Distribution Requirements
The courses taken must satisfy the following distribution requirements:
A. Students must choose at least one course in four of the following five categories:
- Medieval Studies
- Renaissance Studies
- Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Studies; Colonial Studies
- Nineteenth-Century Studies
- Twentieth-Century Studies
B. Students must choose at least one course in theory or method, defined for these purposes as courses whose central study is of texts in literary and critical theory and philosophy rather than of literary texts. This category would include courses in rhetoric, film theory, gender studies, the history of the book, genre theory, cultural studies, etc. that satisfy the above stipulation.
C. Students must choose at least one course whose central study is of a literary tradition outside of the major Anglophone national literatures, English and American, or one that constitutes an alternative tradition or emerging area of study within them. This category would include courses in African-American literature, African diaspora literature, writing by women, ethnic studies, global Anglophone literature, gay and lesbian writing, popular culture, working-class literature, etc.
D. Students must choose at least one course in American literature.
Students may satisfy two distribution requirements with a single course if that course is designated as satisfying requirements in more than one category.
All students are strongly encouraged to have significant course experience in each of these fundamental literary modes: poetry, drama, and narrative.
Appropriate courses in film taught in the Rutgers Graduate Program may satisfy distribution requirements within categories A4 and A5.
Final judgment on the distribution requirements satisfied by any given course rests with the Graduate Director and Associate Director.
In all cases, students' selection of courses will be made in consultation with their advisers. Fulfillment of distribution requirements will be recorded in a form kept in the student's file. Students are free to take more than fourteen courses.
General Expectations and Additional Course Information
A normal full-time course load is three courses per semester. (Teaching Assistants usually reduce this by one course for each section they teach.)
Courses in the English Graduate Program are offered at the 500 and 600 (or seminar) levels. Students are strongly encouraged to take at least four seminars. Students entering with an MA are encouraged to take at least two seminars.
Students are also urged to take the Writing Seminar and to join an orals workshop and a dissertation workshop at appropriate stages.
Students are invited to submit evaluations of all courses they take. These evaluations are held in the Graduate Office where they may be consulted by students choosing courses.
500-Level Courses
Offered under several different rubrics, 500-level courses have in common an enrollment limit of 15 students and the basic aim to treat subjects that are a) general, and/or b) indispensable to graduate English literary study in the sense that they provide a foundation for a given field. That is, 500-level courses have a breadth of chronological coverage, or they treat crucial figures (Milton, Dickinson) or genres (Renaissance comedy, nineteenth-century novel) or subjects. They do this in a way that makes the material accessible to sophisticated students who may have had no college experience with it. Even with a maximum enrollment, such courses can work very well as seminars (i.e., in a discussion format), but some class time may be devoted to lecturing as well. Writing assignments are most likely to tend in the direction of multiple shorter papers that require a moderate amount of research. However, the special demands of the subject, or of particular students, may warrant longer papers in certain courses.
600-Level Courses (Seminars)
These courses are limited to ten students. Their size permits them to be run as seminars, allowing advanced and concentrated work in particularized areas of study. It will often be assumed that students have basic prior experience in the field, and some seminars may have prerequisites. Seminars can help students work toward the specialization entailed in studying for the Qualifying Examination and writing the dissertation. They might require oral reports or discussion leading, and a long (20-30 page) term paper that could serve as an early version of a publishable article. For this reason, professors will usually provide students with more extensive bibliographical and research aid than in a 500-level course.
Course Deadlines
Deadlines for the completion of course work (including final papers) are as follows:
Fall semester: The Friday before the spring semester begins.
Spring semester: Three weeks after the end of classes.
All final papers must be filed directly with the Graduate Office.
Students must take a “permanent incomplete” (PIN) for work not completed by these deadlines. Extensions beyond these deadlines will be entertained only in cases of emergency and only with the consent of the Graduate Director.
Courses in Other Graduate Programs
Courses offered by graduate programs at other institutions and in the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium may be taken with the approval of the faculty adviser and the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). This is permissible only if a close equivalent is not being offered by the New Brunswick Graduate Program within a reasonable time period. Students must present to their Faculty Advisor and the DGS a copy of the course description. In addition, students will need to complete one year of course work within the department before applying to take a course outside of it; the maximum number of such outside courses is two. Please note that this maximum applies to all courses taken outside the department, including those taken at other Rutgers departments, such as history or philosophy.
Courses in other Graduate Programs are subject to the same course work deadlines as ordinary courses within the Graduate English Program. This includes submitting the final paper to the Graduate Office by the appropriate deadline date.
Independent Study
Independent Study is an unusual arrangement that provides students the opportunity to pursue a plan of study unavailable through course work. It entails the fulfillment of the same requirements as a seminar - that is, an extensive writing assignment, along with regular meetings with a faculty member to discuss a predetermined reading list. To receive course credit for an Independent Study, the student must come to an agreement with a faculty member by the end of the registration period preceding the semester of proposed study on the nature and requirements of the proposed study. In addition, the student must present the faculty member and the adviser a proposal outlining the terms of this agreement. The proposal should include an explanation of why the proposed study cannot be fulfilled by course work.
Normally, Independent Study may be undertaken only in the later stages of course work and no student may take more than one Independent Study. Students should be mindful that directing an Independent Study is not regarded as a normal faculty responsibility; agreement to direct one is entirely at the discretion of the faculty member.
Independent Studies are subject to the same course work deadlines as ordinary courses. This includes submitting the final paper to the Graduate Office by the appropriate deadline date.
Auditing
Upon obtaining the permission of the instructor of the course and subject to the availability of space, full-time students may audit courses. Students should register with the Graduate Program as auditors and expect to attend all classes, though this requirement may be altered in consultation with the instructor. It is understood that no academic credit is earned in this manner. No official record is kept of audited courses.
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