A. Hours
Students must take a minimum of 24 dissertation hours. No more than 9 hours may be taken in any one semester; however, students must pass prelims before signing up for dissertation hours. They may retroactively add dissertation hours to the term in which they passed Prelims but only if they have passed both parts of the Prelim exam by the seventh week of that semester (see The Preliminary Doctoral Examination, Section E.4). After having passed Prelims, students must sign up for a minimum of two dissertation hours every term until submitting the dissertation. Students must be signed up for a minimum of two hours in the term in which they receive their degrees. Students must continue to register for nine credit hours each semester they receive a tuition waiver.
All requirements for the doctoral degree must be completed within five calendar years from the time in which the student passes the prelim exam or the student’s supervisory committee will require that a new preliminary exam be passed, unless the committee unanimously agrees to extend the time.
B. Preparing a Prospectus
The prospectus should be a carefully considered statement of the nature and purpose of the intended dissertation. A prospectus is a plan but not a contract. Upon completion of the research and the beginning of the written portion— or while working through problems in the plot of a novel—students may well find the dissertation taking a form or a direction not entirely anticipated while writing the prospectus. (Major changes that suggest themselves should of course be discussed with the committee.) However speculative, a prospectus serves several purposes. It must be approved and signed by all the members of the supervisory committee (see details on submission below). It assures that the student and the committee agree on how much work, and what kind of work, will be produced as an acceptable dissertation. Student and committee can agree on content and length of the intended dissertation.
Committee members may be able to suggest additions and tactics, or to alert students to possible dangers in the path they propose to follow. The prospectus should make clear what work is already done and the amount and nature of the work to be accomplished after the approval of the prospectus. Bear in mind that the dissertation may originate in a course but may not consist entirely of work done to satisfy course requirements. Specify what work has been done and what work remains to be done in order to complete the dissertation.
For a critical dissertation, the prospectus should include a statement of rationale: make clear what questions are asked, what materials are used, and what will be demonstrated. Consider including a description of available sources and a bibliography with principal entries annotated. A dissertation prospectus might adhere to the following template:
• Summary of project
• Significance in light of related work
• Contributions to field
• Theoretical methodology
• Description of proposed chapters
• Primary and secondary source bibliography (major sources annotated)
For a creative dissertation (that is, an original piece of creative writing, or a collection of such pieces, as opposed to a critical/analytical/historical thesis), the prospectus must be accompanied by a writing sample in the genre of the dissertation. For a novel or a play, the prospectus would likely summarize or outline the plot; for a long poem with a complex structure, one might describe the structure and intention. On the other hand, poets or short story writers who plan to collect and add to their best work, to produce an anthology the prospectus need not necessarily strain to impose thematic or technical connections among the various works. Some students find it useful to write an introduction to their own work situating it within one or another literary tradition, discussing literary influences, and the like. Such an introduction often serves as a useful dissertation summary for subsequent letters for applications and a succinct point of departure in job interviews. Many students find it useful to treat the prospectus for a creative dissertation as a grant application for residency at certain foundations. For examples of the dissertation prospectus in different areas, see the Graduate Curriculum Canvas site.
C. The Prospectus Approval Meeting and Prospectus Deadlines
The semester after passing prelims, the student must draft a prospectus, give it to the major professor, then revise until it suits both parties. The student should then schedule a prospectus approval meeting with the supervisory committee. This prospectus approval meeting serves as both an assessment of the student’s readiness to move forward with the project and an opportunity for committee members to provide constructive advice.
LMC and RC doctoral students are required to convene their entire supervisory committee for this prospectus-approval meeting; doctoral students in Creative Writing have the option of meeting with their committee members on an individual basis. In either case, students should plan to submit the prospectus to the members of their supervisory committee at least one week before any meeting date. All members of the committee must approve the prospectus and sign the prospectus cover sheet before substantial written work on the dissertation commences. This signed prospectus cover sheet, along with the prospectus itself, must be filed with the Graduate Program Coordinator at least one full semester before graduation. Students who fail to meet this benchmark forfeit their high-priority status for fifth-year funding.
For a sample prospectus cover sheet and samples of the prospectus from different programs, see the Graduate Curriculum Canvas site.
D. Writing the Dissertation
The LMC or RC dissertation should be a book-length scholarly study.
The creative dissertation may take the form of a collection of poetry, a novel, a book-length collection of short stories, or a book-length work of creative nonfiction. In addition to the creative part of the dissertation, the candidate will compose a Critical Introduction to be submitted with the creative dissertation—a rigorous essay of 15-20 pages (or 5000-7000 words) that links the creative work to some area(s) of critical inquiry. This can take one of the following forms:
1. An introduction that uses secondary sources and criticism to situate the student’s creative work within its literary contexts and examines influences, styles, and methods that are related to the creative project.
2. A critical essay that uses secondary sources and criticism to explore a topic related to the student’s creative work, such as a particular movement or group of writers, a specific theme or literary device, or a theoretical or critical issue. For example, a student writing a novel that depicts real historical events might compose a critical essay on debates about the place of history in contemporary fiction; or a student writing a collection of poems that centers on family life and autobiography might compose a critical essay on Confessional poetry and its legacies. This sort of essay can be aimed at an audience broader than just the academy, in the manner, say, of Tom Wolfe’s “Stalking the Billion-Footed Beast” (or Jonathan Franzen’s answer to that essay, “Perchance to Dream”) or the essays in Toni Morrison’s Playing in the Dark or Charles Baxter’s Burning Down the House.
E. Language of the Dissertation
Per University policy, the typical language of dissertations completed at FSU is English, and defenses shall be conducted in English. Under special circumstances, the major professor, the Department Chair, and the supervisory committee may approve writing the body of the thesis/dissertation in a language other than English if doing so is essential for scholarly reasons. The major professor must immediately notify the Dean of the College and Dean of the Graduate School for any case in which such approval is granted. Notification requires completion of an ETD Alternative Language for the Dissertation/Treatise/Thesis Form.
F. The Doctoral Defense
1. Setting Up the Defense
Responsibility for suggesting the time, designating the place, and presiding at the examination rests with the major professor. It is recommended that students defend no later than the eighth week of classes in the semester of intent to graduate but students must defend by no later than the Format Approval Deadline in the semester of intent to graduate. Consult the Graduate School website for more information.
Students should register at the beginning of their final term for ENG 8985, Dissertation Defense. The reference number is available from the English Dept. Graduate Program Coordinator in 405B who will also assist with scheduling a room and time for the defense. The defense is a one-time registration. Students who do not defend will receive an “I” until the dissertation is successfully defended; there is no need to sign up for the defense a second time.
Each member of the supervisory committee should have a complete draft of the dissertation at least two weeks before the defense date. (An individual supervisory may opt to ask for a somewhat earlier deadline than that, so long as it is not more than 30 days before the defense date.)
2. The Defense
For the defense attendance policy, see University Requirements for the MA/MFA Degree, Section 5.
Students will defend the dissertation in a 1-2 hour oral examination conducted by the members of the supervisory committee who will ask questions and may specify necessary additions or revisions.
University policy states that, in addition to the supervisory committee, the chair of the department is permitted to attend and conduct the examination, as are such members of the faculty who are appointed by the academic dean. All members of the graduate faculty are invited to attend. At least two weeks prior to the date of the examination, the student or major professor will present an announcement of the dissertation title and the date and place of the examination to the Graduate School. Consult the Registration Guide for the deadline dates.
3. Passing the Doctoral Defense and the Manuscript Clearance Form: English Department Policy
A grade of Pass for the defense of the dissertation requires the unanimous approval of the supervisory committee. The Graduate School will email members the appropriate forms to sign electronically.
In addition, a departmental defense form (available on the Graduate Curriculum Canvas site) should be sent via DocuSign to all members of the committee, then provided to the Graduate Program Coordinator. Important: any conditions must be noted on this form before it is sent out to the committee members for their signatures.
4. Submitting the Decision
The final version of the dissertation that is approved by the supervisory committee must be submitted electronically to the university manuscript clearance advisor in the Graduate School within sixty days of the defense date or the student must be reexamined. A manuscript processing fee is charged. Please see Manuscript Clearance on the Graduate School website (under Thesis, Treatise, Dissertation) for deadlines and information on the submission process.
The Graduate School Clearance Advisor leads workshops that cover ETD manuscript formatting, important deadlines for manuscript clearance, required forms and student questions. Students are urged to attend one of these workshops as they begin to work in earnest on the dissertation.