Guide to Higher Studies in French

Admissions and General Information

Admission to the graduate programs (M.A.; PhD) for the Louisiana State University Department of French Studies (DFS) depends upon the joint approval of both the Graduate School and the department. Graduate School application forms are available online at https://applygrad.lsu.edu/apply/. The entire application process is electronic and only applications submitted through the Graduate School portal will be evaluated.

The admission process is continuous during the whole year, but the final deadline for consideration for financial aid is March 1. Since applications are considered when they are received, it is advisable to apply as early as possible.

Please forward three letters of recommendation, from previous instructors in French to the online portal, along with a duplicate set of transcripts. If you have been employed as a teacher or in some other capacity in which your mastery of French was required, you may submit letters of recommendation from your former employer. The Graduate Record Examination, preferably including the Advanced Test in French, is not required as part of the application, but if you have taken the GRE, please report your scores .

Students wishing to earn a higher degree in French should read carefully the pages of the Graduate School bulletin (https://www.lsu.edu/graduateschool/admissions/apply.php) dealing with Admission and General Information, Fees and Financial Aid, Regulations, Requirements for Advanced Degrees, and various deadlines for filing applications for examinations and degrees.

For unconditional admission to graduate study, a student is expected to have the equivalent of an undergraduate major in French, a grade-point average above 3.0. In special circumstances, students who do not meet these criteria may be admitted on probation. Students admitted on probation may not hold assistantships until the probation is lifted.

Students holding the M.A. in French from another institution are welcome to apply for admission to the Ph.D. program. The Director of Graduate Studies or the Chair of the Graduate Committee will determine how many hours of further course work the student must take for the PhD. A maximum of twelve hours of credit can be accepted from another university. The student's “Program of Study” form detailing how many and which courses must be taken by the student at LSU, must be completed by the student and be approved by his or her Advisory Committee during the first semester following the student's admission with an M.A. from another institution.

Student Responsibility

Once admitted, it is the student’s responsibility to file any paperwork before the announced deadlines. Chairs of examining committees are responsible for the administration of exams. Students are responsible for ensuring that all departmental course requirements and the Graduate School requirements, including those set forth in the student's Program of Study are met.

Consult the Guidelines for Formatting Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Consult the Thesis & Dissertation Submission Processes

Advising and Evaluation

The Members of the Graduate Committee serve as advisors for all students during their first year. Beginning with their third semester of study, a student will choose a faculty member as his or her Major Professor. Each semester, all teaching assistants will receive a report evaluating his or her performance from the language coordinator. The student countersigns to acknowledge receipt of report and can append a rejoinder if desired. Signed reports are to be submitted to the Administrator to the Graduate Program, Rachel Rodriguez-Morales, by the end of the first week of the following semester. Rejoinders are due one week after the receipt of the report. All graduate students will meet with the Member of the Graduate Committee to which he or she has been assigned individually at least once a semester to report on their progress.

Master of Arts in French Studies

The goal of the Master of Arts in French Studies is to ensure written and oral competence and breadth of coverage in French and Francophone culture and literature.

Master of Arts in French Studies Distribution Requirements

Out of the 36 total credit hours requirement for the degree, M.A. candidates are required to fulfill 15 of those credit hours within the five core areas. For their 21 elective credit hours, students should follow a curriculum designed to meet their particular needs and to suit their special interests. The student will develop this curriculum in consultation with their Graduate Advisor and the student’s Major Professor and/or M.A. Examining Committee.

Students are required to take at least one course from each of the following five core areas listed below to fulfill the 15 credit hours of breadth requirement. The Graduate School will verify if you have fulfilled this requirement for breadth of when you apply for your MA or PhD exam. In order to help you fulfill it, please fill in and turn in the MA or PhD program of study to the Department. Students will submit the MA program of study will at the end of the first year. Students are required to update their progress each semester by submitting their Progress Form.

Francophone Studies

FREN 7100: Studies in Sub Saharan Francophone Literature and Culture
FREN 7102: Studies in North African Francophone Literature and Culture
FREN 7120: Studies in Francophone Asian Literature and Culture
FREN 7140: Studies in Francophone Asian Literature and Culture
FREN 7150: Studies in Literature and Culture of Francophone North America
FREN 7170: Studies in Belgian Francophone Literature and Culture
FREN 7960: Special Topics in French Literature (when topic is Francophone Studies)
FREN 7970: Seminar in French Literature (when topic is Francophone Studies)
FREN 4060: French Literature of Quebec
FREN 4070: Literature of Africa and the Caribbean
FREN 4080: Special Topics in French/Francophone Cultures and Civilizations
FREN 4090: French and Francophone Women Writers
FREN 4100: Special Topics in French Language and Literature (when topic is Francophone Studies)

Medieval and Renaissance

FREN 7005: François Villon and His Age
FREN 7006: Studies in Medieval French Literature
FREN 7012: Studies in 16th Century French Literature
FREN 7013: Montaigne
FREN 7300: Old Provençal
FREN 7960: Special Topics in French Literature (when topic is Medieval and/or Renaissance)
FREN 7970: Seminar in French Literature (when topic is Medieval and/or Renaissance)
FREN 4000: Old French and Medieval Literature
FREN 4010: French Literature of the 16th Century
FREN 4100: Special Topics in French Language and Literature (when topic is Medieval and/or Renaissance)

17th and 18th Century

FREN 7021: French Classicism
FREN 7022: Studies in 17th Century French Literature
FREN 7031: Les philosophes
FREN 7032: Studies in 18th Century French Literature
FREN 7960: Special Topics in French Literature (when topic is 17th and/or 18th Century)
FREN 7970: Seminar in French Literature (when topic is 17th and/or 18th Century)
FREN 4020: French Literature of the 17th Century
FREN 4030: French Literature of the 18th Century
FREN 4100: Special Topics in French Language and Literature (when topic is 17th and/or 18th Century)

19th and 20th Century

FREN 7041: French Romanticism
FREN 7042: Studies in 19th Century French Literature
FREN 7051: The 20th Century Novel
FREN 7052: Studies in 20th Century French Literature
FREN 7960: Special Topics in French Literature (when topic is 19th and/or 20th Century)
FREN 7970: Seminar in French Literature (when topic is 19th and/or 20th Century)
FREN 4040: French Literature of the 19th Century
FREN 4050: French Literature of the 20th Century
FREN 4100: Special Topics in French Language and Literature (when topic is 19th and/or 20th Century)

Literary Theory and Criticism

FREN 7410: Studies in Contemporary French Theory
FREN 7990: Topics in Gender Representation in French Literature
FREN 7995: French Feminist Theories
FREN 4004: Critical Methods and Theory
CPLT 7020: History and Theory of Criticism
CPLT 7120: Topics in Theory of Criticism
CPLT 7140: Topics in Interdisciplinary Studies

Master of Arts in French Studies Examination

An essential component of the Master of Arts in French Studies examination is the reading list, which will be the basis of the written exam. Students will answer one question about any author in the reading list. The reading list will comprise five essential books for each of the five core areas plus four essential secondary works for each of the five core areas (for a total of 45 books and works). The Department provides a standard list, drawn up by professors who specialize in these core areas. Students may choose to use the standard list or, in consultation with their major professor and/or MA Examining Committee, to substitute works of their choice for any or all of the works on the standard list.

The graduate student will have two options to choose from for their Master of Arts Examination:

The Non-thesis option consists of fulfilling three requirements:

Course requirements: completion of 36 course credit hours (with no more than half at the 4000-level).
Written Exam: writing a 2500-word essay about any author of the reading list. The student’s Major Professor in consultation with the student’s MA Examining Committee will formulate the exam question. The student will have 4 days to research and write the essay.
Oral Exam: one week after submitting the 2500-word essay to the M.A. Examining Committee, the student will meet with the Committee to discuss the written exam. During the oral exam, the Committee may ask questions about any authors or works included on the student’s reading list.

The Thesis option consists of fulfilling four requirements:

Course requirements: completing of 30 course credit hours (with no more than half at the 4000-level).
Master's Thesis: completion of 6 credit hours of FREN 8000: Thesis Research, a 50 page Master's Thesis, including bibliography, and an oral defense of the Master's Thesis with M.A. Examining Committee.
Written Exam: writing a 2500-word essay about any author of the reading list . The student’s Major Professor in consultation with the student’s MA Examining Committee will formulate the exam question. The student will have 4 days to research and write the essay.
Oral Exam: one week after submitting the 2500-word essay to the M.A. Examining Committee, the student will meet with the Committee to discuss the written exam. During the oral exam, the Committee may ask questions about any authors or works included on the student’s reading list.

Master of Arts in Language and Society (L&S)

Students in this track concentrate on the complex relationship between language and society with special emphasis given to the Louisiana varieties of French. The L&S curriculum leads to academic positions as linguists and applied linguists, French language teachers as well as specialist positions of diverse majority and minority French cultures in government, media, non-governmental organizations, and the arts.

Master in L&S Distribution Requirements

The Master of Arts in French Language & Society requires 36 hours of course work. The thesis-option M.A. requires 30 credit hours of coursework, including at least 6 thesis credits, and a research thesis.

Required Courses

M.A. students must take three required courses (9 credit hours), which are offered each year. These courses at the 4000 level can count as 7000-level courses.

FREN 4014: Introduction to French Linguistics

FREN 4015/LING 4015: Advanced French Phonetics

FREN 7962: Special Topics in French Linguistics

Students must attend the Proseminar which is not for credit but helps them prepare for Graduate Study and for the professional challenges they will encounter in their careers.

French Studies Courses

M.A. students must select three optional courses (9 credit hours) within the following list of French Studies courses. One course (3 credit hours) must be a linguistic-oriented course.

FREN 4100: Special Topics in French Language and Literature

FREN 4001/LING 4001: History of the French Language

FREN 7300: Old Provençal

FREN 7100 Studies in Sub Saharan Francophone Literature and Culture

FREN 7102 Studies in North African Francophone Literature and Culture

FREN 7120 Studies in Francophone Asian Literature and Culture

FREN 7140 Studies in Caribbean Francophone Literature and Culture

FREN 7170 Studies in Belgian Francophone Literature and Culture

FREN 7980: Seminar in French Linguistics

Research Courses

M.A. students must take two research course (6 credit hours) from the following list.

ANTH 4090: Ethnographic Methodology

ANTH 7962/LING 7962: Field Methods in Linguistics

EDCI 4800: Teaching in the Multicultural Classroom

ELRC 4006: Introduction to Applied Statistics in Educational Research

ELRC 7241: Educational Research Methodology

ELRC 7243: Qualitative Methods in Educational Research

SOCL 7201: Fundamental Statistics in Sociology

SOCL 7211: Methods of Social Investigation.

Linguistic Courses outside the Department of French Studies

M.A. students must take between 2 to 4 linguistic courses, depending of the option (6 credits for the thesis option and 12 credits for the non-thesis option). The following list includes the linguistic courses that can be credited. Some are cross-listed with the interdepartmental LING program at LSU.

ANTH 4060/LING 4060: Language and Culture

ANTH 7060/LING 7060: Conversation and Discourse

ANTH 7909: Selected Topics in Anthropology

COMD 4380/LING 4380: Speech and Language Development

COMD 4153/LING 4153: Acoustics of Speech and Hearing (4 credits)

COMD 7750/LING 7750: Special Topics in Linguistics

ENGL 4710/LING 4710: Introduction to Linguistics

ENGL 4711/LING 4711: History of the English Language

ENGL 4712/LING 4712: Roots of English

ENGL 4713/LING 4713: Syntax

ENGL 4714/LING 4714: Phonology

ENGL 4715/LING 4715: Semantics

ENGL 4720/LING 4720: Second Language Acquisition

ENGL 7711: Forms of Early English

ENGL 7712/LING 7712: Topics in Historical Linguistics

ENGL 7713/LING 7713: Topics in Syntax and Semantics

ENGL 7714/LING 7714: Topics in Sociolinguistics

PHIL 4010/LING 4010: Symbolic Logic II

PHIL 4011/LING 4011: Topics in Advanced Logic

PHIL 4914/LING 4914: Philosophy of Language

SPAN 4005/LING 4005: Structure of the Spanish Language

SPAN 4010: History of the Spanish Language

SPAN 4602/LING 4602: Spanish Phonetics

SPAN 4603/LING 4603: Applied Spanish Linguistics

SPAN 4917: Independent Research in Spanish Linguistics

SPAN 7980: Special Topics in Hispanic Linguistics

SPAN 7982: Spanish Language Variation

SPAN 7983: Spanish Language Acquisition

SPAN 7984: Spanish in the United States

SPAN 7985: Research in Hispanic Linguistics

Master of Arts in L&S Examination

The graduate student will have two options to choose from for their Master of Arts in L&S Examination.

The Non-thesis option consists of fulfilling course requirements: completion of 36 course credit hours (with no more than half at the 4000-level).

The Thesis option consists of fulfilling three requirements:

Course requirements: completing of 30 course credit hours (with no more than half at the 4000-level).
Master's Thesis: completion of 6 credit hours of FREN 8000: Thesis Research, a 35+ page Master's Thesis, including bibliography.
Oral Defense: the student will meet with the M.A. Examining Committee to defend his thesis. During the oral exam, the Committee members will ask questions about the research thesis.

Doctor of Philosophy in French Literature

The goal of the Doctor of Philosophy in French Literature is to write an original contribution to existing scholarship on any given topic in French or Francophone literature. At this stage, the student should be oriented towards both breadth and specialization.

Students will be required to complete 27 course credit hours (beyond the requirements of the Master of Arts) at the 7000-level. At the discretion of the Graduate Committee, students entering the Ph.D. program who hold an M.A. from another program may be required to take the M.A. exam.

Distribution Requirements PhD in French Literature

The student's program of study must reflect a breadth of coverage in all areas identified in the M.A. program. In other words, students are not allowed to take seminars in only one area, but must strive to take courses in all areas. Students must take one 7000-level course from each of five core areas listed above. Courses in the five core areas that were taken at the 7000-level for fulfillment of the M.A. degree in our program will count toward the fulfillment of Ph.D. distribution requirements but will not count toward fulfillment of the 27 hours of Ph.D. course work. Breadth of coverage is a requirement. The PhD program of study, designed by the student with her or his major advisor, must be submitted to the Graduate advisor before being submitted to the Graduate School, so that breadth of coverage is assured. Students are required to attend the Proseminar during their first two years of Graduate Study at both the M.A. and PhD level. All Graduate Students may attend the seminar during their entire course of study. Topics change from year to year.

General Examination PhD in French Literature

The General Examination consists of three components: one dissertation proposal, one written exam, and an oral defense of both the dissertation proposal, the written exam, and their Reading List.

Students will be examined on the Reading List which reflects their areas of specialization. They must consult with their major professors and all members of their examining committees to compile a reading list of both primary and secondary sources, which reflects their areas of specialization, before beginning to work on their prospectus. The entire committee must approve the reading lists the student should provide a paper copy of the reading list to each member of the committee including the Dean’s Representative. 

The Dissertation Proposal should be 30 pages double-spaced (7500 words) with a (annotated) bibliography, a chapter outline, and a projected schedule for completion.
The Written Exam should be 15 pages (3750 words or more) on a general problem providing the context for the specific problem addressed by the dissertation proposal or a general theoretical or methodological problem arising from the dissertation topic. The formulation of the exam question will be determined by the student’s Major Professor in consultation with the student’s Examining Committee. Students must complete their essay in one week. They may use all documented sources to complete the question. The student’s Major Professor in consultation with the other members of the committee will formulate the question. The Major Professor will submit the question to the examining committee including the Dean’s Representative for their approval or suggestions for revision. The members of the committee must return their approval or suggestions within one week of receiving the proposed question. The Major Professor must submit the final version to the Department Chair who is Chair of the Graduate Committee for 2020-2021, who will administer the exam. The Graduate Administrator will provide the student and the members of the examining committee with the exam question both electronically and as a paper copy.
The Oral Defense of the written exam and the dissertation proposal, preceded by the candidate’s short presentation of the dissertation project.
Copies of the dissertation proposal and completed written exam must be distributed to all Examining Committee members at least two weeks prior to the scheduled General Examination date.

Final Examination/Dissertation Defense PhD in French Literature

There will be an oral defense of the completed dissertation. The defense will commence with a brief presentation in which the candidate summarizes his or her achievement and the significance of his or her contribution within the candidate’s field of study. The dissertation should make an original contribution to scholarship in the field.

The committee should be in possession of a finished copy of the dissertation at least two weeks prior to the scheduled defense date.

Other General Requirements

Residency

The Graduate School requires that Ph.D. students fulfill two continuous semesters of full-time enrollment. This requirement can only be fulfilled starting in the semester in which the Program of Study is filed. This can be met with a fall and spring succession or a spring and fall succession. Summer terms do not count.

Doctor of Philosophy Minor

Students may choose a minor field, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. The minor may be defined within a specific department or discipline other than French, such as Spanish, History, Art, English, or Drama, or it may be an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary field such as women's studies or Comparative Literature and literary theory. The department(s) or interdisciplinary program will define the requirements of the minor field. If there is a minor, the student's Examining Committee for the Ph.D. must include a faculty member from the minor field, and the Advisory Committee should include a member from the minor field as well. The student must take at least one 7000-level course in the minor.

Language Requirement

At the discretion of the Major Professor, students working toward the PhD may be required to demonstrate reading proficiency in one foreign language other than their native language and French. Students must demonstrate language proficiency in the following manner: 1)by satisfactory performance on the ETS (Princeton) reading exam; 2), by completion of appropriate course work in the language(s) at an advanced level (7000, although this may differ according to the language studied); 3) by satisfactory performance on a departmental reading exam administered by a professor in the specific foreign language department in which they are trying to demonstrate their language competency; or 4) by completing a language course designed to teach Reading Competency (for example: German 4005: German for Reading Knowledge). The knowledge of multiple languages is beneficial to scholars of French literature and culture and allows them to address areas where multiple languages coincide such as the Caribbean.

Doctoral Examining Committees

Doctoral Examining Committees of three professors must include at least two full members of the French Studies Graduate Faculty. The Dean of the Graduate School will appoint an outside member to serve as the Dean’s Representative on all general and final exam committees for the Ph.D. The outside members represent the Dean and The Graduate Faculty and are full voting members of the committee, with all rights and responsibilities of other committee members. In the French department, committee chairs are responsible for providing copies of written exams and dissertations to the Graduate Administrator at least two weeks in advance of examinations to all committee members, including outside members.

Graduate Minor in French Studies

Doctoral students in other departments wishing to obtain a graduate minor in French Studies are required to take 9 hours of graduate coursework in the Department of French Studies at the 4000- and 7000-levels. At least 6 of those 9 hours must be at the 7000-level. They must demonstrate proficiency in French.

Doctor of Philosophy in French Language & Society

The goal of the Doctor of Philosophy in French L&S is to write an original contribution to existing scholarship on any given topic in French or Francophone language and society. At this stage, the student should be oriented towards both breadth and specialization.

Students will be required to complete 27 course credit hours (beyond the requirements of the Master of Arts) at the 7000-level. At the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies, students entering the Ph.D. program who hold an M.A. from another program may be required to take the M.A. exam.

Distribution Requirements PhD in French L&S

Students are also required to fill out the PhD Program of study for French Language & Society. In addition to the proseminar, students on the Language & Society track must take all three of the following courses (9 credit hours), or receive transfer credit for analogous courses. These courses at the 4000 level can count as 7000-level courses.

Required Courses

FREN 4014: Introduction to French Linguistics
FREN 4065: Louisiana French
FREN 7203: French Dialectology

French Studies courses

Ph.D. students must select two optional courses (6 credit hours) within the following list of French Studies courses.

FREN 4001/LING 4001: History of the French Language

FREN 7300: Old Provencal

FREN 7980: Seminar in French Linguistics

Research Courses

Ph.D. students must take one research course (3 credit hours) from the following list.

ANTH 4090: Ethnographic Methodology

ANTH 7962/LING 7962: Field Methods in Linguistics

EDCI 4800: Teaching in the Multicultural Classroom

ELRC 4006: Introduction to Applied Statistics in Educational Research

ELRC 7241: Educational Research Methodology

ELRC 7243: Qualitative Methods in Educational Research

SOCL 7201: Fundamental Statistics in Sociology

SOCL 7211: Methods of Social Investigation.

Linguistic Courses outside the Department of French Studies

PH.D students must take three courses (9 credit hours). The following list includes the linguistic courses that can be credited. Some are cross-listed with the inter-departmental LING program at LSU.

ANTH 4060/LING 4060: Language and Culture

ANTH 7060/LING 7060: Conversation and Discourse

ANTH 7909: Selected Topics in Anthropology

COMD 4380/LING 4380: Speech and Language Development

COMD 4153/LING 4153: Acoustics of Speech and Hearing (4 credits)

COMD 7750/LING 7750: Special Topics in Linguistics

ENGL 4710/LING 4710: Introduction to Linguistics

ENGL 4711/LING 4711: History of the English Language

ENGL 4712/LING 4712: Roots of English

ENGL 4713/LING 4713: Syntax

ENGL 4714/LING 4714: Phonology

ENGL 4715/LING 4715: Semantics

ENGL 4720/LING 4720: Second Language Acquisition

ENGL 7711: Forms of Early English

ENGL 7712/LING 7712: Topics in Historical Linguistics

ENGL 7713/LING 7713: Topics in Syntax and Semantics

ENGL 7714/LING 7714: Topics in Sociolinguistics

PHIL 4010/LING 4010: Symbolic Logic II

PHIL 4011/LING 4011: Topics in Advanced Logic

PHIL 4914/LING 4914: Philosophy of Language

SPAN 4005/LING 4005: Structure of the Spanish Language

SPAN 4010: History of the Spanish Language

SPAN 4602/LING 4602: Spanish Phonetics

SPAN 4603/LING 4603: Applied Spanish Linguistics

SPAN 4917: Independent Research in Spanish Linguistics

SPAN 7980: Special Topics in Hispanic Linguistics

SPAN 7982: Spanish Language Variation

SPAN 7983: Spanish Language Acquisition

SPAN 7984: Spanish in the United States

SPAN 7985: Research in Hispanic Linguistics

General Examination PhD in French Language & Society

The general examination must be completed by the end of the fifth semester of enrollment in the program. Normally, this would be the end of the fall semester of the third year. At that time, a full advisory committee, which includes four members of the LSU Graduate Faculty, is established. Of these 4 members of the doctoral committee, 2 must be from the Department of French Studies, 2 must be full members of the LSU Graduate Faculty and 1 of these last 2 must be a full member of the Department of French Studies. The Examining Committee determines the format of the examinations, and tends to vary somewhat according to the specific field of study.

The general exam consists of two components: a written dissertation prospectus and an oral defense.

Dissertation Prospectus in French Language & Society

At or before the end of the sixth semester of enrollment in the Ph.D. program, the student must submit a substantial (approximately 30 page) proposal of the dissertation. The dissertation proposal should be sufficiently detailed and clear to serve as a blueprint for the study that will follow. The proposal should contain the following elements, although some major professors may require different emphases:

Purpose and significance of the study
Formulation of the problems to be addressed
Framework within which the problems will be addressed
Compact review of the relevant literature
Methodology and Data
Data collection procedures
Data analysis procedures
Preliminary or prospective results if available
Reference section or bibliography
The Major Professor of the dissertation must supervise the preparation of this proposal and approved it, and the members of the student’s dissertation committee must also give their approval. As stated above, the proposal may be used in the general examination.

Oral Examination

The student must demonstrate independent mastery of the research included in the written dissertation prospectus during the oral examination. The student must also demonstrate an ability to synthesize an area of linguistic research in a way that makes an important theoretical contribution and/or that provides clear directions for future, empirical studies that will make an important contribution to research.

General Examination Procedures for Both Doctor of Philosophy Tracks

An Examining Committee is made up of the student who is being examined, plus three other faculty members appointed by the department Chair in consultation with student and Specialist in Language & Society on the Graduate Committee, (Professor Sylvie Dubois), and is normally finalized by May 1 of the year preceding the examination. The Graduate School provides a representative for the General Examination. Students are urged to consult with the Examining Committee before May 15 to form a plan of study for the summer preceding the examinations. The Committee recommends whether or not the student should continue with Ph.D. study (that is, should be advanced to “candidacy”), should be put on probation, or should be dismissed from the program.

Copies of the Examination and the Committee report are made available to the Graduate Studies committee, which meets within two weeks of filing of last Committee report for the semester (by December 15 at the latest).

If the Examination Committee recommends dismissal from the program, the Graduate Studies committee must ratify this decision.

If the recommendation is Fail with retake, only one retake of no more than two separate examinations is allowed (no more than one area in the major field is allowed to be retaken). Retakes must be finished by March 15 of the following semester. The Examining Committee writes a report on the retake and includes it in a separate report on the whole of the examination. The reports are due to the Chair within two weeks of the end of the exam (April 1), and a special meeting of the Graduate Studies committee is held to ratify the committee’s recommendation on the retake and on the entire examination. The Graduate Studies committee may at this time allow the student to continue with Ph.D. study or may recommend dismissal.

Dissertation Candidate Status Requirements

The candidate must enroll in FREN 9000 (Dissertation Research) during each semester of enrollment as a degree candidate after completion of the general examination.

The Graduate School limits the period for completion of the Ph.D. to seven years after classification as a doctoral student. Revalidation of a student for the Ph.D. program after this period has passed will be considered only in exceptional circumstances and must be initiated by written petition to the Graduate Faculty of the Department of French Studies who will evaluate the petitioner's record and make a decision regarding credit for courses previously taken and possible further course work.

A student who has previously passed the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam must submit a new dissertation prospectus that follows the rules laid down above, and submit to formal questioning on that prospectus by members of the advisory committee. For a student who has not yet passed the Ph.D. General Exam, the procedure for re-admission to the M. A. degree program is to be followed.

Attribution of Sources

Students are reminded that the most scrupulous attention to accepted forms of bibliographical documentation is required for all written work. Published material must never be directly quoted without precise signaling (quotation marks, indications of insertions/emendations for the purpose of syntax, etc.), nor repeated in another form without exact referencing (page numbers, etc.). Any failure to adhere to these practices constitutes plagiarism, which will be sanctioned by the University and by Federal law.

Graduate students should be familiar with the forms of referencing standardized by the MLA Handbook and the Chicago Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. If a student has any doubts about how to follow correct referencing procedure, it is his/her responsibility to seek advice from the course Professor, members of the Advisory Committee, or the Chair of the Committee for Graduate Studies.

A GPA of 3.0 or better is required for the student to maintain good academic standing. Details are available in the Graduate Bulletin.

Disclaimer

These requirements can be modified at any time by the Department of French Studies. Students entering under a previous set of requirements may opt to be “grandfathered” or to work and study under the new guidelines.

Graduate Student Awards and Scholarships

To apply for a graduate assistantship, please submit your application for admission to the LSU Graduate School. Department’s requirements.

Édouard Glissant Tout-Monde Assistantship for PhD studies in French Studies

Award Amount: up to $25,000 annually. Édouard Glissant was distinguished professor in the department of French Studies and Director of the Center for French and Francophone Studies from 1988 to 1993. Author of more than 40 books, he is a world-renowned novelist, poet, essayist, playwright and thinker. His concepts, Relation, creolization, Tout-Monde have revolutionized the field of literary writing and literary criticism the world over. We have named this prestigious assistantship to honor the profound influence he had at Louisiana State University as a colleague and as a teacher. Exceptional PhD students are invited to apply for the assistantship. The deadline for applications is February 1, 2018.

Elliott Dow Healy Memorial Fellowship

Award Amount: $1,000 per year or as funding permits. Eligibility Criteria: Fellowship is awarded to a graduate student/students in French with special preference given to students who show marked interest and competence in the study or research of Old French or Old Provençal. The recipient must have an overall GPA of 3.0 or above and an overall 3.5 GPA in French.

Teaching Assistant Award

Award Amount: $250 or as funding permits.

Adam Shelby Holmes Trappey Scholarship

Award Amount: $1,000 or as funding permits. The scholarship is awarded to the most outstanding incoming graduate student in French. The recipient must have an overall GPA of 3.0 or above and an overall 3.5 GPA in French.

Joel Lafayette Fletcher Graduate Award

Award amount: $500 or as funding permits. The award is given to a graduate student who promotes the preservation of French culture.

Graduate Student Exchange

The Department of French Studies currently holds year-long teach/study exchange programs with the University of Limoges and the University of Poitiers. We have study and research exchange agreements with the University of the Antilles, and the University of Grenoble. It is also possible for students to spend an academic year at the University of Liège in Belgium. Graduate students with teaching experience are encouraged to apply for these programs after their third semester of studies.