THE GRADUATE PROGRAM : REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES.
The Vanderbilt University Department of English offers the Master of Arts, the Doctor of
Philosophy, and the Master in the Art of Teaching degrees. This document describes the
requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, and outlines the responsibilities and
functions of both faculty and graduate students enrolled in the program. When changes are
made in the program, usually by vote of the faculty, both
faculty and graduate students
will be informed in writing by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS).
Revisions to the program are channeled to the full faculty through the Graduate Committee,
which is typically composed of the DGS, four members of the Department appointed by the
Chair, and one graduate student representative elected by graduate students in good
standing.
Beginning graduate students initially register for classes with the advice, consent, and signature of the DGS. They are encouraged to select a primary academic adviser as soon as possible. Out of this relationship come decisions about language study, course selection, long- and short-range preparation for the Comprehensive Examination, and the dissertation. As a student's career progresses and decisions are made about areas of concentration and approach, he or she may change advisers, and will seek the involvement of other faculty, eventually establishing a full committee. Students should apprise the DGS if they make changes in their adviser or committees.
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The Vanderbilt Graduate School and the Department of English offer a number of stipends and scholarships. Such awards are limited and competitive. Normally, financial awards are available to be offered only to students seeking admission for the fall semester. Students already enrolled in the graduate program who are not receiving financial aid may apply for aid by obtaining from the DGS the proper form. Such internal applicants compete with the pool of external applicants.
Amounts and conditions for each type of financial aid vary; see the DGS for details. Financial awards are paid out on an eight-month schedule; the first check is issued in mid-September and the last check at the end of April. Students should be aware that provisions for subsistence over the summer are their own responsibility.
1. The UNIVERSITY FELLOWSHIP is usually given to the first year student as a full scholarship involving no Departmental duties. Students who enter with the B.A. hold this award for the first year.
2. The TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP is given only to students who have completed the M.A. (either at Vanderbilt or elsewhere) by the beginning date of the award. TAs usually teach one section of a variety of 100-level English courses each semester for four years. If extra sections (and, thus, a larger stipend) are available, they are usually distributed by seniority and according to the quality of previous teaching. If, in its annual review of all program participants, the Graduate Committee finds inadequate the progress of any student toward the degree (unmet course or language requirements, one or more Incompletes, poor academic or teaching evaluations), financial support may be terminated. The Teaching Assistantship is available for a maximum of four years.
As teacher, the graduate student comes under the supervision and advice of the Director of Expository Writing (DEW), who conducts workshops prior to the beginning of the fall term in which the basics of teaching writing are discussed. The DEW also consults with each TA on the course syllabus, number and scope of assignments, grading procedures and standards, and a number of other important issues. Insofar as graduate students are teachers, they work with the DEW rather than the DGS.
3. The HAROLD STIRLING VANDERBILT SCHOLARSHIP is a four-year "topping up" award granted in addition to one of the awards mentioned above. This award is given to students entering the doctoral program. Its continuance is contingent upon satisfactory progress toward the degree. HSV awards are competitive among applicants to all graduate programs in the University.
4. The UNIVERSITY GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP is a four-year "topping up" award granted in addition to one of the awards mentioned above. This award is given to students entering the doctoral program. Its continuance is contingent upon satisfactory progress toward the degree. UGF awards are competitive among applicants to all graduate programs in the University.
5. The ARTS AND SCIENCE SELECT SCHOLAR receives a four-year stipend in addition to the basic award. Applicants compete with those for all graduate programs in the College.
6. The DEAN'S GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP is a four-year scholarship for African American students. Fellows are expected to teach two classes, normally during their third year.
7. The RHENEY FELLOWSHIP is a four-year Departmental scholarship which offers a "topping up"stipend in addition to the basic award.
Note: Graduate students in need of extra money or who have reached their award limit may sometimes, with the authorization of the Chair, earn an hourly wage as a grader or research assistant for a faculty member. The Departmental Administrative Assistant usually knows whether grading positions are available.
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Vanderbilt does not normally offer a terminal M.A. degree. Students typically earn an M.A. en route to the Ph.D. This M.A. is designed to be completed in one calendar year by the full-time student. Students who wish to pursue the Ph.D. full-time must complete all requirements for the M.A. in one year in order to be eligible for a second year of financial aid. The Department strongly recommends that students interested in continuing for the Ph.D. complete all first-semester course work on schedule. Because decisions about Ph.D. financial aid are made early in the spring of the M.A. year, the only evidence of a student's ability will be the fall term grades and evaluations. Incompletes at this point could jeopardize a student's future in the program.
[N.B.: By action of the Departmental faculty, instructors may give Incompletes only in cases of illness or unusual personal circumstances, and only with the written approval of the DGS.]
REQUIREMENTS:
1. 24 hours of course work (six hours of which must be in graduate seminars). Up to six hours of transfer credit from another graduate school may be accepted toward the M.A. if approved by the Department and the Dean of the Graduate School. Transfer credit is not automatic; students who have taken graduate courses elsewhere, should, at their first advising session with the DGS, review the graduate transcript with him/her and reach an agreement on which courses will be submitted to the Graduate School for transfer credit. With the permission of the DGS, students may take up to six hours of course work in departments other than English.
2. Foreign Language Requirement. The Ph.D. requirement for Language Study calls, customarily, for the completion of two advanced courses in a foreign literature with a grade of B or better. Students who decide to leave the program with an M.A. are required to take one advanced course in a foreign literature with a grade of B or better or to pass the GSFLT exam in an appropriate language with a score of 550 or better.
3. The Advancement to Candidacy Exam is required of all first-year students, including those who hold an M.A. from another institution.
The Department (Graduate Committee) will choose three books each spring over which students entering in the following fall will be examined at the end of their first year. A list of the books and guidelines for preparing for the exam will be distributed in May to incoming students.
The three categories from which books will be selected are:
(1)English literature from the age of Beowulf up to and including the works of Milton;
(2)Literature of Great Britain and Ireland from the Interregnum to the current decade; and
(3)American literature and that from English-speaking communities, colonies, or sovereign nations.
An exam over these three books and their textual and critical history will be given in early May. The exam will be made up of three two-hour sections, one per book. Each exam will be graded, as a whole, PASS or NOT PASS by three faculty members.
Students who pass all of the requirements will be awarded an M.A., and the Graduate Committee will review their work (the exam, course work, faculty evaluations) to determine whether to recommend to the faculty that they continue toward the Ph.D. Conferral of the M.A. degree to students holding an M.A. from another institution may be declined by the student if he/she makes this request to the DGS, in writing, before the time of the Advancement to Candidacy Exam.
Students who do not pass the Advancement to Candidacy Exam may retake it once. If they pass the second time they will receive an M.A. and their year's work will be reviewed by the Committee. Students who fail a second time or who do not wish to retake the exam may take two additional graduate English courses with a grade of B or better for a total of 30 hours, at which point they will receive a terminal M.A.
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The Ph.D. is designed to be completed by the full-time student in four years following the M.A. degree; financial support is limited to this time period. The Department therefore encourages students to begin thinking about the dissertation as soon as possible, perhaps as a continuation of a seminar paper or of an independent study project. Because of the tight schedule, students are again strongly discouraged from taking Incompletes in any course and may do so, in any case, only with permission of the DGS. Accumulating Incompletes hinders progress toward the degree and imperils continuance of financial aid.
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After receiving the M.A., the doctoral student must take 27 additional hours (nine courses) of course work, 18 hours (six courses) of which must be graduate seminars (students who have taken their M.A. at Vanderbilt may of course count any seminars above the two required for the M.A. toward the additional six required for the Ph.D.).
Full-time Ph.D. students take nine hours of course work for each of three semesters. Graduate seminars offer in-depth study of a genre, author, historical period, or special topic. The 200-level courses approach material in a more introductory way; graduate students enrolled in 200-level courses, in consultation with the instructor, will be expected to do additional work beyond the undergraduate requirements for the course. Not all 200-level courses are open for graduate credit. For each advising cycle the DGS will know which 200-level courses are appropriate for graduate students.
The student must select courses in each of the following six historical areas:
These area requirements may be satisfied by designated 200-level courses or by graduate courses. The DGS can identify which 200-level courses fulfill distribution requirements. Instructors of 300-level courses indicate whether seminars satisfy historical area requirements. One semester of English 350 (Independent Study) may be counted without prior approval towards the satisfaction of an historical period requirement; subsequent semesters of 350 must have the prior approval of the DGS to be so used. English 350 does not normally count toward the 18-hour seminar requirement.
After receiving the M.A., students are encouraged to take up to nine hours outside of the Department for English graduate credit. A student wishing to take additional hours must petition the Graduate Committee, explaining the usefulness and appropriateness of such courses for her/his plan of study. An unlimited number of courses that are cross-listed with the Department of English may be counted toward the Ph.D.
Students are free to suggest seminar topics to the faculty, but because of scheduling deadlines and other exigencies should do so at least a year before hoping to find them formally incorporated into the curriculum. The Department cannot promise to adopt all suggestions, but it will strive to respond positively to them insofar as its resources and commitments allow.
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The Graduate School accepts up to 24 semester hours (or the equivalent in quarter hours) for students who enter with the M.A. During the first semester, students entering with an M.A. should review their graduate transcript with the DGS and reach an agreement on the courses to be transferred. The DGS submits the official request for transfer credit and makes decisions on which M.A. courses, if any, shall be applied to the distribution credit requirement for the Ph.D.
Normally the Graduate School does not accept more than 24 hours of transfer credit. If a student's situation in that regard is extraordinary, he or she and the DGS will have to make a special request to the Graduate School. Transfer credit for graduate courses taken while a student is enrolled in the Vanderbilt Graduate School is not automatic either. Students should discuss any plans to take courses elsewhere with the DGS as early as possible in advance of registering for them. It is advisable to obtain provisional approval from all parties before enrolling in courses at institutions other than Vanderbilt.
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1. Students must demonstrate competence in one language other than English appropriate to their planned area of concentration. "Competence" means the ability to read texts in the chosen language(s) with excellent comprehension.
2. The Foreign Language Requirement is overseen by the Graduate Committee. As there are a variety of ways to fulfill this requirement, students should discuss their options with the DGS. All students, including those who have extensive foreign language backgrounds, must submit a proposal for fulfilling the Foreign Language Requirement.
3. Students will provide to the Graduate Committee proposals for completion of the Foreign Language Requirement by the fourth week of the spring semester of their first year in residence.
4. Students will normally demonstrate their competence in language study by earning a B or better in two advanced (undergraduate) literature courses in the chosen language(s) at Vanderbilt or another institution. Students should provide a copy of their transcript to the Graduate Committee as well as a description of the work completed. Any undergraduate foreign literature course will count toward this requirement, regardless of course number (including those listed in the course catalog as introductory) as long as the course is taught in the foreign language and literary study is the primary focus of the course. Courses which do not meet this requirement are those that focus on language instruction or the introduction to a national culture. Upon certification that they have completed at least two advanced courses in the foreign literature, students will be advised that they have fulfilled the Department of English Foreign Language Requirement. Such "transfer" credit is not automatic; students must provide the above documentation.
5. Because one objective of the requirement is for students to integrate their language study into their course work, students are encouraged to propose various equivalents to one or both of the courses in foreign literature:
(a) a substantial research or critical paper, written in English, which uses a significant number of sources (whether literary or critical) in the foreign language/literature. Such a paper might discuss a foreign literary text or compare a foreign literature or critical tradition to that of English or American literature and traditions;
(b) a translation. Students should present a strong rationale for translation as furthering their specific goals of language and literary study. Students are urged to work with appropriate faculty in determining their proposed alternatives.
Any student's failure to complete the Language Study Requirement for the Ph.D. before the end of the fifth semester of graduate work will be construed by the Graduate Committee as unsatisfactory progress toward the degree, and may result in suspension of aid.
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All students must take the Comprehensive Examination in the fall of the third year after the M.A., i.e., in the seventh semester of graduate work. In the interests of equity, postponements (usually only until the following semester) are very rarely granted, and only in cases of unusual hardship. Requests for postponement must be made in writing to the Graduate Committee. Failure to take the examination on schedule is prima facie evidence of unsatisfactory progress toward the degree, and is likely to result in the termination of financial aid.
The Comprehensive Exam requires students (1) to demonstrate mastery over a field of literature in relation to relevant critical, historical, social, linguistic, and theoretical issues; and (2) to begin applying their research to an emerging dissertation project. Including a written and oral component, the structure of the exam encourages students to develop their scholarly and professional identities, as they are practiced in the profession at large.
Students should begin selecting a committee of four members as soon as possible after beginning graduate study, and work with it to develop lists of readings to be covered on the examination. These lists, one for each segment of the exam, should be in completed form and approved in writing by the appropriate advisers well in advance of the date of the Comprehensive Examination; the Department suggests that the lists should be approved by each adviser by the end of the spring semester preceding the exam.If there is any doubt that a student's choices in or definition of these areas might depart from the English Department's past practice and standards, the student should seek the advice first of the advisory committee and second of the DGS. If necessary, any dispute will be decided by the Graduate Committee in consultation with the people involved. Examination committee members are not bound by these lists, and may branch into related areas. Students should work sufficiently with committee members to be aware of their particular interests and specialties; students should also open communication with this committee as soon as possible, both for practical assistance in preparing for the examination and for the longer-range support needed when writing the dissertation.
For the Comprehensive Examination and for the dissertation defense, one additional faculty reader from outside the English Department is required. This fifth person may read but does not grade the written examinations; he or she participates in the oral stage of the Comprehensive. If a student cannot suggest an appropriate person for this role, the DGS will help.
The exam consists of three parts:
PART I: A nine-hour written exam on three of the following fields of literature (three hours each, to be taken over a consecutive three-day time span). Two fields will be chosen as a major focus; one field will be chosen as a minor focus, for which the expectation of coverage will be less comprehensive. Two of the three fields must be historically or conceptually continuous. Students will be expected to exhibit a substantial knowledge of the social, political, and intellectual history of the periods they present. How this knowledge should be developed and how substantial it must be shall be determined by faculty field committees. The intended dissertation topic must be included within the major focus.
Fields are defined as:
PART II: Within two weeks of the completion of Part I, students will write an account of their proposed dissertation topic. This paper will take the form of a two-hour, ungraded response to the following question:
Write an essay outlining your prospective dissertation topic. Discuss the topic’s relevance to one or more of the fields of Part I of your Comprehensive Exam. Insofar as possible, indicate the ways in which the dissertation will be a contribution to learning or to an ongoing scholarly debate. Specify previous work done on your topic by other scholars and the ways in which your project will revise or extend that previous work.
This paper is not intended to replace a formal dissertation proposal, but rather involves a brief description of the student's intended project which will serve as the basis of discussion during part of the oral exam.
PART III: Provided that the student passes Parts I and II, there will follow a two-hour oral exam, during which the committee will further probe the student's knowledge and think together about the dissertation project.
A High Honors Pass will be awarded to those students whose performance on all parts of the Comprehensive Examination merits such distinction.
Any failed portion of the examination may be retaken once, early in the next semester. Variations in that schedule may be granted by the Graduate Committee in extraordinary circumstances only. Failure on any retaken portion of the Comprehensive Examination will result in dismissal from the graduate program.
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The dissertation proposal must be approved by the dissertation director and the other members of the dissertation committee. The student should submit a copy of the proposal to the dissertation director, for her/his signature, and to each member of the dissertation committee. When the proposal has been approved, the student should bring a copy to the DGS for filing. The only signature required is the director's on the first page of the proposal.
The proposal should be seen as a working paper, not a legal contract, for the writer's ideas will inevitably change as he/she writes. Proposals vary in length, but should be long enough to indicate the scope of the dissertation work, the area of existing research or scholarship in which it fits, the types of materials to be considered (published texts, archival materials, etc.), the elements of an argument for its usefulness, and a short bibliography of primary and secondary sources. Students may examine copies of dissertation proposals on file in the office of the DGS.
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| Important: By regulation of the Graduate School, a student has four years after passing the Comprehensive Examination tocomplete the dissertation. During this time, a student must maintain continuous registration with the Graduate School even if not in residence here (a minimal fee is charged each term). A student who does not finish the dissertation within the allotted time may apply to the Dean of the Graduate School for an extension of eligibility. |
Writing a dissertation may be the most demanding task confronting a graduate student in English, and should be somewhere on the student's mind (short of obsession) from the outset of the graduate career. A student will produce a considerable amount of scholarly writing in graduate course work; there is every reason to hope that some of that writing can be incorporated into the dissertation. A brief review of dissertations in English literature in the library might help quiet anxieties on this point and increase confidence in one's ability to write an acceptable thesis.
In general the English Department considers the doctoral dissertation to be a book or "proto-book." There are no rigid, quantitative guidelines, but the Department does operate on the basis of certain basic expectations and assumptions:
The dissertation committee, including one faculty member from outside the English Department, should be kept informed of dissertation progress at every stage, and called upon for counsel whenever a need arises. The student should also be aware of schedules set by the Department and the Graduate School each term for submission of a final dissertation draft to the committee and a final copy to the Graduate School. Lectureship deadlines must also be kept in mind. Students should keep each member of the committee informed of the progress of the dissertation, and are generally encouraged to submit portions of the work as it progresses, especially to the dissertation director, for correction and comment.
Students are required to attend a defense of their dissertation; this requirement will be waived by the Graduate Committee only if attendance would create significant hardship on the student. The Department strongly recommends that the final draft of the dissertation be in the hands of the readers at least two months before the anticipated date for the defense. The English Department is not obliged to schedule a dissertation defense with less than two months notice. The DGS will schedule an oral defense of the dissertation once the reading committee has approved it.
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Each fall and spring the Graduate School offers special awards of up to $2000 to assist dissertation research. These awards are used most often to meet travel expenses for research projects (one student received a grant to interview Stephen Spender in London and to work at the British Library; another's month-long research at the Folger Library was similarly funded, as was the study of a third in Italy). Any student whose dissertation proposal has been accepted by the Graduate Committee may compete for one of these awards. Further information may be obtained from the DGS or from the Graduate School.
Selected fifth-year students may also be allowed to teach both of their freshman sections in one term, in order to devote the other to full-time dissertation research and writing. And occasionally, the exceptional student may be invited to teach three classes in the eighth term, so as to earn a full year free of teaching responsibilities.
Each graduate student is eligible for one Travel Grant from the Graduate School to cover expenses incurred in presenting her/his research at a professional meeting. To be nominated for a Travel Grant, the student must submit a completed Application for a Graduate Student Travel Grant form to the DGS at least several weeks prior to the conference. (These forms are available in the DGS's office.) The maximum sum granted each year varies, and the competition for these awards has increased in recent years. The Graduate School will supply the student who wins a Travel Grant with the forms necessary to obtain reimbursement.
Several awards are bestowed each year, by the Department and by the College of Arts and Science, for outstanding graduate student work.
The EDGAR HILL DUNCAN AWARD is given, upon nomination to the Graduate Committee and recommendation by the full faculty, to the graduate student whose entire career has shown the highest standards of achievement and promise for the future. The award is based on consistently excellent performance in course work, distinguished performance on the Comprehensive Examination, and successful graduate teaching.
The T. D. YOUNG AWARD is given for excellence in classroom teaching by a graduate student. Nomination is usually made by the Director of Expository Writing and ratified by the Graduate Committee. Nominations are also welcome from any member of the faculty.
The JOHN M. ADEN AWARD is given for excellence in graduate student writing. Students are nominated by members of the faculty, and submit nominated papers to the Graduate Committee. After the authors' names are removed, the Committee reads the nominated papers and delivers its recommendation to the full faculty of the Department.
The three Departmental awards are given each spring. Cash awards accompany each. The Graduate Committee and/or the Department may decide in any or all competitions to split awards or to give no award.
The College of Arts and Science confers the OUTSTANDING GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT AWARD for which the Department is permitted to nominate two Teaching Assistants. Nominations come to the Graduate Committee from several sources, including the graduate students themselves. The Department's nominees compete with Teaching Assistants from all of the graduate departments in the College. There is a cash award, and acknowledgement at a meeting of the Faculty of the College of Arts and Science.
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Grades:
Students are expected to earn a grade of B or better in all courses. Grades lower than C are not computed toward fulfillment of the 24-hour requirement by the Graduate School. Students who receive a C in any course taken for graduate credit will be expected to discuss the grade and their future in the program with the DGS. Any student earning two Cs and/or 4 Bs (or worse) in graduate work in English Department courses at Vanderbilt will be advised to consider resignation from the program. The B- mark represents an instructor's serious reservations about the student's capacity for or dedication to graduate work, and the concurrence of a second or third instructor in the assessment should be interpreted as authoritative discouragement. With the consent of the Graduate Committee, the DGS will invite any student with two Cs and/or 4 Bs to consider withdrawal, and the Graduate Committee will take due notice of records only marginally better than that in its distribution of financial aid.
Progress Toward the Degree:The following schedule should be followed unless the student applies for and receives a specified leave of absence.
| FIRST YEAR | FALL | 12 Hours Course Work |
| SPRING | 12 Hours Course Work (M.A. Course Work Complete) | |
| ADVANCEMENT TO CANDIDACY EXAM | ||
| SECOND YEAR | FALL | 9 Hours Course Work (TA) |
| SPRING | 9 Hours Course Work (TA) | |
| THIRD YEAR | FALL | 9 Hours Course Work (TA) (Ph.D. Course Work Complete) |
| SPRING | 9 Hours Dissertation Research (TA) | |
| FOURTH YEAR | FALL | 6 Hours Dissertation Research (TA) |
| (Language Study Requirement must be completed) | ||
| COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION | ||
| SPRING | 6 Hours Dissertation Research | |
| DISSERTATION PROPOSAL | ||
| FIFTH YEAR | FALL | 0 Hours (TA) (Write Dissertation) |
| SPRING | 0 Hours (TA) (Write Dissertation) |
All students must take the Comprehensive Examination in the first term of the fourth year of graduate study (including the M.A. year)--that is, in the seventh semester after matriculation --and must pass any failed portion of the examination in the first month of the eighth term, when retakes will be scheduled. Failure to satisfy this requirement will result in suspension of aid at the end of the eighth semester. (Failed examinations must be retaken in the next term following failure.) Students who pass the Comprehensive Examination in the seventh (or seventh and eighth) semesters and are otherwise in good standing may expect financial support for the dissertation (the fifth) year, but the Graduate Committee will expect all such students to submit for its review a satisfactory dissertation proposal, endorsed by the dissertation director, during the eighth semester.
After completing Ph.D. course work, a student may request additional teaching sections if they are available. The dissertation must be completed in the eighth year, that is, four years after the student has passed the Comprehensive Examination. The Department of course urges earlier completion if possible, ideally in the fifth year.
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Part-time status is allowed primarily for those students whose financial obligations cannot be met by a Department, College, or University award. Students intending to attend on a part-time basis must inform the DGS upon application to the program.
Part-time students must complete all requirements for the degree within six years of beginning the program.
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The Graduate Committee, in endorsing a request for leave, will require that the student notify the Department and the Graduate School well in advance of plans to re-enter or extend the leave, or to withdraw from the program. In practical terms this means that for leaves of one fall-to-fall academic year, the Committee must be notified by January 15 of plans for the following fall. For a Fall semester leave, the Committee needs to know by 1 December; for a Spring semester leave, by 1 April. The early dates for notification are primarily for budgetary reasons.
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The Graduate Committee is normally composed of five members of the English Department faculty, appointed each year (or continued) by the Chair. One member of the Graduate Committee serves as Director of Graduate Studies.
The graduate students in residence and in good standing each year elect a senior graduate student, one who has passed the Comprehensive Examination, to serve on the Graduate Committee. The graduate student member does not participate in discussions that concern the confidential records of current, former, or prospective students.
The Graduate Committee considers and presents to the full faculty proposals for new graduate courses; considers requests for leaves of absence; considers petitions for variances from stated regulations; serves as the admissions committee for applicants to the graduate program; judges and recommends nominees for the various awards listed above; discusses, formulates, and presents to the full faculty recommendations for changes in the graduate program; considers appeals from individual graduate students in matters relating to Comprehensive Examinations; considers and comments on dissertation proposals; conducts all business that concerns the nature and function of the graduate program in the English Department.
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In general, the duties of the DGS are liaison between the English Department and the Graduate School, and between individual graduate students or groups of graduate students and the Graduate School (if such a service is needed); the monitoring of each graduate student's "progress toward the degree"; scheduling and administration of Comprehensive Examinations; ombudsman in conflicts between graduate students and faculty, when such a role is requested by either side; acting as clearinghouse and, if needed, arbitrator for graduate course offerings; observer in each oral Comprehensive Examination and dissertation defense.
Other specific duties in keeping with the general status of the DGS may occur from time to time.
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Each year in October, December, February, and April, the Modern Language Association publishes a Job List containing descriptions of academic positions in English. The Chair's office makes this list available to graduate students. Each student should establish a dossier with the Career Planning and Placement Service in Alumni Hall containing a Curriculum Vitae and at least three letters of recommendation. Other documents, such as award citations, might also be included. Periodically, students should update the credentials file. Members of the faculty are happy to work with students on the format and content of the c.v. During the fall, faculty will conduct walk-throughs of the application, convention, and interview processes. Graduate students are urged to participate in these rehearsals. When the time comes, students should be sure to discuss the whole matter of finding a job in academia with as many members of the faculty as possible.
Most English Departments now require a completed and approved dissertation from each job applicant, and publications achieved as a graduate student have become increasingly important for distinguishing one applicant from the crowd. It is, therefore, advisable to consider each seminar paper as a potentially publishable essay. Students should also apply for post-doctoral fellowships simultaneously with the job search.The MLA has a non-academic job-finding service for English Ph.D.s. Although this service is still limited, students may wish to investigate it if interested in non-academic options.
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The hardware and software resources of the Microcomputer Lab in Garland Hall are available to graduate students. It offers access to a wide variety of word processing programs and laser printers. Several microcomputers and a modem are also available (for Teaching Assistants only) in a common room in Stevenson Center. Keeping tight security on the computers is essential. Each year one graduate student is urged to volunteer as trouble-shooter for computer problems.
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All graduate students are urged to check their e-mail daily and their mailboxes in Stevenson Center at least twice a week. Your address is Box 1654, Station B, Nashville, TN 37235.
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