Doctor of Philosophy Degree

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program in linguistics is individually tailored to the needs and professional goals of the student, drawing strong interdisciplinary support from related fields on the University campus. These may include—but are not limited to— anthropological linguistics, cognitive science, discourse and text analysis, English linguistics, first- and second-language acquisition, language-data processing, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics.

Residency Requirements

The Graduate School requires at least three years of full-time work beyond the baccalaureate degree for the doctorate, with at lest one year spent in continuous residence on the Eugene campus. We construe the latter requirement to mean that at least six formal courses, including seminars, must be taken within the program while the student is in continuous residence for three academic terms.

Course Work: 32 Credit Hours Total

Students must complete one of two required course sequences: the field sequence, or the cognitive linguistics sequence. The Field Methods sequence includes: Field Methods I, II, III (LING 617, 618, 619). The Cognitive Linguistics sequence includes: Empirical Methods (LING 621), an approved course in statistics, and the Cognitive Science Lab course.

Students must complete at least 32 credits of graduate courses in linguistics or related fields approved by their doctoral advisor. Of these 32 credits, at least 16 must be in linguistics and must include at least two seminars (one in syntax, semantics, or pragmatics). Required courses do count toward the 32 credit hour total. No courses required for the M.A. can count toward Ph.D. course requirements.

Language Requirements

Students in the Ph.D. program must demonstrate proficiency, either by examination or through course work, in two foreign languages. Languages which meet this requirement represent meta-languages through which a researcher gains access to subject mater in linguistics (a language for research). Traditionally, library languages, such as French, German, Russian, or Chinese, meet well this requirement. However, it is also possible to count as one of the two languages a language which is used to gain access to the field, such as Spanish would be for field work in Latin America. Knowledge of a language which is the object of study will not satisfy this requirement. A language used to satisfy the M.A. language requirement may count for the Ph.D. requirement, if that language is a research language. Means of establishing proficiency are discussed in the M.A. program above.

Second-Year Review

By the end of a doctoral student's second year, he or she shall be given a review by members of the linguistics faculty.  Materials submitted for this review must include the following:
- A research plan for the next years course work, qualifying papers, and any other details worked out in consultation with the student's advisor
- Written evidence of scholarly potential. For example, a student may provide a substantive term paper or revision of a term paper that demonstrates excellence of original research. A student's linguistics master's thesis can fulfill this requirement

Following review of these materials, the reviewing faculty decides either to accept or deny the student for continued study in the Ph.D. program. In some cases, a probation year may be granted for a student's third year of study; the review process is repeated at the end of the third year with an accept outcome the only possibility for continued study.

Doctoral Examination

The doctoral exam consists of two original publishable papers, of substantial length and quality, in different subfields of linguistics. The unmodified M.A. thesis cannot serve as one of these papers. A separate committee of three faculty members will be appointed by the Department Head to referee each paper, with the student’s advisor sitting on both committees. Upon documented completion of both papers and all required course work, the student is advanced to candidacy. The student and the Department must electronically submit the advancement to candidacy to the Graduate School for approval.

Doctoral Committee and Dissertation

The doctoral committee must include at least three Linguistics faculty members and one outside member, and must be either chaired or co-chaired by the student’s doctoral advisor in Linguistics. A dissertation prospectus must be submittedin writing to, and approved by, the doctoral committee before the writing of the dissertation commences. The Ph.D. will be granted upon completion of the preceding requirements, the writing of an original dissertation acceptable to the doctoral committee, and an oral examination on the dissertation.

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