Doctoral Degree in Culture and Performance
Advising
The Ph.D. degree is organized around the relationship between the individual student, his or her advisor, and the dissertation committee. Each entering student will be assigned an academic advisor, 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 dissertation advisor and form an advisory committee during the first year of academic residence. The departmental graduate adviser is fundamentally responsible for counseling students with regards to program requirements, policies, and university regulations.
Foreign Language Requirement
Ph.D. students must demonstrate reading competence in one foreign language. The purpose of the language requirement is to ensure that doctoral students have the necessary skills to conduct independent research. Any foreign language useful for field study and/or library research is acceptable. The language requirement must be completed no later than the end of the fifth quarter of residence.
The language requirement may be met by:
1) passing a departmental examination, administered by the department's
Graduate Foreign Language Examination Committee
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 Ph.D. students must successfully complete a total of eight graduate (200- and 500-series) courses (32 units) taken for a letter grade, with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. These courses are chosen in consultation with the student's academic advisor and advisory committee. At least four of these courses must be taken within the department. No more than three 500-series independent study courses (e.g., WAC 596) may be applied toward the graduate course requirement.
Entering students who have not previously taken the three M.A. core courses-Proseminar in the Study of Culture, Theories of Performance, and Ethnography of Performance-or their equivalent must successfully complete these courses during their first year of study. These core courses will not count toward the eight-course total for the Ph.D.
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.
Areas of specialization
Ph.D. students may opt to develop specialized skills and knowledge in the fields of Dance Studies or Folklore Studies by successfully completing a two-course sequence:
Dance Studies: Proseminar in Dance Studies; The Body
Folklore Studies: Folklore Theories and Methods; Seminar in Folklore
Further specialized training in these fields may be accomplished through additional coursework, in World Arts and Cultures 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 Ph.D. 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. The committee determines the conditions for re-examination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examination.
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 primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal and is administered by the student's doctoral committee.
Advancement to Candidacy
Students are advanced to candidacy upon completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.
Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)
Not required for all students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.
Time-to-Degree
Expected time-to-degree for the Ph.D. is four years from the M.A. (three
years for students holding the M.A. 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 Ph.D. 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-M.A.):
Core course requirements (if necessary)-expected time of completion: end of third quarter
32 units of coursework-expected time of completion: end of fourth quarter
Ph.D. 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 taking qualifying examinations)
Written and oral qualifying examinations- expected time of completion: sixth quarter
Advancement to candidacy-expected time of completion: sixth quarter
Ph.D. 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-M.A. to Ph.D. degree-expected time of completion: twelve quarters
Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination
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.
