The PhD requires a total of 60 semester hours of coursework, a qualifying written and oral examination, and a dissertation. According to Graduate School regulations, work on the Ph.D. must be completed eight years from the time you have begun coursework applicable to the degree; if you entered with an MA, you will have six years from the time of beginning course work for the PhD.

Program Requirements:

English 400: Introduction to Graduate Study.
English 402: Teaching College Composition
English 502: Independent Study for Doctoral Qualification
Two courses in critical theory or textual studies; at least one of these two courses must be in critical theory

B. Field-Specific Requirements:

Doctoral students in English who have completed the MA degree will enter one of the following three specialized fields and must meet the course requirements defined for that specialization. Students will be free to change their field at any time, provided that they are able to fulfill the course requirements for the new field.

• Medieval and Renaissance Literature
• 19th-Century Studies
• Modern Literature and Culture

Note that several of these requirements will be partly or wholly fulfilled by all students as part of their MA study.

The PhD in Modern Literature and Culture at Loyola University is designed for graduate students who desire to study Modernism, Postmodern, and Contemporary literature. Loyola University Chicago features faculty working with a variety of literature and poetry including 20th-Century American and British, African-American, and Postcolonial literature. The faculty includes specialists in the fields of Psychoanalytic theory, Feminist theory, Poetry, Drama, and Film Studies.