Graduate Program

PhD Tracks and Course Requirements

The department currently offers three tracks to the PhD: (1) Ancient Western Asian Studies, (2) Egyptology, and (3) History of the Exact Sciences in Antiquity. Minimum course requirements for each track are as follows:

(1) Ancient Western Asian Studies: two courses on Near Eastern Archaeology, two courses in Akkadian, one course in Sumerian, one course on Scholarship in the Ancient Near East, two courses of the archaeology, history, and/or language of a second culture, and a research seminar on Archaeology and Text.

(2) Egyptology: Middle Egyptian I–II*, Middle Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Late Egyptian*, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Ancient Egyptian Literature, History of Ancient Egypt I–II*, one course in the language of a second culture, one course in the civilization of the Ancient Near East or the Mediterranean outside of Egypt.

(3) History of the Exact Sciences in Antiquity: Historiography of the Exact Sciences (AWAS 2120), four courses in the primary ancient language*, two courses in the secondary ancient language*, three courses in the history/archaeology/culture of the primary culture, one course in the history/archaeology/culture of the secondary culture, two courses on ancient science/scholarship offered within the department, and two courses in the history of science offered by another department (eg History). At least 2 of the language courses should involve the reading of scientific texts.

Courses marked * may be waived on demonstration of existing competency.

Examinations

There are three sets of examinations required of all graduate students in the department:

1. French and German Reading Exams. These must be passed by the end of the second year of coursework. They will normally consist of a journal article or passage from a book to be studied overnight. The exam will consist of questions and discussion on the assignment in order to demonstrate comprehension. With the approval of the student’s primary advisor, a student may replace one of the French or German requirements with another appropriate foreign language.

2. Comprehensive Exams. These are normally administered at the end of the second year of coursework, and are intended to demonstrate the student’s knowledge in all aspects of his or her chosen field. Students will be informed of the subjects and composition of these exams at the beginning of the Spring semester of their second year. Typically, there will be four exams: language, history, culture, and archaeology. Some may be take-home essays, others 3-hour written exams, and others 1.5 hour oral exams. These must be passed satisfactorily before the student can take the PhD Qualifying Exams. In the case of an unsatisfactory performance, a second exam may be scheduled at the discretion of the departmental faculty, normally within a year of the first exam. No comprehensive exam can be taken more than twice. In the event of a first or second unsatisfactory performance, the student may be allowed to write a thesis for a terminal MA degree, again at the discretion of the departmental faculty.

3. PhD Qualifying Projects. These are normally administered after the completion of coursework, and are intended to demonstrate professional competency. They will usually consist of different topics related to the student’s primary interest and intended dissertation area, to be researched and written up in the form of a journal article; a substantial review of a book (or books) in the student’s primary area of interest; and preparation of a course outline and syllabus. The decision as to specific topics, including the book(s) for review and the title of the course for the syllabus, will be decided in conjunction with a committee of at least three faculty, at least one of whom must be from the department. These decisions must be agreed upon prior to reading period of the first semester of the third year. Following the submission of the projects, the committee will meet; the committee will then set up a two-hour discussion with the student to give feedback and discuss prospects for the dissertation topic, and communicate whether or not the projects have been judged acceptable.

Dissertation Proposal

In the semester following the successful completion of PhD qualifying projects, the student will prepare a dissertation proposal in consultation with the dissertation committee. Ordinarily the dissertation committee will be the same as the qualifying exam committee, though this may be changed or added to in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. The committee must include a primary advisor from within the department and at least two additional readers. The proposal prepared by the student will include a brief summary of the intended topic of the doctoral dissertation, including past research on the topic, with full bibliography; justification of the necessity for a new study; a detailed outline of the proposed study; and a detailed projected timeline for research and writing.

The dissertation proposal will be prepared in consultation with the dissertation advisor and readers. Following completion of an acceptable proposal, the student will present the proposal at a meeting of the department’s faculty, to which other interested faculty may be invited. The committee then vote on the acceptability of the proposal; following a favorable vote, the student is formally admitted to candidacy for the PhD.

Receiving the PhD Degree

When the dissertation committee has approved the completed dissertation, usually midway through the second semester of the fifth year, the department will schedule a dissertation defense. The dissertation must be tabled in the department to be available to interested readers two weeks prior to the defense. The defense will consist of two parts. First, a public discussion of the dissertation will allow it to be presented to and discussed by interested members of the academic community who are not on the dissertation committee. Second, a closed discussion with the committee will be held at which the student will defend the dissertation’s thesis and results. At the conclusion of the defense, the dissertation committee will vote whether to award a PhD on the basis of the dissertation, potentially pending revisions. Following a favorable vote, the student is considered to have achieved the PhD degree, even though the degree itself may not be awarded for several months after the defense. The department has no requirements for the format of the dissertation other than those imposed by the university’s Graduate School. Filing of the final dissertation is subject to University rather than Departmental guidelines.

Students writing dissertations should be aware that the procedures surrounding defense and filing take substantial amounts of time. Brown has only one graduation per year. Final dissertations and all associated paperwork must be filed with the University by the first business day in May of the year of graduation. In order to realistically meet this goal and give dissertation readers sufficient time to read and comment upon the thesis, a complete draft of the dissertation should be given to the dissertation advisor no later than the fourth week of the final semester.

Funding

Students funded through the Graduate School will receive one of the following appointments each semester that they are funded:
Fellowship: An award to enable the student to focus full time on either coursework or writing a dissertation.
Proctorship: Non-instructional academic employment. The student will be assigned to a defined administrative, research or other task to assist faculty and staff in the department. Possible proctorships could involve preparing teaching materials, assisting in the organization of a conference, and assisting faculty with editorial projects.
Teaching Assistantship: The student will be assigned as a TA to a particular class to assist the instructor with course preparation, marking, facilitating class discussions, and teaching occasional classes.
Teaching Fellowship: The student will teach his or her own class.

For more information on Brown University Graduate School:
http://www.brown.edu/gradschool/academics-research/phd-programs/egyptology-and-ancient-western-asian-studies