Option A, two secondary languages

Reading knowledge of any two foreign languages other than French or English that pertain to the student’s proposed area of dissertation research. To demonstrate competence, the student may

• take the EST examination administered through the Graduate School office, obtaining a score of 650 or better;
• take an examination prepared by a Washington University language departments with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies in French (customarily, the student selects a text relevant to his or her field and translates with a dictionary an 800-word passage from this text); or
• complete with grades of B+ or better the two-semester course sequence on reading/translation offered to graduate students by Washington University

Option B, one secondary language

Advanced literary competence in a language other than French or English, demonstrated by taking two 500-level literature courses in that language (these courses will count toward the 72 units required for the PhD).

The topic, to be worked out with dissertation director and committee members, requires the approval of the graduate faculty at the time of the oral portion of the PhD exam. The exam incorporates a discussion of the dissertation proposal and an analysis of relevant bibliographic material. The subject should be compelling. Minor authors on whose works little bibliography exists do not generally hold the same weight professionally as works on major authors. The French faculty therefore encourage students to select topics involving multiple works of an established author or authors, or, in the case of minor or less known authors and works, a topic of sufficient breadth to rely on a significant body of primary and secondary sources (for example, in the case of a newly discovered woman author, the body of works relating to the long tradition of women’s writing of which this author’s works form part).

Translations and creative writing do not fall within the purview of the dissertation.

Dissertation topics typically focus on one or more of several distinct literary periods (medieval, Renaissance, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th/21st centuries) and geographical regions (France, Francophone Europe, Africa, North America, or the Caribbean). Students need to adopt a theoretical framework, whether that of literary history, cultural studies, medical humanities, gender studies, critical race theory, translation studies, film and media studies, performance studies, etc. Dissertations may have an interdisciplinary focus (literature and art, philosophy, science, law, politics, or other fields). A dissertation is above all an argument, proposing among other things an interpretation of a body of literary-cultural works. The student attempts to persuade his or her readers (the committee, but eventually readers of the resulting publications) that they will understand something important by interpreting texts and events in the events in the way he or she explains them.

This committee, which the Office of Graduate Studies calls the “Research Advisory Committee,” consists of three members: the director, the second reader, and the third reader. The director should be a specialist in the student’s chosen field (typically a particular century or geographical region, but on occasion a theoretical or disciplinary perspective). The second and third readers may be specialists in the same field or in fields that contribute to the dissertation in other ways. A student may also select a second or third reader from another field because he or she has been an important mentor. Students should consult with the professor asked to serve as director about selecting other committee members who can provide the proper balance to the committee. The selection, however, ultimately rests with the student, who is responsible for asking faculty to serve as second and third readers. The second reader will read chapters before the third reader and should be selected with this order in mind. Co-directors and interdisciplinary committees may, at times, be possible and advisable.

Upon successful completion of their PhD exams, students will write their dissertation prospectuses for oral examination no later than the beginning of the semester following the one in which they have passed the PhD exams. For example, if they pass the PhD exams in November, they would defend their dissertation prospectus no later than the following January or early February. The candidate's thesis advisory committee will be the examiners; the candidate will submit the prospectus to them at least two weeks before the defense.

• Language: Students should write in their native language when it is either English or French; students whose native language is other than English or French should select to write in whichever of the two languages she or he is more proficient.
• Style: Department recommends MLA Style for all theses written in English. Those written in French may use either this style or any accepted French style.
• Schedule of production: Students should work closely with their dissertation directors to establish not only an outline for dissertation but also a realistic calendar for completion.
• Procedure for revisions and approvals: Dissertation writers should submit their chapters one at a time to the dissertation director, or in some previously agreed-upon division into sections. The director will suggest revisions. When the director approves these revisions, the student should submit the text in question to the second reader. The second reader will evaluate it, making recommendations for revisions. When these revisions are complete, the second reader will review them. When the second reader gives provisional approval for the chapter,* the student will submit it to the third reader. The third reader will similarly read and make editorial revisions. When the chapter is approved by the third reader, the student should return it to the director for final comments.

* In many cases readers will need to see how future chapters develop before being able to give final approval on early chapters. Provisional approval, though, signals the professor’s general acceptance of the chapter.

Incomplete work for courses can prove a major hindrance to the advancement of graduate students, as well as a considerable burden to faculty. The French PhD program takes measures to minimize their use and duration.

Students should consider that in all phases of their careers, deadlines will tend to group in short periods of time (typically at the end of each semester), and that they must therefore plan to start work on end-of-semester assignments well in advance. Having three papers due in a single week justifies neither an extension nor a grade of “incomplete.”

Instructors have no obligation to accept late work for graded credit. No student may presume a right to receive a grade of incomplete if he or she does not finish the work for a course by the deadline set by the instructor: such students may, at the discretion of the instructor, receive no credit for the work not submitted on time.

An instructor should not agree to give a grade of incomplete without having received a statement from the student of a deadline, agreeable to the instructor, by which the work will be done. The student will communicate the deadline to the Director of Graduate Studies and to his or her advisor, if different. This deadline may be no later than the end of the following semester, for work for a fall course, or the end of the summer, before the start of the fall semester, for a spring course. Instructors who do not receive the work by the agreed-upon deadline may extend the deadline up to the limits specified here, but are not obliged to do so. Having accepted a plan for completing the missing assignments, the instructor will submit a final grade for the class within 30 days of receiving the missing work. In grading this work, instructors should keep in mind whatever extra time the student had to prepare it, from which other students did not benefit. Students who do not meet these deadlines will receive course grades based on whatever work they submitted on time; in a graduate course where a student has not submitted the final paper, this will likely result in a failing grade.

Students may have no more than two incompletes at any given time. The program may recommend for dismissal any student with three or more. Moreover, students may not have more than three incompletes over the entire period of their programs, and the department may recommend for dismissal any student who exceeds three.

Students with incomplete coursework will not take their PhD exams until they have received final grades for it. In no case may a student with an outstanding incomplete advance to “ABD” status.

All students in the French PhD. program must satisfy the academic performance requirements of the Office of Graduate Studies in Arts and Sciences, published in the school Bulletin’s “General Requirements” section.

Procedures followed in the French PhD program will also comply with the Office of Graduate Studies in Arts & Sciences Policy on Probation and Dismissal for Academic Reasons. 

The French faculty follow a formal procedure for confidential and continuous evaluation of graduate students in the form of annual reviews and progress reports. In cases where the DGS finds serious concerns about a student’s ability to complete the program, the DGS consults with faculty about a plan for the student’s improvement, and then writes a letter to the student to convey the nature of the concerns, and to outline the steps that faculty expect him or her to take to remedy the problem in a probationary period, generally the following semester. At the end of that time, in cases of insufficient improvement, the DGS, in consultation with the faculty, may recommend a student for dismissal for poor academic performance. While faculty admit all graduate students expecting that they will complete the PhD, the French program uses the MA exam in the second semester of students’ second year as a moment of evaluation for continuation in the program. Students who fail the exam may take it again once, at the end of that semester. Students retaking the exam will be placed on academic probation in the interim. In all cases, faculty consult after the MA exam about whether to allow the student to continue. Students not allowed to continue, but who have met the minimum standard for passing the MA exam, leave with that degree.

Students who enter with an MA usually take their PhD exam in the first semester of their third year, and students who enter without an MA usually take their PhD exam in the first semester of their fourth year. Students who fail the PhD exam may take it again once, usually at the end of the semester in question, and will be placed on academic probation in the interim. Failure to pass the PhD exam a second time results in a recommendation for dismissal from the program.

The French program places a high value on the quality of students’ teaching, and evaluates this regularly. Students generally receive written teaching evaluations in each semester they teach by at least one faculty member. The program communicates these evaluations to the students, the course coordinator of the class taught, and the Directors of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies. The Directors conveys serious concerns to the student involved and suggests steps that faculty expect him or her to take to remedy the problem in a specified time. The program may recommend a student for dismissal for poor performance in teaching.

The program strives to maintain a professional and collegial atmosphere. Students who do not behave in ways consistent with this goal may receive verbal and written warnings, and the DGS and faculty may recommend dismissal of students who do not change their behavior. The DGS will refer to the Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies patterns of disruptive behavior, as well as offenses against the provisions of the Office of Graduate Studies Bulletin or other University policies and rules of conduct. Serious offenses may result in immediate dismissal.