Alternative Minor:
Students may also petition the Graduate Advisory Committee for an alternative minor. There are two types of informal alternative minors:
- Alternative minors within the department (e.g., Anglo-Irish Literature; Nineteenth-Century Transatlantic Literature, etc.).
- Alternative minors outside the department (e.g., history, religious studies). These include at least fifteen credit hours of approved work in a program outside English. Such minors outside the department require faculty members from outside English to submit part of the written Ph.D. exams and to take part in the student’s oral examination. The student’s dissertation committee must also include at least one member from the minor field.
In order to petition for an alternative minor, students should write a letter to the Director of Graduate Studies that includes:
- description of the minor field, justifying its necessity in terms of the candidate’s projected teaching and research. How might it further future dissertation work? In what ways will it prepare the candidate for the job market?
- Descriptions of all courses taken or expected to be taken that emphasize this field; (NB: for minors outside English, this should include a listing of those courses that satisfy the requirement of fifteen credit hours outside the department). Candidates should also indicate how they will satisfy the required one seminar in the minor field.
- For minors outside English, a declaration of whether the candidate wishes the minor to be informal or formal. In either case, the student should indicate with whom they have consulted in the minor field. (A student wishing to declare a formal minor outside the department must follow the procedures outlined in the Graduate School Handbook)
- reading list for the minor, which the candidate has compiled through consultation with appropriate faculty.
- Letters of support for the alternative minor (sent to the Graduate Director) from two faculty members; for minors outside English, it may well be appropriate to solicit one letter from a faculty member in the outside field.