will inform future publications, teaching, and potentially the dissertation with a concern for their potential as conference papers, a dissertation area, and course syllabi. The three topics as a whole should reflect a broad historical range and engage materials in three language areas. Texts read as primary material for a topic must also be read in the original languages.

For each topic, the student submits for the committee’s approval a bibliography of  approximately 20-25 primary texts and an additional list with an appropriate range of secondary texts.

Selection of the Comprehensive Examination Committee

By the end of the second year of study, the student selects (from among the faculty of the Program in Comparative Literature) the chairperson of his or her Comprehensive Examination Committee, who then becomes the student's primary advisor. With the approval of the Graduate Program Director, a co-chair may be appointed from among the Associated Faculty of the Program. By the beginning of the spring semester of the G3 year, the committee chair and student select the rest of the committee, which consists of at least four members of the graduate faculty: at least two from the Program of Comparative Literature and at least one from another program. The fourth member may come from either inside or outside the Program. 

It is the responsibility of the student to stay in close and regular contact with committee members while preparing to take the Comprehensive Examination. You are expected to meet periodically with your four examiners; ideally, you should plan to have at least one meeting every two or three weeks with one or another committee member. Some faculty members prefer to meet regularly with students (e.g., every other week), while others may prefer to meet with you only two or three times before the exam. If you find that you need to meet more frequently than a particular faculty member has proposed, you should be certain to request more meetings. Be bold; different students have different backgrounds and thus different needs, and faculty members might not always be aware of your circumstances. Should you experience any difficulties meeting with your examiners, please be in touch with the GPD as soon as possible. 

Topic Rationales

The student submits a rationale for each of their three topics. Each rationale should be no more than 800-1200 words and should explain the scope and aims of the topic, as well as how it fits into the student’s wider program of study and career goals. Topic rationales and bibliographies must be approved by the committee. It may be helpful for students to think of these rationales as having the scope and breadth of a course syllabus on the topic. Sample rationales can be consulted; please contact the GPD and your advisor.

Approval of the Topics by the Comprehensive Examination Committee

When the student has selected the three topics, drafted the rationales and bibliographies, and secured the approval of individual committee members, the student arranges an informal meeting of the Comprehensive Examination Committee. This meeting is best understood as an opportunity for dialogue between the student and their committee members where additional comments or recommendations for primary or secondary texts may be offered before the examination.

The final versions of the bibliographies and secondary source lists and any topic proposals approved by the committee are to be submitted to the Graduate Program Director no fewer than 30 days before the Examination. These become part of the student’s permanent file.

Examination

All three topics are evaluated by both written and oral examination. Successful completion of this examination allows the candidate to proceed to the dissertation.

The Written Examination is a take-home exam. Students write three essays, one on each topic (2500-3300 words each), within a seven-day period agreed upon by the committee. Questions are released to the student at 9 AM on day 1 by the Committee Chair and the essays are returned by the student to the whole committee via email by 5 PM on day 7. Note that late exam submissions will not be accepted and will result in a failing grade. Should an emergency arise, the student should contact the Chair and GPD immediately.

The Oral Examination is a two-hour examination that takes place not more than one week after the written exam. The Comprehensive Exams Committee examines the student for approximately two hours on the candidate’s three topics. The oral examination also includes a review of the candidate’s achievement in critical, theoretical, or philosophical methods as well as bibliographic skills in Comparative Literature and related disciplines in the candidate’s area of specialization.

At the conclusion of the oral examination, the Committee meets behind closed doors and takes a vote to determine whether the candidate has passed or failed. The Committee Chair makes known to the candidate the decision immediately after the examiners have conferred at the conclusion of the oral exam. The Committee Chair, at that time, provides the candidate with an explanation of the Committee’s decision. In the event of a negative decision by the examiners, the student’s committee consults with the Graduate Program Director during the week following the examination. The Graduate Program Director thereupon informs the student either that permission to take the examination a second and final time has been granted, or that termination of graduate studies is advised.

The M.A. en Passant

Upon passing the Comprehensive examination, Ph.D. candidates who did not enter the Ph.D. program with an M.A. degree are granted an M.A. on request. The student must initiate the request for this degree. Students entering with a related M.A. may request the M.A. en passant  only  if they have transferred fewer than  six credits  (two courses) toward their M.A. requirements.

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Comprehensive Exam and Dissertation

Comprehensive examination.

The comprehensive examination covers two different areas of linguistics (normally corresponding to your primary and secondary areas of concentration) and consists of written and oral components.

The written comprehensive may consist of two research papers, two closed-book or take-home exams, or some combination of these. At least one of the two papers or exams should deal with a core area of linguistic theory. The format of the written examination will be determined by your Advisory Committee on the basis of your areas of concentration. When you pass the written examination, you should proceed to the oral portion of the comprehensive within two weeks.

While the written exam format will involve a separate exam for each of the two areas (see below), students following the research paper format may write papers that reflect a combination of their areas of concentration (e.g., sociolinguistics and phonetics, historical linguistics and syntactic theory, etc.). However, the two papers should still indicate breadth of knowledge as well as depth, which could be shown by the use of different research methodologies or by focusing on different languages, for example.

Details specific to the different formats of the exam are given below.

A. Written comprehensive exam

1. research paper format, first paper.

• No more than ~25 pages, usually a revised and expanded version of a paper written for a course
• Must be approved by the Major Professor and then submitted to other members of advising committee
• At the discretion of the committee, if the first paper is initially presented at the Linguistics Colloquium or at a conference, the oral defense of the first paper may take place at the same time as the defense of the second paper. 

Second Paper

• If based on a paper written for a course, the second paper should go well beyond the original course paper in depth and/or breadth
• Must be approved by Major Professor then submitted to advisory committee for approval
• Once the paper has passed, the 90-minute oral comprehensive exam will be scheduled as outlined below.

2. Take-home exam format

• The two finalized reading lists MUST be sent all three members of the advisory committee AT LEAST 2 WEEKS BEFORE THE EXAM.
• There will be a separate exam for each reading list, and the exam format will be determined by the Advisory Committee 
• To pass each exam, the student must demonstrate a good understanding of the subject matter and provide a level of detail and quality of argumentation commensurate with the time and resources allowed.

3. Closed-book exam format

• The exam may be hand-written or typed on a computer at the discretion of the committee.

B. Oral comprehensive exam

The Doctoral Oral Comprehensive Exam must be announced with the Graduate School, as it is technically a public event. You must contact the Graduate Coordinator's Assistant to announce your Oral Comprehensive Exam two weeks prior to the scheduled event.

The oral comprehensive exam lasts for 90 minutes. It will begin with an oral defense of your second research paper (or both the first and second papers if the separate "mini-defense" of the first paper is waived by your committee) or a consideration of your performance on the written exams, but after this, questions may range over any material on the exam reading lists and/or your program of study.

Written and oral exams will be graded on the scale High Pass/Pass/Fail. Two passing votes are required to pass each portion of the exam.

If you should fail any portion of the exam, you may retake it once, no sooner than two weeks after the first attempt but within one additional semester. If you should fail this portion of the exam a second time, you will be dismissed from the program.

Dissertation Prospectus

Within one semester after passing the comprehensive examination, you should submit a dissertation prospectus to your Advisory Committee for approval.

The prospectus should propose a problem for a doctoral dissertation, ascertain the originality of the idea with reference to available literature, and demonstrate the availability of means and materials required to solve the problem.

The prospectus need not be lengthy, and should not exceed 5,000 words (excluding references).

When you, your Major Professor, and your Advisory Committee agree that the prospectus is complete, a copy must be filed with the Department Head. The Head will publish a list of dissertation topics currently in progress in the department for the faculty and students at least once per year, along with the names of the students and their Advisory Committees.

Click here for instructions regarding the dissertation prospectus

Dissertation and Oral Defense

Upon approval of the prospectus by the Advisory Committee, you will prepare a dissertation. The dissertation is based on original research which makes a significant contribution to knowledge in some area of theoretical and/or applied linguistics.

Previous dissertations by students in the department are available for your consideration.

You must present a bound copy of the completed dissertation to the department. Theses and dissertations will be otherwise submitted electronically to the Graduate School. Consult the UGA Graduate School Policies and Procedures regarding electronic theses and dissertations.

You must contact the Graduate Coordinator Assistant to announce your Oral Comprehensive Exam two weeks prior to the date of the defense. The oral defense of a dissertation must be announced with the Graduate School, as it is technically a public event.

When you and you Major Professor agree that the dissertation is complete, it must be circulated to the other members of the Advisory Committee at least three weeks before the date of the defense.

The defense itself must be scheduled for at least one week prior to the deadline for submission of the completed thesis to the Graduate School prior to graduation.You will defend your dissertation in an oral examination of approximately 90-120 minutes.

Updated: 8/8/2023

 Questions?

Graduate Coordinators [email protected]

Ms. Amy Smoler Graduate Coordinator Assistant [email protected]

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Your Personal Program of Study

Advancing the body of knowledge through theory building and testing, our faculty work closely with each student to develop a program of study that is both interdisciplinary and tailored to meet the specific needs and interests of the student.

Required Credits

Our doctoral program requires full-time study on campus at UNC-Chapel Hill and completion of at least 48 graduate credits:

Program Requirements

Our Ph.D. program can be completed in as little as three years, and many students choose this path. With four years of guaranteed funding, others elect to stay longer to compete more effectively for research-intensive positions at Research 1 universities or to pursue more ambitious dissertations.

Students typically complete 10.5 credits (three, 3-credit courses, plus MEJO 801 for 1.5 credits) each semester their first year. They take 3-4 courses per semester in the second year. They then spend the remaining year or more enrolled in 3 credits per semester, focusing on completion of comprehensive exams and then the dissertation.

An example of how a student could progress through the program:

Credit breakdown

• 9 credits from three core courses
• 12 credits (four courses) in a substantive area
• 12 credits (four courses) of research methods
• 9 other course credits (three courses) selected in consultation with a faculty adviser
• 6 dissertation credits

Core courses

Our core courses ensure that students have a sufficiently broad base of understanding of the key areas of our field and are introduced to the academy. They equip you to talk intelligently with colleagues in various specialties, make connections between different areas of research, inform your teaching of undergraduates and develop strong relationships with your fellow doctoral students.

• MEJO 703: Mass Communication Research Methods
• MEJO 705: Theories of Mass Communication
• MEJO 801: Professional Seminar in Mass Communication

Additional courses

Each student takes four courses in the substantive area they choose and completes four courses in research methods that align with the student’s area of study and/or dissertation.

A student may earn up to 21 of the required course credits in courses taken outside our school, either in other UNC-Chapel Hill units or at neighboring universities, such as Duke, North Carolina Central or North Carolina State. A student may request up to 3 transfer credits for a relevant graduate course taken previously.

For course descriptions, please visit the UNC-Chapel Hill  course catalog . To review a course syllabus from a previous semester, please visit the Park Library’s syllabus archive .

Comprehensive exams and dissertation

As students finish coursework in their second year, they are also working toward finalizing the five-person committee (three school faculty members, two external members) that will help guide them through written and oral comprehensive exams, the dissertation proposal and defense, and the completion and defense of the final dissertation. Each Ph.D. student is on an individualized timeline, determined in collaboration with the student’s permanent adviser/dissertation chair.

Upon entering the Ph.D. program, each student is assigned an initial adviser to help acquaint the student with our program, culture and faculty. The student then seeks to identify a permanent adviser, who could be the initial adviser or anther faculty member with compatible research interests, by the end of the first year. The permanent adviser provides academic guidance throughout the rest of the program and chairs the student’s dissertation committee.

Prospective students are welcome to contact faculty members whose research interests align with theirs to learn more about their work. But because we assign each incoming student an initial adviser based on both research fit and availability, you should not seek a faculty member’s agreement to advise you. There is an opportunity in the application for admission to list UNC Hussman faculty with whom you’re interested in working.

Substantive Areas of Study

We support the below substantive areas in our school with faculty and courses. Each student selects a primary area in which to conduct scholarly research, while also developing competency to teach and/or practice in that area.

Media processes and production +

Study of the economic, ethical, historical, sociological and technological influences on media. This includes analysis of decision-making and examination of how new ways of conceptualizing news and journalism are influencing management decisions. Current and recent research topics that fall under this heading include changing news values for changing media, work-culture change in an evolving media landscape, shifting conceptualizations of international, ethnic and alternative media, advertisers’ responses to converged and multimedia operations and the influence of ethical standards on media practice and performance.

Legal and regulatory issues in communication +

Study of the law and public policy affecting communication. Current and recent research topics that fall under this heading include First Amendment theory, the intersection of law and ethics, regulation of online media, censorship, intellectual property and government regulation of commercial and corporate speech.

We offer a  dual-degree program  with the UNC School of Law, enabling students to earn Ph.D. and J.D. degrees in about five years, depending on their individual programs of study and progress.

Media uses and effects +

Study of how audiences process media messages and the effects of communication on audiences, often influenced by theoretical frameworks in cognitive, social and developmental psychology. Current and recent research topics that fall under this heading include media impact on health, media and identity, audience uses of media and the effects of news and message design elements on cognitions, affect and behavior.

Health communication +

Study of mediated communication and how it affects health-related attitudes, behaviors and health status. This includes the theory-based study of health messages, campaigns and social marketing, as well as the Internet and emerging communication technologies. Current and recent projects have focused on improving healthy diet, reducing tobacco use, preventing skin cancer, promoting HPV vaccination and increasing safer sexual behavior.

Political, social and strategic communication +

Study of the ways in which organizations, governments and members of social and political groups create and disseminate messages designed to persuade and inform. Current and recent research topics that fall under this heading include the impact of media on the political process and public opinion, the role of media in sociocultural identities, advertising effectiveness and brand communication, crisis communication, ethical transparency in strategic communication, the role of networks in public relations and advocacy, and social media and network analytics.

German Graduate Student Association

Natacha Mally Passes Comprehensive Exam

Congratulations to Natacha Mally who has passed her comprehensive exam in German Linguistics & Applied Linguistics. Great job, Natacha!

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