Skip Navigation
*To search for student contact information, login to FlashLine and choose the "Directory" icon in the FlashLine masthead (blue bar).

English-Rhetoric and Composition - Ph.D.

COLLEGE: College of Arts and Sciences
DEPARTMENT: Department of English
113 Satterfield Hall
Tel: 330-672-2676
E-mail: english@kent.edu
Web: http://www.kent.edu/english
 
DESCRIPTION: The Ph.D. in English–Rhetoric and Composition is focused on literacy, rhetoric and social practice. Grounded in rhetoric and language study, students complete coursework and research centered on how advanced literacy is embedded within and constitutive of communities of work and citizenship in contemporary culture. Given the historical and institutional link between composition instruction and the humanities, the program attempts to forge close connections between language and literacy at the university and in the work and lives of students and communities. 
ADMISSION
REQUIREMENTS:
 Official transcript(s), GRE, goal statement, three letters of recommendation and an 8-15 page writing sample relevant to the field of study. All requirements are reviewed and evaluated holistically.
GRADUATION
REQUIREMENTS:
 Students admitted to the Rhetoric and Composition doctoral major complete a minimum of 30 semester hours of doctoral-level coursework across five areas: introduction to the study of writing and rhetoric, theoretical foundations, language and linguistics, research methods, and literate practices.  Students, with guidance from faculty, complete a language requirement and a qualifying examination before writing a dissertation prospectus. The language requirement can be satisfied by either a second language or a representational system, if the latter is relevant to the student’s course of study. Upon the successful completion of the qualifying examination, students form a dissertation committee whose members direct the student through the dissertation and the completion of the degree.
CANDIDACY: Doctoral students must pass three written examinations in three distinct areas of English studies before being admitted to candidacy. They must also defend a dissertation prospectus.
PROGRAM FEE: None

The English Department offers the M.A. in TESL, M.F.A. in Creative Writing, the M.A. in English (Literature and Writing, Concentration for Teachers and Comparative Literature) and the Ph.D. in English.