Rhetoric

PhD Requirements

To attain a Ph.D. in Rhetoric, students must

Complete the course work required of M.A. students in rhetoric
Complete additional course work in Rhetoric chosen in consultation with the student's advisor and doctoral committee
Complete the requirements for a doctoral minor
Pass a set of preliminary examinations at the end of course work
Prepare a dissertation proposal that is approved by the student's doctoral committee
Write and defend a doctoral dissertation

Students entering with an M.A. in Rhetoric from another school may be able to use course work from that school to satisfy some requirements of the Rhetoric program, but according to Graduate School rules, all doctoral students must complete a minimum of 32 graduate-level credits at UW-Madison.

PhD Minor

The 32 graduate-level credits required for the PhD include work in the doctoral minor. The minor requirement is designed to give breadth to the doctoral program and should expose the student to subjects and/or methodologies that expand upon and complement his or her work in Rhetoric. The minor requirement can be fulfilled in one of three ways:

By taking 12 credits in a single department other than Communication Arts
By taking 12 credits distributed across two or more departments other than Communication Arts
By taking 12 credits in another area in Communication Arts.

The choice of which option to pursue is made by the student in consultation with his or her advisor and doctoral committee. Depending on their dissertation topic, students may need to fulfill a foreign language or tool requirement. The need for such a requirement is determined by the student's advisor and doctoral committee.

Preliminary Examination

After successfully completing all course work, including that required for the doctoral minor, students take preliminary examinations. The written component of the examination is prepared by the student's doctoral committee, though in some cases professors outside the department may be invited to submit questions.

Students take 12 hours of written examinations. Eight of the hours are divided across the following three concentrations:

Rhetorical Theory
Rhetorical Discourse
Critical Method

The distribution of hours in each concentration will be determined by the student's doctoral committee, with no more than four hours and no fewer than two hours in a single concentration. The student will also write four hours in an area of specialization determined in consultation with the student's advisor and doctoral committee. The written exam is followed by a two-hour oral examination.

The preliminary examination typically emphasizes the student's ability to synthesize and apply creatively what he or she has learned. Factual knowledge is not the sole focus of the examination; nor does it suffice merely to know what others think or say. Likewise, the preliminary examination should not be regarded simply as a repetition of exams and materials covered in the student's courses, although the questions typically relate to those courses.

Preliminary examinations are administered three times per year:

Late August
End of the fall semester
End of the spring semester

Students who enter the Rhetoric program without an M.A. in Rhetoric from another school usually take prelims by the end of their sixth or seventh semester of course work. Students who enter the program with an M.A. in Rhetoric from another school ordinarily take prelims by the end of their fifth or sixth semester of course work.

Policies on Dissertation Defenses

Dissertation Proposal

The aim of a dissertation proposal is to articulate a scholarly problem and a plan for addressing it. The proposal should identify and explain the significance of the dissertation topic, analyze the state of the scholarly literature on the topic, describe preliminary arguments or hypotheses the dissertation will investigate, identify the primary research sources for the dissertation, and sketch out a research and writing schedule. The proposal is developed in consultation with the student's advisor and doctoral committee and must be formally approved by the committee before the student can proceed with writing the dissertation.

The dissertation should provide evidence of scholarship, originality, and research competence. The line of inquiry selected should be something students can pursue for years following the awarding of a degree--not a single requirement-fulfilling effort. A student's course work and preliminary examination are preludes to and preparation for this original research. The dissertation must be completed with five years after passing prelims and, ideally, will provide the foundation for the student's first book after completion of the doctorate.