2025-2026 University Catalog
English: Literature, Theory, Cultural Studies Concentration, PHD
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About the Program
US News & World Report ranks Purdue’s English Department among the top 50 graduate programs in the nation. Since 2018, over 70% of our PhDs have found academic jobs. Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) have opportunities to teach introductory composition in our renowned ICaP program, as well as professional writing, film studies, literature courses, and more. In addition, research fellowships and other assistantships-such as working for the Purdue OWL, on-campus writing lab-offer alternative, valuable academic opportunities. The Literature, Theory, Cultural Studies (LTC) program offers both MA and PhD degrees, and all admitted students receive full funding as TAs, RAs, or research fellows. Flexible plans of study allow coverage in conventional literary-historical areas as well as exposure to newly emerging critical and theoretical fields. LTC is a nimble, forward-looking program that values the archival alongside the digital; readings both close and far (or symptomatic and surface); and makes room for the new methods that keep alive our love of literature and its study. LTC is home to the largest number of faculty in the English department, offers an unmatched diversity of course offerings, and perhaps there is no better testament to our historical and methodological breadth than the fact that we are proud to host the top-ranked but otherwise highly different journals MFS Modern Fiction Studies and Arthuriana. Within LTC program, students specialize in any of four main areas, while acquiring breadth in all of them: - Medieval and Early Modern Studies
- Transatlantic and Early Atlantic Studies (17th - 19th centuries)
- 20th and 21st Century Literary Studies
- Theory and Cultural Studies
Program Website Program Requirements
90 Credits RequiredRequired Courses (27 credits)
Breadth Areas (12 credits)
Choose one course in each area. Medieval and Early Modern Courses (3 credits)
In addition to Old and Middle English studies, courses in Middle Welsh, Old Irish, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Medieval Latin, and Old French have been offered recently on campus, many of these courses taught by faculty members in English. Transatlantic and Early Atlantic (3 credits)
Faculty and students in the transatlantic area are engaged in research and teaching that encompass colonial America beginning in the early 17th-century, 18th-century British and American literature, and long 19th-century literatures. We consider the British as well as the Black Atlantic; New England and New Spain; London and Surinam. Faculty and students also have ties to interdisciplinary programs such as American Studies, Women’s Studies, African American Studies, and Comparative Literature. Indeed, students are encouraged to broaden their knowledge of the nineteenth century by taking courses in these areas or in other departments (particularly Languages and Cultures, History, Art History, and Philosophy). 20th and 21st Century Literary Courses (3 credits)
Faculty has expertise in such well-known writers as Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, William Carlos Williams, Toni Morrison, José Martí, Sherman Alexie, Ishmael Reed, and Octavia Butler but are also well-versed in more contemporary writers, including Colson Whitehead, Zadie Smith, and Jess Walter. Faculty approaches to the period include the study of race, disability, feminism, the environment, print culture, and gender and sexuality. Faculty’s diversity of thought is signaled by their affiliation with one or more of Purdue’s interdisciplinary programs, such as Comparative Literature, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, African American Studies, American Studies, Film Studies, and Jewish Studies. Students typically choose one of the following concentrations: - Transatlantic Modernism
- Post-1945 Literature
- Postcolonial Literature and Theory
Theory and Cultural Courses (3 credits)
Launched in 1998, Theory and Cultural Studies (TCS) is a unique track that offers students a chance to organize their coursework, examinations, and dissertation research in unusual ways, drawing upon several strengths of the department: literary and critical theory, cultural studies and its pedagogies, postcolonial studies, feminist and queer theory, visual culture, and the social-epistemic paradigm of rhetorical analysis. TCS is broad-ranging and flexible, encouraging study in multiple approaches to the field of English. The concentration brings together scholars working in important overlapping areas of inquiry: textual analysis inflected by feminist and poststructural critique; cultural analysis oriented by an understanding of global socio-economic systems; historical analysis attentive to the work of institutions and ideologies; and teaching practices conditioned by an emphasis on the process of textual production and the goal of what Jim Berlin called “critical citizenship.” Seminar (9 credits)
Choose three. May overlap with breadth and electives. Major Field Courses (12 credits)
With the assent of their committees and the DGS, students may designate a Major Field that does not fall into one of the above broad historical periods. Such a Major Field may be one that crosses historical boundaries (such as Pre-Romantic and Romantic British Literature or American Literature post-Civil war to early 20th century); or a genre (such as the novel, drama, or poetry); or a particular approach to Theory and Cultural Studies that crosses traditional national or historical lines (such as gender and literature, postcolonial literatures, or ethnic literatures). When designating a Major Field, it is the responsibility of the student and the major professor to plan around regularly scheduled courses. Depending on staffing and other considerations, the department will do its best to provide courses in a variety of areas but it cannot do so for every possible primary area. Only one 58900 (“Directed Writing”) or one 59000 (“Directed Reading”) may count towards the fulfillment of a primary field. In exceptional cases, students with the support of their major professors may petition the Graduate Committee to request permission to include additional 59000s to gain expertise in their primary fields. Students will indicate in the appropriate spaces on the English Department Rationale what their Major Field and their Focus are for their preliminary examinations. May overlap with breadth courses. Other Courses (12 credits)
Students have the option to choose four courses in a secondary field, or take four courses in LTC coursework. Electives (6 credits)
As long as all other program requirements are met, PhD student may satisfy the overall course-hour minimum of 30 with any of the 500/600-level graduate courses in the department. Students may take up to 6 hours of graduate coursework outside the department that will count toward the minimum of thirty hours required on the Plan of Study. Dissertation Research (xx credits)
Language Requirement
The language requirement is satisfied if: - The student is a native speaker of a language other than English.
- The student has completed a language requirement as part of a MA degree at an accredited school, and verifies this by submitting to the DGS office either an MA transcript or a letter from their former Department.
- The student has completed an undergraduate minor at an accredited school in a language other than English.
Students may demonstrate proficiency also by: - Placing above the 202 level at the language placement exam administered by the School of Languages and Cultures (SLC). Languages for which SLC offers regular online placement tests 24/7 any day of the year include Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian, Spanish. ASL testing is available by appointment;
- Enrolling in and passing with a grade of B- or better the 4th- semester course of a regular language sequence at Purdue or the equivalent at another Tier 1 university. At Purdue, both the 20200 and 20500 (accelerated) courses offered by SLC are acceptable;
- Scoring 600 or more on an Educational Testing Service Graduate School Language Test (for languages where these tests are available); OR
- Passing a proficiency examination given by the appropriate language department or program at Purdue. Students must not wait till the last minute before the Prelims or Prospectus: they need to plan ahead because SLC proficiency exams are not typically offered in the last two weeks of Fall or Spring or over summer. Students with prior training in a language may study independently or take a language course to prepare for the proficiency exam.
GPA Requirements
The department requires each student to complete a minimum of 6 hours per semester and 12 hours per academic year with grades of B-minus or better. Moreover, the OGSPS requires that a student holding a half-time teaching assistantship register for a minimum of 6 credits per semester. Students working one-quarter time should adjust their registrations accordingly. Also note that some fellowships administered by the OGSPS require a minimum enrollment of 8 credit hours per semester. Graduate Programs Disclaimer
- The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. Students should consult with their advisor/department for more information.
- Not all graduate programs may be actively recruiting students and course modality availability may vary.
- Please refer to the Explore Graduate Programs website for a list of currently available graduate programs.
- Transfer credit policy: Credits earned for graduate study at other universities (both domestic and international) may be applied toward an advanced degree. Only credit hours associated with graduate courses for which grades of B- or better were obtained will be eligible for transfer. Any additional conditions under which credit transfers may be made are determined by the various departments.
- Comparative information about Purdue University and other U.S. educational institutions is also available through the College Navigator tool, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, and through the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
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