Ph.D. in English

The Ph.D. in English at UC Davis provides a vibrant, supportive environment for advanced literary study and boundary-crossing research.

Program Overview

Our students develop deep expertise across a broad historical and geographical range—from the British Middle Ages and colonial America to postcolonial and contemporary global works.

We balance traditional archival study with innovative, interdisciplinary approaches, including:

Literature & Science and the Environment
Translation Studies
Gender, Sexuality, & Critical Race Studies
Literary Theory & Digital Humanities

Research & Collaboration

Our Ph.D. students are active leaders across the university. Beyond the department, you can:

Pursue a Designated Emphasis (DE): Specialize in secondary fields like Critical Theory, Feminist Theory, or Classics.
Global Exchange: Compete for a year-long exchange with the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies in Mainz, Germany.
Research Hubs: Collaborate with campus partners like ModLab, DataLab, and the Medieval and Early Modern Studies program.

Training & Outcomes

We provide comprehensive pedagogical training to ensure our graduates are competitive for both academic and diverse professional careers.

Teaching Experience: Students gain hands-on experience teaching University Writing Program (UWP) courses and Introduction to Literature.
Professionalization: Our program supports a strong record of research, publication, and conference presentation.

Note: We do not offer a stand-alone M.A. degree; however, an M.A. in English may be completed "en route" to the Ph.D.

Visit our Ph.D. Alumni Directory to explore recent dissertations and careers

Graduate Program Contacts

We’re happy to answer any questions you may have about the Ph.D. program or funding structure.

Aaron Barstow
Graduate Program Coordinator
[email protected]
(530) 752-2738

Michael Ziser
Director of Graduate Studies
[email protected]
(530) 752-1696

Ph.D. Degree Requirements
The English Ph.D. program requires 50 units of coursework, a dissertation, and demonstrated proficiency in one foreign language.
Coursework Overview
3 Core Courses (8 units)
To advance to candidacy, students must complete 13 total graduate courses (50 units). At least 44 units must be taken for a letter grade.
• ENL 200: Introduction to Graduate Studies (Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory).
• Literary Theory Survey: One course (CRI 200A or CRI 200C) taken for a letter grade.

Prospectus Workshop (2 units)
• ENL 200: Introduction to Graduate Studies (Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory).
Note: Students may petition to complete this requirement independently with a Prospectus Adviser.
Graduate-Level Seminars (40 units)
Students must complete 10 seminars for a letter grade, organized as follows:
• Breadth Requirements: Five courses (see below for specific areas).
• Electives: Five courses.
• Undergraduate Credit: One 100-level undergraduate course may count toward this requirement.
• Grading Policy: Aside from ENL 200 and ENL 288, courses graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (including independent or group studies) do not count toward the 10-seminar requirement.
Foreign Language Requirement
The English Ph.D. requires reading proficiency in one foreign language prior to degree completion; this is not an admissions requirement. Proficiency can be demonstrated through previous or current coursework or an exam. Any of the following options fulfill this requirement:
• Completion of three semester-length or four quarter-length undergraduate courses in a foreign language within the past eight years, with a passing grade (Pass/No Pass is acceptable).
• Passing the Placement Test at the UC Davis Language Center, which certifies intermediate-level proficiency.
• Earning a Pass on the language exam offered by the English Department at the beginning of each Fall or Spring quarter.
Breadth Requirements
To ensure a well-rounded academic foundation, five courses (20 units) from your required coursework must satisfy the following breadth requirements. These must be taken within the Department of English or taught by English Department faculty.
Important Note on Course Designation: A single course may be eligible for multiple categories, but it can only satisfy one requirement. Example: A course on "Women in Early Modern Literature" could fulfill either an Earlier Period or a Focus requirement, but not both.
Requirement 1: Earlier Period (2 Courses)
Pre-1800; or Pre-1865 if the course focus is on American literature
Requirement 2: Later Period (2 Courses)
Post-1800 or Post-1865 if the course focus is on American literature
Requirement 3: Focus Course (1 Course)
Themes: This requirement allows for specialized study in areas such as:
• Interdisciplinary: Connections between literature and other fields (e.g., Science, Environment).
• Identity: Critical Race, Gender, and Sexuality studies.
• Genre & Method: Specialized study in specific forms or theoretical frameworks.
• National Literatures: Focus on specific global or non-U.S. traditions.
Electives Requirement
To complete your degree, you must take five elective courses (20 units). These seminars allow you to tailor your research to your specific interests and may be taken within or outside the English Department. graduate course at another University of California campus through the Intercampus Exchange Program.

What counts as an elective:
• Departmental & External Seminars: Any graduate-level seminar (200-level) in English or related disciplines.
• UWP 390: This course may count as one of your five required electives.
• Independent Study (299): While 299 courses are ungraded (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory), they contribute to your total unit count.
Note: Remember that 44 of your 50 total units must be taken for a letter grade.
Special Opportunities:
• Intercampus Exchange: With approval from the Graduate Adviser, students may take graduate courses at another University of California campus. This is a great way to access specialized faculty or archives across the UC system.
Course Waivers & Course Relief
Students entering the Ph.D. program with prior M.A. coursework from another institution may petition for a reduction in required seminars or a substitution of breadth requirements.
For each waiver or relief request, students must submit to the English Graduate Office a Course Waiver or Relief Request form (available in the office) along with the syllabus from the course and the student's seminar paper.
Designated Emphasis
Graduate students may participate in a Designated Emphasis (DE), a specialization that might include a new method of inquiry or an important field of application which is related to two or more existing Ph.D. programs. The DE is awarded in conjunction with the Ph.D. degree and is signified by a transcript notation; for example, “Ph.D. in English with a Designated Emphasis in Native American Studies.”
Preliminary Examination
In the Spring Quarter of the second year or Fall Quarter of the third year of graduate study, students take a Preliminary Examination in two historical fields and one focus field. Three faculty members conduct the oral examination, each representing one of the fields. Prior to taking the Preliminary Examination, students must have completed the following:
• Introduction to Graduate Studies (ENL200)
• Survey of Literary Theory (CRI200A or CRI200C)
• Four of five Breadth Requirements
• Four of five Elective Requirements
Students will select two historical fields from among the following list. Students who would like to do non-consecutive historical fields need to get prior approval from the Graduate Adviser. These lists and additional helpful documents can be accessed via our box folder "Preliminary Exam" in the English Graduate Program file.
• 20th Century British
• African American Literature 20th Century
• American Antebellum (1820-1865)
• American Indian Literature, 1768-present
• American Literature Early 20th c., 1900-1945
• American Literature, Later 1945-present
• American Literature, Later 19th-c., 1865-1914
• Asian American & Pacific Islander Literature
• Colonial: Early American to 1800
• Later Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature (1675-1792)
• Middle English
• Native American Literature, 1900s to Present
• Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
• Pacific Indigenous Literatures
• Postcolonial Literature
• Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature (1660-1792)
• Romanticism (1776-1832)
• Seventeenth-Century English Literature From 1604-1675
• Sixteenth-Century Literature From 1485-1603
• Victorian
Additionally, students select one focus field. A student may devise her/his own focus list in collaboration with two faculty members or, as is more common, choose one from among the following:
• Black Studies
• Critical Theory
• Disability Studies
• Ecocriticism and Environmental Humanities
• Feminisms
• Film Studies
• Indigenous Studies
• Marxism
• Material Culture
• Media Technologies
• Performance Studies
• Poetics
• Postcolonial Theory
• Psychoanalysis
• Queer and Trans Studies
• Queer Feminisms
• Queer Theories
• Race and Ethnicity Studies
• Science and Literature
• Science Fiction
English 299 (Independent Study) is ordinarily used the quarters before the Preliminary Examination to prepare for the oral examination and is graded Satisfactory-Unsatisfactory. Students may register for ENL 299 under the Graduate Advisor or a faculty member in the field of their exam for the quarter(s) they intend to study.
In the event that the student does not pass the exam, the exam chair will report the decision to the Graduate Adviser, who will work with the committee to decide whether the student should be given a chance to retake the exam (no less than six months later) or whether the student should be dismissed from the program. The Graduate Adviser will report this final decision to the student within 72 hours of the exam’s conclusion.
Any remaining requirements after taking the Preliminary Examination must be completed before scheduling the Qualifying Examination.
Qualifying Examination
The Qualifying Examination happens as early as the spring of the third year and should be taken no later than the spring of the fourth year. The reading list for this exam, which is conducted orally, is constructed by the student in consultation with his or her three-person dissertation committee. When making their lists, students may consult the standard lists for preliminary exams available on the department's Box site. If the student has elected a designated emphasis (DE), materials from that field should also be incorporated into the Qualifying Exam reading list.
Graduate Studies requires the Qualifying Examination Application, via GradSphere, be submitted AT LEAST 30 days prior the the scheduled exam date or it won't be approved.
Qualifying Examination Committee
The student, in consultation with their Prospectus Adviser and, if needed, the Graduate Adviser, nominates four faculty to serve on the Qualifying Examination Committee:
• The three proposed Dissertation Committee members
• One member must be from outside the English graduate program (this may be a member of the Dissertation Committee)
The QE Committee is responsible for administering the exam. Neither the “Prospectus Adviser” nor the Dissertation Director (in many, though not all, cases these will be same) may be the chair of the QE Committee. Students with a designated emphasis (DE) must include one faculty member affiliated with the DE on both their qualifying and dissertation committee. DE paperwork must be approved before the QE application is submitted. The exam will focus on the Prospectus and the Qualifying Exam reading list. The bibliography of the prospectus will normally overlap substantially with the Qualifying Exam reading list.
A Report on the Doctoral Qualifying Examination - Ph.D. must be submitted withing 72 hours of the exam. Upon successful completion submit your Advancement to Candidacy application.
Exam Accommodations
If you are disabled, you are entitled to accommodations for all requirements of the program you’re enrolled in, a process formally handled by the Student Disability Center. We recommend starting the process of coordinating with the SDC early in your graduate school journey, as it can take time for the Center to process information. We must work with the SDC to implement your accommodations for your exams. Please indicate your need for accommodations to us as soon as possible, so we can include the Center in our exam scheduling process. Please notify us by the fourth week of the quarter in which you intend to sit the exam.
Dissertation
The dissertation must be an original work of scholarship and/or interpretation. It may be critical, bibliographical, historical, or biographical in its subject. Students work with a dissertation director and consult with two official readers as well as with other faculty knowledgeable about the project
Filing Your Thesis or Dissertation