The Composition and Cultural Rhetoric Doctoral Program (CCR)

Current Students: Degree Timeline

First Year students will take required core courses and begin to study the Core Reading Exam List. Students awarded Teaching Assistantships teach three undergraduate writing studio sections per academic year and participate in The Writing Program's teaching practicum course with weekly meetings. Students awarded University Fellowships typically take additional coursework in their first fellowship year. Students are encouraged to propose conference papers for national or regional conferences from the first year.

In the Second Year, students complete their required course work. During the academic year, they should continue studying the Core Reading List as well as either choose a seminar paper on which to base their exam-mandated publishable article or begin work on the annotated bibliography, also required as part of the comprehensive exams. Initial conversations with possible Exam committee members should also occur. During the summer of their second year, students will take the Core Reading List exam. Second year students are also registered for the Future Professoriate Project, begin participating in FPP events and collecting material for a professional portfolio.

By the fall semester of Third Year, students should select an exam committee and complete the final two portions of the comprehensive exam (publishable article/annotated bibliography). Once exams are completed, students should select a dissertation committee and, in consultation with their dissertation chair, begin work on the prospectus with the goal of defending it early in the Spring semester. Students continue to participate in the Future Professoriate Project, work with their teaching mentor, complete their teaching portfolio and earn the Teaching Associate Certificate in University Teaching. Students should continue to present papers at conferences, and to develop their research into journal articles when appropriate.

Students who have followed the degree timeline to this point will have the Fourth and Fifth Year available for dissertation writing and polishing as well as career development. Students work with the program's Job Market Working Group and begin the job search, making applications, preparing for interviews and campus visits. They present their research at conferences and publish journal articles as well as complete and defend the dissertation.

Students who need a sixth year to complete the dissertation may apply for competitively awarded funding. We offer two positions in the Graduate Editing Center of the Writing Center and also often have TAships come available that we can offer. A number of our students have applied for and received TAships in partner departments, and we also can provide support as you apply for dissertation fellowships.