Guidelines
MA MRP proposal guidelines
An MRP proposal should consist of an overview of the entire project of no more than 500 words, exclusive of bibliography. It should include first-page headings with your name, your supervisor’s name, your second-reader’s name, and a title. Sections should be clearly signaled with subheads and blank space. Pages should be numbered.
The purpose of the document is to solicit feedback from the thesis supervisor, the second reader, and the English Graduate Committee in order to ensure the successful completion of the project. The Graduate Committee must approve the proposal before it can go forward.
The proposal should outline the project’s major research goals and the corpus of texts or objects to be considered. It should briefly consider some major extant work in the field.
The MRP proposal must be approved by the student’s thesis supervisor and second reader before going forward to the Graduate Committee. The proposal must be forwarded in digital form, with the signed proposal form (PDF) to the Graduate Coordinator by first day of the third month of the second term of study: March 1 for Winter term, July 1 for Spring term and November 1 for Fall term.
MA Thesis proposal guidelines
A thesis proposal should contain an overview of the entire project, including a chapter outline, of no more than 1000 words in total, exclusive of bibliography. It should include first-page headings with your name, your supervisor’s name, your committee members’ names, and a title. Sections should be clearly signaled with subheads and blank space. Pages should be numbered.
The purpose of the document is to solicit feedback from the thesis supervisor, the second reader, and the English Graduate Committee in order to ensure the successful completion of the project. The Graduate Committee must approve the proposal before it can proceed.
A thesis proposal should outline the project's major research goals and the corpus of texts or objects to be considered. It should briefly situate the project in its field.
The MA thesis proposal must be approved by the student’s thesis supervisor and thesis-committee members before going forward to the English Graduate Committee. The proposal must be forwarded in digital form, with the signed proposal form (PDF) to the Graduate Coordinator by December 1 for Fall term starts, April 1 for Winter term starts, and August 1 for Spring term starts.
PhD Dissertation proposal guidelines
A dissertation proposal should contain an overview of the entire project of approximately 1000 words, a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of approximately another 1500 words, and a bibliography (of no fixed word count) of both primary and secondary texts. It should include first-page headings with your name, your supervisor’s name, your committee members’ names, and a title. Sections should be clearly signaled with subheads and blank space. Pages should be numbered.
The total word count should not exceed 3000 words, exclusive of bibliography.
The purpose of the document is to illustrate to the candidate's supervisory committee, and to the Graduate Studies Committee, preparedness to begin writing the dissertation. The supervisory committee and the Graduate Studies Committee will provide the candidate with feedback about the project’s feasibility and the coherence of its research goals.
A dissertation proposal should outline the project's major research goals and the corpus of texts or objects to be considered. The proposal should thoroughly contextualize the project within its scholarly domain(s). It is not, however, primarily a literature review.
The dissertation proposal must be verified by the Graduate Studies Committee and then formally approved at the oral exam portion of the comprehensive exam process. For more information, see the Dissertation page.