Earn your PhD in Linguistics
The Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics requires a minimum of 72 semester hours of graduate credit. A minimum of 18 hours must be advanced coursework. Students must maintain a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.00. The highly selective program provides students with a strong foundation in theoretical linguistics and helps them develop the skills they will need to explore the close relationship between linguistics and related disciplines.
| Course Title/type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Core syntax, phonology, and seminar courses | 12 |
| Specialty-area courses | 18 |
| Elective courses | 6 |
| Master's requirements | 30 |
| Comprehensive examination | - |
| Dissertation work and electives | - |
| Total hours | 72 |
Comprehensive examination
To pass the comprehensive examination for the PhD, a student must submit two papers of publishable quality and present each orally at a departmental colloquium. One of the papers must be in phonology or syntax and the other in an area of the student's choosing, which may be the proposed dissertation area but must be distinct from the area of the first paper.
Dissertation
In the semester following the comprehensive examination, but no later than the sixth semester of enrollment in the PhD program, a student presents a dissertation prospectus to the dissertation committee. The dissertation prospectus consists of a formal statement of the dissertation topic and proposed research program which is defended by the student before the dissertation committee; the dissertation committee must approve the prospectus in order for the student to proceed with the dissertation.
The dissertation is a major research work on a topic chosen by the student and approved by the dissertation committee. After the dissertation committee reads and approves the dissertation, it is defended orally by the student in a public defense. A copy of the dissertation must be available to the faculty at least two weeks prior to the defense.
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