Doctor of Philosophy in Literature

The Literature Department fosters innovative and experimental work across historical periods, languages, approaches, and media. Our graduate curriculum is designed to give students maximum flexibility in constructing their fields of research and to provide exposure to cultural production and theoretical work that is global in scope. True to the department's history of innovationit was among the first literature departments in the US to offer emphases in World Literature and Cultural Studies and Pre- and Early Modern Studiesthe department offers a Ph.D. concentration in Creative/Critical Writing that crosses the boundary between creative work and criticism.

Students emerge from the graduate program with a distinctive intellectual and pedagogical flexibility. Current departmental strengths include empire, race, and colonial/postcolonial studies, gender and sexuality studies, environmental humanities, Mediterranean studies, Jewish studies, transatlantic/oceanic studies, posthumanism and animal studies, speculative fiction, science/technology studies, creative practice, critical theory, and digital humanities/new media. The department offers a designated emphasis for graduate students from other departments, while individual Literature faculty lead several research clusters of faculty and graduate students, including: Making Sense of Memory, Memory of Forgotten Wars, and Speculatively Scientific Fictions of the Future.

Graduate study in Literature includes Ph.D. and free-standing M.A. programs. M.A. students typically take two years to complete the degree, pursuing coursework alongside Ph.D. students, and are well prepared to continue in a doctoral program elsewhere. Normative time for the Ph.D. is seven years, with graduates going on to teach at institutions of higher learning across the world. Ph.D. students are required to be able to read proficiently in at least two languages integral to their intellectual work, one of which may be English

The UC Santa Cruz doctoral program in literature offers an innovative multilingual and multidisciplinary approach to literary studies, involving the use of more than one language literature. The program is relatively small, and students work closely with faculty throughout their graduate careers. They are encouraged to take advantage of the rich array of intellectual and cultural events, research clusters, and lectures offered on campus.


The doctoral program combines critical and independent thought with global perspectives. Working across linguistic, national, and period boundaries, students blend critical approaches, literary traditions, and/or cultural archives in comparative and interdisciplinary projects.


A Creative/Critical Writing concentration within the Ph.D. program is available, for which prospective students apply during the admissions process. Creative/Critical applicants submit additional creative writing samples of poetry, prose fiction, creative nonfiction or hybrid/cross genre. Students in the Creative/Critical concentration complete all the requirements for the literature Ph.D. with the addition of a creative/critical degree component in the form of coursework, original creative work with a critical introduction and, if desired, work in poetics, translation, form and/or critical writing focused on creative practices.


Students may apply for a designated emphasis on the literature doctoral diploma in programs and departments such as Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Education, Feminist Studies, History of Consciousness, Latin American and Latino Studies, Philosophy, Politics, Sociology, and the History of Art and Visual Culture. Applications and requirements are available at the respective department offices.

A cumulative or overall GPA of 3.0 on a 4-point scale in the last two years of undergraduate education. This should be displayed on your official academic records.
A bachelor's degree or its equivalent from an accredited university awarded conferred prior to the quarter in which admission is sought.
Curriculum Vitae
Writing Sample double spaced
Statement of Purpose double spaced
Personal History Statement double spaced
Three Letters of Recommendation
Unofficial Transcripts
Required Test Scores

Writing Sample

A writing sample between 10-20 pages in length double spaced Though the sample need not be in Literature it should demonstrate relevant skills in writing critical thinking and textual analysis In addition applicants whose proposed primary area of emphasis is in a language other than English should provide a sample that demonstrates an ability to work in that language Please include your name in the footer of each page of your writing sample
For applicants to the Creative Critical Writing concentration the department requests the following additional materials 20-25 pages of prose double spaced at least one complete piece and an additional sample preferred or 10-12 pages of poetry The writing can be poetry prose fiction creative nonfiction or hybridcross genre

83 for all other programs.
Other TOEFL minimum acceptable scores.
Computer-based 230.
IELTS, a minimum overall score of 7 from the IELTS test is required for admission.