Graduate Program

Requirements

The doctoral program consists of three phases:

1. Coursework
2. Preparation for the qualifying exam
3. Completion of the dissertation

A timeline of this program may be found below.

Coursework

Students taking the PhD are required to fulfill 90 credit hours of study, including 60 credit hours of coursework (normally 15 classes) and 30 in PhD Research.

Coursework is made up as follows:

1. The Colloquium in Visual and Cultural Studies (required for first-year students)
2. Four core courses in critical and cultural theory
3. Four core courses

Qualifying Examination

When coursework is complete, students begin preparing for their Qualifying Examination, which should be completed by the end of the student’s fourth year. In a few cases, the student may be approved—by both the program director and the student’s academic adviser—to take their exam in the spring of their third year. To schedule the qualifying examination, the student needs to prepare three pieces of writing in consultation with their primary adviser:

1. Written dissertation prospectus
2. Preliminary chapter
3. Comprehensive bibliography

These materials should be constituted in consultation with the student’s committee members and should include historical, theoretical, and methodological writings as well as specific objects, texts, and/or discourses that are the subject of the student’s intellectual work. The qualifying examination is an oral exam conducted by the student’s committee based on all three of the required materials. Students automatically receive a master’s degree in the spring following their qualifying examination and formally advance to candidacy.

Dissertation

Upon completion of the qualifying examination, the student advances to the status of PhD Candidate and ABD status. During this phase, students work closely on their dissertation with their adviser and other committee members, submitting draft chapters regularly in order to get feedback and suggestions. Work on the dissertation may take one to three years after the completion of the examination, and should not extend past the student’s seventh year.

Teaching and Research Assistantships Requirements

Students on Visual and Cultural Studies (VCS) stipends (all students except Sproull and Provost Fellows in their first two years) will be expected to complete research assistantships or teaching assistantships the second semester of their first year, both semesters of their second and third years, and the first semester of their fourth year—for a total of six semesters.

Residency Requirements

Students are expected to remain in residence until they have completed their six semesters of TA/RA work (typically by the end of fall semester of their fourth year) or until they have passed their qualifying examination, whichever comes later.

Language Proficiency

VCS does not require language exams. The program does, however, encourage students to develop language competencies especially when called for by their dissertation research or specific field. Students may, for example, petition to audit a language course at the University of Rochester in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures or Department of Religion and Classics.