Dissertation Writing

All students are responsible for original research and study on a topic that has been approved by their dissertation committee and the English Graduate Committee.

A completed Dissertation should be between 200-400 pages in length, exclusive of bibliography and works cited. The dissertation should be defended in the student's fourth year.

As their dissertation is being written, students should maintain transparency and communication with their supervisors about the timing of their submissions.

Once a student has submitted any portion of their dissertation to their committee, materials should be returned to the student with comments on an agreed-upon deadline, normally respecting the following timeframes:

Single Chapter: turnaround within 4 weeks
Full MA thesis: within 7 weeks
Full dissertation: within 10 weeks

If these timelines are impossible to meet due to vacation, travel for research, or other appropriate reasons, the faculty member should inform the student at the time of submission, and a new timeframe should be negotiated.

This timeframe should add no more than 4 additional weeks to the guidelines above (e.g., a full dissertation should always be returned within a 14-week period, regardless of the submission date).