Applicable only to students admitted during the 2015-2016 academic year.

Comparative Literature

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Comparative Literature offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Comparative Literature. The department only admits students with the objective of the Ph.D. degree.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Students should meet each quarter with the Director of Graduate Studies before the second year review, and once a year thereafter. The Director of Graduate Studies is the main faculty advisor for all incoming Ph.D. students. Student records are reviewed on a regular basis by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Student Affairs Officer in consultation with the core department faculty. Students whose grade-point average falls below 3.0 are sent a warning by the Chair.

Areas of Study

During the first two years of study toward the MA degree en route to Ph.D., each student’s study plan combines the work in the major and minor fields.

The major area is that of primary concentration. The student specializes in one historically defined period of literary and cultural studies spanning at least 200 years. A general knowledge of the major field, must be demonstrated in coursework.

In the minor field, the student focuses either on another literary or cultural tradition, or on a defined theoretical or interdisciplinary approach preapproved by the Director of Graduate Studies.

Foreign Language Requirement

Proficiency in the language of the major field is an essential prerequisite for courses and degrees in Comparative Literature. Students must demonstrate knowledge of one foreign language for the MA degree. Proficiency in one language must be certified by completing two or more upper division and/or graduate courses, taken for a letter grade in the appropriate language department. These courses have pre-requisites of at least a level 6 language proficiency as demonstrated at UCLA (equivalent to two years of language) or through a university placement exam.

In rare cases where sufficient courses are not available to meet this requirement, students may substitute a translation examination administered by a departmental faculty member in lieu of coursework. In such cases, the Director of Graduate Studies, or the chair of the department must approve this action and write a memorandum of support.

Course Requirements

A minimum of 12 letter-graded seminar courses (including one teaching pedagogy course taken at UCLA) are required by the end of the second year, distributed as follows:

Comparative Literature 200A and 200B, three additional Comparative Literature graduate courses, six major and minor field courses of which at least three must be in the major field (two may be upper-division courses), and Comparative Literature 495, the teaching pedagogy course. The three Comparative Literature graduate courses may also count as major and minor field courses pending approval of the DGS and/or the student’s primary advisor. Two upper-division courses may count towards the major and minor field requirement with approval from the Director of Graduate Studies.

Students who come to the program with an MA may petition to validate up to three courses taken at another institution towards the course requirement.

12 letter-graded seminar courses must be completed by the end of the second year. The recommended schedule is as follows:

First year: Two seminars in the first quarter, followed by a three seminar load for the following quarter, and two seminars in the third quarter as well as CL 495.

Second year: For all teaching graduate students, the recommended course load, excluding language coursework, is two seminars per quarter.

Altogether, a minimum of 11 seminars in addition to CL 495 (teaching pedagogy course) should be completed by the end of the second year and before the second year review.

Graduate Summer Research Mentor coursework does not count toward graduate degree requirements.

Under special circumstances student may petition for an exception to apply up to two individual study 500-series courses, taken for a letter grade, toward the course requirements with approval from the Director of Graduate Studies.

Teaching Experience

Teaching experience is not required but is routinely offered to all graduate students who have completed the CL 495 teaching pedagogy course.

Field Experience

Not required.

Comprehensive Examination Plan

Second Year Review/MA Exam

Students in the Department of Comparative Literature are required to have a Second Year Review/MA Exam in the Spring quarter of their second year. Under exceptional circumstances, students may be allowed to do the Second Year Review/MA Exam in Fall quarter of their third year with permission of the Director of Graduate Studies. Prior to the review, students must demonstrate that they are on track to completing the coursework for the first two years (altogether, a minimum of 12 seminars, including CL 495, the teaching pedagogy course). The requirements for at least one of the two foreign languages must be completed prior to the review.

With the SAO’s assistance students must convene a committee of three faculty members (one of which must be the Director of Graduate Studies and two others from Comparative Literature. One additional member may be added from outside the department. The committee reviews progress toward the degree and plans the remaining coursework required for the Ph.D. Students are required to choose two seminar papers (with or without revisions) and circulate them among the review committee at least two weeks in advance of the review. The papers shall serve as writing samples that will be discussed during the review.

Students who enter the program with an MA in Comparative Literature, must hold a Second Year Review, but will not be awarded an MA from UCLA, as this would be a duplicate degree. The outcome of the second year review for students who hold an MA is as follows: (1) Pass with permission to continue to the Ph.D., (2) Pass with reservations and specific recommendations for improvement, or (3) Fail without permission to continue to the Ph.D.

Students who do not hold a Comparative Literature MA when they enter the program will be awarded an MA provided they pass their Second Year Review and complete their coursework and language proficiency requirement. The three outcomes of a Second Year review for students in this category are: (1) Pass, with an MA and permission to continue to the Ph.D., (2) Pass with reservations, with an MA and specific recommendations for improvement, (3) Pass with a terminal MA, or (4) Fail without an MA or with permission to continue to the Ph.D.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

Students who are admitted to graduate status and who carry a standard course load as outlined above, in the Course Requirements section should be able to obtain the MA degree within six quarters. This does not apply for students who already hold an MA degree in Comparative Literature.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
MA	6	6	6

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Students should meet on a quarterly basis with the Director of Graduate Studies before the second year review, and once a year thereafter. Student records are reviewed on a regular basis by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Student Affairs Officer in consultation with the core department faculty. Students whose grade-point average falls below 3.0 are sent a warning by the Chair.

Major Fields or Sub-disciplines

During the third and fourth years of study, the study plan combines the work in a major and minor field. Any changes in student’s major and minor fields must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.

Foreign Language Requirement

In addition to completing the foreign language requirement for the MA degree, students at the Ph.D. level must demonstrate proficiency in an additional language requirement by the second evaluation stage. Proficiency in this language must be certified by a B+ grade or above in one upper division and/or graduate course, taken for a letter grade in the appropriate language department. These courses have pre-requisites equivalent to two years of college language courses, or an equivalent language placement exam.

In rare cases where sufficient courses are not available, students may substitute a translation examination administered by a departmental faculty member in place of coursework. In such cases, the Director of Graduate Studies, or the chair of the department must approve and write a memo of support.

Course Requirements

All coursework must be completed by the end of the third year. In addition to MA coursework, students are required to take four more letter-graded courses: three must be Comparative Literature Graduate seminar courses, and two must be courses in the major and minor fields so as to complete the breadth requirements of 6 major field courses, 2 minor field courses. This is a total of 15 courses, plus 495 teaching padagogy course for the Ph.D.:

• 2 Comparative Literature 200A, 200B
• 1 Comparative Literature 495 pedagogy course
• 6 Comparative Literature graduate seminars (3 for MA, 3 for Ph.D.).

Through courses within and outside the department, students must complete:

• 6 major field courses (of which one course may be upper division)
• 2 minor field courses (of which one course may be upper division)

Students ought to consult with the Director of Graduate Studies and with their primary advisor to plan their coursework for their third year to make sure they are on track to complete the required courses in Comparative Literature, the major field and the minor field.

Teaching Experience

Teaching experience is not required but is routinely offered to all graduate students who have completed the teaching pedagogy course, CL 495.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass University written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations the University oral qualifying examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to University requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

First Stage Evaluation: Qualifying Examination

Students must take a two-section qualifying examination. The first section consists of a written examination comprised of a 72-hour take home examination in the major and minor fields based on a reading list of 50 works in the major field and 25 works in the minor field; 15-20 percent of these lists will be theoretical works related to each field. The student prepares reading lists for one major field and one minor field. All reading lists must be approved by the field examiners and the Director of Graduate Studies by the end of the quarter preceding the written exam, and a copy of the reading list must be on file in the department. It is the student’s responsibility to constitute an examining committee, of which two members must be from the department, in the quarter preceding the one in which the examination is given.

The take home written examinations consist of one long or two shorter questions for the major field examination and one question for the minor field. In total, students are expected to demonstrate their knowledge of the field and engagement with relevant ideas and methodologies as they produce some 25-30 pages of original writing during the 72-hour examination period. In these pages, they may not include any excerpts from previously written work, and plagiarism is grounds for dismissal from the program. Once the student receives their questions they may not review or quote from any works that are not included in the reading lists. Students may quote from works on the reading lists, but quotations are not required.

The second section is an oral examination that follows the written examination, no later than two weeks after the submission of the written portion. In consultation with the department’s Student Affairs Officer, it is the student’s responsibility to constitute a three-member faculty committee that includes the faculty member who drafted the major examination question(s) and at least two other faculty members from the department.

The outcome of the exam can be pass with permission to proceed to the prospectus phase of the disseration or fail. In the case of failure the committee may decide to offer the student an opportunity to retake the exam in the following quarter. A second failed exam terminates the student from the program.

Second Stage Evaluation

All coursework and the foreign language requirement must be completed at this stage. After completion of the first stage examination, as outlined above, students enroll in a 597 course with their major adviser to begin work on the disseration prospectus. This 35 to 50-page prospectus includes a substantial bibliography, a review of the relevant secondary literature, and a critical or theoretical perspective. Students should nominate their examination committee (which is their Ph.D. committee) at least two months in advance of the prospectus defense. The doctoral committee is composed of three faculty members from the department and one faculty member from outside of the department. Students must circulate their prospectus to their committee, at least two weeks in advance of the exam. The University Oral Qualifying Examination is a two-hour examination based primarily on a defense of the prospectus. The outcomes of the prospectus examination is pass with permission to advance to candidacy, or fail without permission to advance to candidacy. A prospectus exam may be retaken once.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Following advancement to candidacy and the completion of the dissertation, the student’s decision to file the dissertation must first be approved by the chair of the doctoral committee. The Director of Graduate Studies and all certifying members of the doctoral committee must be notified of the student’s plan to file the dissertation, and the final draft of the dissertation must be submitted to these members for review no later than two months prior to the planned date of filing to allow sufficient time for any needed final revisions.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation)

Not required for all students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

By the tenth quarter in the program (typically the beginning of fourth year), students must have completed the first stage of the qualifying examination in the major and minor fields and the two-hour oral examination.

By the twelfth quarter in the program (the end of fourth year), students must have completed the second stage of the qualifying examinations, course requirements (16 courses in addition to 495), and been advanced to doctoral candidacy.

After Advancement to Doctoral Candidacy, the dissertation normally takes one to three years to complete. It must be completed no later than by the third year after Advancement to Doctoral Candidacy.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
PhD	12	21	30

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

Students may be recommended for termination if their grade point average falls below a 3.4 for two consecutive terms, failure to progress toward the degree through the completion of five courses per academic year or failure to pass the written or oral qualifying examinations. A student may appeal a recommendation for termination to the program chair who will appoint a committee, which may include the chair, to review the recommendation, and if necessary, meet with the student. The chair makes a final decision based on the committee’s report.