"Everything you wanted to know about the PhD Qualifying Exams"
Wednesday, October 14th 2015
Faculty Leader
Ralph Bauer
Panel
Susanna Compton
Brian Davis
Tamar Leroy
John Macintosh
Cameron Mozafari
Logistics
· Exam committee – 4 graduate faculty
o Director
o First Reader
o Second Reader
o Third Reader
· Approved Reading List must be turned in 6 weeks before exam date with signatures
of Director and First Reader
· Try to take the exam 6th semester – latest 7th semester – try to have three years of funding left for dissertation work
· Recommended to take ENGL699 (Independent Study) – Organize around reading list to prepare for exam
· List consists of 80-120 works
o 75% period or established field of study
§ 80% primary readings
§ 20% secondary readings
o 25% focus list for dissertation project
§ 80% primary readings
§ 20% secondary readings
· Exam – 2 hours.
o First hour
§ Will get 2 questions made with Director and First Reader a week before exam – 20 minute presentation (not read) on one of the questions.
§ Questions about talk.
o Last hour – Discussion with committee members.
General Tips
· Exam related to dissertation to job – Make sure that you are thinking about the job market even in the creation of the reading list.
· Don’t be nervous – You actually know more about your topic than any of your committee members. It’s a conversation.
· Exam is less of a test than proving that you can write a dissertation and have an argument about your topic.
· There will always be one question that you don’t know - They are more interested in how you handle tough questions rather than knowing everything perfectly.
· You don’t necessarily have to know your exact project for the dissertation – You can save that for your prospectus.
· Any notes you take/writing can have second life in your prospectus or dissertation.
· Any term/concept you bring up – They will ask you to define. Don’t bring up things you don’t want to talk about! Also – bring up things you DO want to talk about. Be strategic and frame your discussion.
· Seed questions – “I don’t have time to talk about this, but…” They will probably ask it, and you have already prepared for it!
· Know how to answer the question you didn’t pick – they will still ask it!
· Presentation – Answer the question with an argument and cite at least 3 primary texts. Use a powerpoint or a handout for quotations and to structure your presentation.
· Deflect questions that you don’t understand! “That is interesting, but I think the better example is from this text...”
· Don’t think out loud – think quietly and then respond. Write the question down and/or ask them to rephrase the question.
· Make your committee talk as much as possible!
· Make sure you don’t keep returning to the same text for every question. Think through what texts you want to use for which themes/questions.
· You won’t be talking about 120 texts – You will be talking about 20-30 texts more in depth.
· You CAN police your list – “This is not on my list” – You aren’t responsible for any texts that aren’t on your list.
Methods for Preparation
· Meet with your committee as much as possible!
· PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE – Record yourself and listen to it!
· Think of texts in terms of frequency – how much are they cited and discussed in the field.
· Have sequences/thematic fields of texts – They might ask you to plan a class syllabus.
· Meet with your committee members and see what they are interested in to figure out what they would be asking about in the actual exam. They have their own interests and will stick with them.
· Cluster sources together into ideas/genres of thought – It’s not possible to know/recall every source perfectly.
· Pay attention to what your committee adds to your list – It’s a good text to anchor your genre/thought clusters.
· Keep writing things as you are reading – Synthesize your ideas and find connections as you go along rather than trying to make a presentation at the end with only your memory.
· Reading criticism is helpful for primary text questions because you can answer with “So and so argues that… and I agree or disagree because…” – That way you don’t have to have an original argument on 120 texts.
· Pick your director as soon as possible!
· Making the list: Look at the lists of previous students in your field – Michele has a binder of them in the office. Look at MLA job list and the subfields. Look at recent anthologies. Look at what you have already read in classes/canonical texts.
· Have a mock exam with older graduate students who have been through it or are going through it. Do two – One before you receive your questions and then one after you begin your presentation to practice it.
· Know about your specific field – History and current events.
· Finish your reading before you begin your presentation.