Doctoral Advising and Mentoring

First and Second Year: All first- and second-year students are officially advised by the Graduate Program Director (GPD), who for the 2023-24 academic year will be Professor Jeremi Szaniawski. The GPD advises first- and second-year students to ensure they are enrolled in the courses most appropriate for their career plans (i.e., that they are receiving rigorous training in their respective fields), that they are on track to fulfill course and language requirements, that they are planning productively for their Comprehensive Examinations, that they are well supported by the program, and that they are developing effective teaching skills. 

The GPD approves course selections for the fall and spring semesters, helping to ensure that students are attending to program requirements. The GPD will meet individually with all G1s and G2s at least once each semester to offer advice and ascertain that students are making satisfactory progress to the degree. Students should contact the GPD about any academic difficulties, especially if you are unable to finish coursework or meet deadlines. You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the GPD’s office hours (in-person and virtual). If you have classes or teaching obligations during the GPD’s office hours, please email the GPD to arrange a mutually convenient time to meet. 

In addition, the GPD reviews all students’ progress every spring with the Graduate Studies Committee, as part of the Annual Review of Student Progress. After their first year in the program, all students update their “Green Sheet” which is in their file in the office of the Program Administrator and will be available online.

Second-year students choose an Advisor from among the Comparative Literature faculty to serve as the chair of their Comprehensive Examinations committee. Any professor or senior lecturer listed on the program website under “Faculty” is fully available to you as an advisor, whether or not they hold a joint appointment with another department. By contrast, Lecturers, College Fellows, and others on short-term appointments do not serve as primary advisors for graduate students.

The primary function of the Advisor/Chair is to help you determine the most appropriate courses, summer opportunities, Comprehensive Examinations topics, and teaching opportunities in light of your developing scholarly interests and with an eye to rigorous preparation in marketable fields. It is your responsibility to contact your advisor and to initiate discussion of these items of professional development on a regular basis. You should meet with your advisor at least twice a year, preferably at the beginning of each semester. If you have difficulty getting in touch with your advisor, or if you find that your advisor is unable to assist you with the matters listed above because of changing scholarly interests or other reasons, inform the GPD and/or the Program Director to help you in managing the situation.  

In the third year, the student’s advisor is responsible for guiding students in preparing their Comprehensive Examinations lists and rationales, as well as advising them on teaching and conferences, and in particular, guiding students to a potential dissertation project. They assist students in constituting their Comprehensive Examinations committee, which must include at least two faculty members from the Program in Comparative Literature (see the section below on the comprehensive Exams). Students must consult their advisor and the GPD prior to selecting these other committee members to ensure a balanced committee. In the event that students wish to change advisors, they should inform the GPD. 

Following the completion of the Comprehensive Examinations (typically at the end of the third year and no later than October 15 of the fourth year), the Chair of the Comps committee or another faculty member in the Program will become the student’s Dissertation Chair in years G4 and above. For more on the Chair, see the sections in this Guide on formulating the dissertation prospectus and writing the dissertation. 

Some students will have the same faculty member serve as Chair of the Comprehensive examinations and then Dissertation Chair. But some will not. If students experience difficulty with their advisors, they should contact the GPD and/or the Program Director, who for the academic year 2023-24 is Professor Jessica Barr. There is no norm or expectation by the program that you should stay with an advisor if things are not working well. It is perfectly natural to have several principal advisors over the course of your graduate career and changes are easily made.

The GPD and your Chair provide the backbone of your guidance through the program, and it is important for you to turn to them on a regular basis. Yet you are not at all confined to these sources of advice and mentoring. You are strongly encouraged to speak about your progress and academic plans with other faculty members in the program and across the university, the Five Colleges, and beyond. You should seek out professors whose scholarship complements your own, even when you are not able to take these professors’ courses and no matter what these professors’ departments may be. All professors not on leave are required by the university to hold weekly office hours, and most professors are available to meet outside office hours as well. Do not be shy about contacting faculty members. If you email a professor and do not receive a response within 48 hours, write to that individual again. Please make certain that your emails have a subject line, that they are concise, and that you clearly explain your request. 

Although your graduate student colleagues are excellent sources of information, you should also consult the GPD directly, at any time, with any questions about program requirements and policies.