Applying . Ph.D Program BA Program Schedules Facilities
Ph. D. Curriculum 

The program is structured by the guiding idea that linguistics is a unified discipline, with crossfertilization between subdisciplines a major source of growth and innovation. Students study each of the three core areas intensively over the first year and a half, and then specialize according to their interests. From the start, the curriculum is designed to facilitate original research: in addition to course-related work, students present two qualifying papers, written in close consulation with faculty, one at the end of the second year, the other at the end of the third year. Dissertation research and writing take up the fourth and fifth years. Students are encouraged to gain expertise in related areas: the Cognitive Science Center supports a Certificate Program which offers special opportunities for research in psycholinguistics and computational linguistics.
            •  Graduate courses are listed here.
            •  The formal requirements are detailed below.


Formal Requirements

The requirements stated below are binding on all graduate students in the Linguistics Ph. D. Program as of January 2004, and they supersede all previous statements of the program requirements. Some adjustments of these policies may be forthcoming, but students may count on the enforcement of requirements here stated.
        ‡ Download the requirements as PDF.
 
A. Course Work
  1. Students are required to take Syntax 1 and 2, Semantics 1 and 2, and Phonology 1 and 2, in their first year. 
  2. Students must take a third course in each of syntax, semantics, and phonology.  These three courses must be taken by the end of the second year, unless the student opts to take the seminar in learnability during their second year, in which case one of the three may be taken during the third year.
  3. Students are required to register for three semesters of the Qualifying Paper Workshop, including Fall of year two, Spring of year two and Fall of year three. If they wish they may register for a fourth semester in Spring of year three.
  4. Students must take four contentful courses (not research or independent study credits) over and above those mentioned in §§A1-A3. One of these four courses may be from the List of Appropriate Courses in Other Departments (dated Spring 1999). This requirement must be met by the end of year four.
  5. Students may register for two semesters of Linguistics Colloquium. The option for registering for the Colloquium is typically open to students in their first year but the Graduate Director may allow registration in a later year if it is deemed appropriate.
  6. The graduate school requires a minimum of 72 credits for a Ph. D degree, including at least 24 research credits. A full course load for the semester is 12 credits but students can register for up to 16 credits without petitioning. TA's get 6 credits towards their minimum workload for the semester. They may register for research credits during the summer. 
B. Qualifying Papers
  1. Students are required to write two qualifying papers. The papers must be in different areas, and each paper must be defended before a committee which will assign one of two grades, Pass or Fail. A Qualifying Paper Committee comprises three members of the Graduate Faculty for Linguistics (Full Members of the Linguistics Department and Associate Members from other departments). The chair, and at least one other member, must be full members of the Linguistics Department. Prior approval of the Graduate Director is needed to include members from outside the Graduate Faculty for Linguistics. 
  2. For the first qualifying paper, students are required to: 

    3. (a) find a chairperson, who must approve the topic by November 1 of year two.
    (b) form a committee and submit an abstract to this committee, by February 1 of year two.
    (c) defend the paper before this committee and obtain a Pass on it, by May 1 of year two.
  3. For the second qualifying paper, students are required to: 

    4. (a) find an chairperson, who must approve the topic, by October 1 of year three.
    (b) form a committee and submit an abstract to this committee, by December 1 of year three.
    (c) defend the paper before this committee, and obtain a Pass on it, by May 1 of year three.
  4. On obtaining a pass on the two qualifying papers and completing the contentful course requirement in Section A, students must file the appropriate paper work with the Graduate School for Advancement to Candidacy. The Graduate School requires Advancement to be completed at least two semesters prior to the Dissertation defense. 
C. Dissertation Proposal and Dissertation
 
Students are required to write a dissertation, which must be defended before a committee which will assign one of two grades, Pass or Fail. A Dissertation Committee comprises three internal members and one external member. Internal members must belong to the Graduate Faculty for Linguistics (Full Members of the Linguistics Department and Associate Members from other Departments). Of these, the chair and at least one other member member must be full members of the Linguistics Department. The fourth member must be from outside the Graduate Faculty for Linguistics. The following are the steps involved: 
  1. Form a committee of at least three faculty members, including one designated as Chair by September 30 of year four.
  2. Defend the dissertation proposal before this committee, and obtain a Pass on it, by the end of the Fall semester of year four.
  3. Add an external committee member by the end of Spring semester of year four.  The appointment has to go through the Graduate Program Director and needs the approval of the chair of the Dissertation Committee.
  4. Defend the dissertation before the committee (the external member may be absent), and obtain a Pass (from all the four members), by the end of Spring of year five.
  5. The Graduate School requires that the dissertation be completed within 7 years of entry into a program, with the proviso that the candidate must apply for 1-year extensions thereafter. The Linguistics Department will grant no more than three such extensions, except in the most extraordinary circumstances. Students must make a formal request for extension to the Graduate Program Director at least two months in advance.
D. Language Requirement
 
There is no formal language requirement. Students without sufficient exposure to languages other than English are vigorously encouraged to take appropriate measures to correct this. 
E. Standing in the Ph. D. Program
  1. The faculty will meet each semester to discuss student progress. For each student the faculty will decide whether the student's current standing is Satisfactory (if the requirements stated in (A)-(C) are met in a timely fashion) or Unsatisfactory (otherwise). This decision will represent the overall assessment by the faculty and will be based on all aspects of the student's work, including the completed course work, any incompletes (how many and why), progress on the qualifying papers, dissertation research, and any other relevant factors.
  2. For any student in unsatisfactory standing the faculty will further decide on the appropriate course of action. Normally, this will be either (a) or (b): 

    3. (a) the student may be allowed to continue in the program, subject to meeting specified conditions for regaining satisfactory standing by a specified deadline; 
    (b) alternatively, the faculty may decide that option (a) is not feasible. Normally, this will imply that the student cannot continue in the Ph. D. program. However, the student may still be awarded a terminal M.A. degree at the discretion of the department.
  3. Reporting on these decisions, the Graduate Director will write a letter of standing to each student every semester. The letter will inform the student about his or her current standing as well as any recommendations made by the faculty at the meeting. Furthermore, if the student is in unsatisfactory standing, the letter will also convey the faculty decisions in regard to §E2(a) or §E2(b), as appropriate.