Program Overview
Johns Hopkins University's PhD in French focuses on literary history, textual analysis, and interpretation theory, offering training in critical theory disciplines. Students are expected to demonstrate language proficiency, complete an apprentice teaching requirement, and may pursue a minor field or research abroad. The program offers fellowships and teaching opportunities to support graduate students.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The PhD in French program at Johns Hopkins University emphasizes work in three complementary areas: literary history, close textual analysis (including explication de texte), and theory of interpretation. The faculty and visiting professors offer training in various critical theory disciplines, including philosophy, theory of language, psychoanalytic theory, intellectual history, and cultural anthropology.
Assessment:
A dissertation proposal is required before official admittance to candidacy for the Ph.D.
Teaching:
All graduate students are expected to do four years of apprentice teaching of elementary and intermediate level undergraduate courses as part of their professional preparation. The amount of classroom teaching required is usually three to four hours a week.
Other:
- Students must demonstrate proficiency in one or two other languages besides English, depending on the specialization.
- For students who choose to specialize in an early modern period (medieval, Renaissance, or 17th century), proficiency in Latin is required by the end of the third semester.
- Students may also choose a minor field: another Romance literature, modern criticism, comparative literature, medieval studies, or some other field connected with the student’s major field.
- The Department encourages and expects graduate students to do research abroad during their program of study.
- The department has a number of fellowships for graduate students.
- Fourth- and fifth-year graduate students may also compete for Dean’s Teaching Fellowships, which provide opportunities for the design and teaching of undergraduate courses in literature, cultural studies, or intellectual history.
