| Location | Email Address | Program Website |
|---|---|---|
| 239 Vanier College | gpahuma@yorku.ca | yorku.ca/gradstudies/humanities/ |
The Graduate Program in Humanities offers advanced training leading to the MA and PhD degrees. Drawing upon the demonstrated expertise of a wide range of faculty members within York University’s Department of Humanities and related areas of study at York, the program aims to provide highly qualified students with a unique opportunity of doing specialized academic work in the diverse, cultural expressions of humanities. Humanities is a program of study whose very basis is the dynamic interaction between text and context in historical and comparative perspective, and whose methodology is explicitly and systematically interdisciplinary. It thus draws upon the interdisciplinary interests and approaches of much contemporary scholarship which is increasingly informed by general theoretical frameworks and issues that cannot be contained within the bounds of conventional disciplines. Within these broad dimensions, the Graduate Program in Humanities addresses critical issues involving western and non-western humanist traditions in contexts that are both historical and contemporary. The program’s mandate is to produce graduates equipped to utilize the rich tools afforded by interdisciplinary scholarship in humanities within a broad range of pursuits not only within a university setting but also outside it.
The program fields are:
This field critically engages questions of boundaries within the humanities. It locates analyses among and investigates the intersections between linguistic, national, geographic, temporal and medial boundaries. Theories and methods are drawn from a variety of both well-established and emerging fields of study, such as history, philosophy, comparative literature, gender studies and cultural studies. Similarly, this field approaches cultural texts–written, oral and visual–from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives. Areas of particular interest include processes of cultural exchange and appropriation between “East” and “West”; hemispheric approaches to literature and culture; the interplay between dominant and marginalized culture(s); the contours of alternative histories; displacement and cross-cultural performance; transnational perspectives on historical, philosophical, political and aesthetic developments; cultural encounters through translations; relationships and tensions between the local and the global and between “elite” and “popular” cultures; critical perspectives on globalization and cultural production; and the social construction of the very notions of borders and boundaries. The program offerings reflect current interdisciplinary approaches to the study of culture, such as hermeneutics, social theory, deconstruction, post-colonialism and feminism.
This field is dedicated to exploring the complex ways in which texts in various disciplines across the humanities involve and express the interactions, past and present, among religion, values, and culture. Religious “texts” are understood in the broadest terms possible, as encompassing various media, genres and materials. Courses in this field examine different modes of culture–material, social, institutional, symbolic, and intellectual–in light of the values that are embodied in and presupposed by diverse religions and philosophies. In focusing on texts from one or more traditions, students have the opportunity to explore, in interdisciplinary and comparative contexts, the intertwined processes of religious, ethical, and cultural formation.
The living interconnection between religious and cultural values–the dynamic ways in which the religious both shapes and is shaped by society–are examined in light of issues such as the following: the interactions among religious, philosophical, and aesthetic expressions of cultural identity; the political dimensions of religious thought, including, for example, the interplay between religion and postcolonial theory; the ways in which perceptions of gender are rooted in our religious and philosophical heritages (and thus the ways in which religious movements have both shaped and been shaped by issues related to gender); the relationship between tradition and change in the modernization of religious identity; the role that interpretation (hermeneutics) plays in philosophical encounters with religious texts; the interrogation of the complex relations between the religious and the secular, the divine and the human, and faith and reason; the consideration of religious texts as both the creator and product of historical change, and thus of the paradox that, as these texts are interpreted by their readers, they equally interpret their readers. The study of the above and other issues encompasses not only different traditions but also different geographical locations and historical periods.
This field explores the cultures of the modern in various ways—as historical and structural transformations, as aesthetic movements and as contributions to a conception of modernity. It interrogates technologies not only as the instruments and mechanisms pervading modern cultures, but also as constitutive forms through which we access our world and which inform the ways in which we view cultural phenomena as well as ourselves. It also interrogates the ways in which science acts as a method and a model not only in the natural sciences, but also in the human sciences and in philosophy as a science of knowledge.
Areas critically examined in this field include the transition from the pre-modern to the modern; the heuristic and ontological status of alternative modernities; the connections between modernity and globalization; the boundaries of technology and the human; the development of modern cultural institutions such as the university, the museum, the cinema, the café and the world exhibition; the emergence of a set of theories and methods associated with the human sciences; the scientific and technological practices that have contributed to the making of the modern world; the emergence of a public sphere, and interactions between national, global, elite and popular cultures; the city as a crucible of the modern; and contemporary challenges and contestations of the project of the modern. Courses draw upon a wealth of interdisciplinary scholarship based on aesthetic and cultural analysis, the history of philosophical ideas and political thought, science and technology studies and cultural/human geography.
These three fields represent the significant areas of teaching and research strength of York’s Humanities faculty. The focus in each of the fields is the dynamic interaction between text and context.
Admission Requirements
The deadline for applications is published on the Admissions website.
Applicants must have:
- an honours BA in an area relevant to graduate study in humanities, or its equivalent, with a grade average of at least B+ in the last two years of study;
- three letters of recommendation;
- a statement of intention which provides a cogent rationale for undertaking interdisciplinary study of culture in humanities; and,
- a sample of written work relevant to graduate study in humanities.
The deadline for applications is published on the Admissions website.
Applicants must have:
- MA degree with a grade average of at least B+ in an area relevant to undertaking doctoral study in humanities, or its equivalent;
- three letters of recommendation;
- a statement of intention which provides a cogent rationale for undertaking interdisciplinary study of culture in humanities; and
- a sample of written work relevant to graduate study in humanities.
Degree Requirements
MA
The MA program is a one-year program of study whose purpose is to introduce students to graduate study in humanities. It is open to qualified students who do not or may not plan to pursue graduate study in the humanities or in other professional degree programs beyond the MA and also to qualified students who plan or may plan to continue their studies in the humanities at the doctoral level or in other professional degree programs.
All MA candidates are required to develop a plan of study in which they provide an integrated, coherent rationale for their studies as they relate to their course work, participation in the humanities graduate seminar, and major research essay. The plan of study must demonstrate interdisciplinarity in the study of culture in humanities and be approved by the Graduate Program Director. A preliminary plan must be discussed with the Graduate Program Director at the beginning of their first term, with the end of that first term as the deadline for a final plan approved by the Graduate Program Director.
The faculty member adviser for all MA candidates is the Graduate Program Director, who is responsible for ensuring that students complete their degree requirements in timely fashion and for providing students with general academic advice (with regard, for instance, to preparing their major research essay, participating in the graduate humanities seminar, and applying for scholarships and teaching fellowships in subsequent years if they intend to continue their study after their MA).
- Students are required to take the equivalent of three full graduate courses consistent with their plan of study;
- one of the courses must be Humanities 5100 6.0: Core Practices and Methodologies in Humanities Research;
- at least two of the three courses must be in the Graduate Program in Humanities; and,
- one of the three courses may be a directed reading course (Humanities 5000 3.0 or 6.0), as approved by the Graduate Program Director.
Students are required to demonstrate in a major research essay their grasp of a subject within the interdisciplinary study of culture in humanities. The major research essay may be related to the work that students have done in one or more of their courses, but it must demonstrate independent research. It is normally to be completed by the end of the summer of the first year of study. The major research essay is formally evaluated and graded by two humanities faculty members chosen by the Graduate Program Director in consultation with the student. One of these faculty members serves as supervisor, the other as second reader.
The MA program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.
Full-time master’s candidates are expected to complete degree requirements within 12 months (3 terms) and must complete in 24 months (6 terms) or revert to part-time status. For those students who complete degree requirements earlier than 3 terms, they must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 3 terms of full-time study. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.
PhD
The PhD program is a multiyear program of advanced graduate study whose purpose is the training of students to become highly qualified scholars in humanities. The program culminates in the preparation of a dissertation that makes an original contribution to scholarship in humanities. The program is open to qualified students who want to obtain advanced scholarly training in the interdisciplinary study of culture in humanities.
All PhD candidates are required to develop a plan of study in which they provide an integrated, coherent rationale for their studies as they relate to their course work, presentation to the humanities graduate seminar, comprehensive examination and dissertation. The plan of study must demonstrate interdisciplinarity in the study of culture in a humanities context and be approved by both the student’s supervisor and the Graduate Program Director. Candidates discuss their plans with the potential supervisors and the Graduate Program Director at the beginning of their first term, with the end of the year as the deadline for finalizing the plan.
All PhD candidates must have a faculty member supervisor as agreed upon by the student, the faculty member, and the Graduate Program Director by the end of their first year in the program. Faculty member supervisors are responsible for ensuring that students develop an integrated, coherent plan of study and complete their degree requirements in timely fashion and for providing them with general academic advice (with regard, for instance, to participation in the graduate humanities seminar, preparing for their comprehensive examination; applying for scholarships and teaching fellowships; writing their dissertation; attending and contributing to scholarly conferences and learning how to prepare scholarly papers for publication in learned journals; and undertaking a job search which may require the preparation of a detailed teaching dossier).
- Students are required to take the equivalent of three full graduate courses consistent with their plan of study, as approved by their supervisor and the Graduate Program Director.
- At least two of the three courses must be in the Graduate Program in Humanities.
- One of the three courses may be a directed reading course (Humanities 6000 3.0 or 6.0), as approved by the student’s supervisor and the Graduate Program Director.
- Students are required to take Humanities 6500 3.0: Advanced Practices and Methodologies in Humanities Research as part of their course requirements.
The objectives of the comprehensive examination are to prepare and qualify students to teach undergraduate courses in the areas examined and to equip students with the specialized knowledge they need to undertake research on their doctoral dissertation. The comprehensive examination is oral rather than written. Students are normally expected to take the examination at the end of their second or at the beginning of their third year of registration. Candidates are required to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge within the designated areas on the examination. Evidence of such comprehensive knowledge is assessed on the basis of the candidate’s competence in providing answers to questions during the examination that address the material on the reading lists in relation to significant critical and theoretical issues. In the case of failure students are permitted to re-sit the examination only once, and the re-examination is to take place within six months of the date of the first examination. A second failure requires withdrawal from the program. The examination committee is composed of four faculty members: the Graduate Program Director or their representative; the student’s supervisor; and two faculty members appointed to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (at least one of whom must be a member of the Graduate Program in Humanities) appointed by the Graduate Program Director in consultation with the student and the supervisor. Candidates for the doctorate must select two areas of study, the major and the minor. The comprehensive examination assesses the student’s overall knowledge of both areas. The major area is a coherent and definable area of scholarship within one of the program fields:
- comparative perspectives and cultural boundaries;
- religion, values and culture; or
- science, technology and culture.
The major area is normally the broad area within which the dissertation is written and the area in which graduates would claim to be able to offer courses at the undergraduate survey level. The minor area is a more specialized subsection of the major area. The minor area covers the more specialized knowledge that students need to research and to write their dissertation. It is also the area in which graduates would claim to be able to offer upper-level courses or research seminars. The definition of the major and minor areas are determined by the Graduate Program Director, the candidate and the dissertation supervisor and approved by the Graduate Program Director at least six months before the qualifying examination. Students are required to prepare reading lists for both the major and minor areas of their comprehensive examination and to have them approved by their dissertation supervisors.
Students who are working in an area where they only need English must demonstrate to the members of their supervisory committee that they are able to read one language other than English. The minimum standard expected is that students should have a reading knowledge of that language; i.e., that they should be able to read in that language with a dictionary.
Students working in an area where a language or languages other than English are necessary for their research must demonstrate to the members of their supervisory committee that they have the ability to read primary sources and/or scholarly literature in the relevant language or languages. Students in this category will demonstrate their knowledge of the language or languages either by completing a language course or by some other means as recognized by the supervisory committee.
Students are required to prepare a dissertation in which they make an original contribution to humanities scholarship in the interdisciplinary study of culture. The completion of the dissertation must involve the following four steps:
- the establishment of a supervisory committee of three members, at least two of whom will be members of the Graduate Program in Humanities. The third member may be appointed to a graduate program other than Humanities;
- the preparation of a dissertation proposal, which must normally be approved the supervisory committee within three months of completing the final comprehensive examination, and approved by the Graduate Program Director and the Faculty of Graduate Studies;
- the writing of a dissertation acceptable to the supervisory committee and in the end formally approved as examinable by the members of that committee;
- the holding of an oral examination, centred on the dissertation and matters related to it, and presided over by an examining committee recommended by the Graduate Program Director for approval and appointment by the Dean of Graduate Studies (Faculty Regulations: “Dissertation Examining Committee”).
The PhD program can be completed on a full-time basis. Entry is fall term.
The length of time required to complete the PhD is normally five to six years (15 to 18 terms). Doctor of Philosophy students must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of six terms of full-time registration. All requirements for a doctoral degree must be fulfilled within 18 terms (6 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time doctoral student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.