While rigorous and challenging, our program also is small and supportive.

On average, two students per discipline (about eight to ten students in total) enter the program each year, and more than half come from countries outside the U.S. They join a close-knit professional and social community of thirty to forty students, forging valuable working relationships with one another and entering into collaborative apprenticeships with individual faculty members—who are themselves productive scholars—and serve as mentors for many years to come.

Program Highlights

Our PhD students:

• Acquire advanced knowledge relevant to their areas of specialization.
• Develop advanced academic research skills for their areas of specialization.
• Be well prepared for the instructional responsibilities of higher education.
• Present at and attend academic conferences.
• Produce quality, co-authored scholarly papers with faculty.
• Obtain employment in academic settings upon graduation.

Average time to degree is just more than four and a half years. During this time, our students must fulfill the following requirements:

• Two years of course work in major, research methods, and related subjects
• Two independent research papers
• Comprehensive exam
• Dissertation
• Satisfactory performance as a research and teaching assistant
• Success as a classroom teacher.

Training in Effective Teaching

PhD students teach four undergraduate courses over the second, third, and fourth years of the program.

PhD students participate in teacher training activities conducted by the Lundquist College and by the university's Teaching Effectiveness Program. In addition, students are encouraged to observe classes taught by faculty, to serve as teaching assistants, and to use the resources available in the university's Teaching Effectiveness Program.