About PhD Program,
The Ph.D. degree offers students specialized professional training in criticism, theory, research, and the teaching of literary and filmic texts, with an eye towards preparing them to instruct and research at the college and university level. We have an excellent record of placing our students in academic jobs upon graduation. Our past graduates hold a variety of tenured, tenure-track, visiting faculty, and postdoctoral fellow appointments around the country. Students may apply to the Ph.D. program after completing either a B.A. or an M.A. degree. The coursework requirements for the degree are usually 54 or 36 credit hours (typically, 18 or 12 courses) for students entering with, respectively, a B.A. or an M.A. The other basic degree requirements are outlined below. Consult the Course Catalog for specific Ph.D. course requirements.
PhD Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
- Introduction to Critical Theory (ENG 631)
- Breadth requirement: Students must take at least three graduate pro-seminars (ENG 630 courses) in their first two years of coursework. Each pro-seminar offers a general introduction to a comprehensively defined field or period.
- Students must take at least three graduate seminars (ENG 730 courses) in their first two years of coursework. Seminars focus on a particular topic, genre, movement, or critical problem.
- Field Exam Requirement: This has two parts: first, a Field Exam Essay, submitted by April 15th of the 2nd year of coursework, which represents what students take to be their best, revised 20-30 page critical essay drawn from their Ph.D. coursework; and, second, a 3-hour written examination, typically taken during the 2nd year of coursework, that tests students’ ability to interpret, analyze, and critique texts in one of four fields connected to set, general Field Exam Reading Lists (British Literature, American Literature, Film & Screen Studies, and Theory). *Typically, students are waived from the 3-hour, written exam upon admission, conditional upon completing certain coursework. No student may be waived from the Field Exam Essay.
- Language Requirement: Students must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language.
- Qualifying Examination: A 3-hour oral examination, usually taken in a student’s 5th semester (if entering with a M.A.) or 7th semester (if entering with a B.A.), in which students are asked to demonstrate sufficient mastery in two chosen fields of study, based on reading lists students devise in conjunction with faculty advisors.
- Dissertation Prospectus and Dissertation Defense
PhD Funding Coverage,
Fellowships and teaching assistantships include full tuition and living stipend. Some, such as University Fellowships and African American Studies Fellowships, are offered in university-wide competition; others, such as teaching assistantships and creative writing fellowships, are offered within the department. Five years’ financial support is available to Ph.D. candidates. Consult the Graduate School for further financial information.
We try to provide financial aid to all students, but have a limited number of assistantships to offer. Students who are offered financial support receives a full tuition scholarship in addition to an annual stipend of $20,000 – $25,290. Some of these scholarships are configured to include teaching duties. Students have opportunities to teach in The Writing Program (a separate academic unit, specializing in composition) and in the Living Writers course, featuring prominent guest writers from the Raymond Carver Reading Series. Occasionally other classes are available to teach (e.g. ENG 151, Interpretation of Poetry). As well, there may sometimes be an opportunity to intern with BOA Publishing.
We admit students who come from all walks of life and believe they should not be straddled with student-loan payments when they graduate. Talent, not wealth, is the sole prerequisite for admission.
Application Requirement,
Application required materials are due by January 9.
- Submit online Graduate application through Application Management
- The GRE test score results are being waived for the Fall 2025 application.
General GRE Test Score Results / TOEFL Scores
– Subject scores are NOT required. The TOEFL is REQUIRED of all students whose native language is not English. Applicants who are citizens from the following English speaking countries are not required to submit TOEFL testing scores: Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Trinidad, Tobago, and the United Kingdom.
– We do NOTaccept IELTS scores (International English Language Testing System).
– Applicants can submit a photocopied score report directly to Graduate Admissions Processing, Syracuse University, 400 Ostrom Ave. Room 022, Syracuse NY 13244-2900 OR you can self report them on your online application. Our institution code is 2823, the code of English is 2501.
– Do NOT send test scores to the Department of English. - Transcript from Undergraduate/Graduate Institution(s)
One (1) copy of records of all previous postsecondary institutions from which you have/will receive a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and/or Doctoral. You can submit your transcripts via the following methods:
– Uploaded through Application Management(preferred method).
– Transcripts may also be sent electronically to grad@syr.edu.
– You may have your institution(s) send the records to Graduate Admissions Processing in sealed envelope(s), signed or stamped across the seal. If records are received in an envelope with a broken seal, it may disqualify the application. Such records must be sent directly to: Graduate Admissions Processing, Syracuse University, 400 Ostrom Ave. Room 022, Syracuse NY 13244-2900.
– Official degree-bearing transcripts will be required upon the first semester of attendance in the program. Failure to submit such degree-bearing credentials may result in revocation of the offer of admission or dismissal from a graduate program, should admission be granted.
– Do NOT send transcripts to the Department of English. - Letters of Recommendation: Three (3) letters of recommendation
– Recommenders are to upload their letters of recommendation through Application Management(preferred method).
– We accept Interfolio’s letter of recommendation service. Interfolio letters of recommendation are to be sent to grad@syr.edu after you have completed and submitted the application.
– If you have a credential file, and/or if your recommenders will be mailing in their letters, please have them send their confidential letters of recommendation in sealed envelopes on which the recommender has signed across the seal. You should then forward them or have your recommenders send them directly to Graduate Admissions Processing, Syracuse University, 400 Ostrom Ave. Room 022, Syracuse NY 13244-2900. Do NOT send letters of recommendation to the Department of English. - Intellectual Statement (upload to online application)
– In a separate statement of no more than 800 words, outline the intellectual history that informs your decision to pursue graduate study in English. In what historical period(s), body of texts, and/or mode(s) of inquiry are you particularly interested and why? Do you bring any relevant experience, beyond that of a student, to this course of study? What do you plan to do with your degree? Be specific in your responses.
– You do NOThave to submit a Statement of Purpose in addition to the Intellectual Statement. The Intellectual Statement is to be submitted in lieu of a Statement of Purpose. So in other words, MA and PhD applicants submit the Intellectual Statements instead of a Statement of Purpose - Teaching Statement (upload to online application)
– In a separate statement of no more than 600 words, explain your interest in teaching at Syracuse University as part of your graduate program, and describe the skills and experiences that could make you an effective and committed teacher. How is teaching related to your intellectual interests and career goals? Have you ever been a tutor, classroom teacher, or coach? If not, what experiences have prepared you for teaching, including work, community service, or developing your own strategies of learning? Draw on these experiences to explain the skills and philosophy of learning that you would bring to teaching. Although you are not expected to have formal teaching experience before coming to Syracuse University, all graduate students in English with teaching assistantships or fellowships will teach at some time while at Syracuse University. Teaching may include: being a teaching assistant for an English Department lecture course, teaching composition courses in the university’s independent Writing Program, and designing and teaching one’s own courses as a Teaching Associate in the English Department. The teaching statement will be assessed not only for its content but also for its writing. - Writing Sample (upload to online application)
– MA applicants in Englishmust submit a 10 page (typed and double spaced) writing sample on or before January 9.
– PhD applicants in English must submit a 10-25 page (typed and double spaced) writing sample on work they hope to do in a doctoral program on or before January 9.
Application Deadline,
Jan 09, 2025
Application Fee,
There is a non-refundable application fee of $75 for all applicants.
