PhD in Literature at Duke University

Duke University

United States of America, Durham

University Rank:#62

International students can study the Literature at Duke University at its main campus in Durham , United States of America. This PhD degree is available as a Full Time program delivered on campus in English. The program has a duration of 5 years and is offered at the university's main campus. Students can apply for the next intake starting on January 10, 2027.

About PhD in Literature

The Graduate Program in Literature (GPL) endeavors to train future scholars in theory and global culture. Originally conceived as a critical expansion of "comparative literature" beyond its founding Eurocentrism and its (near) exclusive focus on literature and language, the GPL hosts a robust range of scholarship and teaching in a variety of areas, ranging from feminist and gender studies to political theory and Marxism, from psychoanalysis to cognitive studies and neuroscience, from philosophy of language and experimental literature to media studies in the digital age, and from global cinema and film theory to visual culture and postcolonial studies. The program defines itself through its diverse investment in theory and is dedicated to understanding literary and cultural history as a complex and evolving exchange between the past and the (future-oriented) present. The immense geopolitical changes of the last decades have challenged the logic of the traditional disciplines, altered the status of the arts, and interrogated classical aesthetic values. With its broad and open-ended embrace of global cultural objects and processes, the GPL seeks to theorize the cultural upheaval of recent times in all of its contemporary richness. By questioning the traditional conception of literature as a privileged cultural domain, and of the literary text as an isolatable aesthetic object, the GPL adopts a "post-textualist" approach to culture - including literature - that engages the profusion of diverse modes of production across received boundaries. We encourage our students to explore the connections between theory and innovations in other disciplines - anthropology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, art history, film and media, gender and sexuality studies, religious studies, the history and philosophy of science and technology, law - that share an investment in narrativity, structure, communication, and interpretation.

Requirements and Admission Criteria for PhD in Literature at Duke University

Entry Requirements

Transcripts: Unofficial transcripts required with application submission; official transcripts required upon admission
Letters of Recommendation: 3 Required
Statement of Purpose: Required
RÃ©sumÃ©: Required
GRE Scores: GRE General (Optional for 2022)
English Language Exam: TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test required* for applicants whose first language is not English
*test waiver may apply for some applicants
GPA: Undergraduate GPA calculated on 4.0 scale required

English Requirements

IELTSMin 7
TOEFLMin 90

English Program Requirements

If your first language is not English, you must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test, or the Duolingo English Test.

Fee Information

Application Fee 95

PhD in Literature at Duke University

Duke University

United States of America, Durham