The Doctoral Program
Emphasizing interdisciplinary, global, and transhistorical approaches, our doctoral program fosters complex and challenging ways of thinking about French and Francophone literatures and cultures, strongly grounded in poetical, textual, visual, and historical analysis. Doctoral students in French at UVA gain both deep knowledge of a specialized field of study and broad familiarity with literatures and cultures in French from their origins to the present. They also develop strong pedagogical skills through training and experience.
Requirements for the doctoral program include coursework, a series of increasingly focused research statements, qualifying exams, and a substantial independent research project. Further details are available in the Graduate Handbook .
Recent graduates from UVA's doctoral program are currently working as senior lecturers and visiting, tenure-track, or tenured professors at a variety of institutions, including Clemson University, Dartmouth College, Denison University, Hampden-Sydney College, Hillsdale College, Kenyon College, University of Kentucky, Kent State University, Muskingum University, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Université – Paris III, Randolph Macon College, Syracuse University, Wesleyan University, University of Western Florida, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, UVA-Wise, and Vanier College in Montréal. Others have secured successful post-academic careers in fields such as higher education administration, secondary school teaching, publishing, and foreign policy (updated June 2017).
Dissertation Proposal Form
Doctoral Committee Declaration Form
PhD Preliminary Exam
PhD Qualifying Exam, Part I (Comprehensive) Reading list - May 2018 Update
Resources
2017 Reading List