A. Overview

The Preliminary Doctoral Examination (“prelims”) is a 12-hour written and 1-2 hour oral examination designed to establish that students are prepared to begin serious work on their PhD dissertation. Students are not formally admitted to candidacy for the PhD until they have passed prelims—a task that must be accomplished at least six months before one can receive the degree. The written part of the prelim exam is given over three days in one four- hour period per day. Students are asked to write for eight hours on the major area of concentration and for four hours on the minor area. The oral examination ordinarily takes place one week after the written. This examination permits the committee to ask questions about or criticize the student’s answers to both major and minor areas, and it allows students, in turn, the opportunity to qualify or correct some of their answers.

The examination is based on a reading list, drawn from the major and minor areas of concentration, that the student develops in consultation with the major professor and committee members (see F.2 below). The reading list as representative of the field of knowledge of the major area should be substantially distinct from that of the minor area. That is, the minor field should be intellectually, pedagogically, and demonstrably distinct from the major area.

B. Approved Major Areas for the Preliminary Examination

• Medieval and Early Modern British Literary and Cultural Studies (through 1660)

• British and Irish Literary and Cultural Studies: 1660-1900

• Post-1900 Literary and Cultural Studies (American, British, Irish)

• American Literary and Cultural Studies to 1900

• African-American Literary and Cultural Studies

• History of Text Technologies

• Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

• Colonial, Postcolonial, and Transnational Literary and Cultural Studies

• A Literary Genre (for example, “Poetry as a Genre” or “Fiction as a Genre”)

• Rhetoric and Composition

C. Acceptable Minor Areas for the Preliminary Examination

Also chosen from the approved list, the minor area is often a subdivision of one of the approved concentrations. Students will take the third day of their preliminary exams in this minor area. The department requires students take at least one course in this minor area.

All the fields listed above are acceptable minor fields, plus the following:

• Cultural studies in relation to the major field

• Literary and cultural theory (or a specific theoretical approach or school)

• Literature in relation to a non-literary discipline

• Literature and film studies

• Folklore

• Language and linguistics

• Another definable field of study approved by the Graduate Committee.

D. Procedure for Graduate Committee Approval of Alternate Major/Minor Areas

If a student wishes to write exams in an area or areas other than those specified on the above list (what the list calls “another definable field of study”), that student must petition the Graduate Committee using the following procedures:

1. Write a letter addressed to the Graduate Committee indicating:

a. Title and nature of proposed major or minor area—what defines it as a recognized field of study?

b. Rationale for selecting this area.

c. Names of committee members and a statement of support for this petition.

d. Projected dates for taking the preliminary exam. (The Graduate Committee may wish to ask the student for further clarification. Be sure to submit the petition well in advance of the actual exam.)

2. Submit copies of the major AND minor area reading lists electronically.

3. Give these materials to the ACGS in the term prior to the one in which the student plans to take the exam.

E. Getting Ready for Prelims: The Semester Before

1. When to Take the Exam

Normally, the earliest a student takes the prelims is during the semester immediately following the completion of all coursework (including the foreign language requirement). In exceptional cases, students may complete one last requirement in the term in which they take the exam (check with the ACGS for permission). By University regulation, students are required to take prelims by the end of the second semester (excluding summer) after they have completed their coursework. Students who do not pass prelims by the spring of their third year may not be eligible to receive fifth-year funding.

2. Confirming Your Supervisory Committee

Once formally established, the composition of the doctoral supervisory committee should be changed only in extraordinary circumstances. Any such change must be justified in detail on the Supervisory Committee Change Form (available on the Graduate Curriculum Canvas site), and it must be approved by the major professor, the ACGS, and the Department Chair before the student’s permanent record can be changed with the Registrar and Graduate School. No change in the composition of the committee will be permitted in the interval between when a student begins taking the preliminary examination and its conclusion.

3. Directed Reading Hours

Students can prepare for prelims in the semester before the exam by taking ENG 6907 (Directed Readings) under the supervision of the major professor (or possibly other members of the supervisory committee). ENG 6907 is not a degree requirement, however; students may choose to study for prelims without taking—and paying for—Directed Readings. During these reading hours, the major professor will direct the student’s attention to helpful works, figures, or movements for further study. Students may also want to confer with each member of the supervisory committee before registering for prelims, as these members may provide additional readings or study questions. Various rules are designed, however, to ensure that the Prelim experience is a similar experience for all students. No copies of past examinations can be made available to students, although major professors may provide general examples (but not samples) of the kinds of questions likely to be asked.

4. Setting up the Dates for the Prelim Exam

It is up to the major professor and the student to agree on the dates for the Prelims (both written and oral components). However, bear in mind the following sets of deadlines:

Departmental Deadlines: The oral examination ordinarily takes place one week after the written exam, and neither the written or oral exam can be scheduled during exam week, during the summer term, or between academic terms. Important: students cannot sign up for dissertation hours until they have passed their Prelims and are admitted into candidacy, and the risk of this change in status not being processed in sufficient time for them to register for these hours the following semester increases when they take their exam in the last days of the semester. Students should not wait, therefore, until the very last moment in the semester to take their exam.

University Deadlines: To convert the last nine Directed Reading hours into dissertation hours retroactively after passing Prelims (which the Department strongly recommends), the university mandates that the student must pass that exam (oral portion included) before end of the seventh week of the semester. That means, in effect, that the written portion of the exam must be concluded before the end of the sixth week of the semester. Most students have sufficient dissertation hours (24 required) without making this conversion; anyone who passes prelims by the end of the Spring of Year 3 will be considered to be in good standing. However, even though this reading hours/dissertation hours conversion is crucial only for those who intend to graduate at the end of Year 4 (who plan to spend only the required minimum of six months on their dissertation after being admitted into candidacy), the benefits of this conversion are numerous: getting an earlier start on the prospectus and dissertation, having a plan to finish the degree in case students get a job when they go on the market in Year 4, and many more.

After the dates for Prelims have been agreed upon, it is the responsibility of the student to notify the Graduate Program Coordinator of those dates, who will give the student the reference number to register for ENG 8964, Preliminary Doctoral Examination.

F. The Prelim Semester

1. Registering for Prelims

Students must register for ENG 8964 (Preliminary Doctoral Examination) and confirm the time and place of the exam with the Graduate Program Coordinator. This must be done no later than the end of the drop-add period of that semester. ENG 8964 is a one-time registration; students who for any reason fail to take the examination that term will receive an “I.” This grade will then be changed once the exam is completed.

2. The Construction and Administration of the Written Exam

After a student has registered for ENG 8964, the Graduate Program Coordinator will send an email message notifying the major professor of the date of the prelim exams. Two weeks before the written exams, the student will send this professor another email reminder, with a request that the exam be submitted in its entirety to the Graduate Program Coordinator no later than one week before the first day of the exam.

In constructing the exam, the major professor ordinarily solicits questions from all members of the supervisory committee (though typically not the University Representative; see Section 4., below) and designs the examination based on a reading list, drawn from the major and minor areas of concentration, that the student develops in consultation with the major professor and committee members. In the case of Rhetoric and Composition, a student will develop a reading list that builds from a common set of readings, and the exam will include three sets of questions: one in rhetoric, one in composition, and one in a subfield of Rhetoric and Composition of the student’s choosing (see below).

It is important that students keep in close touch with their major professors throughout this whole period to ensure that the exam process runs smoothly.

3. Taking the Written Exam

a. Location

The Department does not specify where the exam may be taken, although students should check with their major professors for recommendations and preferences.

Both the Department and the FSU Testing Center have discontinued live in-person proctoring for exams. Students with official accommodations from Office of Accessibility Services may still use the exam lab there. Major professors wishing to use Honorlock may do so, as long as the student and the supervisory committee are aware of this well in advance.

The English Department has a limited number of rooms in the Williams Building that may be available for this exam (contact front desk to reserve). Students may also reserve an individual study room at Strozier Library.

b. Materials Permitted, Citations, and Honor Policy

Students may refer to their field lists, a dictionary, and (if approved by the major professor) 1-2 pages of notes, but they may not consult any of the texts on their lists, internet sources, or any other outside sources or collaborators. Students should provide sufficient citations in the body of their answers to signal when they are paraphrasing or referring to another person’s words or ideas. For example, “as Jameson discusses in The Political Unconscious …”

All work must be original and produced by the student alone according to the rules set by the University Academic Honor Policy. Violations may lead to severe penalties, including dismissal from the Graduate Program.

c. Administering the Exam

At a prearranged time on three consecutive weekdays, the Graduate Program Coordinator will email the student the day’s questions. The student will have four hours each day (plus a 15-minute grace period to allow for minor tech issues) to return the answers. No extra time for writing, revising, or proofreading is allowed to students unless specific needs are registered with the Office of Accessibility Services; taking such time without proper permission may be grounds for failure. Students are urged to have a backup internet source (such as a smartphone that can serve as a WiFi hotspot) and to save work at regular intervals.

At the conclusion of the written exam, the Graduate Program Coordinator will coordinate the distribution of the exam and exam answers to the committee.

d. Format

Typically (but not invariably) students receive 6-10 questions on each day and are asked to write on 4 for an hour each, but this can vary. Days one and two concern the major area, day three the minor.

For students in Rhetoric and Composition, the preliminary exam structure includes three areas, equally weighted:

• Part 1: Rhetorical History, Theory, Research, and Application

• Part 2: Composition History, Theory, Research, and Application

• Part 3: Minor/Specialty Area (for example: visual rhetoric; technology and literacy; writing assessment; theory and practice of writing centers; writing in the disciplines; genre and activity theory; writing and issues of race, ethnicity, and gender).

4. The Prelim Oral Exam and Admission to Candidacy

Attendance policy: All English Department supervisory committee members and the student must attend the entire defense in real time, either by being physically present or participating via distance technology.

Note: it is neither a University nor a Department requirement that the University Representative take part in the preparation of the written exam or the administering of the oral. In practice, the University Representative’s participation has been a common custom in English (if quite rare in most departments at FSU) and is sometimes necessary—particularly if that person offers crucial expertise in either the student’s major or minor area. If that is not the case, however, including the University Representative is optional. The decision to include them is left to discretion of the major professor.

If the performance on the written exam is deemed satisfactory by a majority of the committee, the student may proceed to the oral examination, which usually takes place one week after the written exam. For the defense attendance policy, see University Requirements for the MA/MFA Degree, Section 5.

The oral exam provides the committee the opportunity to probe the breadth and depth of the student’s knowledge, and it provides the student the chance to augment and amplify the answers on the exam and connect these responses to the chosen area of concentration. At the end, after private deliberation, the committee determines which of the following the student’s performance warrants:

a. Pass

b. Conditional Pass, requiring that the student complete extra work: additional reading, the preparation of a paper or two on some subject deemed insufficient, or, in rare instances, take additional coursework. A Conditional Pass is not a Pass but rather a suspension of the exam until the stated conditions are met. All conditions must be discussed with the student at the oral defense and then emailed by the major professor to the student, all members of the committee, and the ACGS. Only after the conditions have been met can the paperwork go forward for the student to gain admission to Candidacy.

c. Pass with Distinction. The committee also has the option of deeming that the student’s performance outstanding on both written and oral phases of the exam, in which case a pass “With Distinction” may be granted. This requires a unanimous vote of the committee.

d. Fail (see Section 5, below).

Immediately after the oral exam is completed, a departmental defense form (available on the Graduate Curriculum Canvas site) should be sent via DocuSign to all members of the committee and cc’d to the Graduate Program Coordinator.

The forms to convert any eligible reading hours to dissertation hours will be attached to the Admission to Candidacy Form and forwarded to the College of Arts and Sciences for submission. The candidate will not be able to enroll in additional dissertation hours until the Admission to Candidacy has been processed.

5. Policy Regarding Failure of the Prelim Exam

If a majority of committee members agrees that the student’s performance on the written portion is unsatisfactory, the student shall be deemed to have failed the examination at that stage. Otherwise, the student will proceed to the oral exam, and the decision to pass or fail will be based on the student’s performance on both portions of the exam. The ACGS must be notified of the outcome of any preliminary exam attempt (the ACGS will, in turn, notify the Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office).

A student who fails the exam (at either stage) may take it a second time. A second failure on the preliminary exam makes the student ineligible to continue in the degree program. The second attempt at the preliminary exam shall occur no sooner than six full class weeks after the results of the first attempt are shared with the student. For the purpose of this policy, a “full class week” is defined as a week with five days during which classes are held at FSU.

Students must be registered separately for their first and second attempt (even if necessary within the same semester) and must receive either a “pass” or a “fail” grade for each attempt.

An exception request regarding the timing of the reexamination can be submitted for consideration to the Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office by either the student or the supervisory committee. Students who allege that academic regulations and/or procedures were improperly applied for the reexamination of their preliminary exam may have their grievances addressed through the general academic appeals process.