Requirements for PhD Students with a 5-Year Award
YEAR ONE
Semesters 1 and 2; Summer
Students should complete 24 points of coursework (3 courses at 4 points each semester). Three four-point courses totals 12 points; 12 points constitutes full-time status. During these and other semesters of coursework, at least 2 of the 3 courses should normally be chosen from Italian Studies offerings, while the third may be from another NYU department. Students are encouraged to consult with the Director of Graduate Studies as they choose their courses each semester.
For both terminal M.A. and Ph.D. students, incompletes are granted only under exceptional circumstances and after student consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. This applies to all years of coursework.
During the summer following the first year of study, PhD candidates may revise one of their first year seminar papers as a long paper, following the revision advice of the professor to whom it was originally submitted. The revised paper will be around 25 pages in length and may be submitted in the first week of the fall semester of students’ second year. Students should aim to produce a work of publishable quality and will be encouraged where appropriate to submit the paper to a journal on completion. The student's work on the long paper will count for 4 credits. To obtain the 4 credits, students MUST enroll in a Guided Individual Reading before the summer begins.
YEAR TWO
Semesters 3 and 4; Summer
PhD students should complete 24 points of coursework, so that they will conclude their second year with 52 credits. After the first year of study or from within the NYC consortium, PhD students may also register for courses in the NYC graduate consortium, subject to approval from the DGS. For students taking three courses, the proportion of departmental and external courses should remain that outlined above (2 of 3 internal as usual practice), though exceptions may be made in the case of students with strong interdisciplinary interests.
During the summer between years 2 and 3, students will begin reading for the PhD exam, and will compile a list of 20-25 works in the field in which they intend to work for their dissertation (List D of the PhD exam). This list must be approved by the DGS and the member of faculty with whom the student intends to work for his/her dissertation at the beginning of the fall semester of the third year.
YEAR THREE
Semesters 5 and 6; Summer
Students should complete coursework (20 points, for a total of 72 points), including the 4-credit doctoral seminar. Twelve of these points (3 courses) should be taken in the fall semester and eight (2 courses) in the spring. Students must satisfy second language proficiency (other than Italian); where necessary, passing the language proficiency examination by the end of the fall semester.
Students must attend the doctoral seminar, which will be held in the fall semester and is intended to facilitate preparation for the PhD exam. Readings will concentrate on the first three lists: List A (pre-1600 primary texts); List B (post-1600 primary texts); and List C (historical, theoretical, and critical works). In the spring semester, students will continue to prepare for the exam on their own, concentrating on List D and preparing a sample teaching syllabus based on one or more of the lists. They are required to take the PhD qualifying exam before the end of the spring semester.
Students will submit a one-page dissertation proposal to their chosen PhD advisor at the end of the spring semester, and will begin work over the summer on the dissertation prospectus. The dissertation prospectus should be about 10-15 pages, including bibliography, and should outline the principal hypotheses and arguments of the thesis, its theoretical basis, the methodologies and sources to be utilized, and how it will be structured.
Students may apply to study in Florence or Pisa (at NYU’s Villa La Pietra or the Scuola Normale di Pisa) during the spring semester of year four. Those wishing to do so should apply to the Director of Graduate Studies by February 1.
YEAR FOUR
Semester 7
Students should continue to work on their PhD prospectus during the first semester under the guidance of their advisor, and should decide, in consultation with their advisor, which faculty members will make up the balance of the dissertation committee. Students are required to present their prospectus for oral examination by the end of the fall semester.
Semester 8
Once their dissertation prospectus has been approved, students will begin work on their dissertation research under the guidance of their advisor.
YEAR FIVE
Semesters 9 and 10
Students should begin to write their Ph.D. thesis with the aim of having a completed draft by February of Year 6. Students should meet regularly with their advisor and establish a schedule for submission of the chapters.
YEAR SIX
Semester 11 and 12
Students will be self-funding in the final year of the program, drawing on their earnings from teaching in the earlier years of the program.
Students should turn in a completed draft of the dissertation to their advisor and their first two readers by February 1 of their sixth year. The advisor and first two readers should give students comments and suggestions for revision by March 1. Students should finish all revisions and send the thesis to external readers by April 1. Any final revisions can then be completed in time for them to file by May for their Ph.D. degree.
The department will provide information sessions for completing students who plan to go on the job market, and students should consult their advisors when drafting job letters and other application materials. Mock interviews will be held on request for students who obtain MLA interviews.