Written Comprehensive Examinations
Timelines
It is expected that students will take the comprehensive examinations by the middle of their third year. Both written and oral portions must be completed at least six months before the final oral examination of the thesis. The examinations may be taken over a period not to exceed four weeks.
Fields
A PhD student in Classical Archaeology must write and pass two written examinations on the major ancient literary and archaeological sources relevant to art, monuments, and topography. There will be one examination in each of the following periods (the student will determine which options to pick in consultation with his/her supervisory committee and as early as possible in the program):
- the Classical or the Hellenistic Greek world.
- the Roman world of the Republican or the Imperial period.
Examiners
The written examination in each field is set and assessed by at least two members of the Classics division (except in cases when it is necessary to draw upon someone in the History division or another department). Those who set and assess the written comprehensive examinations are usually members of the supervisory committee, to which other faculty members are added when appropriate. Each exam may not exceed three hours.
Assessment
The written answers will be given by the student to the Graduate Secretary, who will distribute copies to all members of the supervisory committee and place the originals in the student’s file. The committee members must return their assessments in writing within one week of receiving each examination. The examinations will be given one of the following assessments: (1) pass, (2) reserve judgement to the oral examination, or (3) fail.
Process in case of failure
If two assessments of failure are given in either examination, the oral comprehensive examination is cancelled. In this event, the examining committee will either require the student to withdraw from the program or permit a second attempt. If a second attempt is permitted, the normal procedure is that after an interval of at least five months the student will write a second examination containing new questions in the failed field(s). If both assessors of a given field fail the examination a second time, the candidate will be required to withdraw from the program.