Graduate Studies in French

Consistently ranked among the top graduate programs in the nation over the past twenty years, the Department of French Language and Literature at the University of Virginia has granted the Ph.D. since 1905 and the M.A. since the 1820s

The Master's Program

The Master's degree (usually completed in two academic years) is suitable either as a first professional degree or as a preparation for doctoral work. The Ph.D. allows specialization in a period of French literature, in African and New World literatures and cultures, in French civilization/culture, and in specific critical approaches to literature. The programs leading to these degrees have been carefully designed by the entire faculty to meet specific practical and intellectual goals.

What Do Our MA Students Do After Graduation?

Many graduates of our MA program go on to pursue Ph.D.s in French or related fields or law degrees.  Several work as teachers or administrators in high schools, colleges and universities; others work in more diverse fields.  For instance, our graduates include an editor at the National Gallery of Art, a humanitarian aid worker in the Congo, the French Desk Chief of the United States Military Academy’s Department of Foreign Languages, and a counterterrorism analyst.

The Doctoral Program

The Ph.D. is a closely supervised research degree, emphasizing (1) extensive advanced work in at least two related fields of French studies; (2) a high degree of sophistication in appropriate aspects of theory and methods; and (3) proficiency in the expository, investigative and linguistic skills required in the chief modes of professional writing.

What Do Our PhD Students Do After Graduation?

Recent graduates from the UVA's doctoral program are currently working in diverse institutions, including Hampden-Sydney College, Sweet Briar College, Columbia University, Princeton University, University of Kentucky,the US Air Force Academy, St. Anne’s Belfield School, Denison College, the Social Science Research Center for the US Africa Command (Stuttgart, Germany), Clemson University, Lycoming College, Kent State University, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Longwood University, Roanoke College, Franklin and Marshall College, the University of Virginia, Bryn Mawr College, the University of Minnesota, Rhodes College, Colby College, and Augustana College (list updated, March 2011).

Contacts

• Director of Graduate Studies
  Claire Lyu
  308 Cabell Hall
  University of Virginia
  Charlottesville, VA 22904
  434-924-4630
• 2010-2011 Elected Representatives
  Ph.D. Representative to the Faculty
  Jenn Holm
  
• M.A. Representative to the Faculty
  Alex Natoli
  
• Representative to the Graduate Council of Arts & Sciences
  Casey Ostien
  
• Mediator
  Anna Keefe