Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies

Tuition and Financial Support

As of January 2006, the tuition for one academic year of study for a resident of New York State was $6,900 (or $288 per credit). For non-residents the tuition for one academic year of study was $10,920 ($455 per credit).

Any applicant admitted to Graduate Studies in Comparative Literature is automatically considered for financial aid. A limited number of full and partial teaching assistantships are available. During the academic year 2006-07, a full assistantship carries a stipend of $12,276, plus a full Tuition Scholarship. Students with excellent grades and GRE scores are strongly urged to apply early in the fall semester prior to the year they plan to begin their studies so that the program can nominate them for special fellowships, such as the Graduate Council Fellowship, which in 2006-07 carries a stipend of $16,138 plus a full Tuition Scholarship. In addition, minority applicants are eligible to be nominated for the Turner Fellowship, which also carries a stipend of $16,138, plus a full Tuition Scholarship.

All New York State resident graduate students who apply for a Tuition Scholarship must apply for TAP (Tuition Assistance Program). New York State residents who are ineligible for TAP for financial reasons must provide the Graduate School with documentation proving their ineligibility. Students from outside New York State should investigate other sources of financial aid. All students with Tuition Scholarship of any kind must apply for New York residency immediately on arrival at Stony Brook. Beginning with the student's second semester of study, Tuition Scholarship cover only the amount of in-state tuition; students who choose to maintain residency in another state are required to make up the difference from their own funds.

Teaching Assistantships

For Ph.D. students awarded teaching assistantships, four years of full support is the Department's norm. Awards are renewable annually, provided the student maintains satisfactory academic progress towards the degree and performs teaching duties appropriately (see below, Satisfactory Progress). Students (other than Turner fellows) should not count on assistantship resources beyond the fourth year of study. No student on a T.A. Line may teach more than one course during the Fall or Spring semester.

During their first year, Ph.D. students will normally be placed as teaching assistants in CLT lecture courses. During their second and third years, students will most commonly teach as instructors in the Writing Program or in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies, and during their fourth year, as independent instructors of CLT courses. Admitted students who would prefer a Writing Program or AAAS placement during their first year should notify the Department immediately upon admission into the Ph.D. program. While placemets will vary according to student and program needs and constraints, every effort will be made to provide each student with the available range of teaching experiences.

Graduate students in Comparative Literature have the opportunity to teach a wide variety of courses? Their teaching obligation may be fulfilled in several ways depending on departmental needs:

1. Assisting an instructor in a large lecture course;

2. Teaching a small section of a literature course under the supervision of the Comparative Literature faculty;

3. Participating in the basic language course in a foreign language department or in a composition course in the English department.

T.A. assignments differ, but the amount of work required can not exceed 20 hours per week. T.A.s will usually:

1. Hold office hours to review course materials, assist in grading, and discuss other course-related issues with undergraduates;

2. Attend classes (graduate courses will be scheduled to minimize interference with T.A. assignments) and read all required entries on the syllabus;

3. Lead discussion groups;

4. Grade exams, homework, and other written material.

The performance of teaching assistants is monitored by evaluation forms given to undergraduate students at the end of each semester, as well as by faculty members who visit certain classes taught by the T.A. and submit a written evaluation. Stipends of teaching assistants may be terminated if (on the basis of these evaluations and other relevant criteria) the Graduate Studies Committee judges that they have been deficient in carrying out their teaching duties. Superior work as a T.A. is highly valued by the Comparative Literature faculty and by the Graduate School. In the past, several T.A.s from Comparative Literature have won the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student. This and other prizes for which T.A.s are eligible carry a cash award.