Hows and Whys: Guidelines
for the M.A.
Program specific guidelines are available for Chinese, Japanese Literature, and Japanese Linguistics.
General Aims
The goal of graduate study is to train students to make
original contributions to scholarship in a given field
and to present them in a coherent form with the appropriate
scholarly apparatus. For this purpose, the graduate student
needs to build a solid awareness of the publications in
the field of specialization, the major questions that are
being (and could be) researched, as well as the methodology
for answering such questions. In addition, the student
should have a solid grasp of the broader academic context
in which the field of specialization is situated (i.e. "the
big picture").
How to Proceed
The following explains the rationale behind the each of
the general requirements for M.A. students in the department,
and outlines the procedure students should follow to satisfy
them.
1. Meeting with the Advisor
Each new student is assigned an interim advisor, that
is, a graduate faculty member with whom the student can
discuss the course of his/her study in the initial stages.
Upon arrival, the student should meet as soon as possible
with the assigned interim advisor to chart a plan of course
work (download fillable form as RTF) and the student should
meet quarterly with the advisor to keep him/her apprised
of his/her progress. It is the student's task to take the
initiative for these meetings, and the advisor's to file
a formal progress report once a year. Once the student
has determined the area of specialization and the faculty
member he/she would like to work with, he/she should discuss
this with the interim advisor and appoint a permanent advisor
(download
fillable form as R TF).
2. Filing a Program of Study
Practically, the graduate student should start by carefully
planning a program of study (download fillable form
as RTF) that
will contribute to achieving the skills mentioned above.
Each of the department's programs has its own required
graduate courses. The student should carefully plan when
to take which courses, keeping in mind that many courses
are not offered every year, and that some courses will
not be offered when faculty are on leave. Ideally, students
should take at least one course with every faculty member
in their program, so as to familiarize themselves with
the full range of scholarship and expertise available to
them.
The student should submit a feasible proposal of study
(download fillable form as RTF) to
the advisor, which, after approval, will be filed by the
department secretary no later than the third quarter of
graduate study. The plan of study should be viewed as a
guideline rather than a straightjacket; specifics of the
plan are likely to change as the student proceeds, but
the general course of study should be clear.
There is a minimum course requirement of 45 credits, and
the student must take classes and examinations relating
to both the linguistic and literature aspects of the language
of specialization. Classes in other disciplines might also
be advisable (e.g., religion or anthropology), depending
on the student's chosen field of specialization.
Please note that a graduate student is required to maintain
a minimum 3.0 GPA.
The student's file will contain a checklist (download
fillable form as RTF) of
the required courses in his/her program and the student
will be responsible for checking off each requirement
as the courses are completed. When all courses are taken,
the student will present the completed list to the Program
Coordinator and ask him/her or his/her designated representative
to sign off the box "course work completed" on
the checklist.
If there are any irregularities (such as course substitutions),
an explanation will be placed in the file along with the
signature.
3. Filing a Language Plan and Fulfilling the Language
Requirement
In addition to the language of specialization, the MA
student needs to pass a second language requirement.
In consultation with the advisor, the student selects
a language relevant to his/her program of study and files
a plan (download fillable form as RTF) for achieving the necessary level of competence in this
language. In the language plan, the student should outline
the reasons for choosing this second language and a time
schedule detailing how the student intends to prepare to
fulfill this requirement. The requirement may be satisfied
by taking a reading exam in the Department or by taking
classes up to a certain level of proficiency. The language
plan is
to be approved by the advisor and added to the student's
file no later than the third quarter of graduate study.
4. Taking the MA General Examination
When the language exams (download
Graduate Language Exam Policies
& Procedures as PDF) have
been taken and passed, and the required course work is
completed, the student should prepare for the General Examination,
which is a written test, consisting of two two-hour exams
to be taken in the same week. The purpose of this test
is to demonstrate the student's general competence, that
is, the aforementioned "broad
picture" view. At the latest during the quarter prior
to the exam date, the student should meet with the advisor
to discuss exam preparation. In preparation for this meeting,
the student should compile a list of classes taken and
readings completed,
so as to give the advisor a good idea of what the student
already knows and what needs more work. On the basis of
this information, an effective strategy for exam preparation
can be devised.
5. Writing a thesis or two research papers
Officially, it is only after passing the General Examination
that the student will proceed to work on a thesis, but
it is advisable for the student to start thinking about
a topic of specialization and start working on it as soon
as is practical. Alternatively, if the advisor approves,
students can submit two in-depth research papers in lieu
of one thesis.
The MA thesis should make an original contribution to
existing research in a given field and present it in a
coherent form with the conventional scholarly apparatus.
In this department, demonstrating the ability to work with
primary sources in the language of specialization is a
requirement of the thesis.
In practical terms this means that the graduate student
will go through a study process to familiarize him- or
herself with the publications in the field of specialization,
the major questions that are being (and could be) researched,
and the methodological approaches to answering such questions.
The end product of this process, the thesis itself, demonstrates
the mastery of these materials and approaches. The MA thesis
differs from the PhD thesis in that it is narrower in scope,
and it typically is comparable to a lengthy article rather
than a book.
As soon as the General Examination is passed, the student
should make a time schedule to organize the writing of
the thesis. The student should meet regularly with the
advisor to discuss progress and submit chapters of the
thesis for comment. A final draft should be submitted to
the other member of the examination committee as soon as
possible, no later than three weeks before the last day
of the quarter in which the student seeks to graduate.
6. Graduating
Once the thesis is nearing completion, the student should
apply for the Master's degree at the Graduate School
office. Note that this has to be done within the first
two weeks of the quarter in which the degree is expected
to be conferred. The final revised version of the thesis
has to be submitted to the Graduate School on the last
day of that quarter.
