The doctoral program in English Language and Literature is designed to lead to the PhD in six years of post-baccalaureate study.
Students can specialize in diverse fields of British, American, or Anglophone literatures and explore a wide range of critical, theoretical, and cultural perspectives on those literatures.
The program assures that students gain broad literary and cultural knowledge along with the research skills that will allow them to make innovative contributions to the world of ideas.
We are committed to the idea that learning is a social process, and that one can learn a great deal from one's peers when lodged in a community that encourages students to share ideas. Such a community is impossible to establish when students are made to compete for funding with one another, however. To foster a collective enterprise, we guarantee six years of funding to all admitted students. During the first and fifth years of graduate studies, all students in English Language and Literature receive a full fellowship which consists of a living stipend, tuition costs, and health care benefits. In later years, students receive tuition, health care, and living expenses as part-time graduate student instructors (GSIs). The department, in conjunction with the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, is also committed to supporting students' professional activities and pays many of the expenses for research travel and for participation in academic conferences. The second year of fellowship support is provided by a number of annual dissertation fellowships, awarded to deserving students by the graduate program, the graduate school, and the Institute for the Humanities.