Advising

The Program in Modern Thought and Literature is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development. The advising relationship entails collaborative and sustained engagement between the advisor and the advisee.

Faculty advisors guide students in critical areas such as selecting courses, designing and conducting research, developing teaching pedagogy, navigating policies and degree requirements, and exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways. Before advancing to TGR status, all PhD students are expected to check in with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) at least once each quarter to discuss progress. After reaching TGR status, students are expected to check in with the DGS at least once a year.

MTL PhD students are assigned first-year faculty advisors who help students select classes with the student’s academic interests and the program requirements in mind.

After the first year of study, when PhD students have a better sense of their academic trajectories, they should choose a dissertation advisor with the approval of the director and the DGS.

As a best practice, advising expectations should be periodically discussed and reviewed to ensure mutual understanding. For PhD students, at least two consultations per quarter with the DGS and the primary advisor are highly recommended to foster an effective advising relationship. Both the advisor and the advisee are expected to maintain professionalism and integrity. Students are required to submit an end-of-year report, typically in May, in which progress and achievements are documented and subsequently reviewed by the Committee in Charge. The report must demonstrate satisfactory degree progress and be approved by the primary advisor.

Graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program.