usc english phd requirements

Administration

Graduate school policies and requirements, general requirements for graduate degrees, general requirements for progressive degree programs.

• General Requirements for Master’s Degrees
• General Requirements for Doctor of Philosophy Degrees

Theses and Dissertations

PhD students in their cardinal robes lead the column of graduates at the USC Commencement Ceremony.

Photo by Steve Kohn.

Andrew McConnell Stott, PhD, Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Dean

Meredith Drake-Reitan, PhD, Associate Dean

Laura Yoneda, Associate Dean

Graduate studies had their formal beginnings at the University of Southern California in 1910, and 1923 marked the official constitution of the Graduate School of the university.

The mission of the Graduate School is to promote a distinguished educational experience at the graduate level for an outstanding and diverse student body, to support and celebrate graduate student achievements, and to provide leadership in the establishment and communication of policies, standards, and processes related to graduate education.

The Graduate School awards fellowships to incoming PhD students who show outstanding promise, and provides advanced fellowships on a competitive basis to students who have done outstanding work in their programs at USC. The Graduate School also provides academic professional development activities for students across the university. 

The Vice Provost for Academic Programs has academic oversight responsibility for all graduate programs at the university. Excellence in graduate and professional education is critically dependent on the exchange of scholarly ideas across a diverse community of faculty and students. The values that characterize these interactions include dedication to excellence, mutual respect, fairness, collegiality, honesty and integrity.

Admission to degree or certificate programs in the Graduate School is processed through the USC Office of Graduate Admission, which receives all applications, evaluates credentials and issues notification letters. Admission to the university, under the standards of the Graduate School, is decided by the appropriate academic department or program. With the exception of a few professional and online programs, only a letter from the Office of Graduate Admission grants official admission to a graduate degree objective in the university. The Graduate School establishes and monitors the standards under which students are admitted for study in degree programs. The following are the basic requirements: (1) a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from a regionally accredited college or university, comparable in standard to that awarded at USC; (2) for international applicants, a valid score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or Pearson Test of English (PTE); (3) intellectual promise, including evaluation of grade point averages (GPA) that indicates an ability to do acceptable graduate work; and (4) strong personal qualifications.

Academic credentials and records for admission must include a complete set of records of all previous college or university work. For applicants whose previous studies were conducted in a language other than English, the official original language academic records will likely be required in addition to full word-for-word English-language translations. These translations should be provided by either the originating institution or a certified translation service. Academic records must be registrar-issued and not marked unofficial or student-generated. 

Applicants are advised that individual departments and programs may establish additional admission standards, such as requiring the submission of the appropriate GRE Subject Test or the submission of academic letters of recommendation directly to the department or program at USC. The applicant should contact the department or program of interest for information on additional required supplementary documents. See the departmental sections of this catalogue or visit the department or program website.

Graduate Record Examinations (GRE)

Many, but not all, USC graduate programs require the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). To verify the policy of a graduate program, applicants should check the department website. If a program requires the GRE, then scores must be dated no more than five years prior to the start of the intended first term at USC. 

Some programs may require or accept other standardized test scores, such as the GMAT or MCAT, that are appropriate to the field of study. This will be indicated on the department’s admission requirements webpage. 

English Proficiency

Graduate applicants are expected to demonstrate English proficiency as part of the application process. International graduate applicants must submit scores from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System) or PTE (Pearson Test of English). USC does not set minimum scores for admission purposes. However, meeting university scoring standards is important for placement purposes, and will determine if an admitted international student is exempt from taking the International Student English (ISE) examination. International applicants are exempt from submitting English proficiency scores under certain circumstances. Please see the Graduate Admission website for more details. Official scores must be received electronically from the testing service, and tests must be taken no earlier than two years (24 months) prior to the start of the student’s first term at USC.

Deadlines and Notification

The completed application for admission and all required supporting documents should be submitted to the Office of Graduate Admission based on the published deadline for the program of interest. 

Some departments and programs only admit graduate students to begin study in the fall semester. Departmental and program deadlines are listed on the department or program websites as well as on the online application for each program. Unless an academic program advertises a different deadline, priority consideration for PhD student funding will be given to those applicants who submit all application materials by December 1. The university will continue to accept and consider graduate applications submitted after December 1.

The Office of Graduate Admission issues all decisions electronically. With the exception of a few professional and online programs, only a letter from the Office of Graduate Admission grants official admission to a degree objective in the university. Correspondence with department chairpersons, program directors or individual faculty members does not constitute admission.

Acceptance with a Degree Objective

Students will be admitted with a specified degree objective. Admission to a degree objective and permission to enroll does not imply that the student is or will be automatically guaranteed the right to continue in a degree program or to be a candidate for an advanced degree.

Exclusions on the Basis of Conduct Violations

Students previously expelled from the university for any reason are barred from re-applying to USC.

Applicants whose applications are found to include false information, falsified documents, and/or fraudulent test scores (collectively, “Fraudulent Applications”) prior to receiving a decision on their application will be summarily denied admission and barred from re-applying to USC. In the case of applicants who are found to have submitted a Fraudulent Application after receiving an offer of admission but prior to the first day of classes, the offer of admission will be revoked and the applicant will be barred from re-applying to USC, regardless of whether or not the applicant has accepted the offer. If the applicant has already paid an enrollment deposit, the deposit will be refunded. In the case of students who have already attended classes at USC, allegations of admissions violations will be reviewed in accordance with the USC Student Handbook.

Classification of Admission Status

Full graduate standing.

Students who have been accepted for admission, have met all the basic admission requirements and filed all relevant documents with the Office of Graduate Admission are considered admitted to full graduate standing. Occasionally, applicants for admission may lack one of the qualifications listed above or may have difficulty producing appropriate documentation; such students may be enrolled with continuing registration requirements.

Continuing Registration Requirement

Students admitted with continuing registration requirements have not yet met all requirements for admission to full graduate status or have not filed all relevant documents with the Office of Graduate Admission. See the Graduate and Professional Education    section for policies governing enrollment as a student with continuing registration requirements. Full graduate student standing is not granted until all registration requirements have been met within the time limit given.

Limited Status Students

Some students may wish to enroll in graduate-level courses for personal satisfaction or professional enhancement without currently seeking a graduate degree. Students may be permitted to enroll with permission from the department or program. Such students should obtain a special Limited Status form from the Office of Academic Records and Registrar at the time of registration. This will permit them to register in the classification of limited status. See the Academic and University Policies    section for policies governing limited status enrollment. Limited status enrollment is not to be construed as admission.

Doctoral Admission with Advanced Standing

Students can be admitted with Advanced Standing (entry with an appropriate completed graduate degree from an accredited institution) to all programs in which the PhD degree is conferred by the Graduate School at USC with approval from the Vice Provost for Academic Programs. See the Transfer of Course Work section under Course Work Taken Elsewhere    in Graduate and Professional Education for more information.

Advancement to Candidacy

Admission to graduate study does not imply advancement to candidacy for an advanced degree and gives no right or claim to be so admitted. Candidacy is determined after the student has demonstrated the ability to do graduate work with originality, excellence and independence at USC.

The foundation for a master’s or doctoral degree is a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent, comparable in standard to that awarded at USC, from a regionally accredited college or university. Many doctoral students will already have received a master’s degree. Select doctoral programs at USC may require students to have a master’s degree as an admission criteria.

University policies governing unit, grade point average and time limit requirements are stated in the Academic and University Policies    section of this catalogue. Graduate students should also consult this section for policies on transfer of credit, concurrent enrollment, continuous enrollment, leaves of absence, readmission, and waiver and substitution of course requirements.

Unit Requirements

The course of study for the master’s degree must include at least 24 units in required and elective courses. In addition, students in a program requiring a thesis must register for 4 units of 594ab Master’s Thesis.

A minimum of 60 units of course work beyond the baccalaureate is required for the PhD degree, including research courses and 4 units of 794ab Doctoral Dissertation. No more than 8 units of 794 may be received or applied toward the degree.

A minimum of 36 units of course work beyond the first graduate degree, exclusive of 794 Doctoral Dissertation, is required for doctoral degree students admitted with Advanced Standing. Additional course work may be required if deemed necessary by the student’s faculty.

Residence is a period of intensive study completed at USC. For the master’s degree a minimum of 20 units of course work applicable toward the degree must be completed on the University Park and/or Health Sciences Campuses and/or at one of the university’s approved off-campus study centers.

For the PhD degree, a minimum of 24 units applicable toward the degree, exclusive of 794 Doctoral Dissertation, must be completed on the University Park and/or Health Sciences Campuses. Internships, fieldwork and other off-campus experiences do not count toward residency.

It is not intended that the PhD degree be conferred as a certificate of residence, however faithful or extended, or as a certificate of the satisfaction of unit requirements, which are to be regarded as largely preliminary. It has been found that the scholastic requirements for the degree cannot be completed in less than the equivalent of three full years of work devoted wholly to graduate study and research with appropriate facilities and under university supervision.

Exception to Graduate School Policy

Exceptions to certain policies and procedures governing Graduate School degree programs will be considered by the Vice Provost for Academic Programs upon the submission of a specific request supported by adequate reasons, information and documentation, if needed. The signatures and recommendation of the faculty adviser or committee chair, the department chair or program director, and, in some cases, the dean of the degree program, are required. Requests must be initiated and submitted on behalf of the student by the department’s or program’s staff adviser. After training on the Graduate School’s online request system, advisers may access the necessary forms through the Graduate School’s website.

Academic Warning and Dismissal

Faculty advisers, departments and programs take factors other than satisfactory grades and adequate GPAs into consideration in determining a student’s qualifications for an advanced degree. A student’s overall academic performance, specific skills and aptitudes, and faculty evaluations will be considered in departmental or program decisions regarding a student’s continuation in a master’s or doctoral degree program.

Satisfactory progress toward an advanced degree as determined by the faculty is required at all times. Students who fail to make satisfactory progress, will be informed by their department chair, program director or school dean. The faculty has the right to recommend at any time after written warning that a student be dismissed from a graduate program for academic reasons or that a student be denied readmission.

Written warning letters must include specific benchmarks describing how the student can, within a reasonable time frame, succeed in the program. The university’s warning and dismissal templates are available from the Graduate School. Warning letters should be sent as early as possible so that the student can take advantage of the recommended remedial action.

A progressive degree program enables a USC undergraduate to begin work on a master’s degree while completing requirements for the bachelor’s degree. The degree may be in the same or different department or program but should be in a similar field of study. See the Graduate and Professional Education    section for detailed information.

Departmental Requirements

The requirements and regulations set forth in this portion of the catalogue are to be construed only as minimal requirements established by the Graduate School. In addition, the student is obligated to meet all the requirements established by the individual department or program as described in the departmental sections.

Advisement and Program of Study

Academic advisement of entering graduate students will be provided by a designated faculty member in the student’s home department or program. Ideally, during the first semester of graduate enrollment a formal program of study should be developed and agreed upon in writing. This academic plan should include: (1) the sequence of required and elective courses, with a diversity of faculty instruction and a reasonable balance between course work and directed research appropriate for the degree; (2) evaluation of available transfer credit for application toward the degree; and (3) the schedule and procedures for departmental or program evaluation of the student. The program of study should be on file in the student’s department or program and may be modified in keeping with the student’s progress toward the degree objective. This should become the responsibility of the student’s qualifying exam committee when it has been established.

Foreign Language/Research Tool Requirements

Although the Graduate School does not require a foreign language examination, some departments and programs do have specific language requirements for their graduate programs.

The foreign language requirement is determined by the individual departments, programs or schools, subject to approval by the University Committee on Curriculum. For the PhD student, these requirements should be met well in advance of the qualifying examination.

When proficiency in a foreign language or a research tool is required, the evidence attesting to proficiency may not be more than five years old. This regulation applies regardless of the form of the evidence.

For specific information, see Foreign Language/Research Tool Requirement under the appropriate department and program sections of this catalogue.

General Requirements for the Master’s Degree

Course requirements.

The Graduate School confers the master’s degree upon the satisfactory completion of a carefully planned curriculum. A comprehensive examination or summative experience may replace a thesis in certain departments and programs. A student must enroll in GRSC 810    during the semester in which the comprehensive examination is to be taken if not otherwise enrolled. Consult the appropriate departmental section of this catalogue for specific course requirements.

For those master’s degrees not conferred by the Graduate School, the degree-conferring school determines if a thesis, comprehensive exam or other summative experience is required.

When the summative experience is not a thesis or comprehensive examination, the nature of the summative experience needs to be explicitly defined including the method by which the student’s performance will be assessed and how the results of that assessment will be recorded. The summative experience requirement will often be satisfied by passing a course designed specifically for this purpose.

See Transfer of Course Work in the Course Work Taken Elsewhere    section for the maximum number of units of transferred course work that may be applied toward a master’s degree. Except in formally designated dual degree programs, this same policy regulates the number of credits that may be applied toward a master’s degree from an advanced degree previously completed at USC.

Master’s Committee

The student’s master’s committee directs the student’s program of study and thesis and/or comprehensive examination. The master’s committee consists of at least three and no more than five members. At least two of the members must be full-time faculty in the student’s home program, and may be tenured, tenure track or RTPC (research, teaching, practice, clinical). The committee chair must have an appointment in the student’s program. All committees must have a majority of members from the student’s home program. A member may be another faculty member from the student’s home program, an outside member from another program at USC, or an external member who is either faculty at another institution or a significant practitioner in the field. If a member is external to USC, the external member’s CV must be uploaded with the appointment of committee form.

Application for the Master’s Degree

At least one semester preceding the one in which the student expects to receive the degree and prior to registration in 594a Master’s Thesis, the student should ask the academic department or program to request an online degree check from Degree Progress. Application is made online by the academic department or program and then transmitted to the Degree Progress Department following approval of the program of studies by the student’s home department. Degree Progress will prepare a Degree Audit Report (STARS Report) reflecting course work and requirements completed and those remaining to be met.

Master’s Examinations

A student who fails the master’s examination may be permitted, at the discretion of the faculty, to take it a second time. The retaking of a failed master’s examination must be completed before the end of the second consecutive semester (excluding summer session) following the first examination. Requests for exception must be approved by the department chair or program director. A student may not take the master’s examination more than twice and must be appropriately enrolled at USC during the semester in which such an examination is taken or retaken. A student who fails the master’s examination a second time may not continue in the degree program after the end of the semester in which the second examination was taken. No exceptions are allowed.

Master’s Thesis

The thesis is supervised throughout its preparation by the student’s master’s committee. It is desirable for the student to have a conference with each committee member promptly following the approval of the topic. Thereafter, thesis work is normally under the immediate supervision of the committee chair. Final acceptance is based upon the unanimous recommendation of all members of the committee.

A student who is required to write a thesis must submit a satisfactory outline and comprehensive bibliography for the proposed thesis and demonstrate a mastery of the subject satisfactory to the master’s committee. The student’s thesis or master’s committee is responsible for the content, adherence to departmental formatting requirements, and bibliographical consistency of the thesis.

During the five-year time limit allowed for completion of the degree and following the completion of all course work, the student must enroll in 594 Master’s Thesis for two consecutive semesters and for each semester thereafter, until the thesis has been approved and the approval of the master’s thesis form has been signed by the student’s master’s committee. Registration for the thesis in two semesters is the minimum requirement entitling the student to thesis supervision by the master’s committee. No more than 4 units of credit in 594 may be received regardless of the number of semesters the student may be required to be enrolled. Students may not register for more than 2 units of 594 during a given semester; individual exceptions require the approval of the dean of the degree program.

Leave of Absence

Students who find it necessary to be excused from registration in 594 for a semester must request a leave of absence by petition to the dean of the degree program prior to the beginning of the semester. See Leave of Absence in the Financial Aid for Graduate Students    section. Approval of the committee chair, department chair or program director, and dean of the degree program are required. During a leave of absence, students will not be entitled to assistance from the master’s committee or to the use of university facilities. Considerations for approving a leave of absence include the student’s progress to date in meeting the time schedules for the completion of degree requirements. Students with serious medical conditions should consult the Health Leave of Absence policy , which is not the same as a general leave of absence.

Final Approval of the Thesis

If a thesis defense is required: After the thesis defense has been completed and after the committee determines that no further changes are required of the thesis manuscript, each committee member electronically certifies on the Approval to Submit Defended and Final Copy of Master’s Thesis form that: (1) the defense was appropriately rigorous; (2) the student’s thesis is original and represents advanced scholarly work in keeping with the standards of the given field; and (3) the thesis defense process was fair and in keeping with USC’s academic and ethical standards. This includes adherence to departmental formatting requirements. No changes can be made to the manuscript’s content after the Approval to Submit form is complete. The Approval to Submit form is electronically available through Thesis Center , the Graduate School’s online thesis and dissertation processing system.

Master’s Thesis Submission

Master’s thesis manuscripts must be submitted to Thesis Center on the Graduate School website. Please refer to the Theses and Dissertations  section for information on the submission process.

General Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree

Qualified students will be received as applicants for candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy degree with a major in departments and programs that are adequately equipped with staff, library and laboratory facilities to furnish the necessary training and opportunities for original research.

Screening Procedures

A screening examination or other procedure designated by the department or program is to be administered before the student has taken more than 24 units (including research courses). Passing this procedure is prerequisite to continuation in the doctoral program. Students who fail the screening procedure will be advised that they are not recommended to continue in the PhD program and that any additional work may not be counted toward the degree. Failure to undertake the screening procedure before completion of 24 units of course work may jeopardize additional units. Ideally, a faculty member will be appointed to serve as the student’s adviser until the student establishes an approved qualifying exam committee.

The subject or field of concentration is called a major. The major is usually a departmental major, although several interdepartmental majors have been authorized.

Undergraduate prerequisite and graduate course work will be required in accordance with the regulations of the major department or program and the recommendation of the student’s qualifying exam committee. Consult the appropriate departmental section of this catalogue for specific course requirements.

Appointment of the Qualifying Exam Committee

The qualifying exam committee is responsible for supervising the student’s preparation for the exam and for the fair and timely administration and evaluation of the written and oral parts of the examination. The Appointment or Change of Qualifying Exam or Dissertation Committee form, available on the Graduate School website, is used to establish the qualifying exam committee. The form requires the signature of each member of the committee, the department chair or program director, and the dean or dean’s designate. The completed form is filed in the student’s home department or program.

Qualifying Exam Committee

The qualifying exam committee is composed of five members. The committee chair and at least two additional members must have an appointment in the student’s program.

Because the goal of USC PhD programs is to create scholars who will shape their fields in a wide range of settings, the university encourages PhD students to take advantage of the full array of faculty expertise available at USC. This includes the expertise of tenured, tenure track and RTPC (research, teaching, practice, clinical) faculty. A USC faculty member from outside the student’s home program is called an “outside member.” The committee may also include a faculty member from an institution other than USC, called an “external member.”

Any faculty member – external, outside, or from the student’s home program – who serves on PhD dissertation and qualifying exam committees must have a professional profile that demonstrates academic impact on the field in significant, measurable ways. The judgment about these qualifications will be made on the basis of hard evidence: for example, peer-reviewed publications in major journals and presses, grant funding, and exceptionally influential practice in a given field, taking into account the person’s total career, current stage of career and any changes in performance in a more recent period.

Faculty who are evaluated on the basis of criteria other than those noted above will not normally be considered appropriate members of PhD and qualifying exam committees, except by explicit permission of the Vice Provost for Academic Programs acting on the advice of the dean of the school.

For faculty within the student’s home program and external faculty members, qualification to serve will be judged by the dean of the school that houses the student’s PhD program. The CV of the external member must be uploaded along with the Appointment of Committee form to Thesis Center and will become part of the official record.

For outside faculty – faculty outside the student’s program but internal to USC – the judgment of qualification to serve will be made by the dean of the school of the outside faculty member’s primary appointment.

Some schools and programs require “outside members,” and others do not. If an outside or external member is required, this must be specified in the program’s or school’s section in the Catalogue.

Changes in Qualifying Exam Committees

The Appointment or Change of Qualifying Exam or Dissertation Committee form, available on the Graduate School website, must be completed whenever a change is made in a qualifying exam committee. All such changes must be made in advance of the qualifying examinations. Informal substitutions for either the written or oral parts of the qualifying examination are not permitted. Changes in a qualifying exam committee are not permitted between the written and oral portions of the examination. The examinations must be scheduled at times when it is possible for all members of the committee, including the outside member, to participate. Changes made without the prior approval of the dean of the degree program are not recognized and may result in the invalidation of the examination.

A student may not change committee members after failing the qualifying examination the first time. The student must be reexamined by the same faculty on the same subject matter. If a faculty member is unable to serve on the committee (for example, due to serious illness, retirement or transfer to another institution), the dean of the degree program must be notified in writing in advance of the rescheduled exam in order to approve the change. The faculty replacement must be approved by the dean of the degree program and the student must file a change of committee form well in advance of the exam.

Qualifying Examination

The examination qualifying a student for candidacy for the PhD degree is designed to test the student’s fitness to undertake independent research. It is comprehensive in nature and includes both written and oral parts.

Prior to taking the qualifying examination, the student must have met all of the university’s and program’s requirements for the PhD degree, except the dissertation and successful qualifying exam. The student must have a GPA of at least 3.0 on all USC course work available for graduate credit and the approval of his or her qualifying exam committee to proceed to the exam. Students with a master’s degree in the same or similar field may be approved to take the qualifying examination after the completion of 12 units and successful passage through the screening process. The GPA and qualifying exam committee approval requirements are the same as for students without a prior master’s degree in the field of study. If not otherwise enrolled, a student must enroll in GRSC 800a    and GRSC 800b    Studies for the Qualifying Examination during the semester in which the qualifying examination is to be taken. Students are allowed to enroll in GRSC 800a    and GRSC 800b    Studies for the Qualifying Examination a maximum of three times, first in GRSC 800a   , followed by GRSC 800b    and, only if necessary,  GRSC 800z   .

Because two semesters of preparation for the qualifying examination should suffice in the vast majority of cases, programs with students enrolling in GRSC 800z    will be required to get D-clearance from the Graduate School. In addition, the student’s program will be expected to issue a warning letter laying out academic expectations and a path toward timely completion of the PhD.

The oral portion of the examination must be completed within 60 days of the submission of the completed written portion to the qualifying exam committee. If the student’s written examination is satisfactory, the student may proceed to the oral portion of the exam. If additional material is to be covered in the oral portion, the student should be notified of the content expectations in advance. For the PhD Qualifying Examination, committee members may participate remotely. 

There are three possible results of a qualifying exam:

• Pass, and proceed to candidacy based on a positive vote by a majority of members of the committee.
• Fail, with the option to retake either specific sections of the exam or the whole exam, at the discretion of a majority of the committee. The student may not be required to repeat parts of the qualifying examination that were passed on the first administration. The retaking of a failed qualifying examination or any portion of a qualifying examination must take place between one and six months from the date of the first examination. If not otherwise enrolled, the student must be enrolled in GRSC 800a    and GRSC 800b    Studies for the Qualifying Examination in the term in which any portion of the exam is repeated.
• Fail, with the result of dismissal from the program.

If a majority of the committee concludes that the written portion of the exam is so weak that the oral portion cannot counterbalance the poor performance, the student does not proceed to the oral and the exam is failed. The committee may provide the option of a retake, but is not required to do so. If a majority of the committee decides that a retake is not warranted, the student is dismissed from the program.

A student who fails the qualifying exam a second time is automatically dismissed from the program.

Report on the PhD Qualifying Exam

Upon the successful conclusion of the qualifying exam, the committee is asked to certify on the Report on the PhD Qualifying Examination that: (1) the exam was appropriately rigorous; (2) the student’s performance on the exam was at the doctoral level; and (3) the entire qualifying examination process was fair and in keeping with USC’s academic and ethical standards. The Report on the PhD Qualifying Examination is available to graduate advisers on the Graduate School website in myGradSchool .

Graduate students are officially advanced to candidacy for the PhD degree when they have completed the residency requirement and passed the written and oral portions of the PhD qualifying examination upon the favorable recommendation of the qualifying exam committee to the Graduate School. 

Application for the PhD

After being advanced to candidacy, students must contact their academic department or program to initiate an online degree check that is transmitted to the Degree Progress Department. Degree Progress counselors prepare a Degree Audit Report (STARS Report) for each student listing any remaining requirements. The requirements will not be checked or the degree conferred if the student has not applied.

Dissertation Committee

The dissertation committee is appointed as soon as possible after the qualifying examination has been passed and a dissertation topic approved. The committee should be appointed at least one month before the dissertation defense. The Appointment or Change of Qualifying Exam or Dissertation Committee form, available on the Graduate School website, is used to establish the dissertation committee. The form requires the signatures of each member of the committee, the department chair or program director, and dean or dean’s designate. The completed form is filed in the student’s home department or program, and a signed copy provided to the student.

The dissertation committee is composed of at least three and no more than five members. The committee chair must have an appointment in the student’s program. All committees must have a majority of members from the student’s home program.

Because the goal of USC PhD programs is to create scholars who will shape their fields in a wide range of settings, the university encourages PhD students to take advantage of the full array of faculty expertise available at USC. This includes the expertise of tenured, tenure track and RTPC (research, teaching, practitioner, clinical) faculty. A USC faculty member from outside the student’s home program is called an “outside member.” The committee may also include a faculty member from an institution other than USC, called an “external member.”

Any faculty member – external, outside, or from the student’s home program – who serves on PhD dissertation and qualifying exam committees must have a professional profile that demonstrates academic impact on the field in significant, measurable ways. The judgment about these qualifications will be made on the basis of hard evidence: for example, peer-reviewed publications in major journals and presses, grant funding, and exceptionally influential practice in a given field, taking into account the person’s total career, current stage of career, and any changes in performance in a more recent period.

For faculty within the student’s home program and external faculty members, qualification to serve will be judged by the dean of the school that houses the student’s PhD program. The CV of the external member must be uploaded along with the appointment of committee form and will become part of the official record.

Final Approval of the Dissertation

After the dissertation defense has been completed, and the committee determines that no further changes are required of the dissertation manuscript, each member of the committee electronically certifies on the Approval to Submit Defended and Final Copy of Doctoral Dissertation that: (1) the defense was appropriately rigorous; (2) the student’s dissertation makes an original and substantial contribution to its field of study; and (3) the defense process was fair and in keeping with USC’s academic and ethical standards. This includes adherence to departmental formatting requirements. No changes can be made to the manuscript’s content after the Approval to Submit form is complete. The Approval to Submit form is electronically available through Thesis Center , the Graduate School’s online thesis and dissertation processing system.

The committee must unanimously agree in order for the student to pass the defense.

Doctoral Dissertation

A dissertation is an original contribution to current knowledge in the field and a demonstration that the PhD candidate has achieved sufficient mastery in the field to pursue independent research and scholarship. A dissertation represents the individual candidate’s research and writing. In fields where collaborative research has become the norm, the candidate is the sole author of the dissertation. Candidates must specify their contribution to the research and delineate colleagues’ contributions.

Dissertations are expected to be written in English. Exceptions require the approval of the Vice Provost for Academic Programs or his or her designee prior to beginning the work and will be granted only when there is strong scholarly justification.

The student is expected to be enrolled in 794 Doctoral Dissertation each semester, except summer sessions, after admission to candidacy until all degree requirements are completed. Registration for 794 for the two semesters (excluding summer sessions) immediately following admission to candidacy is the minimum requirement entitling the candidate to dissertation supervision by the dissertation committee. Enrollment in 794 prior to admission to candidacy is not permitted and such registration is invalid. If the dissertation is not completed and accepted within two semesters the candidate must continue to register for 794 each semester thereafter until the dissertation has been approved and the approval of the PhD dissertation has been signed by the dissertation committee. Students are expected to complete and defend their dissertation in less than five semesters of 794. Students may enroll in 794 during one summer session but may not register for more than 2 units of 794 during a given semester; individual exceptions require the approval of the dean of the degree program. No more than 8 units of credit in 794 may be received, regardless of the number of semesters in which the candidate enrolls. Department or program approval is required for registration in 794.

A candidate who finds it necessary to be excused from registration in 794 for a semester must request a leave of absence by petition to the dean of the program of study prior to the beginning of the semester. See Leave of Absence in the Financial Aid for Graduate Students    section. Endorsements from the dissertation committee chair and department chair or program director are required. During a leave of absence the candidate will not be entitled to assistance from the dissertation committee or to the use of university facilities. Considerations for approving a leave of absence include the student’s progress to date in meeting the time schedules for the completion of degree requirements.

PhD students with serious medical conditions should consult the Health Leave of Absence policy , which is not the same as a general leave of absence. PhD students on an approved Health Leave will enroll in GRSC 803 to ensure continued access to the stipend and health insurance.

PhD students considering Parental Leave should consult the USC Graduate School. PhD students on an approved Parental Leave will enroll in GRSC 804 to ensure continued access to the stipend and health insurance.

Defense of the Dissertation

After passing all required courses and the qualifying examination, and after meeting all other requirements, the candidate must write and defend the dissertation. The doctoral dissertation must be an original contribution to scholarship or scientific knowledge and must exemplify the high degree of scholarly advancement and power of investigation demanded by the university for final recommendation to the doctorate. The dissertation defense is the culminating activity in the assessment of whether this standard has been met.

While the oral examination is open to the general university community, only the members of the dissertation committee have the authority to recommend acceptance of the dissertation. Their recommendation must be unanimous. For the dissertation defense, some committee members may participate remotely. The committee chair and the student must be present, unless the relevant dean and the Vice Provost for Academic Programs provide express written permission for remote participation. Members who participate remotely will be noted on the dissertation Approval to Submit forms.

If the defense is satisfactory, the committee signs the electronic Approval to Submit Defended and Final Copy of Dissertation form. If additional work is required, the electronic form must be signed only after full completion. Departments and programs differ concerning the time of the defense of the dissertation. The student’s dissertation committee is responsible for the content, adherence to departmental formatting requirements, and bibliographical consistency of the dissertation.

Dissertation Submission

Doctoral dissertation manuscripts must be submitted to Thesis Center on the Graduate School website. Refer to the Theses and Dissertations  section for more information on the submission process.

Submission of Theses and Dissertations

Required documentation is electronically submitted to the Graduate School through Thesis Center , the Graduate School’s online thesis and dissertation processing system, available on the Graduate School website. All documentation must be submitted by the deadline date and time. Documents are reviewed by the academic services coordinator. When the documentation is determined to be complete, the candidate is cleared to electronically submit the dissertation manuscript.

Required documentation for doctoral students includes: 1) the electronic “Approval to Submit Defended and Final Copy of Doctoral Work” form (also called the “Approval to Submit” form); 2) the “Appointment or Change of Qualifying Exam or Dissertation Committee” form and; 3) the electronic Certificate of Completion of the Survey of Earned Doctorates.

For master’s students, required documentation includes: 1) the “Approval to Submit Final Copy of Master’s Thesis” form and 2) the “Appointment or Change of Master’s Committee” form.

The “Appointment or Change of Qualifying Exam or Dissertation Committee” form, and the electronic Certificate of Completion of the Survey of Earned Doctorates, required for doctoral students, are submitted as PDFs. The “Approval to Submit Defended and Final Copy of Doctoral Work” form is electronically available through Thesis Center.

Thesis/dissertation manuscripts may only be submitted after the required documentation has been submitted and reviewed. Required documentation and thesis/dissertation manuscripts are reviewed in the order received. Students have three months from the date the committee chair signs the “Approval to Submit” form to complete any required formatting corrections to Thesis Center.

Early Submission Option: Students who submit the necessary documentation according to the deadlines on the Thesis Center website will be exempt from the requirement to register for 594 or 794 in that semester. Otherwise, to maintain continuous enrollment, student must register for 594 or 794. International students considering the Early Submission Option should check with the Office of International Services to ensure the lack of course registration will not affect their visa status.

Acceptance by the University

The university must accept all theses and dissertations in an approved, final and electronic form before the degree can be conferred. The student’s committee must have approved all documents before submission to the Graduate School. The student remains in contact with the Graduate School during the corrections process. Thesis manuscripts must be submitted to the Graduate School through Thesis Center on the Graduate School website.

At the time of submission, all manuscripts should be formatted and edited according to the style determined by the student’s department or program. 

If the formatting of the manuscript requires corrections, the student makes the corrections and uploads a revised PDF of the manuscript for approval by the academic services coordinator. All revised manuscripts are processed in the order received.

After a manuscript has been approved by the academic services coordinator, the student uploads an identical copy of the final PDF of the manuscript to the USC Libraries.

Schedule of Deadlines

The Graduate School provides a schedule of specific dates for completing the thesis or dissertation submission for the student to qualify for graduation in the corresponding semester. These dates are published on the Graduate School website. Regardless of the date of submission, students must submit complete documentation and finish all corrections to the manuscript before the degree can be conferred. Upon completion of all requirements, the official USC transcript will serve as evidence of the degree until the diploma is received.

Publication

All theses and dissertations will be made available via the USC Libraries.

Thesis/Dissertation Fees

The doctoral candidate’s fee of $115 covers USC Libraries and Graduate School processing fees. The master’s candidate’s fee of $105 covers USC Libraries and Graduate School processing fees. The fees are assessed by the academic services coordinator after the required documentation has been submitted, and the charges appear on the student’s account.

• •  GRSC 596 Internship for Curricular Practical Training
• •  GRSC 791 Directed Research
• •  GRSC 800a Studies for the Qualifying Examination
• •  GRSC 800b Studies for the Qualifying Examination
• •  GRSC 800z Studies for the Qualifying Examination
• •  GRSC 810 Studies for Master’s Examination

PhD Admissions

The USC Marshall School of Business fosters an entrepreneurial and global mindset across all disciplines, and this thought-leadership starts in our faculty and student research. Our PhD Program is dedicated to developing researchers who will become innovators as faculty at business schools throughout the world.

A desire to lead through research, academic potential, and personal discipline are the qualities it takes to succeed as a Marshall PhD student. The new students we enroll each year embody this spirit.

This section of our website is dedicated to finding the next generation of Marshall PhD students. Review the admissions information carefully and prepare an application that best expresses your academic abilities, research interests, and future goals.

Thank you for your interest in the USC Marshall PhD Program. We look forward to receiving your application.

Gizem Ceylan PhD '22, Marketing Postdoctoral Researcher, Yale School of Management

Application Timeline

December 15, 2023 : Application Deadline – Accounting, Data Sciences & Operations, and Management & Organization

January 15, 2024: Application Deadline - Finance & Business Economics and Marketing

* Although the Marshall PhD Program application is open until January 15th, the Accounting, Data Sciences & Operations, and Management & Organization programs application deadline is December 15th.

You can submit your application up until 11:59 PM PST on the deadline date. Ensure you allow for time to complete the required payment section. You must click Submit and complete the final payment information before the deadline in order to guarantee your submission is accepted.

Special Notes:

• All applicants will select the Marshall PhD Program Application (495).
• Please refer to final section of the Marshall PhD Program Application to specify the program (accounting, finance, management, marketing, operations, or statistics) you would like to pursue.
• INFO SESSIONS

Application Requirements

- Completion of Bachelor’s Degree - Transcripts - GRE or GMAT scores - IELTS or TOEFL scores (international applicants) - Statement of Purpose - Resume/CV - Three Letters of Recommendation - Passport - Application Fee ($90)

All required application materials (below) must be submitted. In the online application system, you will be required to fill out four sections. Please refer to the following four sections (Personal Information, Academic History, Supporting Information, and Program Materials) in which to submit your documents. Please refer to Program Materials section of the Marshall PhD Program Application to specify the program (accounting, finance, management, marketing, operations, or statistics) you would like to pursue. Under the questions on the program materials section, you will identify your program track of interest.

Inputting unofficial (student) score reports via the online application system is a requirement to complete the Marshall PhD application. We know that you may have requested official score reports be sent to USC when you took your exams, but, unfortunately, these records are not immediately available to the Marshall PhD program. Even if you have requested official score reports to be sent to USC, you still need to input the unofficial (student) score report to the online system to ensure timely review of your application. Official test score reports will be requested of applicants who proceed to Round 2 of applications review. Round 2 decisions are sent in mid- to late-February.

If any requirements change, further information will be posted on this page.

Academic History

• Completion of Bachelor's Degree or the Equivalent by Term of Admittance: Applicants must have completed or expect to complete a four-year bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) by the beginning of the Fall 2023 semester with the equivalent of a 3.0 GPA (B average) on the U.S. 4.0 scale. For international applicants, specific equivalencies by country are available on the USC Graduate School website.
• Transcripts (unofficial copies of ALL transcripts must be uploaded): Uploading unofficial transcripts via the online application system is a requirement to complete the Marshall PhD application. Please do not upload protected PDF copies of the transcript to the online application system. Official transcripts may be requested of applicants who proceed to Round 2 of applications review. Round 2 decisions are sent in mid- to late-February. Please refer to the Graduate Admission site for more information on transcripts and submission of official transcripts .
• GRE or GMAT scores (valid scores must be submitted; no exceptions):
• GRE and GMAT should be taken within 5 years from the date of the intended date of enrollment. Your scores are considered valid only if earned within five years to the month of your intended first term at USC. (For example, no earlier than August 1 five years prior if applying for the fall term). USC’s ETS school code is 4852. No department code is required

IELTS or TOEFL scores (for international students ONLY; valid scores must be submitted; no exceptions). Fall 2024, the TOEFL must be taken after August 1, 2022. For additional information for the Fall 2024 admission, please refer check here .

To determine if USC requires TOEFL/IELTS scores for a country, please check here .

Exceptions: International applicants are exempt from the TOEFL/IELTS requirement only under the circumstances noted here .

For additional more information on the English Proficiency requirements, please refer to the Graduate Admission Frequently Asked Questions.

As a reminder, inputting unofficial (student) score reports via the online application system is a requirement to complete the Marshall Ph.D. application.

Personal Information

In this section of the online application, you will be required to provide your personal information such as First and Last (Family) Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Phone Number, Email Address, Mailing Address, etc.

Supporting Information

• Passport Copy (for international students ONLY)

Program Materials

• Three Letters of Recommendation: Letters of recommendations are submitted via the online application system. In the online application, you will submit the names and email addresses of three recommenders. The system will send them an email that provides instructions on how to submit the recommendation letter on your behalf. The admissions committee prefers recommendations from academics familiar with your scholastic and research capabilities; those from faculty members with whom you have worked in a research capacity are particularly valued.
• Personal Statement: Please upload a personal statement addressing the following two prompts:

1) Statement of Purpose: Please describe why you wish to pursue a PhD degree in Business Administration in your chosen field of specialization. Please also explain why you believe that the Marshall School of Business would be a good fit for you. 2) Research Experience/Interest: Please describe any significant academic research experience you have had, if any. Indicate who you worked with, the topic you studied, the skills you developed, activities you engaged in and the output from the project (e.g., conference paper, publication, etc.). You can also describe your research interest as well.

If desired, you can upload additional documents pertaining to your research experience. For example, if your previous research experience culminated in a conference paper or journal publication, you can upload it under "Optional Documents" below. Again, this is not required.

Financial Support

The USC Marshall School of Business provides full financial support to PhD students for five years in the form of a fellowship or assistantship. After a student has advanced to candidacy (typically in the third year), the student becomes eligible for additional research awards.

Fellowships & Graduate Assistantships

All applicants who apply by the deadline(s) are automatically considered for competitive fellowships each year. Accepted students receive a package that includes a full tuition waiver, generous stipend, individual health and dental insurance, and coverage of mandatory student health center fees. The total financial support provided is approximately $100,000-110,000K per year, depending on a student's course-load.

Fellowship recipients are guaranteed funding through either the continuation of the fellowship or through an assistantship for five years provided they maintain satisfactory academic progress.

Outside Funding

Occasionally a student brings outside funding to replace or supplement the funding from the USC Marshall School of Business. Examples of outside funding sources include the foreign governments and the National Science Foundation program. Such funding is acceptable, but applicants should understand that funding source is not considered in the evaluation process. We accept only the top applicants regardless of the source of funding.

Research Support & Awards

Marshall Ph.D. students are provided with a discretionary account for teaching and research activities. The annual funding increases as the student progresses in the program into more research activities in the later years.

After advancing to candidacy, students become eligible for competitive research awards open exclusively to USC Marshall Ph.D. students. Past awards have been sponsored by the Ford Foundation, USC Marshall Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurship and other awards sponsored by Marshall or the USC Graduate School.

2021 Class Profile

Total Number of Applications: 663

Number of Students Enrolled: 15

Mean GMAT: 98.50 Percentile

Mean GRE: Q79.89 Percentile

Mean GRE V: 85.44 Percentile

Mean Age: 25

Age Range: 21-38

Percent Women: 40%

Percent International: 53%

Percent with Prior Graduate Degree: 47%

Prospective students often wonder how they measure up to our past admitted students. Please refer to the snapshot for the incoming, Fall 2021, cohort for reference.

We caution applicants who review these profiles that they are raw means and actual values vary widely between individuals and among applicant pools. The admissions committee reviews all aspects of a students' application, such as academic preparation, letters of recommendation, and statements of purpose. A low ranking in individual criteria will not necessarily preclude a candidate who is otherwise qualified.

At USC Marshall, we believe that successful solutions to business problems depend on having access to the widest range of ideas, opinions, and experiences. By cultivating a diverse pool of Ph.D. students, we are helping redefine the academic business community of the 21st century.

The PhD Project

The PhD Project. Since 1994, the PhD Project has more than tripled the number of minority business school professors, who inspire a new generation of business professionals. Participation is available to anyone of African American, Hispanic American, and Native American descent interested in business doctoral studies. USC Marshall currently has three PhD Project scholars, Courtney (Alexis) Keys ,  Jacob Roberson , and Calvin Wright . We actively recruits at the annual PhD Project conference. Learn more and apply to the conference: http://www.phdproject.org/

STAY CONNECTED

Ph.D. Program Marshall School of Business University of Southern California 3670 Trousdale Parkway, BRI 306 Los Angeles, California 90089-0809

What are you looking for?

Honors program, about the honors program.

The English Honors Program is open to students in English literature and in creative writing. The program provides a unique opportunity to pursue in depth a critical project of your own design. If you are thinking about applying to graduate school or professional school (such as law school) you will find the program especially rewarding. The Honors Thesis is a critical research project and typically runs upwards of 40 pages. Upon successful completion of a critical Senior Honors Thesis your USC transcript will record departmental honors.

• Minimum USC GPA of 3.0
• Minimum English GPA of 3.5
• Completion of introductory English sequence (200-level)
• Completion of at least two USC upper-division ENGL courses
• Be enrolled in, or have completed with a grade of at least A-,  ENGL 491 (for English) or  ENGL 492  (for NARS)
• Prior to the application period, begin thinking about your desired thesis topic.
• Submit your Honors application in the fall (usually in October or early November — an Undergraduate Studies Coordinator will reach out with the precise deadline each year). While once a two-step application, students now submit their project proposal and potential readers’ names at the same time as the other materials.
• If accepted, you will be granted D-clearance to enroll in  ENGL 496  for the following Spring semester during Fall registration.

Steps to being admitted to the Honors Program:

1. ENGL 491 “Senior Seminar in Literary Studies” or ENGL 492 “Narrative Studies Capstone Seminar”

Enroll no later than fall semester. Enrollment is restricted to twelve students. For ENGL 491, multiple sections are always offered in fall; each will be taught by a research professor focusing on a special topic. For ENGL 492, 1-2 sections are always offered in fall (depending on need); through this seminar, students are supported during the process of completing their NARS capstone project.

These fall semester seminars are open to all seniors of the appropriate major, but required for students applying to the Honors Program due to the application prerequisite. You must earn a grade of at least 3.7 (A-) in ENGL 491 or 492 to proceed into ENGL 496 (see below).

2. HONORS APPLICATION

Typically due in October or early November. Materials are submitted via the Google form provided to students via email prior to the application deadline. List your English or NARS major courses, instructors, and grades (we may wish to speak with your instructors). Attach your current STARS Report, along with a substantial writing sample that shows your research and writing skills to best advantage.

3. PROJECT PROPOSAL

Project proposals are now submitted at the same time as all other application materials. Students submit a 2-3 page proposal for review by the Undergraduate Studies Committee. In your proposal you will describe what you would like to do for your Honors Thesis, and identify several English faculty with whom you have discussed your ideas and who might supervise your independent research. You have all summer before the fall semester begins to think about what interests you, and you should start discussing your ideas as early as possible with your professors.

4. ENGL 496 “SENIOR HONORS THESIS”

If admitted to the program, and if you complete ENGL 491 or 492 with a minimum grade of 3.7 (A-), you will be granted D-clearance to enroll in ENGL 496 “Senior Honors Thesis” for the following Spring semester. In this intensive seminar you will meet with other Honors Thesis students and be supported by our Director of Undergraduate Studies during the process of completing your thesis. You will work independently, but under the direct supervision of two professors who will guide you based on their expertise in your topic. Your completed thesis will be graded by a jury of professors from the Department of English, and you must receive a minimum grade of 3.3 (B+) on your thesis to receive Honors, and finish with an overall GPA of 3.5.

Previous Thesis Presentations

If you want to see what current Honors Thesis students are doing, you are invited to attend the public presentations they will be making in the Spring semester. Drop by, engage in stimulating conversation, and see if this program is right for you. You are welcome to attend even if you are just curious about the Honors Program for a later year.

For additional information, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies, whose information is available  here .

Thursday, April 29, 2021 12:00pm – 4:00pm Public (Zoom) presentation of Honors theses

• 12:00,  Jonathan Chang Thesis: “ Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit : Food, Community, and the Inversion of Nourishment in Early Modern English Witch Drama” Readers: Rebecca Lemon and Thea Tomaini
• 12:30,  Hunter Wilkinson Thesis: “‘Our Small Forever’: Law, Justice and Voice in Louise Erdrich’s Coming of Age Novel,  The Round House ” Readers: David Treuer
• 1:00,  Ryan Fawwaz Thesis: “Girl of the Gilded West: Topophilia and Self-Reflexivity in Joan Didion’s Revised Frontier” Readers: William Handley and David Ulin
• 1:30,  Ryan Nhu Thesis: “The Work of Want: Interracial Desire and Contemporary Literature, 1962-2020” Readers: Viet Thanh Nguyen and Maggie Nelson
• 2:00,  Lucy Kenig-Ziesler Thesis: “Womanly Wiles: An analysis of violent women in Victorian literature and society” Readers: Erika Wright and Hilary Schor
• 2:30,  Sophie Hammond Thesis: “‘Their Own, Sometimes Subversive, Purposes’:  Tipping the Velvet ,  The Persian Boy , and the Possibilities of Historical Fiction” Readers: Hilary Schor and William Thalmann
• 3:00,  Valerie Burgess Thesis: “Exploitation of Feminine Labor: How mid-twentieth century working class women writings engage and critique  The Feminine Mystique ” Readers: Rick Berg and Brighde Mullins
• 3:30,  Katrina Coglitore Thesis: “Beyond ‘Little Brown Brothers’: Tracing Inherited Trauma Across Generations of Filipino Americans” Readers: Thomas Gustafson and Adrian De Leon

For further project details, please read our  Spring 2021 Honors Invitations .

Thursday, April 16, 2020 12:30pm – 4:00pm Public (Zoom) presentation of Honors theses

• 12:30,  Jane Clark Thesis: “Ovidian Heroines Dismantling the Virgilian State in Early Modern Drama”
• 1:00,  Kanak Kapur Thesis: “Death Becomes Her: Melancholia, Secrets and Substitution in the Governess Narrative”
• 1:30,  Danielle Collins Thesis: “Rewriting Fate: Turn of the Century Black Female Authors and The Fight Against a Racialized, Gendered Destiny”
• 2:00,  Jason Collins Thesis: “Between Rational and Fanciful: Religion and Spirituality in the Late Victorian Bildungsroman”
• 2:30,  Megan Ritchie Thesis: “A Castle and a Con: Strawberry Hill and the Complexities of Authorship and Ownership”
• 3:00,  Michael Neely Thesis: “A More Perfect Union? Liberty Versus Equality in American Construction and Reconstruction”
• 3:30,  Lorea Mendiguren Thesis: “Fictions of Female Autonomy & Culpability in Romantic Literature of the Middle Ages”

For further project details, please read our  Spring 2020 Honors Invitations .

Wednesday, April 3, 2019 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 10:00am – 1:00pm Public presentation of Honors theses

• 10:00,  Anika Narayanan Thesis: “Bingeworthy: Temporality, Realism, and Consumer Immersion in Serialized Fiction” Readers: Brighde Mullins and Susan Segal
• 10:45,  Madeleine Dile Thesis: “Magic and the Perception of Humanity in Early Modern English Drama” Readers:
• 11:30,  Annamaria Sauer Thesis: “Narrative and Extremity” Readers:
• 12:15,  Katherine Coley Thesis: “From a State of Mutual Exclusion: Non-Native Women Writers and Representations of the Native American ‘Other’” Readers:

Wednesday, April 4, 2018 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 1:30pm – 3:45pm Public presentation of Honors theses

• 1:30,  John Broderick Thesis: “The Short Story: By Knockout” Readers: Elda María Román and Dana Johnson
• 2:15,  Marilyn Crowley Thesis: “Off the ‘Beat’en Path: Diane di Prima and Hettie Jones” Readers: Molly Bendall and David St. John
• 1:30,  Marina Zoukova Thesis: “Women’s Insanity Romanticized: An Exploration into the Portrayals and Implications of Insanity in Women in Gothic Literature in the late Nineteenth-Century” Readers: Margaret Russett and Tania Modleski

Wednesday, April 5, 2017 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 12:00pm – 4:30pm Public presentation of Honors theses

• 12:00,  Amy Hutto Thesis: “Lost Voices, Found Images: Intersections of Poetry and Photography in Stories of Marginalized Groups” Readers: Alice Gambrell and Molly Bendall
• 12:45,  Kevin Volkl Thesis: “The Crisis of Man in the Americas, 1933-1973” Readers: David Treuer, Anthony Kemp and Sharon Lloyd
• 1:30,  Allison Smith Thesis: “The News from Nowhere: William Morris’s Icelandic Landscapes” Readers: Margaret Russett and Devin Griffiths
• 2:15,  Constance Chan Thesis: “Rejecting Utopia: Representation of the Body in Chinese American Poetry” Readers: Viet Thanh Nguyen and David St. John
• 3:00,  Arianna Allen Thesis: “His War, Her Pen” Readers: Thomas Gustafson and Richard Berg
• 4:00,  Kathryn Kelly Thesis: “The Inevitability and Impossibility of Return: An Exploration into the Relationship Between Trauma and Literature in the American South and Central Europe” Readers: Viet Thanh Nguyen and David Treuer

Wednesday, April 6, 2016 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 2:30pm – 5:00pm Public presentation of Honors theses

• 2:30,  Luke Nunnelly Thesis: “Donne’s Doors: The  Songs and Sonnets  and the Subtleties of Huxley’s Mind” Readers: Rebecca Lemon and Joseph Dane
• 3:15,  Georgia Soares Thesis: “To See is to Feel: Feminist Symbols of Perception in Woolf and Lispector” Readers: Elda María Román and Beatrice Bennett
• 4:00,  Micaela Rodgers Thesis: “An Anxious Ireland: An Analysis of the Gothic through the Female Role in Sheridan Le Fanu’s  The Purcell Papers ” Readers: Tania Modleski and Ross Scimeca

Thursday, April 17, 2015 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 2:00pm – 4:00pm Public presentation of Honors theses

• 2:00,  Eric Wendorf Thesis: “On the Side of the Flies: The Artists and the Fascist Crowd in Nathanael West” Readers: Professors John Rowe and William Handley
• 2:30,  Sara Newman Thesis: “Searching for Sylvia” Readers: Professors David St. John and Christopher Freeman
• 3:00,  Carrie Moore Thesis: “’Where There Is A Woman There Is Magic’: Unconventional Black Women’s Histories in  Sassafress, Cypress & Some Sing, Some Cry ” Readers: Professors Michelle Gordon and Dana Johnson
• 3:30,  Nandini Ruparel Thesis: “The Ghosts of Our Pasts: The Creation and Dissolution of Identities in the South Asian Diaspora through  Jasmine, The Namesake, and The Inheritance of Loss ” Readers: Professors Viet Nguyen and Karen Tongson

Thursday, April 9, 2015 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 2:00pm – 4:00pm

• 2:00,  Sara Worth Thesis: “’Can it be reversed?’: Thomas Pynchon, California, and the American Betrayal” Readers: Professors John Rowe and William Handley
• 2:30,  Orli Robin Thesis: “Liberating Spirit and  Spirituality:  An Aesthetic of Redemption in Jean Toomer’s  Cane ” Readers: Professors Susan McCabe and Richard Berg
• 3:00,  Kelly Belter Thesis: “A Family Affair: Magical Realism and Narratives of Multigenerational Trauma” Readers: Professors Aimee Bender and Richard Berg
• 3:30,  Sasha Pearce Thesis: “’Crude Conception’: Milton, The War in Heaven, and the Origin of Evil” Readers: Professor Lawrence Green and Ross Scimeca

Thursday, April 10, 2014 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 2:00pm – 4:00pm Public presentation of Honors theses

• 2:00,  Alyra Lennox Thesis: “A Great Mosaic-Like Whole: Intertextuality in Milton and Milosz” Readers: Professor Percival Everett and Julianne Werlin
• 2:30,  Gerri Gonzalez Thesis: “Thinking Time: Temporality and the Moment in the Victorian Serial Novel” Readers: Professors Kate Flint and Ross Scimeca
• 3:00,  Whitney Tolar Thesis: “The Burden of Memory and its Role in Storytelling: the Paradox between Representation and Reality though the Memoirs about the Vietnam War” Readers: Professors Rick Berg and Tim Gustafson
• 3:30,  Ryan Kindel Thesis: “City Animals” Readers: Professors Michael Du Plessis and David Treuer

Thursday, April 17, 2014 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 2:00pm – 4:00pm

• 2:00,  Peter Figliulo Thesis: “From the Mountain to the Cradle: Existential Fiction and World War” Readers: Professors Percival Everett and David Treuer
• 2:30,  Betty Fang Thesis: “The Perks of Being the Wallpaper: The Phenomenology of Carceral Spaces in Literary Sites of Heterotopia” Readers: Professors Tania Modleski and Susan McCabe
• 3:00,  Michelle Khazaryan Thesis: “Paved Roads: A Cross-Cultural Exploration of First-Generation Bildungsromans and their Relationship to the Canonization Process” Readers: Professors Elda Maria Román and Karen Tongson
• 3:30,  Christopher Bautista Thesis: “More than a Moor: The Role of Double Consciousness in Othello” Readers: Professors Bruce Smith and Emily Anderson

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 2:00pm – 5:00pm Public presentation of Honors theses

• 2:00,  Stephanie Ashley Thesis: “The Daughter’s View: A look at the works of Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin through Mary Shelley’s fictions” Readers: Professors Margaret Russett and Kate Flint
• 2:30,  Oriah Amit Thesis: “Putting Women on the Map: Rewriting Kerouac’s mythological road” Readers: Professors Thomas Gustafson and Richard Berg
• 3:00,  Alyssa Arreguin Thesis: “Becoming One of the Joneses: John Fante’s characterization of an Italian American identity” Readers: Professors Thomas Gustafson and Dana Gioia
• 3:30,  Dana Horowitz Thesis: “An Ocean Between Us: Navigating hierarchies of identity in Caribbean literature” Readers: Professors John Carlos Rowe and Richard Berg
• 4:00,  Melinda Guilford Thesis: “Through the Eyes of Zora Neale Hurston: How fiction reflects, represents, and re-imagines social thought” Readers: Professor Michelle Gordon and Alice Gambrell
• 4:30,  Stephanie Nicolard Thesis: ” William Wordsworth’s Revolutionary Imagination in the Prelude” Readers: Professor Margaret Russett and Devin Griffiths

Thursday, April 5, 2012 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 2:00pm – 5:00pm, for ENGL 496 Public presentation of Honors theses

• 2:00,  Daniel Rios Thesis: “from Eden to Babel: Los Angeles Fiction and the Transnational Dialogics of Ethnicity” Readers: Professors Thomas Gustafson and William Handley
• 2:30,  Alysha Owen Thesis: “If the Glove Fits: The Martial versus the Marital Hand and the Importance of Hand Imagery in Shakespeare” Readers: Professors Emily Anderson and Rebecca Lemon
• 3:00,  Julia Cooperman Thesis: “Vigilant Virgins and Matron Martyrs: Literary Representations of the Chaperone in Victorian and Edwardian Fiction” Readers: Professors Kate Flint and James Kincaid
• 3:30,  Aishlin Cortell Thesis: “Beastly Women and Womanly Beasts: Animals, Lesbians and the Modern Subject in Djuna Barnes and Tanizaki Junichiro” Readers: Professors Joseph Boone and Akira Lippit
• 4:00,  Jace Brittain Thesis: “The Rest is Shweigen: German Romantic Translations of Hamlet” Readers: Professor David Lloyd and Dr. Ross Scimeca

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 Taper Hall of Humanities 420

• 2:00,  Cordelia Arterian Thesis: “The Male Fantasy: Authorship as superiority in 16th-century England”
• 2:30,  John Graff Thesis: “An Absolute is Reached: F. H. Bradley’s final problem as reconciled in  To the Lighthouse “
• 3:00,  Alexandra Kretowicz Thesis: “‘Don’t Dream It, Be It’: The paradoxical tendency of countercultures to reflect the structure of mainstream culture”
• 3:30,  Victor Luo Thesis: “The Metafictive Dialogues of Identity in Libraries and Books: A reading of Jorge Luis Borges’ ‘The Library of Babel’ and ‘The Book of Sand’, and Haruki Murakami’s  Kafka on the Shore ” Creative Project : “Dragonfly Used Books and the Eternal Springtime”
• 4:00,  Caitlin Coyne Thesis: “The Modern Political and Social Implications of Christa Wolf’s  Cassandra ” Creative Project : “India Marone”

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 Taper Hall of Humanities 420

• 2:00,  Kelly Baron Thesis: “Staring Intently Inward: Sexuality and self-awareness in David Foster Wallace’s  Brief Interviews With Hideous Men ” Creative Project : “Whenever You’re Ready”
• 2:30,  Yu Sara Kanematsu Thesis: “Farce, Fools and  Doctor Faustus : Pushing societal boundaries through Marlowe’s comic tragedy”
• 3:00,  Tanvi Mirani Thesis: “South Asian immigrants and the Domestic Sphere: The Establishment of an American Identity in Jhumpa Lahiri’s works”
• 3:30,  Lauren Perez Thesis: “Horrifying Hungers: Domestic space, consumption and women in horror fiction” Creative Project : “The Resurrectionist’s Gallery”
• 4:00,  Cara Dickason Thesis: “Peculiar Women, Manly Men, and the Construction of Gendered Identity in  Angels in America “
• 4:30,  Colin Dwyer Thesis: “The Beholder of the Eye: Nonsense and naming in  Alice in Wonderland ” Creative Project : The Sneeze that Fell Apart

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 2:00pm – 5:00pm

• 2:00,  Alex Jestin Taylor Thesis: “Visions of Honesty: Kerouac’s Authentic American Myth” Readers: Professors Boyle and Gustafson
• 2:30,  Emiko Suzuki Thesis: “‘its not despair until time its not even time until it was’: Temporality and Experience in the Decay of the Postwar American South in William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! and The Sound and the Fury” Readers: Professors Gordon and Eggenschwiler
• 3:00,  Thomas Schaeffer Nelson Creative Project : “This” Thesis: “Whatever You Called It: The Fetus as Destabilizer in 20th-Century Literature of Abortion” Readers: Professors Bender and Johnson
• 3:30,  Sarah Vita Thesis: “Solving the Mystery of the Mysterious: Unearthing Philosophy and Identity in Detective Fiction and Thrillers” Readers: Professors Kincaid and Du Plessis
• 4:00,  Steven Philp Creative Project : “Whisper Room” Thesis: “’Woof’: Chasing the Contemporary Bear” Readers: Professors Bender and Roman

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Taper Hall of Humanities 420 2:00pm – 5:00 pm

• 2:00,  Ashwin Kannan Creative Project : “Silver Tongues and Slippery truths: The voice of the delusive character” Thesis: “Unstable Irony, Display and Play: Rethinking satiric norms in John Kennedy Toole’s  A Confederacy of Dunces Readers: Professors Everett and Kincaid
• 2:30,  Kate Gong Thesis: “Big God Howled Like a Hot Wind: the Effects of Globalization in  The God of Small Things and  The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Readers: Professors Nguyen and McKnight
• 3:00,  Kevin Kim Creative Project : “The American Scream” Thesis: “A riot by any other name is still a riot” Readers: Professors Nguyen and Iwamura
• 3:30,  Andrei Malikov Thesis: “Unsettling Laughter and Martin McDonagh’s Post-Colonial Ireland” Readers: Professors Lloyd and Roman
• 4:00,  Janet Thielke Creative Project : “Call You By Name” Thesis: “The Short Bus and the Soul Train: Physical and Spiritual ‘Freaks’ in the Works of Carson McCullers and Flannery O’Connor” Readers: Professors Wiggins and Handley

Additional Resources

Contact details, usc department of english.

3501 Trousdale Parkway Taper Hall of Humanities 404 Los Angeles, CA 90089-0354

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8:30am- 5pm

Times may adjust in accordance with university holidays.

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International Student Admission Requirements

International Students who have completed ANY undergraduate coursework in a country other than the US

• Applicants must check their country requirements on the Office of Graduate Admissions website and send the required documents
• English Language Proficiency Exam (TOEFL or IELTS) is required

International Students who have completed ALL undergraduate coursework in the US

• Applicants must submit official transcripts from every post-secondary school you have attended, regardless of transfers or whether a degree was earned.
• English Language Proficiency Exam (TOEFL or IELTS) is waived
• Students whose native language is not English or students who have completed undergraduate coursework in a country other than the United States are required to submit scores for an English Language Proficiency Exam (TOEFL, including the iBT Special Home Edition, or IELTS, including the IELTS Indicator). Only applications with test scores will be reviewed.
• Deadline: Scores must be submitted no later than March 1.
• We accept the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition, which can be taken from the comfort and safety of your home.
• We accept the IELTS Indicator, which can be taken from the comfort and safety of your home.
• Submission: Scores must be submitted electronically directly from the testing service. USC's institution code is 4852.
• Score Expiration: TOEFL/IELTS tests must be taken within the last 2 years.
• Waiver: International students who have completed ALL undergraduate coursework in the United States, are not required to submit TOEFL or IELTS scores.

Evidence of Financial Support

• All documents must be sent through the special contact form for the Office of Graduate Admissions.You do not need to mail any documents directly to the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. For more information, refer to the USC Office of Graduate Admissions website: Financial Support for instructions .

All international students are required to take the International Student English (ISE) exam in person after they are admitted.

• There are no waivers for this exam.
• Exam results will determine program length and additional required English courses, which will increase the total cost of the program.
• Students are encouraged to continue to develop their English language and comprehension skills as it is essential for the field placement experience.

Check your specific Country Requirements on the Office of Graduate Admissions website :

• Please note that all translations must be issued by the institution of study or by a professional translation service in order to be considered official. Additionally, USC does not accept credential evaluation reports in lieu of official academic records issued by your institution of study.

PhD – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Make sure to also review the Graduate Application FAQ which covers questions that apply to both PhD and master's applicants.

What is the application deadline?

Doctoral programs only have Fall admission with an application deadline of December 15.

Note: Iranian citizens who wish to apply to a Ph.D. program at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering may qualify for an application fee waiver. Please contact us and include your CV when requesting the waiver.

Are PhD applicants considered for funding?

USC tries to fully fund all of its doctoral students. This generally consists of tuition, a stipend for living expenses, and a health benefits package.

Admitted students receive information on the funding offer before they have to submit the Statement of Intent.

Additional information on doctoral program funding 

Should I contact a faculty member prior to apply for the program?

You are encouraged to contact faculty prior to applying for admission. However, please make sure that you take the time to familiarize yourself with their latest research. Generic emails to faculty are generally ignored.

To help find faculty members/ research that are a good match for your interests, check out the Research and People links on the academic department webpages , and the Faculty Research Topic Database .

Will I be automatically considered for the Master's program if I am not admitted to the PhD program?

No, you will not be automatically considered for the master's program if you are not admitted to the PhD program. To also be considered for the MS program, you will need to add it as a second program in your online graduate application.

Follow the Application Fee Waiver Instructions for Information on how to do this with one application fee.

PLEASE NOTE: Applications submitted for multiple Viterbi School programs without a valid waiver will be charged for each additional program and no refunds will be given.

Will I earn an MS degree on the way to completing my PhD program?

It is possible to receive an MS degree on the way to completing a PhD program. However, it is not automatic. Students must contact the department PhD advisor (not the faculty dissertation advisor) to initiate this process.

What are the completion requirements for the PhD program?

1) 60 units are required for the completion of a PhD program. Students may transfer up to 30 units of applicable master's coursework into the program upon departmental approval.

2) A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

3) Successfully completion the department screening procedure. This usually consists of a written and an oral examination administered by the faculty.

4) Successful passing of the Qualifying Examination, which is intended to determine the extent of the student's knowledge in basic science and engineering areas, as well as the ability to do original and scholarly research. The qualifying exam committee decides the nature of the qualifying examinations (both oral and written portions) according to the policies applicable in each department.

5) Successful completion of an acceptable dissertation based on original investigation and supervised directly by the dissertation committee. The dissertation must show mastery of a special field, capacity for independent research, and a scholarly result.

6) Successful completion of a Dissertation Defense. This is a general final oral examination devoted to the major field and to the topic of the dissertation. The examination is conducted in such a manner as to determine to the satisfaction of the dissertation committee that the candidate has attained the stage of scholarly advancement and power of investigation demanded by the university for final recommendation to the doctorate.

Note: Individual academic departments may have other requirements.

What is the average length of time to complete a PhD program?

Most PhD candidates complete the program in 5-6 years.

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