Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies

Cultural Studies: The Ph.D. Dissertation

The dissertation represents the culmination of the student’s degree program and should be a serious contribution to scholarship. In consultation with the Dissertation Director, who must be a member of the CLCS faculty, students choose the Chair of the Dissertation Defense and the remaining committee members. The Chair of the defense is not the Dissertation Director. The dissertation committee should include at least four members, including an outside member (that is, someone not affiliated with the Cultural Studies Program at Stony Brook). The entire committee is then subject to the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee.

The draft of a Ph.D. dissertation proposal should be presented to the dissertation director within three months after completion of the comprehensive examination, and the candidate should meet with the entire dissertation committee (ideally as a group, or if necessary, individually) in the process of producing a final proposal, to be approved by the committee and submitted for the candidate’s file.

The dissertation proposal, which must be appropriate to Cultural Studies, should be approximately 2,000 words, including footnotes but not including bibliography and should include the following:

1. Title of the dissertation;

2. Description of the subject and its appropriateness for Cultural Studies in focus and method;

3. The rationale behind the choice of dissertation subject, and the anticipated contribution of the proposed research to knowledge in the field of Cultural Studies;

4. Current state of research on the dissertation subject and a basic bibliography;

5. Method/s of work, including the dissertation’s general approach;

6. An outline of chapters (one paragraph per chapter).

Students are advised to consult with their Dissertation Director concerning all procedures to be followed in preparing the dissertation. Early involvement of all members of the Committee is strongly recommended. Once the proposal has been approved and signed by all members of the student's dissertation committee, it is submitted to the Graduate Studies Committee for final approval. Specific guidelines on preparing the dissertation proposal and interacting with the dissertation committee during the composition are available in the departmental office.

Although there are no strict regulations on length, dissertations will normally be between 200 and 400 pages, not including bibliography and other supplemental material. The dissertation committee may, in special cases and with justification, allow a student to submit a shorter or longer dissertation.

When the dissertation has been completed in accordance with guidelines published in Guide to the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations, legible copies of the complete dissertation must be given to all Committee members at least one month in advance of the scheduled defense.

All Dissertation Defenses shall take place on campus and require the full attendance of the Dissertation Examining Committee. Any exceptions from this practice will require approval from the Dean of the Graduate School. Campus Audio/Video Services can be employed in the event that either a committee member or the defending student cannot be on the premises due to extenuating circumstances. While the examining committee may wish to hold the committee examination of the defense in private, the public presentation of the defense will be open to the University community and should be advertised campus-wide three weeks prior to the scheduled date. A minimum of three weeks prior to the dissertation defense, the dissertation abstract, approved by the student’s advisor and Director of Cultural Studies, must be submitted to the Graduate School with details of the time and location for the defense. The Graduate School will be responsible for advertising the defense to the University community.

The Committee will set up the ground rules for the defense, which usually involves the student giving a short précis of the research problem, the research method, and conclusions reached. This is followed by questions from the Committee and, if the Committee so desires, from the audience.