Dissertation Proposal

Catalog description

The Dissertation Proposal will be developed in an independent study with the advisor in students’ sixth semester (third year). The Proposal is a 10-15 page document + bibliography that lays out the scope, method(s) (including any multi-modal work), and significance of the planned dissertation. The document should identify the project’s opportunities for new discovery, known research resources, and major lines of inquiry, and should be submitted to the Dissertation Committee by the first week of April. The dissertation chair will convene a meeting of the dissertation committee at the end of the sixth semester where PhD students will present their dissertation proposal and receive feedback. Upon the successful completion of the dissertation proposal and its approval by the dissertation committee, the PhD student will reach the All But Dissertation (ABD) stage.