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Doctoral
Degree in Culture and Performance
Advising
The PhD degree is organized around the relationship between the
individual student, the student's advisor, and the dissertation committee.
Each entering student will be assigned temporary academic advisor for the
first year, from among the ladder faculty of the department, who will take
primary responsibility for academic counseling. It is expected that each
student will choose a thesis or dissertation advisor and form an advisory
committee during the first year of academic residence. The Vice Chair of
Graduate Affairs (or “departmental graduate adviser”) is fundamentally
responsible for advising students in regard to program requirements,
policies, and University regulations.
Foreign Language Requirement
PhD students must demonstrate reading competence in one foreign
language before taking their qualifying exams and no later
than the end of the fifth quarter of residency. The Department of
World Arts and Cultures highly values the role that language
learning plays in the well-rounded graduate education. While
hoping that students will seek training in more than one language,
we also consider "language" broadly to include
various sign systems. The purpose of the language requirement
is to ensure that PhD students have the necessary skills to
conduct independent research. Please consult your primary
advisor to discuss which languages might be most useful for your
professional goals and research projects. Any foreign language useful
for field study and/or library research is acceptable. The language
requirement must be completed before filing the advancement to
candidacy petition for the MA degree.
The language requirement may be met by:
1) passing a departmental examination,
2) demonstrating the equivalent of 5 quarters or 4 semesters
of training in an approved foreign language, completed within
the last five years before admission with a grade of B or higher
in the final course
3) placing at level 6 on the Foreign Language Placement Examination
4) approval of a petition to use English as a second language
(for international students whose native language is not English).
Course Requirements
All PhD students must successfully complete a total of 48
units(normally twelve courses) taken for a letter grade, with
a minimum 3.0 grade point average. The required courses are
distributed as follows:
(1) Four core course, taken during the first year of
student: WAC 200 Theories of Culture; WAC 201 Theories of Performance;
WAC 202 Research Methodologies; and WAC 204 Theories of Corporeality.
(2) Four courses in the designated major Field, chosen
in consultation with the student's academic adviser. It is
strongly recommended that one of these be a course that provides
knowledge of the special methods and discourse of the Major
Field (e.g., a course in ethnography for a student whose major
field is folklore or field studies).
(3) Four elective courses.
Of the combined four Major Field and four elective courses, at least four
of the eight courses must be graduate level courses taken within the
department. It is strongly advised that students take some courses outside
the department. No more than three 500-series independent study courses
(e.g., WAC 596) may be applied toward the graduate course requirement.
Area studies and field language requirements vary widely among
individual students, and are determined in consultation with the
advisor and committee. While there are no formal requirements
in these areas, students must demonstrate competence in these
areas before commencing their dissertation research.
The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. Students must
be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official
leave of absence.
If a student enters the PhD program from the department's own
MA/MFA program, the student is not required to repeat courses. Students
will need four additional courses to complete the four course requirement.
Continuing students also will have already completed the three
Major Field courses, and two electives. If they continue in the
same Major Field, they will need to complete one additional Major
Field and two additional electives, in consultation with their
academic advisor. If they choose a new Major Field, they will need
to complete four Major Field courses, in consultation with their
academic advisor. No more than three of the combined Major Field
and elective courses can be at the 500 level.
Students conducting research entailing the use of human subjects
(questionnaires, interviews, etc) must vet their proposal through
the appropriate Human Subject Protection Committee (HSPC) at UCLA,
prior to the initiation of the research. Additional information
regarding application procedures may be obtained from IRB/HSPC,
General Campus (310) 825-7122; www.oprs.ucla.edu.
The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. Students must
be registered and enrolled at all times unless on an official leave
of absence.
Major Fields
Students will designate a Major Field of study (to be
determined in consultation with their faculty advisor). The
Major Field will consist of of at least four courses. The
faculty strongly advises that one of these should be a course
that provides introduction to the special methods or discourse
of the Major Field, whether in WAC (for example, Ethnography),
or in another department. Examples of some possible fields would
include dance studies, folklore, museology, or field studies
in African, Caribean, or Native American cultures.
Our department offers unique opportunities to develop
specialized knowledge and skills in diverse fields ranging
from arts and activism, critical theory, curatorial studies,
dance studies, ethnography and new media, festivals, folklore,
visual cultures, to specific area studies, among others.
Starting from the beginning of your studies, consult with your
academic faculty advisor on a regular basis regarding your
area(s) of interest to determine associated coursework and
research focus, and plan your instructional schedule
appropriately. Further specialized training may be accomplished
through additional coursework in the World Arts and Cultures
Department or other departments.
Teaching Experience
Encouraged, but not required.
Field Experience
Expected of students whose dissertations are based on ethnographic
research, but not required.
Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations
The PhD qualifying examination is composed of a written and
oral examination. The timing of these examinations is determined
in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students
must have successfully completed all required coursework (including
the core courses and foreign language competency requirement)
before scheduling their examination, and must be registered and
enrolled during the quarter in which the examination is administered.
Students who fail the written or oral examinations are allowed to
retake them once, no later than the following quarter. In such a
case, students should consult closely with their committee chairs
and the respective committee member(s) who composed the question(s). A
second failure leads to automatic dismissal from the PhD program.
Written examination - The written portion of the qualifying examination
is administered by the student's doctoral committee. This examination
takes the form of essay questions, developed in consultation with
the student's advisor and committee, and tailored to the theoretical
and substantive interests of the student, and to the refinement
of a dissertation topic. The written examination will evaluate
competence in three main areas relevant to the student's dissertation
topic: 1) theoretical concepts and problems; 2) geocultural and/or
historical field of specialization; and 3) expressive genre(s)
or media.
Oral examination - The oral portion of the doctoral qualifying
examination is a conversation about the written exam and
primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. The oral defense
is administered by the student's doctoral committee.
Advancement to Candidacy
Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the
written and oral qualifying examinations.
Students are advanced to candidacy upon completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations. The written exams are comprised of a series of questions often representing the student's geographic area, methodology, theories and expressive genre(s) or media. Each exam answer can be evaluated as passing or failing. If one answer is evaluated as failing, the written exam receives collectively a "fail" evaluation. Any exam question that originally receives a "fail" evaluation can be retaken once. If a student fails any single question on the written exams a second time, the student has failed the written exam. Failed written exams are
cause for academic dismissal from the department.
A "passing" evaluation on the oral examination requires at least two committee members voting affirmatively with no more than one abstention. Students may retake an oral exam once within the next quarter. If the second oral exam results in a second "fail" evaluation, the student has failed the oral exam. Failed oral exams are cause for academic dismissal from the department. Results of written and oral evaluations will be communicated to the students in writing
within 14 days from exam dates; though often, committees may decide to
inform the student immediately of their exam results.
Students should consult the Graduate Handbook for full
descriptions of all exam processes.
Doctoral Dissertation and Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)
Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation
that demonstrates the studen's ability to perform original, independent research
and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of
study. The final face-to-face defense of the dissertation is not required for
all students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is
made by the doctoral committee at the time of advancement to candidacy.
Time-to-Degree
Expected time-to-degree for the PhD is four years from the
MA (three years for students holding the MA in Culture and
Performance), depending on prior academic and language preparation
and the length of dissertation research. (See Appendix C for three
examples of individual student degree programs.) Under typical
circumstances, a PhD student would complete all course requirements
during the first year in residence. Fall and Winter quarters of
the second year would be devoted to any additional coursework,
including completion of language competency requirements, if necessary;
to the development of grant proposals; and to preparation for
the Qualifying Examination, typically taken no later than Spring
quarter of the second year of residency.
Normal progress toward the degree is as follows (post-MA):
Core course requirements (if necessary)-expected time of completion:
end of third quarter;
48 units of coursework-expected time of completion:
end of fifth quarter
PhD committee-expected time of nomination: end of fifth quarter
Completion of foreign language requirement--expected time of
completion: end of fifth quarter (must be completed before the nomination
of the doctoral (PhD) committee and the before taking qualifying
examinations)
Written and oral qualifying examinations- expected time of completion:
sixth quarter
Advancement to candidacy-expected time of completion: sixth quarter
PhD Dissertation defense and deposit-- expected time of completion:
no later than the end of twelfth quarter (i.e., 6 quarters of
in-candidacy status)
Post-MA to PhD degree-expected time of completion: twelve
quarters
Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination
According to University policy, a student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended
for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified
from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons.
The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative
grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to
remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade
point average). Other examples include failure of examinations,
lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance
in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative
grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal
upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines
governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal
procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate
Study at UCLA.
Special departmental or program policy
A recommendation for termination is made by the chair of the
department after a vote of the department's graduate faculty.
Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, a
student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond
in writing to the chair. An appeal is reviewed by the
department's graduate faculty, which makes the final departmental
recommendation to the Graduate Division.
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