The PhD emphasis in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies (CLCS) is characterized by its unique combination of depth and breadth — a combination that promotes innovative and illuminating intersections among diverse fields of study. All students must choose a language/culture area beyond English. The department's offerings in French and Spanish are our broadest, though studying either is not a requirement. We also boast strong offerings in Middle Eastern and Asian languages and literatures. Qualified students may tailor individualized programs of study that draw on faculty expertise in areas ranging from Japanese and Chinese literature to Russian and the classics, among others. All students will take theory and topic seminars taught in English that bring together overarching ideas from across the field. A heterogeneous approach to combining courses and topics is encouraged — an approach that continues in the student’s comprehensive examinations, independent research, and dissertation.

Recent graduate seminars in CLCS include topics such as: “The Sublime from Kant to Mishima, Murakami, and Kushner;” “Film, Popular Culture, and Psychoanalysis,” “The Idea of the Self East and West,” “Ecocriticism – Interdisciplinary Perspectives,” and “Iran and the West”.

Prospective doctoral students should hold a University of Utah MA with an emphasis in CLCS or an equivalent degree from another University. In most cases, the candidate’s graduate and/or undergraduate transcripts must demonstrate substantial literary and theoretical course work in at least one of the language/culture areas emphasized by the University of Utah graduate program. Significant deficiencies in preparatory coursework must be made up before admission to PhD-student status. For minor deficiencies, admission is possible but make-up courses may be added as additional requirements. In compelling cases, students with a different entrance profile may be considered for admission providing that the student is sufficiently trained in general literary theory and criticism and that their areas of interest can be accommodated by faculty within the Department of World Languages & Cultures.

Students must take a minimum of 30 credits of coursework for their PhD plan of study. These courses normally include:

1. At least three graduate-level courses listed under the CLCS catalog number in the Department of World Languages & Cultures. Students are encouraged to take seminars with a strong theoretical component.
2. Seven graduate-level courses distributed over the language area(s) emphasized by the student's PhD Program. 
3. In compelling cases, graduate-level course work in other areas (for example, classes in other language areas within the department or allied fields in which a graduate program is offered at the University of Utah) may be approved as areas of emphasis and count for one or more of the seven courses in point 2.
4. A minimum of 14 semester hours of dissertation research (CLCS 7970).

PhD students must also take WLC 6410: L2 Methodologies (Fall) if they did not complete a similar course while studying for their MA.

PhD students who are also TAs (granted a funded Teaching Assistantship) must attend a week-long teacher-training session immediately before each Fall Semester.

WLC PhD Course of Study Worksheet

During the first semester of PhD studies, the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), in conjunction with the CLCS Section Coordinator, will be the student's academic advisors. At the beginning of this semester, the student is to consult with the CLCS Section Coordinator for all coursework to be taken during that semester. By April 1 of the student's first year, the student will form a 5-member Supervisory Committee, in consultation with the DGS and the CLCS Coordinator. From then on, the Chair of the Committee will be the student's advisor in planning their academic program in preparation for their comprehensive examination and PhD dissertation. Supervisory Committee members should include representatives from the department's CLCS faculty as well as from the language/literature areas and any allied field approved for emphasis. Per Graduate School policy, at least one member of the Committee must be from outside World Languages & Cultures.

Students must prove advanced proficiency (defined by the department as the ability to do graduate work) in one language other than English. PhD students specializing in European literature up to and including the Renaissance are required to demonstrate at least "Standard Proficiency" (defined by the Graduate School as able to pass a 1020 course) in either Latin or Ancient Greek as a part of this language proficiency.

At, near, or shortly after the end of all coursework, the student will take both a written and an oral exam called the Qualifying Exam. The Qualifying Exam will consist of three questions drawn from several focus areas (e.g., a problem such as "the subject," "representation," "difference," "gender [and] identity," etc.; a literary period or genre; a theoretical direction such a psychoanalysis, postcolonialism, deconstruction, etc.). At least one question of the exam will reflect the student’s language/literature area(s). The student will consult with the Supervisory Committee Chair to outline the general areas of the three questions and form reading lists. The questions may be oriented toward the student's dissertation topic and may serve to connect what the student has learned from course work with the new research directions they expect to pursue in the dissertation.

Upon successful completion of the Qualifying Exam, the student will submit for approval a dissertation prospectus to all members of the Supervisory Committee within a reasonable time frame to be determined by the Committee Chair. Upon approval of the prospectus, and in regular consultation with the Committee Chair (now referred to as the Dissertation Advisor), the student will write a doctoral dissertation that represents a substantial and original scholarly contribution to the field. Upon completion of the dissertation and preliminary approval by the Supervisory Committee, the candidate will present themself for a public oral defense of the dissertation, which constitutes the "Final Exam."

For more information about the program and courses offered, please visit the General Catalog.