At the University of Pennsylvania, the doctorate of philosophy is conferred in recognition of marked ability and high attainment in a specific branch of learning. In Classical Studies a student demonstrates this ability and attainment with satisfactory completion of the PhD program requirements of the graduate group. The last and most substantial of these requirements is the dissertation, which must be both accepted by the student’s dissertation committee (see below) and defended publicly.
A dissertation is the product of in-depth, independent, and original research on a substantial topic. In the dissertation the student demonstrates facility with the skills, methodologies, and conceptual frameworks relevant to the topic and communicates the significance of the research for both scholars in the field and a broader audience in and beyond the academy.
Dissertations come in many forms: some are tightly-focused discussions of particular issues (i.e., potential monographs), some contain a coherent series of related materials (i.e., potential articles), some are commentaries on or editions of texts, and so on. Whatever its form, the dissertation will constitute the core of the student’s professional work during the period of its composition and in the immediate postdoctoral phase, so the research questions must be chosen with an eye to their inherent interest for both the student and future readers.
Preliminary work on the dissertation generally begins in the student’s third year in the program, often in connection with preparation for part II of the student’s Preliminary examinations. The general topic will often have been identified in the context of a seminar or independent study, perhaps emerging from a process in which the student perceives gaps or untenable arguments in existing scholarship and identifies questions whose answers will fill those gaps or provide better arguments, and/or when the student discovers significant primary material that has not received sufficient attention. As the student considers the topic’s potential as the subject of a dissertation, consultation is essential—with potential advisors and committee members, with the graduate chair, with peers at Penn and elsewhere, and so on. A provisional topic, research question, approach, and broad outline should be worked out by the middle of the third year. The prospectus workshop (CLST 9000) in the second semester of the third year is an extended opportunity to refine the topic, sharpen the research questions, determine appropriate approaches, outline the chapters, situate the project in the relevant scholarly discourse, and identify both how the project advances that discourse and how it constitutes a contribution to knowledge. (For further information on the prospectus and the prospectus workshop see the Prospectus page.)
Students must meet regularly with their advisors and follow an appropriate schedule for the completion of their work. While writing the dissertation, students are also strongly encouraged to work with their peers in one of the student-run dissertation writing groups. Regular contact with advisors and regular participation in a writing group are important ways that dissertation writers can get essential feedback on their work in progress, and remain part of the intellectual community around them.
To ensure a productive start for the dissertation, after approval of the prospectus at the end of the third year the student must meet with the dissertation advisor before the end of May to discuss the plan for initial dissertation work during the summer. As part of this meeting, the student and advisor should also agree upon a routine for regular advising meetings and check-ins during the process of research and writing, including the sharing of written work by the student and the giving of feedback by the advisor. This plan should be confirmed via email, cc:ed to the graduate chair.
In approximately the first month of every fall and spring semester, beginning in the fourth year, the student must meet with the whole committee. At least one week in advance of this meeting, the student should provide the most recent section of work completed as well as an annotated table of contents explaining where this sample fits within the proposed whole. The student and committee should discuss the shared work and the student should set a goal for progress to be made prior to the next meeting. NB: The exact timing of meetings beyond the first semester may be adjusted in cases where it would allow for the discussion of a full chapter draft, but meetings should take place at least once per semester.
A deadline of January 15 (assuming advancement to candidacy the previous May) is set for the circulation of a first chapter draft (or equivalent). This document must be shared with the entire dissertation committee, in time to be discussed during the spring committee meeting. If this benchmark is not met, the student, advisor, and graduate chair must meet before the end of January to discuss progress. (If the advisor and graduate chair are the same person, the department chair or ANCH graduate chair will serve in that role for the purpose of this meeting.)
Further deadlines for the completion of subsequent chapters are to be agreed upon by the advisor and student ongoingly, with a view to significant progress having been made by the end of fall in the fifth year. Ordinarily the dissertation is completed within two to three years of the approval of the prospectus, depending on the project itself, the student’s pursuit of simultaneous research opportunities, and external and internal funding.
Students who have not completed the dissertation within five years of first advancing to candidacy (which would typically mean eight years after beginning the program) are required to submit a revised dissertation prospectus and to repeat that portion of the Preliminary Examination that involves defending the prospectus before a committee of at least three examiners. The revised prospectus must include an account of the current state of scholarship on the topic and an up-to-date bibliography.