Graduate Program

Bonjour et bienvenue! We welcome students who are considering graduate studies in French at the University of Alabama.

Several different tracks for graduate study are offered in our department, with the goal of providing students with maximum diversity of choice while ensuring a rigorous, high-quality curriculum. For a more complete description of the requirements of the Graduate School and the Department of Modern Languages and Classics, you may want to refer to the Graduate School Homepage, the Graduate School Application, and the Graduate Catalogue. Be sure to take a look at our Courses page as well for a list of current and upcoming graduate course offerings in French.

 

 

Welcome New and Returning Graduate Students!

Félicitations! to Audrey Cooper and Amanda Harvie for their recent awards for Graduate Student excellence. Amanda Harvie also received the departmental nomination for Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher. We are proud of Rachel Faulk, Audrey Cooper, Raphael Chiche, Ann Nolan, Kimberly Davis, and Robin Miceli for successfully completing their M.A. or Ph.D. Examinations during AY 2006-2007. Congratulations also to Kristi Shaw, Heather West and Caroline Boulesteix, who successfully defended their dissertations in Spring 2006, Spring 2005 and Fall 2004 respectively (all three directed by Dr. Zupancic).

Current graduate students in French / Romance Languages / Education:

Ph.D. students

  • Geremy Freeman
  • Amanda Harvie
  • Robin Miceli
  • Raphael Chiche

M.A. students

  • Brad Holley
  • Bethany Untied
  • Olga Henry
  • Natalie Weygand
  • Kelly Kourouma


Admission requirements

General requirements for admission to the Graduate School are set forth in the "Academic Policies " section of the Graduate Catalogue.

For students with deficiencies in undergraduate preparation, admission may be contingent upon completion of designated undergraduate requirements. Qualified students who are holders of an appropriate undergraduate degree may be admitted directly to the doctoral program in Romance languages. However, in such circumstances completion of all requirements for the appropriate master of arts program, including comprehensive testing and subsequent awarding of the M.A. degree, will be a prerequisite for completion of the doctoral degree.

Qualified students can seek dual admission to the School of Law and to any M.A. program offered in the Dept. of Modern Languages and Classics. If admitted to both, the student will be exempted from at least 6 hours of coursework for the juris doctor degree.

Degree requirements

For the most up-to-date information on our graduate programs, contact Professor Metka Zupancic, the graduate advisor in French, Professor Michael Picone, the graduate advisor in French Linguistics, or Professor Tom Fox , the graduate advisor for Modern Languages and Classics.

Master of Arts in Romance Languages (See M.A. Examination procedures)
The following options are available within this degree program:
1) French Option
2) Spanish option
3) Romance Languages option (combining 2 or more languages).

Within the French option, the following tracks are available:

  • Master of Arts, Non-thesis track. Incorporates 30 hours of coursework. 21hours must be language specific, and core requirements must be satisfied (see graduate advisor). Requires success on comprehensive exams before granting of the degree.

  • Master of Arts, Applied Linguistics, Non-thesis track. Incorporates 36 hours of coursework. The organization of the curriculum is similar to the Applied Linguistics thesis track (see below). 21hours must be language specific, and core requirements must be satisfied (see graduate advisor). Requires success on comprehensive exams before granting of the degree.

  • Master of Arts, Thesis track. Requires 24 hours of coursework and a thesis. The curriculum is versatile, depending on student interest and course availability. Completion requirements include success on comprehensive written and oral examinations.

  • Master of Arts, Applied Linguistics, Thesis track. Requires 30 hours of coursework and a thesis. In addition to the thesis, the applied linguistics track involves 3 components: language, linguistics and applied linguistics. The language component consists of 15 hours of course credit in French language, literature, and/or culture. The linguistics component is comprised of a 3-hour descriptive linguistics course (FR 561). The applied linguistics component consists of 12 hours of coursework in second language acquisition and pedagogy (FR 512, EN 613, and 2 of the following: FR 515, EN 610, EN 612, CIE 577, or other approved courses). Requirements include success on comprehensive written and oral examinations.

Doctor of Philosophy in Romance Languages (See Ph.D. Prospectus Guidelines and Ph.D. Examination procedures)

The curriculum is centered on French, though up to 12 hours of coursework in a related discipline is admissible. All new graduate teaching assistants must take FR 512. At the conclusion of the coursework, a qualifying examination must take place before work on the dissertation can begin. The qualifying examination includes written and oral components. The written examination is comprised of 6 sections. 4 of the sections pertain to standard periods of French literature in which the student has had coursework. The remaining 2 sections are open and may pertain either to additional literary periods or to any other areas of study that the student has undertaken in French or in a related field.

This degree requires 30 semester hours past the M.A. Coursework required will depend on previous preparation and the ability and goals of the student, but the minimum will be sixty semester hours of graduate work (54 hours for candidates who have completed a master's thesis).

A maximum of 30 semester hours of graduate work may be transferred from other institutions. All doctoral candidates must possess reading knowledge of one language in addition to English, their native language, and their language of specialization. It is strongly recommended that, before the termination of studies, all doctoral candidates reside for a period in a French-speaking country.

 

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