Examinations
Examinations (apart from those set in individual courses) will consist of a diagnostic language test in reading Greek and/or Latin (one hour each language, and ungraded), given before the student's initial enrollment to determine appropriate placement in language courses, and:
- Qualifying Examinations in reading Greek and Latin (the "Reading List Examinations": each three hours; may be taken separately) or, for students in archaeology, a Reading List Examination in one language, and the Archaeology Qualifying Examination;
- Qualifying Examinations in reading scholarly German and either French or Italian (each two hours; may be taken separately);
- the Preliminary Examination (whose parts, length and schedule are outlined below).
A) Qualifying Examinations: Reading List and Archaeology Qualifying Examination.
The Reading List Examinations in Greek and Latin and the Archaeology Qualifying Examination are administered by a committee of at least two faculty members appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies, and are usually offered twice annually, in August (the week before classes start) and in the first full week of April. Examinations may be arranged for December by petition to the DGS. Students in Literature and History take both Reading List Examinations; students in archaeology take one Reading List Examination and the Archaeology Qualifying Examination. At least one of these qualifying examinations must be taken by the second semester of the first year, except if granted a waiver by the DGS, and passed by the beginning of the second year. The second must be taken and passed by the beginning of the third year, and preferably by the second semester of the second year. Failure to pass both Qualifying Examinations by the beginning of the third year may result in termination or placement on the terminal M.A. track. A student may appeal to the faculty through the DGS for an exception to these rules, but such appeals will only rarely be granted.
Reading Lists Examinations are set for 3 hours and consist of six passages of prose and poetry for translation, taken from the Reading List. Poetry passages are about 25 lines long; prose passages about 20 lines long (as per an OCT text). The student is expected to have read and thoroughly understood all of the works on the Reading Lists. The examinations will allow students to demonstrate mastery of the texts that appear on the lists, as well as their abilities to translate accurately Latin and/or Greek. The Archaeology Qualifying Exam, paralleling the Greek and Latin Reading Lists, will consist of ten unidentified examples of images, videos, digital reproductions or 3D models, drawn from a list provided in advance to the candidates and included in the manual. Students will be expected first to identify the image and then to analyze and contextualize it, by explaining its archaeological and historical or cultural significance as well as its relationship to a corpus of material in context. The intent is to test basic knowledge of specific archaeological material, and the critical skills needed to understand and contextualize such material. This may include commenting on and discussing the technologies used to reconstruct or render the example they are being asked to consider.
B) Qualifying Examinations (modern languages)
All candidates for the PhD are required to demonstrate competence in at least two foreign languages, German and usually either French or Italian, as a prerequisite for preliminary certification. With the permission of the Director of Graduate Studies, students whose research plans make it appropriate may substitute another language for French/Italian. Exams will be scheduled twice yearly (the week following that of Fall Break and the week following Spring Break). Students should complete the language requirement as soon as possible. They are expected to have passed one exam not later than the week following that of Fall Break in the second year and the other by the same time in the third year. Failure to pass both modern languages by December of a student’s third year may result in placement on the terminal M.A. track.
Competence in a foreign language will be demonstrated by passing a 2-hour written examination administered by a Classical Studies faculty member, or, if necessary, a faculty member outside the department. The examination will consist of translating accurately and completely a piece of scholarship of 750 words or more in the designated language. A dictionary may be used. Translation software may not be used. Two faculty members will read the examination. Should a student fail the examination, faculty will review the examination with the student and explain where improvement is needed. The exams can be retaken without penalty.
Graduate students should initiate discussions about modern language requirements with the DGS and their faculty mentor when they arrive on campus, and should begin necessary language study as soon as practicable. Duke's Graduate School often helps subvent fees for graduate students who take a Language for Reading Knowledge course during the summer.
C) Preliminary Examination
The Preliminary Examination is divided into two parts, the General Examinations and the Specials. The General Examinations are designed to test breadth of knowledge of classical antiquity, and the Specials more profound knowledge and control in two particular scholarly or content domains. The Dissertation Special is meant to help define students’ dissertation plans, the Open Special to help develop depth in a second, preferably unrelated, area.
The General Examinations will be administered by a five-member committee appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies. General Ph.D. exams will be offered the first M-F-W after Spring Break in the third year; in the extraordinary event that an exam has to be repeated, exams will be offered on the first M-F-W after May 1. The two Special Examinations will each be set by the faculty member whom the student has chosen to guide her or his focused study. They may be taken at any time between September 15 and April 15 of the third year. The Preliminary Exam Committee, supplemented if necessary by the student’s Special directors, will evaluate all Preliminary Exams.
The Preliminary Examination as a whole consists of the following parts:
1) General examinations:
A & B: Major general examinations (two; each three hours). If the student has chosen the Literature track, the two major general exams are in Greek and Latin literature. For those in the History track, the two major general exams are Greek and Roman history. For those in the Archaeology track, the two major general exams are in Roman and Greek Archaeology. “Greek and Latin literature” is understood as comprising the authors, genres (etc.) within the span from Homer through Late Antiquity. “Greek and Roman history” is understood as comprising the period from the Mycenaean age through Late Antiquity, and includes political and social history, as well as certain aspects of material culture. “Roman and Greek archaeology” is understood as comprising the period from the Late Bronze Age to Late Antiquity in Italy, Greece, and the regions affected by Greek and Roman expansion. Each Major exam has two parts: three essay questions (chosen from at least four), each to be answered in 50 minutes, and identifications (usually a choice of 10 from a larger number listed) to be completed in 30 minutes. The Major exams test for (a) factual knowledge; (b) understanding of the limitations of the sources; and (c) mastery of pertinent secondary scholarship.
C: The Minor general examination (three hours) is either in ancient histories or in ancient literatures (the Greek and Roman/Latin components are taken together). This exam has two parts: three essay questions (chosen from at least 5), each to be answered in 45 minutes, and identifications (usually a choice of 10 from a larger number listed), to be completed in 45 minutes. The Minor exams place greater emphasis on factual knowledge and the limitations of the ancient sources. Students on the Archaeology track must notify the DGS in advance as to which minor they choose to take.
The major and minor general examinations will be offered once each Spring within a period of eight days (as above) and are to be taken as a group. The student's committee may call for a supplementary oral examination or other check to follow promptly upon completion of the major and minor general examinations. Extraordinarily a student may be asked to repeat one or more of the major or minor general examinations; this retake must be successfully passed by the first week of May of the third year.
2) Special Examinations:
Each Special will be individually scheduled by the student and faculty director, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. The student's committee may call for a supplementary oral examination or other check after either or both. The Dissertation Special offers an opportunity to make significant progress in identifying a viable dissertation project. So, a student who wants to write a dissertation on a subject to do with Plotinus may choose, in consultation with the faculty director, to devote that Special to Plotinus or to neoplatonism more broadly. The precise frame is a matter for discussion between student and faculty director. In any case, the Dissertation Special is meant to help identify, define, and jump-start the dissertation, and to lay the groundwork for the prospectus in particular. The Open Special offers an opportunity to develop significant strength in a secondary, preferably unrelated, subject, for the purpose of further exploration in research or teaching. For the Open Special a student may want to explore an area not directly covered in the general examinations (e.g., Roman law), a scholarly discipline or technical specialty (e.g., epigraphy, palaeography, numismatics), an area within the scope of the general examinations (e.g. Roman architecture) but studied in greater depth than would otherwise be the case, or a related area outside of Classics (e.g., medieval history); students in archaeology may choose to focus on a period and region and its main sites, a scholarly discipline or technical specialty (e.g., digital archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics), an area within the scope of general examinations (e.g., Greek pottery, gender archaeology), or a related area outside of Classics (e.g., Punic archaeology, Mediaeval archaeology). The required work product for both Specials is to be determined by student and faculty director, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. Some will want to take an exam, some to write a research paper or analytic overview of scholarship, some to produce a defined set of teaching materials. In all cases, however, deliverables must be consistent with the goals of the two exercises: to accelerate progress toward the dissertation and to develop significant depth in a secondary area.
In accordance with the regulations of the Graduate School, all students will be expected to have completed the Preliminary Examination by the end of the sixth semester. The graduate school further stipulates that in case of failure in any portion of the Preliminary Examination, only one retake of that portion will be permitted.