DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

The department regrets that it can no longer admit students for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Degree requirements applying to legacy students in the former program (1967-2011) can be found on this page.

Please note: If you were admitted to the PhD program prior to Fall 2009, please see your degree requirements here. A form for tracking progress in the graduate program can be found here.

Admission
Students are admitted to the PhD program after completion of the MA either at UNC-Chapel Hill or at another institution. Those who complete the MA in the department are not automatically eligible for the PhD program nor may they continue to take courses in anticipation of working toward the PhD. Upon finishing the MA, students may apply for admission to the PhD program. Admission is based on evaluation of the student's overall performance and potential, including course work, comprehensive exam, thesis, and work as a teaching assistant. Outstanding students may request to skip the MA thesis and proceed directly to the PhD, but approval of such a request is not given lightly and should not be counted upon.

Students from other institutions are normally admitted directly to the PhD program only if their MA degree is in Linguistics. Students whose MA degree is in a field other than linguistics are generally admitted to the MA program in linguistics (the core course requirements are the same for both the MA and PhD, so this does not delay a student's progress). These students have the same possibility for skipping the MA thesis and admission to the PhD program as other MA students mentioned above.

As soon as possible after completing the required MA courses (520/Phonetics, 523/Phonology I, 530/Syntax I, and one of 525/Historical, 528/Acquisition I, or 537/Semantics I), new PhD students are required to take the PhD diagnostic exam, a three-part written exam covering phonology/phonetics, syntax, and one other area chosen by the student from among historical linguistics, acquisition, and semantics. This exam is intended to insure that PhD students are adequately prepared for dissertation work. If the faculty finds a student's performance on the exam unsatisfactory in some area, it may require various steps to correct the deficiency (such as assigning a specific course or reading). This requirement applies to all beginning PhD students, regardless of whether their Linguistics MA is from UNC or elsewhere.

Course Requirements
Fifty-one credit hours, of which three hours will be dissertation credit. Required are the courses stipulated for the MA plus all of the three courses - 525 (Historical Linguistics), 528 (Language Acquisition), and 537 (Semantic Theory I) - not already taken. Students must also take either linguistic field work (LING 793) or an approved philology course (consult with the Director of Graduate Studies), plus at least one course from among: 522 (Experimental Phonetics and Laboratory Phonology), 524 (Phonological Theory II), 529 (Language Acquisition II), 533 (Syntactic Theory II), and 538 (Semantic Theory II).

Note: If circumstances do not permit offering a required course during the time needed by a given student, the department will waive the specific requirement.

Foreign Language Requirements
All students must complete one year of a non-Indo-European language or one semester in the structure of a non-Indo-European language.

Written Comprehensive Examination
The PhD written comprehensive examination will consist of two substantial essays from distinct areas of linguistics, demonstrating student's ability to conduct original, publishable research. The essays will be evaluated by a committee of two faculty members designated by the Director of Graduate Studies. Students are expected to consult closely with this committee as they prepare their essay for submission. The essays may be submitted at any time between the passing of the diagnostic examination and the completion of course work.

Oral Examination/Dissertation Proposal
This focuses on the dissertation proposal, but the examining committee may also question the student on other relevant topics. Toward the end of course work, students should seek out an appropriate faculty member as a dissertation director, with whom a dissertation proposal should be worked out (on the form and submission of the proposal see remarks on the MA thesis prospectus). Sometimes two co-directors are appropriate. The dissertation proposal is presented at the oral examination (see above) to a committee of five faculty members who approve the topic. During the actual writing of the dissertation, students are expected to consult regularly with the director and at least two other members of the committee. Any radical change in the topic or plan requires reconvening of the entire dissertation committee and reapproval of the topic. The student should at an early date obtain from the Graduate School the Guide to Preparation of Theses and read it carefully.

Final Oral Examination
This exam centers on defense of the dissertation, but the committee reserves the right to question the student on other relevant topics. Students should never schedule a dissertation defense during the summer, since it is virtually impossible to arrange for the presence of all five committee members.

Important Degree Deadlines
Each year the Graduate School sets deadlines for graduation in a given term (fall, spring, summer). There are two sets of dates to watch out for:

(1) Students wishing to graduate must obtain an Application to Graduate. These documents must be submitted in advance: typically July for August graduation, February for May graduation, and October for December graduation, but official dates will be posted on the Registrar's Calendar. There is no penalty for failure to complete requirements for a requested graduation date, but one cannot graduate without having submitted the Application to Graduate. Therefore, students should submit it in time for any semester in which they feel they may graduate.

(2) The final electronic version of the thesis or dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate School before the student can graduate (http://gradschool.unc.edu/etdguide/submission.html). The deadline for submission is shortly before graduation; please see the Registrar's Calendar for current dates.