Degree Requirements: To qualify for the doctorate, a student must satisfactorily complete graduate studies totaling at least 72 points (at least 32 points in residence at New York University), pass a qualifying examination, and present an acceptable dissertation. Requirements include the course work taken either at New York University or elsewhere as part of the Master of Arts degree, which is prerequisite to the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Completion of all requirements is expected within seven years and preferably within five for students entering with a B.A. degree or within three to four years for students entering with an M.A. degree.
Foreign Language Requirements: Students are required to demonstrate proficiency sufficient for research purposes in a language other than English or Italian. The choice of language is subject to approval by the student’s academic adviser or the director of graduate studies and depends on the student’s interests and area of specialization. Students specializing in the medieval and Renaissance periods are usually advised to demonstrate proficiency in Latin. Students specializing in the modern period are usually advised to choose from among French, German, or Spanish. Other languages must be approved by a departmental committee.
Proficiency in Latin may be demonstrated in one of the following ways: (1) passing a regularly scheduled test prepared by the Department of Classics at the level of intermediate Latin or (2) showing an official college transcript with at least one course in Latin literature with texts read in Latin. Proficiency in French, German, or Spanish may be demonstrated by any of the methods described in the Degree Requirements section of this bulletin or by passing with a grade of B or better a graduate course taught in that language.
It is recommended that every student plan to spend at least one semester in Italy for research and/or course work.
Course of Study and Qualifying Examinations: All candidates for the doctorate are expected to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of Italian culture and history as well as mastery of methodological, critical, and theoretical concerns. On completion of all courses, students are required to take a Ph.D. qualifying examination. This examination may be repeated once after a period of no less than three months.
Admission to Candidacy: When the student has completed at least one year in residence and all course and language requirements, passed the required examinations, proposed an acceptable subject for the dissertation, and been recommended by the department, the student is formally admitted to candidacy for the doctorate, and an advisory committee is appointed.
Dissertation Defense: When the dissertation is completed and approved by the adviser and at least two readers, an oral examination is scheduled at which the candidate presents and defends research results to a faculty committee of five.
MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY
Students who are accepted as candidates in the doctoral program and who fulfill all the requirements for the doctorate (except the dissertation and its defense) are qualified for the Master of Philosophy degree. The requirements include the completion of 72 points (at least 32 points in residence at New York University), competence in a foreign language and the successful completion of the comprehensive or qualifying examination. Students who fail the qualifying or comprehensive examination do not receive the Master of Philosophy degree.
CONSORTIUM
The Inter-University Doctoral Consortium (IUDC) allows advanced Ph.D. students to take graduate courses at Columbia University, CUNY Graduate Center, Fordham University, New School University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, and Stony Brook University. The consortium helps to expand the intellectual possibilities of doctoral study by affording students—in particular those from smaller departments—the opportunity to take courses that are not offered at their home institution.
