PhD Requirements and Procedures
The PhD builds on a solid core of course work in French and Francophone Studies and includes as well a concentration in an interdisciplinary subfield that may be fulfilled entirely or in part through courses taken in other departments or programs. The degree is interdisciplinary and integrative, drawing on diverse fields for a broad methodological base.
Students must complete a minimum of 54 credit hours, including transfer work and work already presented for the MA degree. For students entering with a BA, it is expected that course work will be completed by the beginning of the third year of study. Students will graduate with a PhD in French and Francophone Studies and a concentration in one of five integrated areas:
- Visual cultures and technologies. Courses in film, urbanism, new media, performance
- European studies. Courses in human rights; political, cultural and institutional histories; Islam in Europe; medical anthropology and ethno-psychiatry
- Francophone colonial and post-colonial studies. Courses in Atlantic, Caribbean and African area studies; Creole(s) and creolization; Arabic and Islamic studies
- Language and identity. Courses in theory, philosophy, ethics and law, minority languages and identities, world languages and literatures
- Linguistics. Courses to include Survey of French Linguistics (FREN 6070), History of the French Language (FREN 6210), Field Research on French in Louisiana (FREN 6110), Special Problems in French Linguistics (FREN 6910), Translation Theory and Practice (FREN 6160), and courses in the Linguistics program (any course with a LING prefix).
The PhD will be conferred on the basis of completed course work, qualifying exams, and reading competence in a language pertinent to field of study, such as Arabic, Creole (both taught within the Department), Spanish, Italian, Latin, or German.
For more information on the requirements for the PhD, see the Graduate Student Handbook.
MA Requirements and Procedures
Course work at the MA level aims to establish a comprehensive knowledge of French and Francophone literature, historically organized, as well as an acquaintance with linguistics, literary theory, and the techniques of literary scholarship.
The minimum course requirements for the MA degree in French are 36 semester hours, taken within the department. A minimum of 3 credits of 7000-level courses is required for the MA.
French 6050 (“Teaching French”) and French 6150 (“Critical Theory”) are required of all MA students and must be taken in the first semester that they are offered after the student enters the program.
The MA will be conferred on the basis of completed course work, the defense of a research paper written under supervision of a faculty member and a second reader.
For more information on the requirements for the MA, see the Graduate Student Handbook.
