The objectives of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program in French Studies are twofold. First, this program aims to prepare students for post-secondary teaching and research in an academic environment. A second objective is to provide students with professional training in research methods and new technologies that are now increasingly required in order to be competitive in pursuit of non-academic careers in publishing, writing, editing, electronic archiving, as well as administrative positions in both the civil service and international non-governmental organizations. This degree is an asset in areas in which a very high level of eduction and training in French language and culture is required.
Through seminars, experiential learning components, written and oral examinations, and the preparation of the dissertation, PhD candidates will acquire the academic and professional training necessary to conduct independent research, produce scholarly publications, and teach French Studies at the post-secondary level.
Admission Requirements
To be admitted to the program, students must have a Master of Arts (MA) degree in French Studies (or in a closely allied field). Candidates must have achieved an overall average of at least 80% in their MA program. Applicants are required to submit a plan of study, and a writing sample in French. Applicants must also forward three letters of reference, at least two of which must be from academic sources.
The Three Fields
There are three fields in the PhD program. Students can be admitted into one or two of the three fields.
- Electronic archiving, editing, and publishing in a Francophone context
This unique field includes the study of manuscript retrieval and editing, hypertext studies, the study of the impact of electronic media on French and Francophone literatures and cultures, questions on the history of the book and the e-book, electronic and multimedia teaching of French and Francophone literatures and cultures, and also the archiving of book illustrations and other cultural material such as letters, personal archives, and private texts.
- Early modern French literary studies and theory
Early modern French literary studies and theory have long been a traditional strength of the Department of French Studies at the University of Waterloo. A cluster of internationally known scholars work in innovative areas in the period ranging from the early Middle Ages to the end of the eighteenth century. These areas include the study and publishing of texts produced by women, research and archiving of travel literature and epistolary documents, the study of early image projections in revolutionary France, and the examination of the importance of print culture in the creation a national literary institution in France.
- Cultural Studies in a Francophone contextThis field focusses on contemporary Francophone contexts from the nineteenth century to the present; areas of study might include such topics as contemporary North African literature, recent Franco-Ontarian literature, or women’s writing in contemporary France.In addition to considering literature as the product of conditions in a particular place and time, the cultural studies field encourages interdisciplinarity through the critical study of cultural artefacts produced in a variety of media: literary texts, para-literatures, theatre, film, music, painting, etc. This field draws upon diverse methodologies (semiotics, feminist and queer theory, poststructuralist theory, post-colonial theory, neomarxist and historical approaches, minority studies, genre and media studies, etc.) to study a variety of cultural products.
Degree Requirements
The program requirements for the PhD program are as follows:
Residence
The PhD is designed to take four years for completion. Students must be on campus for at least two years, and enrol in the program fulltime.
Language Requirement
Students must demonstrate reading competence in one language other than French or English.
Course Work
During their first year of study, PhD students are required to complete six half-term courses, one of which shall be the compulsory Research Methods in French Studies course (FR600) if it was not taken during previous MA studies. Students may substitute for the equivalent of one half-term course an experiential learning component, such as an editing or archiving project (within the framework of the Departement of French Studies research projects), completed under the supervision of a faculty member.
Comprehensive Examinations
During their second year of study, PhD students are required to complete a set of comprehensive examinations:
Prepared under the direction of the thesis supervisor, the comprehensive examinations entail both written and oral components, and are intended to ensure breadth, to assess competence in the field of French Studies, and to prepare students for the writing of the PhD thesis. Three components are required. 1) Students prepare, under the supervision of their thesis advisor, a selection of primary texts, and develop a broad critical and theoretical bibliography in areas relevant to the selected thesis topic; this first component is followed by an oral examination. 2) Students then write a field exam that is submitted to the thesis committee for approval. 3) Finally, students must submit, under the supervision of their thesis advisor, a dissertation proposal and outline of the proposed thesis. The bibliography, the field exam, and a dissertation proposal and outline are defended orally before the committee. Students must successfully complete all three components in order to proceed to the writing of the thesis.
PhD Thesis
During their third and fourth years of study, students conduct research and write the PhD thesis. The thesis is evaluated by a committee comprising the thesis supervisor, two additional members of the Department of French Studies, and one external reader. The student must also successfully defend the thesis at an oral examination open to the public.The Associate Chair, Graduate Studies, is responsible for the selection of the readers, in consultation with the student and the supervisor.
Summary of the PhD Programme of Study
Year 1: Course work
Year 2: Secondary Field Exam (term 1) and Primary Field Exam (term 2)
Years 3 and 4: Thesis