The Department of American Studies

Ph.D. Requirements

(as of Fall 2008)

Overview

UB requires 72 credits of academic work beyond the B.A., at least 40 of which are beyond the M.A.  Incoming Ph.D. students should meet with the Director of Graduate Studies during their first semester on campus to establish an individualized plan of study.  Students should continue to seek academic advice from their advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies on a regular basis.

Coursework

Courses required for the Ph.D. in American Studies include at least one seminar in a Fieldwork Methods course of at least 3 credits which includes theory and practice of fieldwork methods and is approved by the Director of Graduate Studies in American Studies, plus Topics in Cultural History (two semesters; AMS 503 & 504). In addition, a minimum of ten intensive seminars. Coursework may include offerings from ancillary departments subject to approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Teaching

Students are encouraged, but not required, to design and teach (individually or collaboratively) a course in a major area of American Studies.

Major concentration

Our Ph.D. program requires you to design, in consultation with your academic advisor(s), a coherent interdisciplinary program of study in a major area of the cultures of the Americas.

Minor concentration

We encourage you to focus at least twelve credit hours as a “minor” in a field outside of your central area of study.

Independent Studies and Directed Readings

We encourage you to fulfill your credit requirement primarily through taking graduate seminars. As you approach the completion of your degree, it may be appropriate for you to register for independent studies or directed readings courses with your major professor or another professor with expertise in your area(s) of interest. To register for such a course, you must complete an Independent Study form, which is in essence a contract between you and the professor in which you establish a reading list, a list of written assignments, a method of evaluation, and deadlines. This form must be signed by both you and the professor. Click here to obtain the Graduate Independent Study form (in Microsoft Word format).

Process for completion of Ph.D., in addition to coursework

I. Doctoral Program Committee

Until you establish your doctoral program committee, the department will appoint an academic advisor to supervise and assist you in planning your program. As soon as possible in your Ph.D. studies, and no later than your sixth semester at UB, you should identify the focus of your interests and establish a Doctoral Program Committee. This committee must be composed of a minimum of three members. The major professor (also called a dissertation director or advisor) acts as chair of the committee. All three members must hold the academic rank of Assistant Professor or above at UB. To form a committee, you need to ask three such professors who have expertise in your fields of study to serve on your committee. At least one of them should be a member of the American Studies Department; the others should be core, adjunct or affiliated American Studies faculty. (Note: Your exam committee and your dissertation committee need not be comprised of the same members.)

II. COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION (fall 2004 and beyond)

(also known as preliminary or qualifying examinations)

The Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination involves written essays on each of three questions developed by you, the student, in consultation with your committee and a subsequent two-hour oral examination. The goal is for you to develop and demonstrate a broad knowledge of the field(s) that add up to a comprehensive understanding of your major areas of interest in American Studies and will support the specialized work you will develop later in your dissertation. Through the written and oral exam process, you are expected to synthesize and integrate your learning. The exams should demonstrate that you are in dialogue with the broad literature concerning major problems and issues raised by the exam questions. To achieve this, readings should be selected to assure a broad background in your chosen fields. You also should demonstrate the ability to make interconnections across fields. Your three exam questions must each define a major aspect of your field and must engage their respective topics in three of the following four areas, one for each question:

  1. Critical analysis, theory, and methodology
  2. History
  3. Cultural studies: e.g., literature, media, music, art history, popular culture
  4. Law and policy

Process:

1. Ask the faculty who are best suited as mentors in your fields of interest if they are willing and able to serve on your Comprehensive Exam committee. At least one of the three committee members must be a core faculty member or an adjunct faculty member of the Department of American Studies. You should ask one member of the committee to serve as your primary adviser (also known as the committee chair).

2. Establish a time frame for preparing and taking the comprehensive examination. Typically you should take your exam within one to two semesters after completing your coursework. During the semester(s) in which you are preparing for the exam, you should arrange to sign up for AMS 523: Directed Readings with your primary advisor or another member of your committee. Do not sign up for Dissertation Supervision credits until you have passed your exam.

3. Define fields, questions, and bibliographies for each of the three areas that you will cover on your exam. Each of the three bibliographies should include at least 15 major books and articles that are central to the field in question. You should then devote some months to intensive reading and preparation. In addition to reading these core texts, you may find it helpful to read additional reviews and critical essays that expand your understanding of the field.  For recommendations on preparing fields, bibliographies and questions click here.

4. Consult with your committee members and rework the questions and bibliographies in response to their feedback until the entire committee arrives at a consensus.

5. Once you and your committee have agreed on the final versions of the questions and the bibliographies, you must submit a complete copy of them (with the attached cover sheet -- Comprehensive Questions and Bibliographies Cover Sheet) to the Director of Graduate Studies for approval. This copy must include signatures from all three of your committee members indicating their approval. The Director of Graduate Studies will verify that the questions have been prepared in compliance with the guidelines set forth here and that their academic focus and content has been approved by your committee members.

6. Set dates for the written and oral portions of the examination. You are responsible for for arranging the time and place of the exam in consultation with the graduate secretary and all of your committee members. You should write your three essays over the course of one week, and you must take the oral exam within the following two weeks.

7. Guidelines for Written Examination

The amount that students write varies, of course, but experience suggests that answers of at least 10-15 pages (typed, double-spaced) are appropriate to the kinds of exam questions you ought to be developing. Upon completion, you must provide copies of all three essays to each member of your committee.

8. Guidelines for Oral Examination

The oral exam is developed from the written exam and typically lasts for two hours. The exam committee may want to follow up on issues raised in the written essays or to discuss readings mentioned in the essays but not discussed at length. The oral exam also permits you to elaborate on points that you feel may need more attention than was possible in the written essay. In addition to reviewing your answers and discussing your responses, your committee may suggest refinements and give you feedback toward your dissertation.

At the end of the oral examination, if your committee agrees that you have passed they need to fill out and sign the attached form (click here for Comprehensive Examination Form). This form must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies to be kept in your academic file.

III. APPLICATION TO CANDIDACY

Normally you should expect to file an Application to Candidacy after six semesters of full-time enrollment or when you have completed your course work and are preparing for or have passed your comprehensive examination. You should definitely complete the Application to Candidacy before you begin writing your dissertation. The filing of this application indicates that you are entering the final stages of degree completion. If you plan to graduate in the spring, you should submit the form, complete with the signature of your major professor and/or committee, to the Director of Graduate Studies by October at the very latest. Copies of the form are available from the Graduate School's website (http://www.grad.buffalo.edu/)

Note: Your ATC must be accompanied by copies of the Graduate Independent Study forms described above for every for every independent study or directed readings course that you list on your ATC.

IV. DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS

When embarking on a dissertation, your goal should be to conduct original research that makes a significant contribution to knowledge. Your project needs to show your ability to conduct independent research, to be informed and articulate about the scholarly literature on your subject, and to construct a fresh, substantive and persuasive argument. A dissertation prospectus is a preliminary description of your subject of investigation and your central sources. You should develop your prospectus in consultation with your committee, which must approve it before you proceed with writing the dissertation. Your prospectus should include:

A Working Title that succinctly and lucidly defines your topic.

Thesis paragraph and brief literature review
In your opening paragraph(s), identify the central question or problem that you will address.
What period(s) and place(s) are you focusing on?
Are you focusing on particular writers or historical figures? If so, who? Why?
What field(s) of research is your work situated within?
With which key scholars are you engaged in conversation?
What do you envision as your main intervention in or contribution to the field? In other words,what is original about the project you propose to do? Why do you care about the project? Why should other people care about it---i.e., why is it significant?

Organization
In the Department of American Studies, dissertations typically are organized in four to six chapters (25-35 pages each),

plus an introduction that presents your main thesis, conclusions, claims, or results and situates your project in its field or fields. The chapters usually are organized according to chronology, theme, and/or author/major figure. Your prospectus should provide an explanation of how you plan to organize the dissertation. It also should present a tentative title and summary of central questions or areas of investigation for each chapter.

Sources and Methodology
What kinds of sources will you be using? Where are they located? How will you gain access to them?
Is your research interdisciplinary? Identify the type(s) of methodology you will be using.
___________________________________________________________________________

Your committee will evaluate your prospectus according to the following criteria:
Choice of Project: Originality of the premise, potential contribution to field, clear idea of the research questions and their larger importance
Sources and Methods: Clear idea of where your primary sources are located and how you will access them; originality; interdisciplinarity
Understanding of the Field: Literature review and discussion of the state of the field and subfields; a nuanced understanding of the project’s larger significance
Research Plan: Coherence of the project description, clear outline of how you will proceed
______________________________________________________________________________

After developing a complete prospectus, you must arrange with your committee for an oral defense.
After the defense, your committee will fill out a prospectus evaluation form. If you pass, which means that your committee approves your proposed project, you must then bring the form to the Director of Graduate Studies for final approval.

V. DISSERTATION

A thesis or book of fifty thousand or more words, the dissertation should be an original contribution to the field of American Studies. Dissertations are expected to be significant, meaning that they should contribute to civic and world life as well as to the store of knowledge.

Note: With the help of your advisor, you need to select and follow a consistent style manual (such as the MLA Handbook or The Chicago Manual of Style) in the preparation of your dissertation. The Graduate School will accept any self-consistent format that follows conventions of a recognized discipline. See the Graduate School Policies and Procedures Manual for their requirements regarding pagination, typing, and reproduction.

 

VI. ORAL DEFENSE OF DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

When approaching the completion of your dissertation, you are required to schedule a dissertation defense in consultation with your committee. This oral defense must be attended by the candidate’s major professor and graduate committee. You must inform the Director of Graduate Studies at least a week in advance of the scheduled defense so that the Department of American Studies can post a public announcement of the defense.

VII. FINAL REQUIRED FORMS

(Please download and review the Doctoral Candidate Check Sheet for Graduation, in Microsoft Word format.)

In order to graduate, the following must be on file in the Graduate School:

* an approved Application to Candidacy (with all the necessary attachments, including original transcripts)

* an approval from the outside reader

* one unbound copy of the dissertation

* survey, microfilm and Student Accounts forms

* one extra copy of the title page and abstract (less than 350 words) with major advisor’s name and title appearing where appropriate

* an M-Form

The M-Form (available from the American Studies office) is submitted to the Graduate School by the department to certify that the defense of the dissertation was satisfactorily completed and that ALL academic requirements for the degree have been satisfied. This form must be signed by the major professor, the committee members, and the director of graduate studies. You should make sure that the form is signed after your defense and double-check with the department to make sure that it is submitted on time.

Additional rules to remember:

1. You must maintain continuous registration until the degree is conferred.

2. You must fulfill a minimum residency requirement of one year (24 credit hours), which must include two semesters of continuous full-time study in residence under the auspices of UB.

3. Rules regarding transfer credits:

a. A maximum of 32 credit hours of previous graduate work related to the field of American Studies may transfer into your Ph.D. program.

b. Only course work that has been taken within ten years before the date of your admission into UB’s American Studies Ph.D. program can count toward the Ph.D. degree. You may petition the Graduate School to accept older course work if you can provide compelling evidence (e.g., a record of ongoing teaching, research and publishing in the field) that the course work is still current in the field and current in your mind.

c. You may not transfer credits from any course in which you earned a grade lower than a B.

d. At least 36 credits in your Ph.D. program must be exclusive to our Ph.D. In other words, you must earn at least 36 credits on top of any credits that you have applied toward an M.A., even if you earned the M.A. in American Studies at UB.

Academic Review / Probation

The Graduate School’s policy on academic review and probation states that any graduate student who:

1. receives a grade of “U”, “F”, or “D” in any course required for completion of a degree program (e.g., seminar or research course, practicum, student teaching course, internships, field course, or similar application course of thesis), or

2. falls below the minimum academic requirements stated above [earlier in the Graduate School Policies and Procedures Manual], or

3. indicates a lack of ability as determined by the program faculty will receive an immediate academic review by his or her graduate program faculty. Upon completion of the academic review, the graduate program faculty may place the student on academic probation.

In accordance with this policy, the American Studies Graduate Studies Steering Committee will review each graduate student’s transcripts at the beginning of each semester. Any student whose work falls into the categories above, who has two or more outstanding incompletes, and/or who is failing to make demonstrable progress toward the degree will be reviewed. If the committee determines that we have serious cause for concern about the student’s record, that student will be placed on academic probation. Notice of probation will be made in writing and will indicate the terms of the probation and its removal. If the terms are not met, the student may be terminated from our graduate program.

For a complete list of Graduate School Policies and Procedures, visit the Graduate School's website (http://www.grad.buffalo.edu/)