Graduate Program Handbook
The Tri-Campus Graduate Program in Classics
(UCI, UCR, UCSD)
June 2005

I. Introduction

This document is meant as a general guide to the requirements and procedures of the Tri-Campus Classics Graduate program. The Tri-Campus program is an innovative joint Ph.D. program which was established in 1998 and combines faculty from three UC campuses (Irvine, Riverside, San Diego). Its goal is to provide an educational environment that is closely integrated into the main currents of humanistic and social scientific scholarship.

II. The Role of the Joint Executive Committee

The Tri-Campus program is administered by a Joint Executive Committee (JEC), which consists of 6 representatives, two from each campus serving staggered, two-year terms. The JEC's responsibilities include: reviewing graduate applications and admitting students to the program; overseeing the formation of examination and dissertation committees; reviewing and deciding on student petitions; making policy decisions concerning the Program, including changes in the Program's requirements and procedures; and interpreting the Program's requirements and procedures. The JEC elects from its members a chair to serve a three-year term. It is the chair's responsibility to manage budgetary issues, schedule and set the agenda for quarterly JEC meetings, identify faculty to teach graduate courses, and generally look after the smooth operation of the Program.

III. The Role of the Graduate Adviser

The Graduate Advisor is a faculty member responsible for supervising graduate study in the department and monitoring the academic progress of graduate students. The Graduate Advisor coordinates the various elements of the academic program and advises students and other faculty members about program requirements and University policies. The Graduate Advisor keeps records for each student and for the whole program, ensures that each student meets all requirements and makes satisfactory progress towards attainment of the degree, and is instrumental in the nomination of students for fellowship support and assistantship appointments. The Graduate Advisor also provides general help to students as they attempt to negotiate the academic and administrative hurdles on their way to completion of their degrees. The Graduate Advisor is an ex-officio member of the Tri-Campus JEC for the duration of his tenure, normally two years.

IV. Election of Student Representatives

Graduate students elect a representative who attends JEC meetings as a regular voting member. Graduate students are also invited to attend meetings as observers and to participate where appropriate. The voting rights and attendance of the graduate student representative are circumscribed by the requirements of confidentiality.

V. The Ph.D. and the M.A. Programs

A student's career may be thought of as covering three stages: course work, preparation for qualifying exams, and candidacy (dissertation). For Ph. D. students the normative limits for completion of the program are 4 years to advancement to candidacy, 2 years to final approval of the dissertation, and a maximum of 7 years in total.

Mentoring
A faculty mentor will be assigned to each new student upon entering the program. Students are encouraged to select a permanent mentor from the Program's faculty in the course of their first year in the Program

Course Work

Examinations

Diagnostic Exams: Immediately upon entering the program, the student takes diagnostic translation examinations in both Greek and Latin to establish his or her level of competency and to determine where effort should be directed. In the second year of course work students will take as diagnostic exams the Latin and Greek translation exams administered as part of the Qualifying Exam battery.

For the M.A.:

  1. Foreign Language Requirement: Students must demonstrate reading knowledge of German, French, Italian, or an equivalent research language either through appropriate course work or by examination.
  2. Complete one of the following:
    Plan I: Master's Thesis
    Plan II: One Comprehensive Examination including Greek and Latin language (one hour) and literature (2 hours) administered by the Master's committee.
The JEC, in consultation with the Graduate Advisor and the student, recommends to the Graduate Dean a three-member Master's committee composed of program faculty from at least two campuses to set and evaluate the MA exams or to evaluate the Master's thesis.

For the Ph.D.:

  1. Foreign Language Requirements: Ph.D. students must demonstrate reading proficiency in one modern research language (normally German and French or Italian) by the end of their second year either through appropriate course work or by examination. Proficiency in a second modern research language is expected by the end of the third year.
  2. Ph.D. Qualifying Exams: In order to advance to candidacy for the Ph.D. and enter the dissertation stage, a student must pass a set of seven qualifying exams. The translation exams, the history exams, and the history of the literatures exam are administered and evaluated on a regular schedule over the academic year by examination boards composed of one faculty member from each campus and appointed for that purpose by the JEC at the Graduate Advisor's recommendation.

    Fall Winter Spring
    Latin
    Roman History
    Italian    		Greek
    Greek History
    French    		History of Literature
    German
The JEC in consultation with the Graduate Advisor and the student recommends to the Graduate Dean a five-member candidacy committee, specifying one member as the committee chair, composed of four program faculty from at least two campuses and one outside member holding tenure on one of the participating campuses (i.e., not a member of the program faculty) to organize and administer the special area exam and the oral exam taken by the candidate after successful completion of the other exams. All committee members for both candidacy and doctoral committees should normally be voting members of the Academic Senate of the Irvine, Riverside, or San Diego divisions. Any exceptions must hold a Ph.D., be qualified for a UC faculty appointment and must be supported by a memo of justification and a CV submitted by the Graduate Adviser to the Graduate Dean for approval at least two weeks prior to an exam. The qualifying examinations include written examinations and a final oral examination:
a) Greek and Latin translation (three hours each);
b) Greek and Roman history (three hours each);
c) History of Greek and Roman literature (three hours);
d) A "special area" that can be fulfilled by either an extensive research paper or by a three-hour written exam;
e) Oral examination administered by the candidacy committee and to be taken only after the other exams have been passed (two hours: one hour general knowledge and one hour on a substantial dissertation prospectus comparable to a research paper in scope and detail).

These exams are based on the Tri-Campus Reading Lists and should be completed by the end of the fourth year. The exams on Greek and Roman history are based upon up to 6 books each, specified in the relevant reading list. The exam on the history of Greek and Roman literature is based upon the Greek and Latin Reading Lists and upon the books prescribed on the reading list for this exam. Students are expected to read, in the original, all works on the Greek and Latin Reading Lists, whether or not they have appeared in courses. (Students may negotiate with the Graduate Advisor substitutions on the Greek and Latin reading lists comprising up to twenty percent of their total length in order to accommodate the lists to the particular interests of the individual student.) The Tri-Campus approved Reading Lists are appended to this document. Upon successful completion of the written examinations the oral exam will be scheduled. Students failing segments of the Qualifying Exams may normally retake those sections only once after the interval of one quarter or the summer break, as the case may be. Students may retake segments of the Qualifying Exams more than once only at the discretion of the JEC. A grade of "pass" in all examinations is required for admission to candidacy.

Thesis and Defense

For the M.A.:

The Master's paper comprises a substantial piece of original research. It should exceed the breadth and depth expected for a seminar paper, which can provide a good foundation for the Master's paper.

For the Ph.D.:

When the student has advanced to candidacy, the JEC, in consultation with the candidate, the Graduate Advisor, and the proposed chair of the doctoral committee, will recommend to the Dean of the Graduate Division a doctoral committee composed of at least three Program faculty from at least two of the three campuses and one outside member who holds tenure at one of the participating campuses. The doctoral committee will serve as the examination committee for the thesis defense. Within the first quarter after completion of the qualifying exams and all other prerequisites, the candidate will submit a dissertation proposal for discussion and evaluation to the doctoral committee.

A public oral defense of the dissertation will be scheduled upon its submission to the doctoral committee. Members of the committee must be supplied with a copy of the dissertation at least 3 weeks before the exam date.

VI. The Emphasis in Comparative Literature

Course Work:

Students must take at least five graduate courses in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. (A.) One of the above course should be Criticism 222A or C, or Comparative Literature 200. (B.) At least three of the above courses should have a Comparative Literature designation. (C.) One of the above courses could be Humanities 270 (Critical Theory). Classics students can devote the required outside seminars to this Emphasis and may, with the Graduate Advisor's approval, make appropriate substitutions of courses in the Emphasis for Program core courses.

Qualifying Exams

One topic on the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination must be on a Comparative Literature topic and should be prepared with a professor from the Comparative Literature Program who would serve as a member of the student's exam committee. The student should be able to demonstrate some expertise in comparative critical methodologies as well as knowledge of a literature and tradition other than Classics. Normally Classics students will fulfill this requirement by selecting the research paper option for the oral exam stage of the Qualifying Examinations.

Dissertation

One member of the student's doctoral committee must be from the Program in Comparative Literature.

Students must submit to the Graduate Advisor in Classics an application for the Emphasis, and the Department will track the students' progress and fulfillment of the Emphasis requirements. Upon graduation, students will receive a letter from the Graduate Advisor certifying the student's completion of the Emphasis.

VII. Attendance at Colloquia and other Departmental Activities

Seminars, colloquia, and other activities of interest to Classics graduate students are organized regularly by the Tri-Campus Graduate Program. Since these activities are considered part of the student's professional training, all students are required to attend them. Students are also urged to acquaint themselves with colloquia offered in other fields.

VIII. Support for Graduate Students

A variety of fellowships and teaching assistantships is available to Classics Graduate students on a competitive basis. They include Chancellor's Fellowships, Regents' Fellowships, Dissertation Fellowships, as well as the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae Fellowship. Several Teaching and Research Assistantships are also available which provide a stipend in addition to tuition and fees. Some fourth and fifth year TAships are held at UC Riverside and UC San Diego. Continuation of support is contingent upon satisfactory academic progress. Support from various sources is normally extended to students in good standing for up to six years.