1. A minimum of twenty-four hours of graduate courses beyond the thirty required for the M.A. These twenty-four must include six, but not more than six, hours of dissertation credit (994). If a student has taken more than thirty hours of approved courses before the M.A., the excess hours will count toward this requirement. Courses taken in fulfillment of M.A. requirements may of course also be used to satisfy the requirements described below under headings 2 through 5. It is strongly recommended that all Ph.D. candidates take both Latin and Greek Composition. It is recommended, but not required, that these include courses in the ancient historians, epigraphy (both Greek and Latin), and more than the one required archaeology course.
2. Nine credit hours in advanced seminars (courses numbered 900 and above). This includes any seminars taken before completion of the M.A.
3. Three credit hours in a graduate-level archaeology course.
4. A graduate-level course in ancient history in the History Department.
5. A reading knowledge of both German and French. For the means of satisfying this requirement, see above under M.A. requirements.
6. Teaching. All candidates for the Ph.D. are required to gain teaching experience at least equal to that of a course in which they conduct three class-hours weekly for one semester, or until teaching competence is acquired. This requirement may be fulfilled during the regular terms, in summer school, or in outside employment.
7. Written and Oral Examinations. All students take comprehensive written and oral examinations, ordinarily in the fourth year of work, as follows. Written examinations, ordinarily to be taken in the fourth year of work. Note that the particular contents of the examination will be adjusted, as necessary, to be appropriate to the Reading List for the Degree in Classics with Historical Emphasis.
Explanation of the Comprehensive Written Examination. This consists of five parts. The first two are four-hour translation exams, one for Greek and one for Latin, with the passages for translation being chosen primarily, but not necessarily only, from the Ph.D. Reading List. The next part is a two-hour written exam on a special field (or, exceptionally, a major author), approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. This field (for example, Greek mythology, Roman religion, Greek philosophy, Women in antiquity, etc.) may be related to or separate from the area of the intended dissertation. Students are encouraged from their first year to begin developing a special field, through either regular or special coursework and with the advice of one or more members of the Department. The final two parts are four-hour written exams on Greek and on Latin literature. These exams also have the Ph.D. Reading List as their base, but are not limited to it; students are expected to supplement the List by reading in English translation as much as possible of works appropriate to their degree-programs. These written exams on literature aim to strike a reasonable balance between literary interpretation and the factual information with which a professional classicist needs to be familiar. Thus students may expect questions that will test their ability to analyze and to interpret Greek and Latin texts, but they must also be able to show in their essays a grasp of appropriate information concerning authors, dates, works, and relevant modern scholarship.
Explanation of the Comprehensive Oral Examination. The student’s preparation for the translation and written exams just described will naturally include careful thought about the contents of works on the Reading List. Since this is also the best possible way to prepare for the oral exam, the written and oral exams will be closely linked in time; therefore a student who postpones the oral exam beyond the scheduled limit may be required to retake the written exams. (See below for a sample schedule of the six parts of the Comprehensive Examination.) The two-hour oral examination will not be limited to the contents of the two written exams on Greek and Latin literature, but may explore the student’s understanding of the literatures within their historical, cultural, and social contexts, as well as the student’s ability to discuss and interpret major works. The oral exam will ordinarily include some work with texts, and students may be asked to read aloud a selection of Greek or Latin verse. The oral exam will be scheduled within two weeks (or three weeks if there are many students taking the exams) of the successful completion of the written examinations.
A possible schedule might be:
Saturday morning: Latin translation (4 hours)
Sunday afternoon: Latin literature (4 hours)
Thursday afternoon (following week): Special Field (2 hours)
Saturday morning: Greek translation (4 hours)
Sunday afternoon: Greek literature (4 hours)
Then, within two, or at more three, weeks: oral examination (2 hours)
Procedure. Translation, literature, and oral examinations will be scheduled each semester. Students are encouraged to take the comprehensive examination in the fall of their fourth year of study (= the seventh semester of work). Candidates for the Ph.D. examinations described above will meet with the Director of Graduate Studies at least a semester in advance of the examinations in order to gain an understanding of the goal and boundaries of each examination and to submit for approval any proposed substitutions to the reading list.
8. Dissertation Prospectus. A student should submit a dissertation prospectus as soon as feasible after successful completion of the comprehensive examination. The prospectus should be carefully developed in consultation with the members of the student’s dissertation committee (the members of which are appointed, in consultation with the student, by the Director of Graduate Studies). This committee will then meet with the student for a brief (roughly an hour) review of the prospectus. Upon approval of it the student is launched upon the task of writing the dissertation.
9. Dissertation. For the process of choosing a topic and satisfying all Departmental and Graduate School requirements, see "So You Want to Write a Dissertation?" which is available from the Department office. Students will need to submit to the Graduate School an “Application for Admission to Candidacy for a Doctoral Degree” and an “Application for Graduation” before the required deadline. The deadlines for submission are Fall (December) - 2nd Friday in October, Spring (May) - 2nd Friday in February, Summer (August) - 2nd Friday in June and they are available online.
10. The Final Oral Examination. A one-hour oral defense of the completed dissertation, conducted by the dissertation committee.