Ph.D. in Geography: Third Year

Subsequent Studies, Requirements and Options

By the third year of study, students should be well on their way to completing most of the requirements of the graduate program. Course work should deal with specific research topics and degree requirements not yet completed. The specific requirements and degree options are outlined below.

Skills Requirement

Each student is required to demonstrate proficiency in a number of skills relevant to geographic research. The Graduate School of Geography offers courses that will fulfill most skill requirements. Students can demonstrate proficiency in a skill by receiving a passing grade in the indicated course, or by taking an examination set by the graduate school. Each student is required to demonstrate proficiency in two of the following areas: Students are required to fulfill the skills requirement by the end of the sixth semester of study, or before the defense of the dissertation proposal, whichever comes first. Students should notify their advisor when they have completed their skills requirement. The advisor will then, in consultation with the Director, place a memo in the student's file signifying completion of the requirement. The dissertation proposal will not be processed or approved by the Graduate School until the skills requirements are met.

Doctoral Examination

The Doctoral Examination Committee is composed of a minimum of four faculty, at least three of whom are regular appointments of the School. Committee members must be approved through the Director during the Fifth Semester or at least three months prior to the Doctoral Examination.

The Doctoral Examination must take place during or before the sixth semester of study. Normally, doctoral exams are taken during the regular academic semesters. Exceptions require unanimous approval of the committee and Director.

The doctoral exam assesses the competency of graduate students in one major and two minor fields (see examples of orals fields below--these fields must be approved by the chairperson of the doctoral examination committee). Competency is defined as an understanding of the substantive content and range of theoretical approaches within each subfield. Students must be able to critique alternative research traditions and defend the theoretical frameworks they adopt.

For the exam in the major field the student will be expected to have an in-depth knowledge of the entire field; in the field selected for the first minor, the student will be expected to have mastered a survey of the field. The appended list of subfields is intended as a guide to the appropriate breadth of subfields for the major and the first minor. The topic of the second minor will be a more narrowly defined field; the student will be expected to have an in-depth knowledge of the second minor. The dissertation proposal is not an eligible field for the Ph.D. exam, although the research context from which the proposal is drawn can be used as a field.

At least three months prior to the doctoral examination, each student is required to submit to the doctoral examination committee (with a copy to the Director) an outline (2-3 pages) and reading list (2-5 pages) for each of the proposed fields for the Ph.D. examination. These items must be submitted during the regular semester. Notice of the oral examination cannot be given until the entire reading list is approved by the chairperson of the orals committee and the Director.

At the student's discretion, the major and/or first minor can have a written component. This is in addition to, rather than instead of, the oral examination. The question(s) for each written portion of the doctoral exam will be given to the student as a "take-home" not less than one week before the oral portion of the exam, and the student will have 24 hours to complete each of these written exams. The oral portion of the exam on the major will last approximately one and a half hours, and the oral portion of each minor exam will be about 45 minutes. Each student is required to inform the Director of the chosen exam format at least one month prior to the exam date.

In the case of a grade of unsatisfactory, all or part of the examination may be re-taken one time. At the committee's discretion, all or part of any re-taken examination may be in writing. A second grade of unsatisfactory results in failing the Ph.D. examination and dismissal from the Ph.D. program. Student's failing the Ph.D. examination are eligible for a non-doctoral Master's degree on completion of a thesis.

The Graduate Studies Advisor will ensure that all students have completed their doctoral examination by the end of the sixth semester of study.

Examples of Orals Fields

This list of fields is to be used as a guide to defining major and first minor orals exam topics; it is based on current faculty interests. This list will be periodically updated as faculty interests and the field change. Students may select alternative major and minor topics (see for example the AAG list of topical fields); these fields may require the use of examiners outside the approval of the student's orals committee and the Director.