The Department’s own PhD program in French prepares students to teach in all areas of French and Francophone literature, thought and culture, stressing both breadth and depth through research seminars and qualifying exams. The program also trains students to be outstanding researchers and important contributors in the field which best speaks to their intellectual passions. Students have the opportunity of studying with some 20 faculty members as well as with many visiting faculty from France. A regular program of lectures, seminars, and workshops at La Maison Française puts students in touch with the most prestigious thinkers and innovative ideas in the fields of French and Francophone studies, be they literary, political, or cultural. In addition, there are many ways of taking advantage of the NYU Paris site, including taking IFS courses or participating in the Global Research Initiative. 

Students who have successfully completed the first-year requirements in French at New York University are normally admitted to the doctoral program on the basis of their performance in courses and on the Comprehensive Examination. Admission may be refused on the grounds of a student's inadequate performance in overall coursework or on the Comprehensive Examination.

The course of studies during the first-year is comprehensive in that candidates are expected to acquire a broad knowledge of all areas of French literature. The first-year includes satisfactory completion of graduate studies totaling at least 32 points and a Comprehensive Examination. Students in French Literature are expected to acquire a solid background in critical practice and a broad knowledge of all periods of French literature by completing at least one course each in six of seven areas (Middle Ages; Renaissance; 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries; Francophone) and one course in textual analysis. 

Following the completion of the required courses, a student must pass a comprehensive examination. The examination will include (1) a written portfolio of papers and examinations produced in the course of the year and (2) an oral component, based on discussion of the works in the portfolio and of a reading list selected by the student in consultation with the first-year advisor and the DGS. The written portfolio and the reading list must both show breadth of coverage. The criteria of selection for the reading list are given at the start of the reading list, see VII. Reading List for the First-year Comprehensive Exam in French (2019-20); the 6 items in the portfolio should be chosen to represent 6 of the different areas listed above. 

First-year candidates must maintain an average of B or better in order to be allowed to present themselves as candidates for the First-year Comprehensive Examination, which is taken at the beginning of the summer following completion of coursework. Any exceptions to the date of the exam may only be made through petition to the Director of Graduate Studies. Students may receive a grade of pass Honors, pass Good, pass Satisfactory, pass Borderline, or fail. Students failing all or part of the exam may take it a second, and final, time.

Work during the first-year will have included six of seven fields: the six period areas (Middle Ages; Renaissance; 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries) and Francophone literature, and a proseminar. PhD students must subsequently take at least one course in the area not previously covered, i.e. the seventh out of the seven fields. Students will take a total of 18 courses or 72 credits for their work in the PhD program. (See “roadmap”)

The course work of PhD candidates should be drawn mainly from the department's diverse offerings in French and Francophone literature, literary theory, and civilization studies, but students are also encouraged to take courses in other departments or through the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium. 

A consortial arrangement allows graduate students from NYU to take courses at any of the member schools. Decisions to do so should be made in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies or the student’s PhD advisor. This program is open to doctoral students from participating schools who have completed at least one year of full-time study toward the PhD. Participating schools include: Columbia University, CUNY Graduate Center, Fordham University, The New School, NYU, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Stony Brook University. For further information and registration procedures, please check the NYU website at https://gsas.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/gsas/academics/inter-university-doctoral-consortium.html

NYU PhD students are expected to have or acquire native or near-native command of French.

Knowledge of a second foreign language is required by the French Department for the doctorate in French. Proficiency must be demonstrated before the completion of the degree, preferably by the end of the 2nd year. This may be satisfied in a number of ways, for example:

(i)By completing (or having completed not more than two years before matriculation into the graduate program) an intermediate-level college course or graduate level reading course in the language with a grade of B or better; this includes graduate level coursework in literatures besides French. 

(ii)By passing the foreign language proficiency examination (at the intermediate level) set by the Graduate School of Arts and Science. The Foreign Language Proficiency Examination is offered three times a year, generally in November, March, and August https://gsas.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/gsas/about-gsas/policies-and-procedures/flpe.html; preregistration is required at least one month prior to the testing date. Students should contact the Office of Academic and Student Affairs at 6 Washington Square North, floor 2, or by phone at 212-998-8060 for information about the proficiency exams.

Native speakers of languages other than French and English may be exempted from the requirement. 

The Director of Graduate Studies must approve any foreign language course work taken in lieu of the proficiency exam to meet the second language requirement. Undergraduate language courses taken to fulfill this requirement (“skills courses”) are eligible for full tuition remission; however, these courses will not count toward the 72 point residency requirement.

All new first-year entering students are assigned to the First-year advisor. At the end of their second semester they choose a field advisor with whom they begin to plan for their qualifying exams, and with whom they may complete an independent study (guided reading) in their second year. Students are encouraged to discuss professional societies and development with their chosen advisor. Students may also contact the graduate administrative aide for lists of suggested professional affiliations.  

2nd year students are strongly encouraged to sign up for an independent study course, either during the first or the second semester, under the direction of a chosen professor in a field of interest, in order to explore a series of texts and questions which will bring them closer to the formulation of a dissertation topic. For this 4-credit course, meeting times will be worked out with the independent study supervisor. At the end of the class students should hand in a paper comparable in length and scope to the kind of work they would submit for a seminar.

The second-year review takes place in the spring semester of the second year. Each student meets with the DGS and his or her current advisor. In addition to reviewing the student's academic record, they advise about remaining courses and preparation for the Qualifying Exam; at this point a change in field advisor may be made. All third, fourth, and fifth-year students should meet during the spring term with their field advisor to review their progress toward the doctoral degree. 

Candidates for the PhD may obtain an Advanced Certificate of Achievement in French Studies by taking any four courses at the Institute of French Studies, one of which may be cross-listed with the French Department. (See Section III.4. for more information about the certificate) Students must apply directly to the Institute of French Studies for admission into this Advanced Certificate program; the Department cannot register on behalf of the student. GSAS will pay the tuition for up to two extra courses to fulfill the requirements for the Certificate.

Advanced Certificates in Poetics (available from the Program in Poetics and Theory) are also viable options requiring five courses. Contact the host programs for more information. 

Students interested in joining the study of literature with another discipline or field should refer to Section III.2 and 3. concerning the Joint (or Interdisciplinary) PhD program. 

Coursework must be completed by the end of the semester during which the course is taken. An unresolved grade, “I”, reverts to “F” one year after the beginning of the semester in which the course was taken unless an extension of the incomplete grade has been approved by the Office of Academic and Student Affairs (OASA). An unresolved grade, “NR”, reverts to “F” one year after the beginning of the semester in which the course was taken and no extension will be allowed.

The purpose of the Qualifying Examination is to prepare students to write the best possible dissertation as quickly and effectively as possible, and to equip them with the advanced knowledge and skills for the job market in their chosen field. It can be taken either in French or in English.

In the course of their second year, and certainly by their second-year review, students should identify their future research field, make progress with formulating their research topic (or problématique), and select a secondary field on which they intend to focus as a teaching field. They should also have decided on a third list that will complement their research topic (for example, from the perspective of literary history, cross-cultural comparison, or methodology).  

Compilation of reading lists for these fields should be in hand. Students should consult a faculty member about each of their three lists; these three faculty will be the examiners of the Qualifying Exam and subsequently constitute the student’s provisional PhD committee. Each list should comprise primary and secondary works and be approximately 35-40 works in length.

The research topic list. When designing this list, students should address questions or problems posed by the area of inquiry they plan to pursue in their eventual dissertation. Some of the work involved in compiling this list may be done in a course of Independent Study. Sample special field topics include Literature of the Algerian War; Theorizing the Exotic; Préciosité.

The teaching field list might cover a wider historical range, for example: the Lyric "I" (Middle

Ages/Renaissance), Women's Writing (17th/18th), the Idea of Nature (18th/19th), Politics and the Novel (19th/20th), Language and Identity (20th/Francophone), Psychoanalysis and Literature, etc.  It need not necessarily include the same historical period as the research field. 

The third list is to be envisaged as contextualizing the research topic from one of a number of standpoints. For some students, it will be most useful to undertake a transversal study of their chosen topic across several centuries (e.g. the Recueil from the Middle Ages to the present). For others, a broadly methodological or theoretical course of reading will prove most useful (e.g. deconstruction, feminism). For yet others, the most fruitful topic might be one that offers a comparative purchase on their research topic, e.g. the literature of another culture or another art form in the same period. It might be helpful to think of this third list as a means of situating or contextualizing the main research field.

During the summer before their third year students should finalize their lists with the help of their three committee members. All three lists should be approved and signed by their committee and submitted to the DGS.

The written examination is taken during the January term of the student’s third year and the oral follows as soon as practicable thereafter. Students unable to take the exam at the prescribed time may petition the DGS for a deferment.

The written exam consists of three take-home essay questions, the answers (one per list, not longer than 5000 words each) to be written over a period of ten days (that is, a period of 10 times 24 hours, typically extending over 9 full and 2 partial calendar days).  A choice of questions will be provided by the relevant committee member for each list.

The oral exam. The examiners will examine the student on their written answers and on the wider reading lists. Students will be expected to demonstrate extensive and precise knowledge of primary texts and significant secondary literature on their three lists, and to be at ease thinking about the issues which they raise. 

Students may receive a grade of pass, honors, or fail on the Qualifying Examination. Students failing all or part of the exam may take it a second, and final, time.

A dissertation prospectus presents in outline the subject of the dissertation, its rationale, and its likely contents. It may be formatted in a number of ways but should include the following (the Graduate Aide can provide sample prospectuses upon request):

1. A short description of the project (10 pages or so), to include an explanation of its topic, of its originality and relevance for the field, the questions which it raises, and the principal materials 

(e.g. the primary and secondary texts) with which it will engage. The approach or methodology to be deployed should also be indicated. 

2. A fairly detailed (5 pages or so) outline of the proposed work plan leading to completion of the   dissertation. This can, but need not, indicate the intended contents of each chapter.

3. A core bibliography (5 pages or so).  

Normally the topic is the outcome of the research field of the student’s Qualifying Exam, and aspects of its rationale will have been covered in one or more of the two other fields, especially the third list. The student is therefore not starting from scratch and the prospectus should be presented for discussion by the end of the semester following the Qualifying Exam (generally the spring semester of the third year). Extension beyond this date will require a special petition to the DGS. 

Dissertation Prospectus Discussion:

The prospectus discussion should be conceived of as an opportunity for the feasibility and desirability of the student’s project to be assessed by his/her dissertation committee. During the discussion, they will ask questions and contribute ideas; they may suggest both points to include and some to avoid.

The discussion consists of a one-hour oral discussion of the prospectus by the student's dissertation committee. This committee, which is likely to have already taken shape in the Qualifying Exam, consists of a director and two primary readers. The dissertation committee serves as a resource for the student during the elaboration of the dissertation, both before and after the prospectus discussion.

Upon successful completion of the Dissertation Prospectus discussion, the student then registers the title of the thesis (along with the names of the director and two principal readers) with the Director of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Aide. 

Alternatively, the committee may refer the prospectus back to the student for reworking before he or she is allowed to continue to the dissertation. The committee might want to discuss the revised prospectus but they might be willing to approve a paper submission. 

Students who have completed all doctoral requirements except the dissertation (including all coursework, qualifying exams, prospectus defense, and language proficiency) are eligible to for the degree of MPhil. To remain in academic good standing doctoral students must achieve doctoral candidacy within 4 years of initial enrollment. Candidacy is reached when the student earns the Master of Philosophy, M.Phil., degree, indicating that all requirements for the Ph.D. have been met other than the dissertation.

Additionally, students may find it a professional advantage to obtain this interim degree while completing their dissertation.  See the Graduate Aide for further information. 

While no single approach or format is prescribed, the dissertation will be evaluated according to criteria of scholarly rigor as well as originality and methodological innovation. Dissertations are usually around 200-300 pages long. They may be written in either English or French. Students whose native language is English are encouraged to write in that language. 

Writing the dissertation usually takes two to three years, during which a student should be in regular contact with his or her director who follows the progress to completion, chapter by chapter. The dissertation director will inform the student of the positive evaluations as well as the objections and critiques her or his work might elicit. Students may consult with other readers when necessary, but are discouraged from doing so as a matter of course except when the dissertation is co-directed. The director should not offer the student any work external to the direct advancement of the dissertation, including editorial projects, translations, and conference organization.  

More detailed information regarding the submission and formatting requirements for the dissertation can be found on the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences website at  <http://gsas.nyu.edu/academics/submitting-your-dissertation.html> 

The Department also maintains a small library of dissertation writers’ guides and aids, which can be accessed through the Graduate Aide. Various research tutorials are also offered by the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library.

When the student is completing his or her dissertation, the dissertation director invites two additional readers to join the committee (for a total of five) for the thesis defense. With the Director of Graduate Studies’ approval, the Graduate Aide will organize a date for the defense. 

At least three of the committee members must be full-time faculty members in the Faculty of Arts and Science but up to two readers from other institutions may be included. The dissertation director should formally invite any outside readers to the committee as a matter of courtesy; the department does not reimburse travel expenses for outside readers.

Should one of the readers be unable to be present at the defense, he or she may also participate via telephone or video conference. In exceptional cases, a written “absentee” report on the thesis may be submitted with prior approval from the thesis director. 

A student should give a copy of his or her completed dissertation to each of the five readers at least one month before the defense date. At the defense, lasting approximately 2 hours, the student will give a short oral presentation of his or her thesis before being questioned by the committee members.

Further revisions may be requested before approval, or the dissertation may be approved as it stands, with a mention of “pass” or, exceptionally, with “honors” (a departmental distinction) and the student recommended for the doctoral degree. 

For additional information about dissertation submission procedures, please refer to Section IV. Administrative Information, J. Conferral of Degrees.

Poetics and Theory: <http://poeticsandtheory.wordpress.com/certificate/>

Five courses (20 points; no more than 8 shared points) plus a paper presentation. See the  Poetics and Theory website for further information on requirements and application information.