A total of 90 credit hours overall is required for the Ph.D., including 30 credit hours for M.A. coursework; 16 credit hours of doctoral course work; and 44 credit hours of continuing degree/research credit.
Ph.D., Concentration in Rhetoric
Students pursuing a graduate degree in English should use the University Graduate School Academic Bulletin.
Official requirements for our Ph.D. degrees can be found by clicking on the Bulletin below:
2019-20: English University Graduate School Academic Bulletin
Coursework requirement
A minimum of 16 credit hours (four courses) beyond the 30 credit hours required for the M.A. degree, to include at least four 700-level departmental seminars. Coursework will include the following three required core courses:
- R546 Rhetoric and Public Culture: introduction to the study of rhetoric as a critical intervention in the multiply-mediated network of discourses that constitute and sustain cultural, civic, and political formations.
- R607-608 History of Rhetorical Theory I and II: two-semester overview of rhetorical theory from the ancients to the present, with emphasis on the ways that differing modes of mediation have affected rhetorical theory and practice.
Foreign language requirement
One, reading proficiency; language competency will be verified by the relevant foreign language department or program at IUB.
Whatever concentration, the student must also satisfy course requirements for the minor (internal, external or interdisciplinary) and the distributional requirements for an M.A. in either Literature or English language as well as complete the four required departmental seminars. Students transferring into the department with M.A. degrees from other universities may be required to take several more courses than the minimum.
Upon completion of course work and language requirements, students will prepare to take their Qualifying Exams, and write a prospectus for the dissertation.
The College of Arts